Balcony Vegetable Garden - Help needed!

[stml]

Hello,

I'm a novice gardener very keen to grow a lot more of my own veg Unfortunately, I only have a small and quite windy roof space - abou nine feet by five.

I grew tomatoes and bell peppers quite successfully last summer, an have some squash and courgettes on the go this year, but what I reall want is to grow near-year-round, like a real allotment.

Does anyone know any good books specifically for balcony/rooftop/potte gardening, or should I just get a general allotment book? What I need t know is the the best plants for the conditions (I'll eat anything... and the best times to plant etc. - a real guidebook.

All tips and recommendations gratefully received - Cheers

-- stml

[Billy]

Google "vegetable container gardening".

[David Hare-Scott]

As you can grow these I guess your climate is something like warm-temperate which gives you some choice. Your biggest problems will be wind damage and drying out due to wind, heat absorbtion by bricks/concrete and limited sized containers. Try to erect partitions or windbreaks if possible, provided you leave enough sun. Also try to have few large tubs rather than many small ones and remember to water religiously in hot or windy weather.

As for species try growing a cool season crop with low veges like mizuna and other smaller/dwarfed brassicas. Soft leafed greens like lettuce and spinach (if you can keep them mainly out of the wind) and tougher leafy greens like silver beet, kale etc if you cannot remedy the wind, these have a chance of going all year. Kale is a brassica too but I like it so it gets mentioned twice.

David

[stml]

David - Thanks very much for those tips. Sorry, should have said - I'

in London, England.

I think windbreaks are probably going to be necessary, and thanks fo the cool climate sugegstions. I like kale too so that's going on th list. Shall look into a range of pots too.

Still looking for a good book recommendation if anyone has one. I' aware of Google, but I've always found personal recommendations mor useful

-- stml

[Les]

Try "Plants in Pots" by Andi Clevely

Les

[Billy]

I don't recognize Les as a poster in this newsgroup. The book was published May 25, 2008. It hasn't been reviewed by anyone yet. Amazon tersely describes it as "a simple, practical guide to planting in pots." Curiously, Les didn't recommend the book. He didn't say he found it useful or well written. He only said, "try "Plants in Pots"". I'd wait for a warmer recommendation.

On the other hand. If you are looking for a mean/maudlin, pretentious, foul mouth, I think we have just the boy for you;-)

[Darlington]

You may want to check here: