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Balcony vegetable garden: tips for a successful vegetable garden
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Time to read 5 min
- WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF CREATING A GARDEN ON YOUR BALCONY?
- WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS FOR CREATING A GARDEN ON YOUR BALCONY?
- WHICH PLANTS TO CHOOSE FOR MY BALCONY GARDEN?
- HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR BALCONY GARDEN?
Candide said "You have to cultivate your garden". But what if you don't have a garden? At Urban Cuisine, we make sure to make this possible, no matter where you live. Find out here how to make your balcony your new vegetable garden.
What are the advantages of creating a vegetable garden on your balcony?
The food industry as it is organized today can sometimes seem too far removed from our needs, our expectations and our benchmarks. Between pesticides and genetic modifications, our confidence is frequently undermined and, despite all our good will, these doubts take place on our plates. But why let them interfere in our daily lives when the solution is at hand?
Choose to consume healthy products, which respect both nature and your health, from the most local agriculture possible: choose to cultivate your own indoor vegetable garden . And it doesn't matter if you don't have a garden! Urban Cuisine helps you to implement your balcony vegetable garden.
In addition to the benefits that this activity will bring to your diet, gardening will also prove to be a solid ally of your well-being. In this world in which everything is going too fast, give yourself this little break. Let your mind escape, dedicate a few minutes of your daily life to your vegetable garden, choose the varieties you want to grow, see your work bear fruit day after day, and be proud of what you are accomplishing .
Here they are, the 5 daily fruits and vegetables we crave.
What are the different solutions for creating a vegetable garden on your balcony?
Installing your balcony vegetable garden starts with choosing the right solution to optimize it. Adapt your pot according to the size of the roots of the product you plan to grow.
Opt for example for smarts pots or biopops containers, which you will find easily and at low cost. These geotextile containers are robust and available in several formats, suitable for all sizes of balconies. Their technology allows the plant to create a dense root system within the pot which increases the productivity of the plant. Unlike more conventional containers, smart pots and biopops allow air to circulate. The roots and microorganisms beneficial to your crop are thus protected from heat that could be harmful to them. However, these containers may reveal a lack of practicality in their use.
You can also opt for the solution of terracotta pots. Composed of natural material, these pots allow water and air to circulate. However, they are very sensitive to shocks and frost and will resist badly in the vegetable garden in winter .
To overcome these drawbacks, URBAN CUISINE offers you a variety of window boxes and cork pots . Ally of your gardening, cork is not only an ecological material, but also a powerful insulator. This range will therefore allow you to offer your plants an ideal environment for their development, and will offer the necessary balance to your balcony vegetable garden , without requiring a lot of maintenance!
Which plants to choose for my balcony vegetable garden?
To start your balcony vegetable garden, we recommend that you start with varieties of easily cultivable plants . Indeed, some plants grow more easily than others. Thus, even as a beginner, there is a wide variety of vegetables to grow .
The cherry tomato , for example. Recognized for being the friend of beginner gardeners, the cherry tomato has the advantage of growing quickly, without developing too much. This plant will require a stake to accompany it in its growth, but will be able to remain discreet on your balcony due to its low volume.
In this same variety of "fruit" vegetables, for more experienced gardeners, do not hesitate to add peppers to your vegetable patch. This vegetable, synonymous with sunshine and vitamins, will brighten up your vegetable garden and go perfectly with your tomato plants.
For smaller balconies, opt for leafy vegetables such as salads for example. Requiring very little space, this vegetable is very suitable for a balcony vegetable garden.
Finally, potted aromatic plants are obviously the ideal candidates for your small vegetable garden.
In addition to being very easy to grow, they require very little maintenance and will bring a very pleasant scent to your balcony and some of them, such as mint , help keep insects away.
Urban Cuisine offers Cultivation Clods labeled Organic Agriculture, perfectly suited to the creation of a balcony vegetable garden and which will provide you with excellent aromatic herbs . Very easy to use, they will quickly become essential.
To complete your vegetable garden, do not hesitate to add some flower seeds in dedicated pots . The presence of flowers in a vegetable garden will protect your vegetable plants from harmful insects and will attract pollinators. Benefit from fruits and vegetables of much better quality. In addition, the flowers in your vegetable garden will strengthen your vegetables and particularly your tomatoes against mildew, a very widespread disease linked to excessive watering of your plants. These plants will thus play an essential role in the maintenance of your balcony vegetable garden .
How to take care of your balcony vegetable garden?
A vegetable garden, whether in the garden, on the terrace or on the balcony, requires simple but rigorous maintenance.
To make your balcony vegetable garden a success, you will also need to select a quality potting soil. The ideal will be to use an organic soil. Although its price is somewhat higher than that of traditional potting soil, it will only contain organic fertilizer, to the delight of your vegetable garden. For your vegetable varieties , prefer a dedicated soil, rich in nutrients.
In addition, you will have to manage the play of shadows and lights that pass over your balcony. Make sure that your balcony vegetable garden has sufficient light, which is not excessive. 5 hours of light per day will be sufficient for the maintenance of your fruits and vegetables. Place your plants strategically so that those that require more light are located in the brightest area of your balcony, and place the less demanding varieties further in the shade of your terrace.
Contrary to popular belief, overloading your soil with seeds will not increase the efficiency of your plant. To obtain a perfect balance, we advise you to use Urban Cuisine Cultivation Clods , which already contain two seeds with the Organic Farming label. Less demanding in maintenance, these clods replace the bag of potting soil and thus guarantee the success of your balcony vegetable garden, even for novice gardeners who do not yet have a green thumb!
Finally, it is imperative that you always keep your soil or root ball at a reasonable level of humidity. Dose your watering, making sure not to drown your plants; your watering should simply prevent your plants from drying out. Gardening is all about balance and it is necessary to pay attention to each of these elements. For more details on maintaining your balcony vegetable garden, visit the URBAN CUISINE blog.