total newbie needing advise
steevjpRkG-SgIs
Posts: 11
Hi All, my missus is encouraging me to get a hobby and so I thought a bit of light gardening may be a good option. We don’t have a garden but we do have a couple large balconies where we (by we I mean she) has pots of various sizes, hanging baskets, some troughs that hang on the side of the balcony “fence” etc. and of course we have window sills.
I thought initially I would try my hand at some herbs just to see how it goes. I will be off to buy some seeds tomorrow, however we were at a garden centre today where she loaded up on plants and other gardening stuff and I noticed that there was a gazillion different types of soil/compost etc.
Now to my untrained eye, all I really saw was different
colour packaging and slightly different prices, but looking the website of the
place we went to there are 24 different brands/types of compost. So my initial
question is does it REALLY matter which we use, there was one for young plants,
one for mature plants which I assume you would need to repot into different
soil at some point. Or would a multipurpose do.
I am not looking to get fancy here, and certainly don’t want to be “all the
gear and no idea” soi any advice is appreciated. Hopefully this is in the right section
Posts
Parsley can be a bit tricky to germinate, can take a while. Basil is quite easy so long as it is kept warm, then it can go on the kitchen windowsill.
Are there any allotments near you? Once you get stuck in you could become an addict!
The best tip I can give you about it is - sow fairly thickly in small pots or trays, and you can use the trays you can buy fruit or meat in, you don't need to buy them. Just make sure you have holes in the bottom, and another tray under them to prevent your windowsill getting soaked when you water. Your wife might not be too happy if you do that! When they're ready to move into bigger pots of their own, divide them into clumps of seedlings, don't try and prick them out individually as you would with most seedlings.
I've just done some, and when they're growing well, I'll divide the pots into about two or three clumps and they'll go into 3 inch pots of their own. It helps to cover the pots/trays until the seed germinates and appears, then take the lids off. I use little plastic covers that I've kept from yogurt or similar. Once the temps warm up more, you can sow without lids, as it'll be warm enough for that.
If you need help about sowing seed, there's several threads just now, as it's that time of year.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
For simplicity I would buy an every day multipurpose compost that is on special offer. It is up to your conscience whether you want something that is peat free - these composts can be very variable in quality and some are poor.
Buy large hanging baskets if you have the space and the means of supporting their considerable weight. They’ll dry out less rapidly than small baskets but, if you do not intend to leave them unattended for more than a day or two, this is not really an issue.
Do you use a lot of fresh herbs in your cooking? It is an obvious point but in our household a single pot of basil bought from the supermarket and left on the windowsill is adequate for our needs. Put it outside and it would be devoured by slugs. When I watch Gardeners’ World I am surprised by the quantity of vegetables Monty plants and wonder if they all get eaten. When you are making your choice of which vegetables to grow think hard about what you really enjoy and concentrate on things that expensive or difficult to source in supermarkets. In my opinion there is not much sense in growing carrots or onions, for example, when they can be bought for a pittance. I know people claim home grown produce is tastier but I wonder if there is a self-fulfilling prophecy at work here. I would like to see some results from blind tastings.
When it comes to flowers, especially in the compact space of a balcony, give much thought to colour schemes. My mother used to be a big fan of the nice-splash-of-colour philosophy. I thought it looked like the dog’s breakfast. Oddly, when it came to her own clothes, she never thought orange and fuchsia pink combined well. Rather than growing from seeds, you might care to start with plug plants and grow those on before planting out.