soil Balcony soil bed?

[Datil]

Hello,

this year i've expanded my grow list despite my very small growing space (a south facing balcony).
I'm happy enough with the results so far but having 20 or so containers in a small space is becoming really unpractical: pots are so close that every plants touch each other, watering is a mess. For the next year i'm thinking about switching to a single soil bed and keeping just a couple pots for other veggies. It's feasible in your opinion? I'll probably need to reduce the number of total plants to make it work. Also being on a balcony the bed need to be deep enough... Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

Datil

 

[LGHT]

I'm in the same boat. I have a downstairs patio (no dirt) and an upstairs balcony and do fine. Downstairs I put all my plants in 10 gallon pots on the wood fence. Upstairs I use few old earth boxes and a few home made earth boxes. Because I have such limited space is why I've done so much research and try and get the most I can out of every plant. I only have about 20 plants, but I can yield more fruit out of those 20 than I could have my first year with 100+ plants.

 

[Datil]

Hey LGHT,

thanks for the feedback.
You're right, with a solid setup and experience you can be happy even with limited space.
How big and deep are those earth boxes you're using? Do you put multiple plants per pot/box?

Cya

Datil

 

[LGHT]

Well I live in a cooler area and I can't recall what book, but it indicated that peppers on only enjoy the sun the soil should be fairly warm as well and they suggested an enclosed container for cooler climates. The earth box works great, but it's not big enough for peppers. The first box I setup had 2 pepper plants, but I felt they where limited because of the small space and I noticed the roots growing upward to the surface.

I found a you-tube video that used a 15gallon square tube, but I didn't want to make a bunch so I went with a 30 gallon and put 2 plants in each one. I also used PVC for the bottom riser instead of cups. Not sure what cups. For soil I used the Premier Brands bailed peat moss a few other additives and lime to adjust the PH. It's a great solution for the top patio since I don't need to fill the containers up often and when I do I don't have a lot of run off onto my downstairs patio which is a big plus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bhW5hf09ak

 

[Datil]

Thanks for the tips and the nice video. Probably i'd go with a longer wooden or plastic container but the pipe sounds good for air circulation and even watering. Surely i cant push the plants number too much if they're sharing soil and space.

Cya

Datil

 

[LGHT]

I wouldn't use wood as it will rot and leach. The point of the pipe isn't to provide air circulation it's a watering tube as your using a soiless medium that wics water from the bottom through the container. You put 2" PVC in each corner and use the containers lid with tiny holes to keep the peat moss of the bottom of the container where you have about 2" of water. If done correctly you can store about 5 gallons of water on the bottom and 25 gallons of soil making it a self contained watering container.