Apartment container gardens are great for those living in tight spaces. To make sure that these gardens fit into your busy schedule, we will need to toss out the traditional gardening methods for new innovative ideas. Here are 5 steps towards developing an easy, productive, and organic container garden that only takes 5 minutes a day…
Good Soil…
Soil is key to every great garden. Rarely are we given the perfect growing medium with the soil available to us in our yards. On my family farm, many of our container gardens use our own secret family soil recipe so that we can avoid the weeds and difficulties that come with amending your own dirt. There are also problems with buying just any potting mix at the store. Some of these mixes might be too heavy, not allow for enough drainage or have mystery fertilizers that can make your plant dependent on that company’s products. When filling your containers, I recommend following a trusted recipe for a sandy loam soil.
Plenty Of Sunlight…
The plants you would like to grow will vary in the amount of sunlight they need. This is the time to get creative. Your patio, front porch, rooftop, stairwell or driveway can be the perfect place for a container garden. You will need to find a spot that gets at least 4-8 hours of sunlight for your container garden. A rule of thumb is that colored vegetables, like tomatoes, will require lots of sunlight, think 10+ hours of sunlight. For broccoli, onions and other sulfurous vegetables they will need about 5 hours of sunlight. Leafy greens will take about 4-8 hours of sunlight depending on the variety.
Picking the Right Plants…
When choosing what to grow in your apartment garden, I would always recommend growing a leafy greens garden to get the feel for gardening in your space. These plants will have a quick harvest for you and can be more forgiving than trying to grow tomatoes. They will need less soil and care then all of the other vegetable options. I would recommend growing lettuces, baby kale, and spinach in these gardens, as well as experimenting with other leafy greens. Joi choi, shungiku, and malabar spinach are great greens to try out in your gardens…
Feeding Schedule…
When gardening indoors you will need to make sure to feed your container garden to keep the production up. A little compost can go a long way. Now, you will want to keep with organic mild composts. If you cannot make your own in a worm composter, I would recommend researching if there is any being made locally. You will be surprised by the urban farms around you that will be willing to sell compost! If you are unable to find some in this way, worm castings are another great option and can be bought at your local gardening store.
Connect With Other Container Gardeners…
As you begin your small container garden, you will want some support from other gardeners who have gone this route before. There is only so much that a google search can teach you. Join some facebook groups, or make friends with your local gardening center. A great way to get all of the answers in gardening you need is to enroll in a container garden course.
So, are you ready to begin your container garden? There are so many options that lay before you! For your garden I would recommend starting with some leafy greens. They are one of the easiest and most rewarding vegetables to start out with. Grab a container, buy a variety of seeds and set up a system that works for you.
Whatever you do, don’t feel intimidated, just follow these easy five steps towards success. Remember, that gardeners are friendly folk, and they are always willing to lend a helping hand. Make sure to ask lots of questions and enjoy every moment spent in your apartment garden.
Lynn Gillespie, @LivingFarms is passionate about helping students realize their dreams of productive, weed free and easy gardens. If YOU want to start growing a Leafy Greens Container Garden, sign up for the Leafy Greens Container Garden Course here.
If you like this idea, be sure to share it with your friends and inspire someone you know. Anything becomes possible with just a little inspiration…
