5 Tips for Growing a Balcony Garden

If you live in an apartment, like me, it can be hard to start gardening for lack of space, light limits and cleanliness. But that doesn't mean it's impossible!

With my current apartment, I have a medium-sized balcony with about 13ish different types of plants...and counting. Now that I've gotten into it, I often find myself driving to Home Depot and loading up. I guess there are worse things to obsessively buy, right? I have more inside the house, primarily snake plants and air plants, because those need less water and light.

My gardening has been very trial and error so far, but through the years, I've learned a few key things that can help anybody start a little garden with whatever space they have!

Buy plants based on how much light your space gets, where you can feasibly keep them, AND your level of commitment.

Some plants need full sunlight, while others prefer shade. If your apartment only gets a little bit of sun, you'll need to buy plants that can survive in those conditions. You should also think about the spaces you'll be keeping these plants. If it's a house plant, it will do better indoors. But some plants are hardy enough to live on a porch or balcony. Most importantly, before you buy a fancy plant, you should research how much care it really needs. Some plants, like snake and air plants, only need to be watered or misted a few times a month. But others not only need constant watering, they might also need fertilizing or special kinds of watering. (example: African violets should be watered from below only)

Always buy new pots for plants.

Most of the time, the plants you buy come in black, plastic pots that they grew in. They've usually outgrown the pot by this point and have completely "rooted" through the pot. This means that the roots now take up the entire pot and there is no extra soil left to grow through. Plants in this shape need to be re-potted fairly soon if you want them to continue to grow and flourish. 9 times out of 10, if a plant isn't doing well, it's because it needs a new pot.

Don't over water your plants.

Probably the thing I struggle with the most, but it's no good. Over-watering plants can harm the plant just as much as under-watering, and it can invite fungus gnats, which thrive in damp soil. Only water when you notice the soil is completely dry.

Don't be afraid to try smaller plants and creative types of containers!

If you're not ready to go for a big old fern or something high-maintenance like a fiddle-leaf fig, there is no shame in starting out with succulents. Succulents come in so many varieties and they are hard to kill. Best of all, succulents can fit into a variety of creative containers. Check out below the ceramic frog I painted and used for a makeshift pot! Hot tip: If you have a succulent and a pot in mind but the succulent is too big for said pot, you can simply divide the succulent until you have a part small enough to fit the pot. Easy peasy.

Lastly, keep your pets in mind!

I feel like this one is a no-brainer but some plants are toxic to cats and dogs and other critters. You'll want to make sure that if you do buy toxic plants, that you keep them in places that are unreachable to your furry friends.

Happy gardening!