Introduction to Balcony Gardening Tips For Beginners In India
Here, Today we are going to know about Balcony gardening. There are so many good reasons to grow plants on the Balcony. Maybe you want to tend to food and flowers, but you don’t have a garden of your own. So Balcony gardening is the best choice to tend to your food and flowers. Even you can have a relaxing time if you have your own. You can even have fresh and purified air from your Balcony plants.
A Step-By-Step Guide to Balcony Gardening Tips for Beginners
There are many other advantages like Cost-Effective, privacy, direction, ease of management, and many others.
Advantages of Having a Balcony Garden
People who have their own House, they can design in their way, for reduction of noise and pollutants, Balcony gardening even can purify the air. And you can even decorate with new ideas like;
- Connection with Nature – Balcony gardens are for those who want the feel of nature in their home. Vertical space is much easier to plant more varieties and you can have more connections with nature. You can enjoy every plant in a vertical space.
- Healthy living – A Balcony garden acts as a filter for the life and polluted air entering the apartment and encourages the flow of fresh air which benefits healthy living.
- Fresh produce – Growing a Balcony garden will provide access to fresh produce even if it is in small quantities. It can be the go-to source for herbs and vegetables and flowers etc.
- For people, who choose gardening as their favorite hobby, a Balcony garden is the ideal and best option to encourage their green thumb.
Important Points of Balcony Gardening Tips For Beginners
- Space or place Planning – Before you start to stack your flower pots on the Balcony, you have to understand that a Balcony garden design is an amazing art.
- Atmospheric or climatic Conditions – The temperature and humidity conditions vary from one place to another place. So when you buy your plants, make sure that they are suitable to grow in your particular Balcony environment.
- Type of Plant and Soil they require – Some vegetables and flowers grow well only in particular soils only. Make sure that you need to match the plant and soil correctly before placing it in the container.
- Water outlet – Some plants are always quite ‘thirsty’. So if your Balcony does not have a continuous water supply you better skip such varieties of plants. If you also travel a lot, leaving your plants alone for days long, then you might try planting ‘dry’ varieties.
- Make sure that how much amount you are going to spend in a Balcony garden?
Balcony Gardening Tips For Beginners in India
- Cut the top ends of the plants every 10 to 15 days for excellent growth.
- Use clay pots because they have the natural property of keeping the soil cool for a long time.
- You need to create a roof or small shade plastic umbrella as a precautionary measure because excess sunlight is might be harmful to some delicate plants.
- Keep your pots on a saucer with colorful small pebbles in it. It increases the shelf life of a clay pot. And attaches beauty to it.
- Planting the seeds as per the depth they require is the most important thing.
- Reasonable water is recommended. Hence, excessive water might decay plants.
- Tall plants should reside towards the end wall and shorter plants in the front wall.
These all can grow in containers, as container gardening is becoming quite popular in Balcony gardening nowadays.
Vegetables Suitable for Balcony Garden and Balcony Gardening Tips For Beginners
If you are a first-timer, then start with some easy growing plants like Tomatoes
- Peppers
- Spinach
- Radish
- Beans
You need to make sure of using the best soil and perfect containers. For usability purposes, you need to select containers, propagation trays to propagate, plastic window boxes in which plants can grow easily and beautifully. Large size containers are used for tomato and beans. Small size is used for pepper and cherry tomatoes. Make sure that watering them once a day is necessary.
Vegetable plants need loose, drained, and nutritious soil. Water absorbing crystals like Hydro gel crystals are very useful for this gardening to save time and water. Generally, vegetables grow at a pH level of 6-7. These Seedlings process in vegetable plants can be grown in a seed tray or small container to save space, and then later they can be transplanted in bigger containers.
Taking care is the most important thing to do, water them when they are needed. Watering them in the night may cause fungal diseases and then attracts the pests.
How to Grow Flowers in Balcony and Flowers Suitable For Balcony Garden and Balcony Gardening Tips For Beginners
- Begonias
- Rose
- Jasmine
- Pansy
- Petunia
If you are recently started, just begin with few plants. You need to check the climate, sun exposure, and watering. You need to use the best soil. Medium size containers are enough for small flower plants. Use a perfect fertilizer. Do not pour water at a particular schedule. You need to water them when they are required. If there is essential sunlight you need not pour water in the rainy season
Taking care is the most important thing to be a good plant. Use hang pots to save space. Use Nitrogen and potash for the development of healthy roots.
How to Grow Herbs in Balcony and Herbs Suitable For Balcony Garden and Balcony Gardening Tips For Beginners
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The best thing about herbs, they are easy to grow. You can grow any herb. However, it depends on sunlight, weather, and space.
- Basil
- Fennel
- Dill
- Mint
- Oregano
- Chives.
Herbs grow in pots easily and plastic bottles too. Most of the herbs grow in sunlight more. Herbs require 4 to 6 hours of sunlight per day. Herbs can be grown from seed which means that you can purchase seed packets at the store nearby you. Growing herbs from seed can be a funny and easy thing to do, you will want to purchase a seed starter pack to hold enough moisture to start propagation on your Balcony. Herbs that are growing in pots are more sensitive to dry. The best part about growing herbs is you don’t have to fertilize them much. Fertilizing them 2-3 times a year will be more than enough. Make sure that the herbs have reached a height of 4-6 inches before you start to harvest them. And also, pinch off the top set of leaves to encourage lateral growth.
Water them perfectly and maintain them clean. Check the soil regularly to make sure that herbs don’t dry out and even consider the weather condition to see if they got their daily requirement of water from a passing storm. If the edges of the herb plant begin to brown or wilt, then you will know that you need to water more and supply them more water.
One of the toughest parts of maintaining an herb in the garden is knowing how to and when to harvest the herb perfectly. Not all herbs are the same when it comes to harvesting methods. Harvesting is different for particular herbs. . For example, if you are growing basil, be sure to snip the leaves from the top of the plant instead of the bottom of the plant. And herb plant-like oregano and mint can be easily harvested by simply pinching off the leaves anywhere on the plant. Herbs like Chives can be directly cut down to the soil.
Growing an herb in the Balcony garden is a great way to use your outdoor space. It will brighten your Balcony amazingly and provide you with beauty as well as fresh flavors to use in your cooking as well.
Small Apartment Balcony Gardening Tips for Beginners
There are many tips for gardening Balcony in small apartments. Some of them are below
- Observe the natural conditions of the Balcony.
- Choose the correct plants.
- Know the plants for low balconies and windy balconies.
When there is low sunlight then that is known as low balconies. When a Balcony is located in a place with strong winds is known as windy balconies.
- For tiny apartment Balcony garden ideas, consider a vertical garden to save space. Allotting a vertical garden system with drip irrigation makes this a low-maintenance option for a garden on the Balcony.
- For a small and tiny Balcony, instead of large planters that take up a lot of space, using tiny pots that help to grow more species. They can be arranged on a table or shelf for good looking.
- A narrow Balcony that only has enough space for placing a flowering plant on top of a table refreshes the area and adds beauty to it.
- By growing plants of different heights can bring an interesting look to a Balcony garden, making it almost appear like a garden in the backyard.
- Another incredible idea for Balcony gardening is keeping the Balcony looking spacious and neat to grow plants in planters that run along the border of the Balcony.
Suitable Plants for Balcony Gardening
The balcony garden is the most beautiful and relaxing place to spend time with your loved ones. You can grow conifers, herbs, vegetables, creepers, shrubs, and many more. Flowering plants, as well as unique foliage plants, add to the beauty of the Balcony?
1) Marigold is the best plant to grow as it requires low maintenance. It is a common flowering plant. This is used in a warm climate.
2) Begonias are gorgeous flowers and can grow in small pots as well.
3) Pansy is one of the best Balcony garden plants you can grow it in a small pot or you can even grow it in a small wooden box to add more attraction to the house. It comes with a unique fragrance and multiple colors and can be blended with any kind of color.
4) Aloe Vera is a famous plant for its medicinal value that heals, rejuvenates, and soothes the skin and whole body. This plant has the best fleshy, thick, and serrated edges that are best suited for indoor growth as it is resistant to insects. So, you need not waste your time getting rid of those insects from leaves. For any skin ailments, burns, and cuts aloe Vera is the best remedy.
5) No Balcony is complete without these wonderful creeping roses. They provide a different landscape. They can grow alongside your Balcony or they can grow on any support that you provide them for their growth. They are rich in a study in beauty in Balcony; creeping roses are the advent of modern beautiful houses. They are also available in multiple colors and thus can be used as per the color requirement of house owners on their Balcony.
6) The money plant is an attractive plant with small, round, and flat leaves. It needs very little maintenance. There are several myths attached to this money plant. The most common myth is that if this plant grows well there can never be a crisis of money in that house. And it removes all the gaseous pollutants and hence preferred on the Balcony.
7) Morning glory is a Fast-growing vine, which grows up to 4 meters long. It requires strong support and frequent watering. Flowers open only in the sun in the morning.
8) Since ancient years Indian Basil is grown in India. Indians possess religious and cultural attachment towards this basil plant. It is an excellent mosquito repellent and it has medicinal properties. Most Southeast Asian and In Italian cuisines use Basil as a cooking herb. At the top of the plant, flower buds become weak, and then old leaves should be pinched often. This is the most commonly used Balcony plant in the Indian community.
9) Jade is a plant with low maintenance which can be easily grown in India. It is also known as a friendship tree, lucky plant, etc. which brings luck to its owners.
10) Snake plant is very effective in purifying the air and it needs very low maintenance. This snake plant is most commonly known as “Mother in law’s tongue”.
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