What can I grow successfully

Question: Hello I love on west University parkwy Canterbury area. My balcony faces the back ( I believe its Northwest facing) What can I successfully grow on my balcony and when? Ive included a video of my balcony and picture

responder: The Question Asker Replied March 04, 2023, 2:07 PM EST
response: Hi I live in Baltimore City Canterbury neighborhood. I believe my balcony is Northwest facing. Its on the back of my bldg.  What can I grow and when successfully?

responder: Answered by the Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC), University of Maryland Extension. For timely gardening information and tips, subscribe to our Maryland Grows blog and quarterly newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Replied March 06, 2023, 4:46 PM EST
response: A few cool-season leafy greens can be grown in part shade for the spring, summer, and autumn, but few would survive the winter in containers because of the exposure to freezing weather (roots in pots are much less insulated from temperature extremes than roots in the ground). Candidates to try include arugula, corn salad (mâche), kale, spinach, and the more cold-hardy varieties of lettuce. (There is information about varieties of lettuce for overwintering and the spacing of plants on our Growing Lettuce page. In the garden these would usually be allowed to overwinter and resume growth to mature in spring. They won't actively grow much during winter since we have too few hours of daylight and the temperatures are too cold.) Putting the pots in a tight cluster and perhaps covering them with a makeshift cold frame (somewhat like an unheated greenhouse that traps the sun's mild warmth and still gives the plants light) might help to buffer them from the worst of the cold until our temperatures moderate more.  A northeastern exposure is challenging to work with in terms of growing food plants since many need lots of direct sun to thrive and produce a decent harvest. Leafy greens are among those that tolerate less light since they don't have to flower and set fruit, but their productivity will decrease and/or growth will be slower. Some herbs can be grown in this limited-sun light, but even these really need 6-8 hours or more of direct sun to truly thrive. Parsley, thyme, basil, mint, chives, and a few others may do alright, though not all of these are winter-hardy so would need replanting each spring. You can use our Vegetable Planting Calendar for guidance as to when to start seeds of different vegetable crops.  If you were referring to decorative plant options, then there are several candidates for part shade, like houseplants used as annuals and annual flowers or foliage plants like Torenia, Caladium, various Begonias, Impatiens, Fuchsia, and shade-tolerant Coleus. These can't go outdoors until around late April or early May when the overnight temperatures are not at risk of causing frost damage for this chill-sensitive group of plants.  Miri

responder: The Question Asker Replied March 07, 2023, 6:13 AM EST
response: Thank you. What containers and size should I use for the greens ? Where on my balcony shd I place them and what do I need in terms of soil, supplement’s etc? How do I know when and how much to water and when to harvest?Thank you for answering my questions. I appreciate your timeOn Mon, Mar 6, 2023 at 4:46 PM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:

responder: Answered by the Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC), University of Maryland Extension. For timely gardening information and tips, subscribe to our Maryland Grows blog and quarterly newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Replied March 07, 2023, 12:27 PM EST
response: Placement may depend on the space available and how large the container is, but the ideal is to give the plants as much direct sun as is possible. If the pots are liftable or placed atop rolling casters, then you might be able to shift them around a little every week or so to share limited sunlight if only one spot gets more sun than the rest. Larger containers will retain moisture during hot weather for longer and will give the roots more room to grow and access nutrients, so in general larger pots are better than smaller pots. (Make sure any size of pot has good drainage, though, with at least one drain hole and nothing obstructing it. Do not use stones in the bottom of a pot for drainage because they actually worsen drainage.)  Our Containers for Growing Vegetables page provides information on container size for different vegetable and herb types. It's perfectly fine to combine some like leafy greens and herbs in shared containers as long as the container is large enough to accommodate their growth with minimal crowding.  As far as a potting mix, that is also customizable, but avoid mixes intended for in-ground use (like "garden soil" versus "potting soil") because they will hold too much moisture. Potting mixes usually contain mixtures of either peat moss or coconut coir, perlite, vermiculite, and possibly horticultural charcoal, rice hulls, "forest products" (bark bits), and other ingredients to boost drainage. Earthworm castings or compost can be good additives to help retain moisture and nutrients without being too rich, but don't use them as a high percentage of the overall mix because then the containers might stay too soggy or have a surplus of nutrients. Explore the links at the bottom of the Containers for Growing Vegetables page for much more information about soils, plant maintenance, and other aspects of growing veggies in pots.  Watering generally follows the guideline of feeling the soil with a finger and watering only when the container is becoming somewhat dry an inch or more down into the soil. (Larger pots should be probed to a greater depth than smaller pots because larger pots are easy to over-water since they dry out more slowly.) How quickly a pot dries to this point depends on a lot of factors, but as you may expect, as we move into summer the watering frequency (or at the very least, how often the pots are checked) will increase markedly compared with spring.  Harvest information will depend on what varieties of each vegetable you are growing. Either the plant tag or seed packet should have guidance on how long after planting (either planting the already-started plant or after sowing the seeds) the plant should be expected to reach harvest size. This is usually listed in days, like "days to harvest: 60". Plants receiving less than ideal conditions in terms of sunlight may take a bit longer to reach the desired size, and might be floppier or less colorful than their counterparts growing in full sun. You can also explore our various vegetable pages to get a sense of typical harvest times. For example, our leafy greens page mentions 40-80 days to maturity (harvest size) when grown from seed. The wide range of time in this case is because the page lumps-together different leafy greens types, plus differences from one variety to another also impacts its maturation speed.  Miri

responder: The Question Asker Replied March 07, 2023, 12:30 PM EST
response: This is great, thank you so much!On Tue, Mar 7, 2023 at 12:27 PM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:

responder: Answered by the Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC), University of Maryland Extension. For timely gardening information and tips, subscribe to our Maryland Grows blog and quarterly newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Replied March 07, 2023, 12:34 PM EST
response: You're welcome!

responder: The Question Asker Replied March 07, 2023, 12:36 PM EST
response: Thank you. Very last question, I promise.Are these big enough? I know I most likely have to keep them on the table and push closer to balcony railing. I dont think any sun hits the floor of the balconyOn Tue, Mar 7, 2023 at 12:27 PM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:

responder: Answered by the Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC), University of Maryland Extension. For timely gardening information and tips, subscribe to our Maryland Grows blog and quarterly newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Replied March 07, 2023, 12:41 PM EST
response: It's hard to judge exact size in photos, but they appear to be about a 1-gallon capacity or in some cases perhaps larger (maybe 2-gallon). There will be a trade-off between risking storm damage if the containers blow off a table (and their soil will stay colder too above the floor like that, which might slow growth) and keeping them elevated if that's the only way they receive some sun. There's no one right answer here, so you may have to experiment or take chances that either situation has its challenges or potential failures. Growing edible plants and having them thrive without a good amount of sun is very hard to do, so we sympathize with any frustrations this causes.  Miri

responder: The Question Asker Replied March 07, 2023, 1:21 PM EST
response: Thank you so much for the info!On Tue, Mar 7, 2023 at 12:41 PM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:

responder: Answered by the Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC), University of Maryland Extension. For timely gardening information and tips, subscribe to our Maryland Grows blog and quarterly newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Replied March 07, 2023, 1:24 PM EST
response: You're welcome!