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Progress 2

~ BalconyD8 ~ Leave a comment

And now for the second half of the monster progress post.

The view outside:

Planted two types of French marigold, Naughty and Red Marietta. Supposedly the nasty little aphids don't like them, but I wish they'd grow a bit faster. Repotted the lavenders and they've gone from grey to green and lo and behold, the first ever flower bud has appeared at last. Next to those are this year's purple and red carrots. Then the Swiss chard, some peaky coriander from Tesco, rock samphire that's just out from under a cloche, a cute little sage plant and some possibly sickly chives.
Planted two types of French marigold, Naughty and Red Marietta. Supposedly the aphids don’t like them, but I wish they’d grow a bit faster. Repotted the lavenders and they’ve gone from grey to green and lo and behold, the first ever flower bud has appeared at last. Next to those are this year’s purple and red carrots. Then the Swiss chard, some peaky coriander from Tesco, rock samphire that’s just out from under a cloche, a cute little sage plant and some possibly sickly chives.

 

The purple carrots we planted too late last year are having a bit of a renaissance after being dug up and spaced out a bit better in the grow bag, and the compost replaced with better soil. Don't think the roots have actually grown much. Have read that year old carrots aren't good for much except for seed. Which is fine.
The purple carrots we planted too late last year are having a bit of a renaissance after being dug up and spaced out a bit better in the grow bag, and the compost replaced with better soil. Don’t think the roots have actually grown much. Have read that year old carrots aren’t good for much except for seed. Which is fine.

 

The folks have several giant fennel bushes in their garden wilderness and because they spread ridiculously they gave me a couple that seemed to have died, but one has valiantly come back. (The other, alas, remains quite dead).
The folks have several giant fennel bushes in their garden wilderness and because they spread ridiculously they gave me a couple that seemed to have died, but one has valiantly come back. (The other, sadly, remains quite dead).

 

The corner of neglect. Luckily there's not a lot to be done with the potatoes we planted in Feb after cleaning out the failed bag from last year. They shot up very quickly and we managed to do the covering up with soil thing as they grew. Also in shot, some ugly brown storage containers and one of the balcony chairs that could really do with a facelift. A project for the coming months I think.
The corner of neglect. No amount of swanky filters can cover that up unfortunately. Luckily there’s not a lot to be done with the potatoes we planted in Feb after cleaning out the failed bag from last year. They shot up very quickly and we managed to do the covering up with soil thing as they grew. Also in shot, some ugly brown storage containers and one of the balcony chairs that could really do with a facelift. A project for the coming months I think.

 

The Swiss chards we planted in one of these troughs all died when they went outside so decided to space the onions out a bit better. Looking a bit weedy though, think it was a bit cold and stormy when they went outside a month ago and this past week have had too much sun and not enough water. Oops!
Almost didn’t include this, the shame. The Swiss chards we planted in one of these troughs all died when they went outside so decided to space the surviving onions out a bit better. Looking a bit weedy though, think it was a bit cold and stormy when they went outside a month ago and this past week have had too much sun and not enough water. 

 

But on a brighter note:

Spotted! Heron having a bit of an aul preen across the stream.
Spotted! Heron having a bit of an aul preen across the stream.

 

Found some cute little solar powered beach house lights at Homebase. Might put them outside to replace the broken ladybird and bee lights from last year.
Found some cute little solar powered beach house lights at Homebase. Might put them outside to replace the broken ladybird and bee lights from last year.

 

And finally:

Bonus! Recently found a collection of fossils I had when I was little. Seems a shame to have them tucked away in a box. Looking for ideas how to display them nicely...
Bonus! Not stuff with stems, but recently found my fossil collection from when I was little. Once knew what all these actually were. Seems a shame to have them tucked away in a box. Looking for ideas how to display them in our Ikea FABRIKÖR cabinet (can just see it above)

 

Signing off for now, coming up soon, unnecessary balcony cooking (and hopefully not setting fire to the potato plants) (strictly speaking, it’s diy camping stoves and we’re probably not going to cook anything, just attempt to boil some water perhaps to prove that we can, but to all intents and purposes – balcony cooking). Also, some ridiculous attempts at keeping plants alive and watered when you’re going away and are too wimpy to ask the neighbours.

Progress

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So it’s been a while and we’ve been a bit caught up with work, but have been slowly making progress with the balcony and window plants. We’ve taken the bamboo wigwams off the big aloes because they seem to have stabilised in their new ceramic pots. The bamboo is now supporting the two large tomato plants, although we might need something bigger for the black cherry tomato pretty soon.

But first, here are some pics from 11th April that we forgot to post:

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And here’s the view from today:

The baby Black Crim tomato plant is doing well.
The baby Black Crim tomato plant is doing well.

 

The smaller of the two tomato plants, which we thought were both black cherry, is in fact a surviving Black Crim! The flowers are bigger and look at this beast! Currently measures about 1 5/8" x 2" and has beautiful dark green stripey markings. Hopefully we'll get a few more...
The smaller of the two tomato plants, which we thought were both black cherry, is in fact a surviving Black Crim! The flowers are bigger and look at this beast! Currently measures about 1 5/8″ x 2″ and has beautiful dark green stripey markings. Hopefully we’ll get a few more…

 

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Black Crim flowers, lots of. We’ve been having a little fun trying to get them pollinated, but that’s for another post.

 

The black cherry tomato plant has started fruiting, SO EXCITING!! They’re not ready yet, but getting there. The folks say they’ve come quite early for the season and also that cherry tomatoes seem to grow easier than bigger varieties. Dizzy with success right now. Giving them a weekly feed of course, and watering nearly every day. The leaves wilt very quickly when they’re drying out, then perk up just as fast.

 

The first black cherry tomato starting to take on a rusty orange tone.
The first black cherry tomato starting to take on a rusty orange tone.

 

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Our previously poorly chilli plants (aphids last year!!) are perking up a bit with lots of new flowers and a couple of little chilli peppers. They’re still an odd shape but lots of little tiny shoots are sprouting out of the main stems so hopefully they’ll get a bit bushier and a little less lopsided.

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The original seeds seem to have been nicked from this. Got it in my stocking at Christmas. Stuck in some purple ruffles basil, Thai basil, sweet Genovese basil, cinnamon basil and coriander. All but one type are up as little seedlings with the coriander the quickest off the mark.
The original seeds seem to have been nicked from this. Got it in my stocking at Christmas. Stuck in some purple ruffles basil, Thai basil, sweet Genovese basil, cinnamon basil and coriander. All but one type are up as little seedlings with the coriander the quickest off the mark. Planted it up at 4 in the morning after a night out, so wasn’t in the best state to remember to mark which is which, will just have to wait and see.

 

The baby aloes don't seem to have rooted so well, but they're still alive. Trying to pawn them on unsuspecting house guests.
The baby aloes don’t seem to have rooted so well, but they’re still alive. Trying to pawn them on unsuspecting house guests.

 

At last! The first batch of Alpine strawberries didn't grow at all. Planted some more in this little pot and nothing happened for weeks and weeks so popped exactly 3 more seeds in and now bam we have 7!
At last! The first batch of Alpine strawberries didn’t grow at all. Planted some more in this little pot and nothing happened for weeks and weeks so popped exactly 3 more seeds in and now bam we have 7!

 

Our rescue poinsettia looking very beautiful with its red leaves
Our rescue poinsettia looking very beautiful with its red leaves

 

So this is turning into a monster post so gonna divide it into two. Coming up, the view from outside and some wildlife spotted from between the bars.

Aloes

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We mentioned our aloes in the last post, they appear to be on a bid for freedom from their red Ikea pots that seemed so very huge when we bought them to house our growing Medusas. We discovered the mammy plant abandoned on our balcony when we first arrived, toppled over in a cracked little pot and rolling slowly on its side in a most unnerving fashion in the breeze, along with a mouldering mop and a cigarette butt. She already had a little baby shoot that we later divided and planted up by itself, now rivaling mammy aloe in size.

Mammy aloe has pretty much been bullying our other plants lately, she’s reached right out of her pot and tried to bulldoze out over the lemons and the coffees and toppled herself over again, having sprouted lots of new little aloes in her wake. So it was definitely past time for a change.

Every now and then we’ll separate the offspring from the big aloes and our friends get new plants. It’s easy and a bit satisfying and involves plopping the plant out of its pot and easing the offshoots apart.

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aloe babies

We ended up with 17 little aloes, and normally we’d let them grow bigger before separating them, but there were so many this time and we’ve got them in glass jars of water on the windowsill for the moment. At this point we’ll probably have to cast the net further for potential aloe guardians.

Next up, a wigwam to support the giantess (should’ve gone for a bigger pot again?).

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Luckily we had also picked up some bamboo sticks to support the dwarf French beans we’re going to be planting in a month or so.

…

By the way, this is what happens when you over water your aloe. In other words, if you do not provide adequate instruction to significant other before leaving town for a few days.

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The leaves swell and droop, then sometimes they’ll fold downwards and eventually break off at the crease. You can see that the tip of one leaf on the left there has fallen victim. I suspect that secret watering may have been going on for some time in this case. Mammy aloe is also showing signs of over watering, especially in her lower leaves. We’re not too worried though, these are tough, resilient badboys, about the easiest plants to keep alive (even we’ve managed it, after all).

They’ve been with us the longest, cost us nothing and are the liveliest pot plants imaginable. But if you should wish to harvest a leaf, better ask nicely or your blossoming chilli plant nearby might just find itself with a broken stem.

A tour of the winter’s carnage

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We made a bit of a start at some damage control last week, but here’s a walk through what we’ve got to work with.

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The view from the inside
So the apartment is in a bit of a mess from the planting and re-potting that’s been happening. What we’ve got here are loads of coffee plants, our rescue poinsettia found by the bin in our basement, the red amaryllis that’s just shooting up, a couple of lemon plants, two jalapeño peppers with curled twisted leaves from last year’s aphid horror, our two tomato plants (black cherry) that survived the aphids and were brought in to the windowsill in a grow bag over winter, recently re-potted, a little tomato shoot in a big pink pot (black krim) and our Medusa looking aloes that we inherited when we moved in. There are a couple of black planters here too with Borettana onions and Swiss chard (bright lights).

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The perch

Moving outside you can see the winter winds did their worst and gave our little balcony a battering.image

The grow bag contains our purple carrots that were planted a bit too late last year, we probably should have thinned them out when they sprang to life. When we finally got the courage to clamber out a couple weeks ago, we picked off the thick blanket of dead leaves and found dozens of teeny tiny carrots fit for a doll’s house. But alive! (ish) We took out the biggest to eat (about 4″ or 5″) and spaced the others a bit better back in the bag. More on those another day.

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Not sure if the football boots are alive.

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Yes so we have our work cut out for us. The table and chairs were donated by a neighbour and we’ve vague intentions of doing them up and making them beautiful (not all that into the frosted chrome effect… Dermot Bannon would not approve…)

We had ladybird and bee solar lights that formerly adorned our tent at Electric Picnic but neither they nor the bamboo fencing withstood the gales. There’s an old grow bag with green goo inside that needs a good scrub that housed our potatoes last year. We made the mistake of planting them up then heading off to Glastonbury on what was a bit of a scorcher of a week. When we got back they had shot up about half a metre without giving us the chance to gradually top up with soil. Last week I finally dared to empty the bag and you can see the old stalks and some of the teeny potatoes that now have little stalks sitting in the red windowbox. I planted up a new green grow bag with the ones that looked most promising.

You’ll also see our gnarled lavender, probably dead or dying fennel herb, probably dead purple tiger chillies (were never very healthy but have valiantly stayed alive for 3 years), assortment of dead herbs (basil…something else…) some garlic planted before the winter that’s still got some green going on.

So that’s where we’re at, lots to clear up, order to restore.

Beginnings

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We are novices when it comes to gardening, and we don’t even actually have a garden. We decided to start this blog to document (and force us into action) our trials and errors in balcony gardening and other stuff along the way. Previous attempts at whipping our concrete ledge into shape have resulted in such highlights as stunted nonflowering lavender, dead herbs, potatoes that shot up but didn’t make more potatoes, an aphid infestation straight from a 1950s B-movie (after rescuing our tomato plants from a particularly stormy September and placing them in our lovely suntrap windows, we were surprised by the little black pellets gently dropping from the ceiling into our cornflakes)….we even managed to kill the nettles that we WANTED to grow!!

It being March, the sun cautiously peering out for more than a minute at a time, we finally summoned the courage to open the glass door and step once more onto the balcony.