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How to grow your own edible garden

by Indira Naidoo | 18 May 2015

You don’t need a big backyard to grow luscious plants. Here, gardening expert and well-loved TV presenter Indira Naidoo shares how you can create your own edible balcony.

1 Analyse your balcony space

“Before you put in your plants, look at whether your balcony has a drain, whether it has a tap and which way it faces. Where does the light come from? And what wind conditions do you have? All of that will determine what you can grow.”

“I’m lucky that my balcony is north facing, which is ideal in the southern hemisphere. I get eight to 10 hours of direct sunlight on my balcony. If you face west, you’ll get late west afternoon sun but nothing in the morning. In the south, you’ll be mainly in the shade. All of that affects what you can grow, but it doesn’t mean you can’t grow anything.”

“Having a drain means you won’t upset your neighbours by flowing the water over the side and you won’t have to cart water around the balcony. I’ve helped people set up gardens where I’ve had a big bucket and cup on the balcony and used that as a hose mechanism and put cups of water on their plants.”

“Look at the weight your balcony can take. My balcony is built into my building, but some people have balconies that are attached to the outside facade, which means it may not be able to take heavy pots or potting mix.”

2 Choose the best plants for your space

“The best plants for balconies are herbs and all the greens like lettuce and spinach. Silverbeet is really hardy and grows quickly. It’s important to look for compact plants you can grow in small spaces that don’t sprawl and spread. Tomatoes are another great plant as well. They can grow quite easily in a pot. You can get up to 10 kilos of tomatoes just from an 80-centimetre-high pot, so you get good productivity if it’s in a sunny part of the balcony.”

3 Show some TLC

“Maintenance depends on how big your garden is.

If your garden is just a small 20-metre-balcony, your main job will be mostly watering, either with a hose or watering can. The other job is mixing a fortnightly liquid fertilizer, like seaweed or a fish emulsion, so that will give your plants extra nutrients as they grow.”

4 Check for pests

“Then obviously check for pests, like little caterpillars eggs under the leaves, or if you notice moths flying around, squash them so they don’t lay eggs. Obviously at the end of every season, some of that soil and the plant has to be pulled out.

“I have a compost bin on my balcony, so I can put my old plant materials straight into the worm farm, then use that on my plants.”

“Then you’ll need to do some pruning when old stems and leaves dry out. Make sure you tie up your vines and tomatoes so they’re growing up the stakes, too.”

“There will be little jobs to do all the time in the garden. But because it’s a small garden, it will be easy to take care of and low-maintenance.

I only spend 10 minutes a day in my garden!” ••