Vegetables I Can Grow in a Screened Balcony

Nightshade Family Plants

• Topping the list of gardening favorites are tomatoes, peppers and eggplant, which do well in containers. For tomatoes, choose determinate varieties, preferably those that don’t grow more than 4 feet tall. Most tomatoes and eggplants like space, so a 3- to 5-gallon container for each plant is ideal. Peppers can be grown in 12-inch flower pots, which hold about a gallon of soil. Grow cherry and grape tomatoes in 8-inch diameter pots or hanging baskets. Any of these plants benefit from a cage or stake set into the planter, with the exception of hanging basket tomatoes.

  An important factor for fruit-bearing vegetable plants is pollination. Screened-in areas usually shelter plants from natural pollinizers like wind, insects and birds. Hand-pollinate your plants by swabbing the inside of open blossoms with a dry, soft makeup brush. Alternately, rustle the stems gently but vigorously to create the vibration that winds would naturally create.

Cucurbitaceae Plants

• Curcubits are the family of plants that include cucumbers and squash, both summer and winter varieties, all of which have similar requirements. Provide at least 1 cubic foot of space per plant, and a cage or trellis for climbing support. They must be pollinated by hand if natural pollenizers are not available.

  Some winter squash varieties can get huge, requiring a lot of space to branch out and sturdy support and sling systems for the heavy fruit. If it is not convenient to grow 10-lb. pumpkins or 6-lb. butternut squash, look for varieties that produce fruits weighing less than 2 lbs., such as gourds, miniature pumpkins and small acorn squash varieties.

Beans and Peas

• Choose dwarf or bush varieties when growing beans or peas on a screened porch or balcony. They’re far more compact than regular varieties, which are normally high climbers. Provide a trellis or a cage, and hand pollination if there are no pollinizing agents present.
  Bean and pea plants only need 3 to 4 inches of spacing between plants. One 12-inch cube pot can hold nine plants.

Leafy Greens

• Healthy leafy greens are normally short, stocky and shallow-rooted, so they don’t need a lot of room. They’re ideally suited to 6-inch-deep window boxes or even shallow 10-gallon storage containers. Avoid plants that develop “heads” and go for loose-leaf varieties, such as Boston or bib lettuce, spinach, mustard greens, arugula and kale. Most of these require only around 4 inches of space per plant.

Roots

• As long as you have a deep enough container, root crops are not off-limits to balcony gardeners. Stick to short, fat carrots that don’t exceed 6 inches. A dozen carrots or radishes will fit into a milk crate lined with landscape fabric and filled with potting soil. Additionally, grow two turnip or beet plants in the same amount of space.