c/balcony-veggie-gardens

My trip to a community garden downtown made me rethink balcony spacing

I visited the Hilltop Community Garden last Saturday and noticed how tightly packed their raised beds were compared to my balcony setup. Some gardeners there swear by close spacing for microclimates but others said it just attracts pests faster. Over in the corner I saw one guy who had tomato plants barely 8 inches apart and they were thriving. Meanwhile I leave a foot between my pepper plants on my 4x6 balcony and wonder if I'm wasting space. What do you all think, are we better off cramming plants closer together or giving them room to breathe?

0 comments

oliver523•18h ago

My neighbor said my tomato plants looked sad and she was right

I ran into my neighbor Linda last Tuesday while I was watering my balcony garden and she just flat out said my tomato plants looked sad. At first I got defensive thinking well they're on a balcony in Brooklyn what do you expect. But then she pointed out how my pots were way too small for the size of the plants and that I had them crammed too close together. I went inside and measured the pots and she was right, they were only 8 inches across for plants that needed at least 12. I ended up repotting three of them into bigger containers I found at a garage sale for $5 total and within two weeks the leaves perked up and I got my first little green fruit. Has anyone else had someone just call out your setup and it actually helped?

c/balcony-veggie-gardens

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