New to Gardening, design help needed

Hi all, first post. great info on this site. I havent had a garden since i was a kid, looks like i have a lot of reading to do here. Anyway, just built 2 planters on my sw facing balcony in brooklyn ny. the planters measure 84" x 22" and 43" x 26". I would like to grow couple different tomato plants, a cantelope plant, a brussel sprout plant, some carrots, cucumber and an eggplant. Do i have enough room?? would you guys arrange them in any specific order? i put a trellis against the wall for the creeping plants but besides that im stumped

I am totally impressed, but not much help for you. Best wishes for a great harvest!

Put the cuc on the trellis and the carrots near the bars (as they are short) but I have never grown an eggplant (and I would think they need a 4 foot space) or a cantalope (which I would give the same amount of space). Tomatoes depend on the type and I plant them at least 18" from each other. I had replied in a different post to yours about concern of the heat in the bars touching the leaves...

I love growing brussel sprouts. I plant them 18" to 24" apart and enjoy them into the fall in Canada. They taste great when picked here in the cool weather. They grow tall.

If you like radishes, they are good to plant with the cucs, sprouts and probably the eggplant and maybe the cantalope.

I think that you might have to be inventive here. Do you have room to hang stuff?

Upside down tomatoes work well and are kinda cool. Do cherry tomatoes that way. You can buy a hanger or make one. Youtube has videos on making them yourself or you can pick one up at "Canadian Tire" or equivelant for about $15 CAD.

Maybe you can get a compact cantalope variety and get a cage of some sort for it.

I am a (4 year) beginner myself... If I was planting there - I would do my tomatoes upside down, do the cucs and carrots, I wouldn't do both eggplant and cantalope because of space and maybe do some lettuce, some green onions, radishes, a bit of dill, some peas? - basically smaller area veggies....

How deep is your soil? Make sure you don't buy really long carrot seeds if your box isn't deep enough either (I have done this mistake!!!)

Good luck and good for you in your gardening on a balcony!
cinski

While I don't know for certainty, I suspect that you may encounter some problems with having the air conditioner exhaust so close to your garden. Perhaps placing some sort of deflector to protect your plants may be in order.

On the flip side, you can hose the water exhaust from the A/C into your garden for a nice drip system.

Thanks for the replies guys. The soil is 15" deep. I asked a local "expert" about the a/c vent and he said its not a problem, and to plant more heat loving veg's there (i think he named lettuce). i mistakingly thought that these dimensions would let me plant many plants but i guess i was wrong. oh well, there is a backyard i cant plant some stuff too but it is inconvenient to get there.

You can grow cantaloupe on a trellis (very strong one). If you can add chicken wire or a fence panel going across your railing, then it could grow up that. Lettuce does NOT like heat. It's a cool weather lover, so don't plant it near a heat producing unit.

I've also heard you can grow canteloupes on a trellis. Mine in Florida, right now is just starting to produce melons. It is on the ground, but it is taking up a space that is approx 10'x10'. It is working it's way in between the tomatoes and peppers, taking up the ground space that these aren't. I've some books on interplanting and there are more and more people planting in small spaces. I'd bet you can do it. One thing though, I got a Yellow Pear Tomato plant this year as my cherry tomato and the thing is HUGE!. I have to keep tying it up, the plant is bigger than my beefsteak plants. Just a tip.

It looks like a great planting design. Keep us posted. I'd love to see pics as they grow.

If you grow cantaloupes on a trellis, you need to support them with either a little panty hose hammock or with stretchable netting.

There are "compact" varieties of cantaloupe - this year I grew Minnesota Midget one per square foot with no problems. The vines only grow to about 3' and the fruits are softball sized - very nice for small spaces. The vines just grow over the sides of my raised beds. Carrots will like your deep soil! Eggplants are very easy to grow IMHO. I am growing Black Beautys again one per square foot. They are in soil rich with compost. I am averaging about 10 fruits per plant - yikes!!

Tomatoes also like deep soil as they have an extensive root system. You will need to cage or stake them for support. The wire cages aren't so great, especially for indeterminate varieties. I found that out the hard way... Concrete reinforcing wire makes great cages.

Plant taller crops on the north side of your beds to avoid shading shorter crops.

You have a lot of space in reality if you utilize it correctly. Check out www.squarefootgardening.com or look for the book "All New Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew in your local library. You can really grow a lot in a little space. I think some of his spacing could use some adjusting (experiment until you get it right!), but other than that there is some great stuff in the book.

Good luck & be sure and post some pics when you get the garden planted!

Kelly

Kelly thank u so much for your response. VERY helpful.

You're welcome! Let us know how it turns out...