Container Gardening on a Balcony: Weight, Wind and Building Rules
The checks that are special to a balcony: weight, building rules, wind, railing planters and water that drips on the neighbor below.
Getting Started
How Much Time Does Container Gardening Take?
A task by task look at where the time goes in a container garden: the first day, daily watering, feeding, support and harvest.
Container Gardening Facts: Pot Size, Sun, Water and Feeding
Minimum pot depth and daily sun for twelve crops, plus watering, potting mix and feeding.
How Much Money Can You Really Save With Container Gardening?
Herbs and greens pay back first, tomatoes and squash last. How to count your own costs and work out when a container garden starts saving money.
Container Gardening Mistakes: How to Tell What Went Wrong
Yellow leaves, wilting, flowers with no fruit, a white crust on the soil: find the symptom, the likely cause and the fix.
Container Gardening Trends: What Beginners Are Growing in Pots
Compact vegetables, self-watering pots, pollinator flowers and a few foliage plants: what beginners with a balcony or patio are putting in their containers.
Container Gardening Statistics for Beginners
What a first container garden asks of you, what goes wrong most often and what to grow first, using only figures that trace to a source you can open.
When to Start Seeds Indoors: Count Back From Your Last Frost
Count back from your average last frost date: peppers 8 to 10 weeks, tomatoes 5 to 8, cabbage family 4 to 7. How to find your date and build the calendar.
Common Houseplant Pests (and Natural Ways to Remove Them)
How to spot scale, mealybugs, aphids, spider mites, fungus gnats and thrips, and clear them with water, rubbing alcohol, soap and sticky traps.
Garden Soil vs. Potting Mix: Key Differences
Garden soil belongs in the ground and potting mix belongs in pots. What sets them apart and what goes wrong when you swap them.