Balcony Gardening in Containers: Compost Everything Edition

Ryan writes about his balcony garden and how it benefitted from the composting methods in Compost Everything:

Read 94.2% of your books and love your blog and media.  I grow in apartments (containers) in 7b NC.  I’ve adapted what I learned over 3 years and figured I’d share my version of the container melon pit!

I struggle with heat in NC from direct sun on containers and evaporation, but humidity is a problem here as well so I use grow bags.  I line them with cardboard for water retention and a heat shield (photo one) and fill the bottom few inches with plant debris for drainage/I have to get rid of it somehow.

I then fill the bottom 1/3-1/2 with kind of finished compost and soil layers (photo 2). 

I live in a balcony and like to compost as much as possible so I keep a 5 gallon bucket lukewarm composter churning.  This idea is from your melon pit concept!  I needed to use this not hot compost given my space constraints.

Then I top with soil and 2-3 inches of mulch to help with water retention (photo 3/4)!

And mushrooms grow sometimes which is cool.  Much of this breaks down over the season it’s fun to watch the soil change.  I will remulch as needed.

This method helped me grow monster tomato plants last year (>7’ tall) and support herbs or flowers in the pots as well.  The cardboard will be 90% gone by the end of summer, it gets inundated with roots.

Hopefully you enjoyed seeing these photos!  You’re a big inspiration.  Last one is a balcony shot from last year in the early summer of my old 3rd floor place in 2021.  Watermelons and cucumbers eventually took over the banisters :).

Thank you, Ryan – that is a beautiful garden.

I love the escaping tomatoes on the left.

This is definitely a “grow where you’re planted” situation. For a while I had a porch garden but it wasn’t nearly as beautiful as this one. Renting can be tough on gardens, but Ryan has made the best of it.

We’ve used a similar container method for pots – especially bigger pots – for a long time. Stuff material in the bottom, then put some soil over it.  Plants love it!

I’ve written more on balcony gardening here.

And you can see a larger-scale composting in containers method in this video:

Wherever you live, you’ll find more compost ideas in Compost Everything: The Good Guide to Extreme Composting.

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