When warm spring weather comes and the risk of frosts is over, we can startplanting balcony plantsWe start with choosing the right plants that will look good on our balcony, buying soil and preparing boxes for planting plants. Seehow to choose balcony plantsand also how to performplanting balcony plantsfor boxes or pots.
Planting balcony plants
What plants to plant on the balcony
The most important thing for the success of the whole project is the correctselection of balcony plants We should be guided not only by the aesthetics of the composition, but also by choosing plants appropriate to the conditions that we can provide them. We can easily provide plants with appropriate soil conditions by purchasing appropriate soil for boxes, fertilizing and watering depending on the needs of plants, remembering only not to plant plants with significantly different soil needs in one box.
Plants should be selected depending on the light conditions on our balcony or terrace. Species such as geraniums, petunia and bidens are suitable for highly sunlit places with a southern exposure. Marigolds and pansies will like slightly lighter sunlight. Impatiens are perfect for shaded places.
Apart from annual plants and perennials, we can also grow shrubs on balconies and terraces. If we choose evergreen shrubs or conifers, they will decorate our balcony not only in the growing season but also in winter.It is important, however, to choose species and varieties that are frost-resistant (so that they can spend the winter on the balcony) and that grow slowly, grow small or tolerate pruning that corrects the growth of the plant. If you decide to grow plants all year round on the balcony, it will be necessary to protect the plants from frost and wind during the winter period.
Selection of balcony pots and boxes
If we have already selectedbalcony plants , now let's consider the selection of appropriate boxes. We have a choice of wooden, clay or plastic pots. Wooden boxes made of oak, pine or spruce look the most natural. The outside of the wooden box should be covered with an impregnating agent that is harmless to plants, and lined with a perforated foil on the inside. Clay boxes and containers also look beautiful. Unfortunately, however, they are heavy and break easily, which is why we advise against placing them on balconies or window sills.Plastic boxes are the most practical, they are light and unbreakable. Perhaps they are not as decorative as clay, natural or wooden boxes, but they are available in a wide range of colors and shapes that we can choose depending on our needs.
Planting balcony plants
Planting balcony plantsstarts with pouring a layer of drainage on the bottom of the box or pot. For this purpose, we can add some gravel, small pebbles or old crushed pots. The best material for drainage, however, will be expanded clay, which has a positive effect on the regulation of water management - it absorbs excess water and gives it back when the soil is dry. Thanks to the drainage, the soil in the container will not be too compacted and it will be easier for the plants to breathe.
Pour soil onto the drainage layer. A common mistake is to use last year's soil, in which there may be persistent forms of pests and spores of fungal diseases.So adding fertilizer will not solve the problem. It is worth buying fresh soil, which will be rich in nutrients necessary for plants to grow beautifully. Spread the soil evenly, filling the box halfway with it. If there are lumps in the ground, it is a good idea to crush them. Although it is not shown in the photos, remember to put on protective gloves on your hands before doing this.
Flower pots and balcony boxesare a very limited store of water and nutrients. From small boxes, water evaporates quickly, and the roots cannot look for water reserves in the deeper layers of the soil. Their living space is limited to the size of the pot in which the plant grows. As a result, some balcony flowers, such as surfinie, need to be watered even twice a day in hot weather. That is why it is worth mixing the soil that we fill the pots with a hydrogel, i.e. a substance that stores water in the soil. Hydrogel added to the soil in the pots will allow you to reduce the frequency of watering several times and save even more than 70% of water used for watering.Plants with constant access to moisture will grow more abundantly and bloom beautifully.
An even better choice is adding TerraCottem to the soilIn addition to the above-mentioned hydrogel, it also contains a starting dose of fertilizer and fragments of volcanic rock that will loosen the soil and prevent it from clumping.TerraCottem is therefore a complete soil additive for balcony plants , thanks to which we obtain the best quality substrate.
Now we can start placing the plants. The seedlings will be easier to remove from the pots in which we bought them, after watering them first. Each pot with a seedling should be turned upside down and hold the plant while extending the roots.
When planting balcony plants , place them in a box, starting with the largest ones. We should not plant them too densely. Up to 80 cm of the box should be planted no more than 3 seedlings of strongly growing species, such as surfinia or clams.Smaller plants, such as verbena or impatiens, we can put more in the same box - up to 6 pieces. Slightly shovel the soil away and place the seedling so that its neck is approximately 1 cm below the edge of the box. Then place the remaining plants and sprinkle the soil, which you slightly knead, especially along the sides of the container and in its corners. After completing and leveling the substrate layer, water the plants abundantly. Now the box is ready to be placed on the windowsill, balcony railing or on the terrace. All we have to do is enjoy our eyes and properlycare for balcony plantsand feed them with fertilizers to make them lush:)
Finally, I invite you to watch the movie in which I show how I planted plants in a box on the balcony.
