I love the arch so much. What a wonderful garden you have.

Hello Lally! I’m pleased to report that my peppers are mostly going strong, and wife was able to make the most delicious enchilada sauce with poblanos, cayennes, and anaheims mixed in. It was so rewarding to get to eat something made from scratch that was covered in sauce (also made from scratch!) from stuff I grew myself! Unfortunately, some have succumbed to what appears to be blossom end rot, but I’ve saved a lot of egg shells and am going to get to work on that. Even more unfortunate, my bell pepper plant seems to have shirked its mortal coil. I’m not sure if it was due to the heat or lack of watering, but I came out one day and it was gone. Pour one out for my bell pepper, that thing lived a few years and survived a move. Life is but a dream, we shall have more peppers <3

I’m not 100% what’s going on with my pumpkins, but the remaining two that haven’t succumbed to the heat are doing great. One has really taken off and is making friends with my asparagus fern I saved from Kroger last year. However, it seems that with both, the male flowers open up but I never see the female do her thing, so I haven’t been able to pollinate them. But, like I say every time I post these updates, I’m just along for the ride and am having fun on my balcony. But a teeny pumpkin would be neat!

Herbs are looking pretty good! My two potted mint plants are still kicking ass, though that’s not really anything to shake a stick at lol they grow like weeds. The oregano got a little heat damaged, but it’s not in direct sunlight for very long now that I’ve moved it. Rosemary’s looking good too, nothing much to say there. Can’t say the same about her baby though, that kid’s the end of the world (ba-dum-tiss). My basil is a bit meh, but it’s just a starter, and I’ve heard they’re not necessarily intended to last long, so I’m not too caught up in that.

I’m pleased that the kale and microgreens I sowed are doing well too. Most of the things I planted from seed didn’t last due to the heat, due to me being an amateur and doing it outside, but I’m able to add fresh kale and who-knows-what to salads and wraps, and that’s awesome. I also have one catnip that managed to make it, and one day it could be a huge catnip bush like its older sibling. That one’s just a starter plant, but it’s really taken off, and my cats love it. I decorate the kitchen with the flowers :)

Welp, guess that saves me from posting an image of a pepper with blossom end rot! I was wondering what was getting to my anaheims.

egg shells

So what you’re saying is, I have to have breakfast for dinner tonight, one of my favorite things? Well darn, anything for my garden I suppose. Honey, we’re making breakfast sandwiches! ;)

This breaks my fucking heart.

I was in and out of children’s hospitals from birth to legal adulthood. The fact that these children and their parents are being forced to feel fear, hopelessness, rage, just fucking God dammit I don’t know how I’m supposed to stop drinking in 2024 man God Almighty

Sweet or unsweet? Lemon or no? Choose wisely, traveler.

I plant garlic during the fall for this reason! Fresh garlic chives on my ramen with an egg, yes yes :D

Alt text: an image of various peppers (and one tomato) on a small wooden plate. There are small green peppers, small red peppers, a large curved cayenne, a small bell pepper, and two medium sized green peppers, either anaheim or poblano I don’t know I’d have to check. The red peppers are starting to dry.

I done grew me a garden on my balcony ma! This isn’t all I’ve harvested this season either, wife has turned my cayennes into a hot sauce already, and the red peppers you see here were turned into a hot-paste-base… thing! And my tomato plant keeps giving me fat and juicy bois every week or so. Nothing crazy, just a big red one on my balcony for wife to cut up and enjoy. I personally hate them, but c’est la vest and an alligator chest, as they say.

There’s catnip and pumpkins and sunflowers I’ve grown from seed, and mint and basil and, man, I love having this little garden out there so much :)

Southern balcony gardener reporting in with mostly-positive results! Some of the plants I grew from seed are doing well, including my kale, micogreens, sunflowers, catnip, and even a few pumpkins! The kale and microgreens are looking great, though I need to harvest more to prevent crowding (right?), so I’ve actually started to add the microgreens into my lunches! I think I’ll make a baby kale salad today as well.

Unfortunately, I’ve lost most of the pumpkin sprouts due to this heat and my own inexperience, but(!) I never had high hopes for container pumpkins on a balcony in the South. It’s just a fun thing to try, and maybe the few I have will flower again and let me help pollinate.

That brings me to my real passion, peppers! My cayennes have been doing swimmingly, and I’ve been able to harvest enough for wife to make our own brand of hot sauce. It’s pretty cool seeing a finished product this early in the summer! I’m excited for more to come in, especially my jalapenos and ghost peppers so we can make it kick a little harder. I actually found a hot dragon roll pepper that had ripened way sooner than expected, and Bees, I am happy to report that a glass of milk was almost necessary to help with the heat!

That’s it for now :) here’s a picture of a sunflower that I grew.

Much love to y’all <3

Hey Lally, sorry for the long delay in replying, was busy relaxing / visiting my dad this weekend. No roots yet as of cutting the bottoms off of those cells a few days ago, but I’ll continue to keep an eye out and keep you posted. Thanks for the advice, I greatly appreciate it.

No visible roots as of yet, but I’ll keep an eye out and move them over once they start to poke. Yeah I’m definitely watering more as these days get hotter. Already feels like 97 outside 😭

Thank you! That means a lot :) I took your advice from a few threads back and made sure they were getting more sunlight. In terms of protection, not much, just trying to keep their little starter trays damp in this heat. They dry out so quickly!

It’s always a joy to see this thread posted :) I just got back inside from watering my little balcony garden, and I’m pleased to report that things are looking pretty good! Wife and I had to fasten some twine to the tomato plant to give it some support, because the maters are coming in big this year! Dinosaur kale is coming along nicely and the non-descript micro greens are right behind. My sunflowers are starting to bud too, and I’m so excited for when they bloom.

My catnip and pumpkins sprouts aren’t doing as well as I’d hoped, but that’s on me. I’ve lived in the South my whole life, and I was still so surprised it got so hot so quick. I was lucky that they more-or-less bounced back after being cared for, but let’s just say I’m not planning to carve my own pumpkins this fall just yet. But as I’ve said before, this is just a fun little hobby (at least that’s what I tell myself, I was very saddened to see them wilting in the sun). And hey, my peppers are looking great, especially the cayennes!

Have some pictures! Go easy on my poor little sprouts 😭

Every time. Surprised they’re still around tbh.

That would be great, thank you! I just moved them to a better spot so hopefully they get the light they need. I’ll report back with results!

I have it on good authority that it’s practically a jungle on a balcony

Now who told you that! :D no supplemental lights being used, just natural sunlight from about 8AM to 6-7PM give or take. I’ll have to rearrange and move them closer to the end, there’s a spot that receives more direct light than where they were. Think they’re just needing more light?

I really ought to just set up some sort of secured platform on the railing and get them out there during the day. Thinking that’s a weekend project after we go to the farmer’s market!

Amateur balcony gardener throwing stuff in dirt and seeing what grows reporting in! My garden is small but mighty, and it’s all coming together pretty well! My kale seeds have seriously hit the ground running, and I’m so excited to transfer the sprouts. The pumpkin sprouts are looking pretty good too, and it helps that I actually planted them during the right time this year, so I’m stoked about that. If I can just get one single tiny pumpkin this fall, I’d be sooo happy… Microgreens are looking good too, not taking off like the kale seeds did but I’m still proud of 'em for being themselves! My catnip seeds are starting to pop up a little too!

I also have some starters because lazy, and they are taking off! My cats go nuts for fresh catnip, it’s pretty neat :)

Pictures!

Kale sprouts with their younger sibling microgreens on the left.

Pumpkin sprouts with sunflowers, catnip, chamomile, and huh what was that other one I’m pretty sure I labeled it.

Check out this catnip starter! I keep trimming it for my goobers but the leaves just keep coming back bigger!

I am now motivated to clean up my balcony and share the rest with you all :-D

My kale sprouts are coming in very nicely! Trying from seed again this year and I’m feeling good about it. The heatwave just wrecked them last year and I wasn’t on my game with watering enough, but not this time! I also have some other seeds starting to sprout as well: camomile, catnip, sunflowers and microgreens, as well as a few pumpkin sprouts that are starting to make themselves known.

My pepper plants are starting to bounce back from being over-wintered, and they always produce a big yield so I’m excited. I’ve added a few new species to the mix so we’ll see how that goes. I’m looking forward to making hot sauce again, but this time I’ll have ghost peppers to add to the mix >:)

My apartment balcony looks like a jungle, and it is my happy place, lol.

I help shops with their inventory.

Thank you Lally, I really do appreciate that. It has helped me heal greatly. As odd as this sounds, I feel lucky that it occurred during the end of winter. So as the world begins to show a return to life and color, my own little world is doing the same :) I actually have some plants of hers that I’m tending to now. So many snake plants to propagate!

My wife and I made a deal that I have to bring the dog when I go anywhere that sells plants, just so I can’t carry as many to the register.

Now I’m just imagining a dog in a cart covered in grocery store ferns 😄 but that’s a great compromise!

Balcony gardener here. Had a death in the family so my garden was neglected unfortunately, but it’s bouncing back (as am I). My cabbages aren’t as big as they were last year, likely because I used slightly smaller pots and let them wilt too often, but wife should be able to turn them into kraut for sausage dogs. We did that last year and ended up with a pretty decent jar-full, which was pretty cool.

This year I over-wintered my peppers for the first time, and they’re starting to bounce back so I’ll probably transfer them to larger pots soon. I’m already looking forward to watching them come in :) they’re my favorite plants to grow. I have shishito peppers, snack peppers, cayenne, jalapeno, and dragon roll peppers. I like my peps!

Mint is looking okay, it’s coming back after being neglected, but it’s basically a weed so I’m not really worried. I’ll have to buy more basil starters, I didn’t prune it well and it didn’t survive being over-wintered.

This is all on top of the usual annuals and ivy and ferns and such. It’s basically impossible for me to go to the grocery store without bringing home whatever discount plant I find, lol. I don’t have too much room to work with, but I’m doing some vertical gardening as well by mounting shelves to put smaller pots on. It looks good from the street too. I get compliments when I’m out there, and it always makes my day :D