Growing in containers in London

I am new to growing vegtables and herbs and I am looking for advice for the growing season.  I have a south-facing balcony and I am interested in what are the best fruit, vegtables or herbs to grow in a South-East UK climate. I am particularly interested in growing peppers and tomatoes but what else is there to grow from containers? What should I bring in for next year and when are they best planted? Thanks, David

Answer: Well, David, you’re pretty fortunate with the majority of the UK being Zone 8, a pretty temperate climate. I started out growing veggies on a balcony and while a bit of a challenge, I had pretty good luck.  Most herbs and vegetables should grow easily. If you’re just starting into gardening, stick with the basics. Almost anything can be grown in containers but if you want to try a zucchini or squash, look for some of the bush varieties since they will consume significantly less space on your balcony. There are also some smaller bush-like varieties of tomatoes.  For herbs, again you should be able to grow almost any in containers well, and in your climate Rosemary will even do well, and I really am jealous. Small plastic trash containers make good containers but remember to drill a hole in the bottom to allow for drainage. Look for “soilless”  potting mix as all that potting soil could get really heavy and I suppose you should also consider who is below you when the water runs off from the pots.

Good luck and happy gardening.

Karen

This entry was posted on Monday, October 12th, 2009 at 10:57 am and is filed under Ask A Master Gardener. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.