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Home > Guides > Urban Gardening > Apartment Gardening > Patio Gardens |
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Patio Gardens |
Apartment  Window Windowsill Patio |
At first, the terms 'apartment' & 'gardening' seem to be something of a contradiction in terms. Gardens have traditionally been grown outdoors, in expansive spaces with long hours of afternoon sunlight. In comparison, apartments are considerably limited by sunlight and available space for seed sowing. Despite these challenges, there are some significant advantages to patio or indoor growing. Principally, such environments offer stability, with only minor fluctuations in heat and energy throughout the daily and yearly cycles. This offers potential for year-round gardening, and with persistence, a steady of supply of fresh, healthy, homegrown produce such as Lettuce and Herbs grown right on your patio, in your Window or Windowsill.
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 Apartment Gardening
GROWING NOTES
Crops well-suited for apartment gardening are those with low to moderate light needs, minimal required soil-medium depth, and short time to harvest. Generally speaking, leafy greens or crops cultivated at a developmental stage prior to full maturity will make the best choices. Other types of edibles, including those cultivated for their root, fruit, or seed require significantly more energy and time, and are not ideal for limited space gardening. Popular leafy greens such as lettuce, arugula, kale and others have the added benefit of a shorter time to harvest, typically less than 2 months from seed to dinner plate.
 In addition to growing leafy greens indoors, baby greens, microgreens and sprouts can all be cultivated indoors with little space and energy. Unlike vegetables grown to maturity, these types of edibles do not develop mature root systems and are more limited in their abilities to take up nutrients
from the soil. These types of growing techniques require less time than standard ones, with sprouts generally needing less than one week from seed to harvest, microgreens less than two weeks and baby greens less than one month. There
are drawbacks to these conveniences though, notably the greater quantities of
seed required for sizable yields, especially microgreens and sprouts.
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Gardening on Decks, Patio, and Balconies
 When looking for additional space for growing edibles in an apartment setting, decks, patios and other outdoor extensions offer tremendous value due to their access to natural sunlight. This can often be the limiting factor when trying to grow fresh food in limited urban settings. Although such extensions may not be large or appear to offer much at first, a number of space-saving growing techniques can help to maximize available assets. Shelving units, trellis for climbing plants such as pole beans, and hanging baskets can all be utilized to make the most of the available sunlight.
More Possibilities with Patio Gardens
 Creating a beautiful and productive garden on your patio offers significantly greater flexibility than indoor gardening. Many more types of crops can be successfully cultivated, compared to common indoor edibles like greens and microgreens. Flowering vegetables like tomato and squash can be grown with the abundant light of patio settings. Root vegetables like carrots, turnips, and beets can be cultivated in large, self-watering tubs and other containers. While patio gardening may not be feasible year-round in many locations, it offers another means to a bountiful harvest of fresh vegetables to the urban or limited-space gardener.
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