How to Container Garden with Gray in 4 steps

Dreaming of fresh herbs, homegrown veggies, or a flower-filled oasis but think you don’t have the space? Think again! In this video, I’m walking you through the exact 4 steps you need to create a thriving container garden on your apartment balcony or patio. No yard? No problem!

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS / CHAPTERS:
0:00 -0:30 Intro: How to start a Container Garden?
0:30 – 4:05 Step 1: How to Assess Your Space & Sunlight
4:05 -7:25 Step 2: Picking the Perfect Plants for Beginners
7:25 – 11:12 Step 3: Choosing the Right Containers for your budget
11:12 – 12:11 Check for understanding
12:11 – 14:20 Step 4: What kind of soil to use
14:20 – 16:19 Final Thoughts

❓ FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

How often should I water? Check daily! Stick your finger 1-2 inches into the soil. If it’s dry, water thoroughly until it runs out the bottom.

Can I use soil from the ground? No! Always use a high-quality potting mix designed for containers to ensure proper drainage.

What if I have a shady patio? Great for leafy greens like lettuce, kale, spinach, and herbs like mint and parsley!

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You know, a lot of times when you see a lot of the online garden influencers and educators and so forth, we’re always coming to you from a point of view of square footage gardening, row gardening, or raised beds. But you know what? Where’s the love for my container growers? Thus, with that logic in mind, this video is specifically for you. So, if you’ve ever asked yourself the question, I live in an apartment, I live in a condo, how do I start my very own container garden on my patio? I got you covered. So, look, with that being said, let’s go ahead and get started. And I know you’re thinking, let’s go ahead and get some plants and put them in some soil. Not yet, because there’s a couple of things I want you to consider first and foremost before we put our first seed or before we put our first plant in soil. And that’s going to start with assessing our growing area. Because I mean, let’s face it, if we’re talking apartment, condo, patio of some sort, there’s going to be some kind of canopy, some kind of overhang, something that is going to block out the sun. And when we really think about it, when it comes to any plant, the three most important things they’re going to need is going to be sun, water, and soil. We’re going to do a little bit of homework, a little bit of uh recon work, so to speak. What I want you to do for the next two to three days is actually track the sun. see where the sun lays on the growing area that you’re potentially going to use. So, for instance, let’s look at my deck right up here. Right up here, you can see I have a covered deck that has a roof over the top of it. It’s currently about 11:45 in the morning. And as we can see, because of the way that the sun is coming up over the sky, I’m getting a lot of shade cast in this area right here. That mean that this area is not going to be ideal for me because I’m only really getting sun under this direct patio right here between the hours of about maybe 2:00 to about 4:00 or so. And that’s going to be primarily due to this green belt that I have right behind me. By no means am I mad at the green belt, but once we get to about 5:00 or so and the sun starts to set down here, that’s when I start to lose all that sunlight that could be potentially coming back into this deck area right here because as you can see, it gets a lot of shade. Now, of course, I understand this is only specific to my growing situation, but the thing I’m trying to iterate to you is that I’ve assessed my situation when it comes to the sun and how much this area grows. Hence the reason why the only thing I really actually go grow up here is going to be like my ornamental plants and plants that prefer like that partial shade. Now, if your sunlight situation is similar to mine, uh don’t be discouraged because you can still grow food on uh a deck like this. You just really have to consider where that light is coming from. And thus, considering the low light situation that I have on this deck, I have grown on these ledges. Um, no, banisters. I’ve grown on these railings before. Essentially just using containers that would hang over the edge, just like these containers I’m growing in over here. Uh, right now I am growing um some zenyas. And then can’t really see them cuz they’re blocked out by the zenyas, but I do have some white onions growing in a container right next to it as well. So, your first step for sure is going to be tracking the sun because a lot of the annuals that we want to grow during the spring, right? Like our tomatoes, cucumbers, and so forth are going to prefer that 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight. And it would be good to know, you know, maybe while you’re at work or something, what the sun is actually doing on your deck. So, spend, you know, maybe a weekend tracking exactly where the sun hits your deck and how. And this may be something that you have to do every season because of course we know that when the seasons change and our planet is in a different part of the solar system, the sunlight is going to hit different. So make sure we do this and unless you just truly know exactly how it hits every single season. Uh but definitely know that it is all subject to change depending on what season we’re in. So all right, now it’s the fun part. Now we get to talk about plants. I mean, there is a proverbial treasure trove, a cornucopia of plants that you can grow right on your patio, right on your deck, so that you can be growing food right there in the balcony of your apartment. Problem is, what do you like to eat? Cuz look, while I fully subscribe to the ability to grow anything and everything that’s out there, let’s face it, this is going to take a lot of time, effort, and your money to be investing and growing something on your patio. Why not make sure it’s something that you actually enjoy? Because I mean, say for instance, like, well, I don’t know, sometimes you might have to experiment to find out what you don’t like. I remember a couple years ago, and I’ve told this story before, so if you’ve heard it, you know, skip ahead. But, uh, I remember one year I just got so excited about adding color to my garden. So, I wanted to, uh, grow some red leaf lettuce. And oh my gosh, while it was very nutritious and super high in antioxidants, it tastes like cardboard. Oh my gosh, I could not stand red leaf lettuce. But so I guess sometimes you have to experiment around to find out what you don’t like. But going back to the whole of growing what you like to eat, right? For instance, I grow a lot of strawberries. Reason being is because my kids love strawberries. So I have strawberries all throughout my property growing all over the place. I think currently I have about 13 strawberry patches out there because we love strawberries or my my pacifllora, right? Uh this is my mapop. We love passion fruit and we love the flowers that come off of it as well. So if you’re going to put your time, effort into growing, make sure that it is something that you like to consume. Plus, I would highly recommend um researching the plants first and foremost. I know you’re like, Grayen, I just want to grow. I don’t want to have to research. But research is going to be very important. For instance, let’s say that on your apartment uh balcony or your your condo balcony, you want to grow some tomatoes. Well, thing you need to know about tomatoes is that tomatoes have a very deep root system. I mean, when we’re talking about tomatoes, you need to have a container that’s going to have at least for the smallest variety. And when I mean smallest variety, I’m talking about root structure. We’re talking about our u determinant tomatoes. They’re going to need at least a 5gallon container if not more. Let’s not even talk about our indeterminates. And now when it comes to doing that type of research, the best recommendation that I can give you is to Google search your local a extension. Your local agricultural extension is usually tied to a university in your state and they will have the most amount of information about crops that do well in your specific growing zone, in your specific climate. So definitely check out your local a extension. For instance, here in Texas, mine is going to be Agro Life that’s attached to Texas A&M and there is just I mean a sea of information out there that’s all sciencebacked, but it’s specific to your growing zone. So they can give you the best benefit. You know, I know a lot of us online uh garden educators recommend certain crops for you, but it’s best to get that recommendation from someone who actually has experience growing in your specific microclimate. And so now that brings us to our next area to put our focus into and that’s going to be containers. So we’re talking about container garden. We’re talking about container growing. Well, which containers do I use for my patio garden or for my balcony garden? Well, I’m going to tell you there’s a bunch of different options out there. I mean, we have plastic, we have clay, we have porcelain, we have resin, we have terracotta, we have cloth, and so forth. I mean, the possibilities are endless. But the thing you should consider is one, how much is it going to cost? Because the price will vary depending on the type of container and then two, what’s the drainage situation like? For instance, our plastic pots, right? Or plastic containers. I mean, one, they can stand a season or two. They’re going to last a moderate amount of time, but they’re inexpensive. This is definitely one that will uh be beneficial in the on the budget, so to speak. But we have drainage holes down at the bottom. Now, the reason why I mention this is because if we’re talking about a balcony situation, we’re talking about um you know, apartment or so forth, what is this drainage going to look like for our neighbor that might be below us? And so, with those type of situations in mind, something I want you to consider is maybe a self-wicking pot like this one that I have my passive flora in. Um, this is a self-wicking pot that I honestly got from the Dollar Tree for like five bucks. Or for instance, we can even look at the one that I have one of my Norfolk pines in. It has this reservoir down at the bottom that’s going to contain that water. And now, of course, 100% true, plastic containers are not going to be as aesthetically pleasing as, for instance, your your clay or your porcelain or your terracotta containers may be, but they’re going to be better on the budget. Now, you do what works best for you. Uh, I honestly do a mixture. I do a mixture of plastic, uh, fivegallon buckets that I’ve honestly got from like my hardware store. Um, I’ve got PL porcelain through here, terracotta, metal, you name it. I grow in anything I possibly can. But do keep in mind that when we’re talking about containers, all are going to react a little bit different when we’re talking about, you know, our plants and our soil for that matter, which that’s going to be our next topic. For instance, like look at that dragonfly. Hey buddy, he wanted to be in that shot. But I digress. So when we’re talking about, you know, our plastic, our plastic may only last two or three seasons um or longer. Who knows? Um, but in contrast, let’s look at, for instance, grow bags, because I know that’s a question you have, right? Can I do grow bags on my deck? You totally can, but consider this. Grow bags are porous. So, when you water, that goes back to that whole draining situation that I talked about before. You know, um, are you essentially getting your neighbors uh below you, their patio wet as well, or are you essentially putting all this water on the surface of your balcony? Those are things to consider. And with that being said, we can also look into bottom watering trays. Bottom watering trays are fantastic for this whole balcony patio situation that we’re talking about because it’s allowing you to either water from the bottom or retain some of that moisture. Say you’re going to be gone for an extended time. Well, you can place this water in here and it will feed your plant over time. But just be cautious cuz we don’t want to get in a situation where we’re overwatering and creating an anorobic situation for our plants. I mean, that’s how we can get a root rod situation. So, just be mindful of that. So, yeah, in conclusion, uh self-wicking pots and bottom watering crates can definitely help in regards to trying to retain or maintain some of that moisture. So, now let’s do a little bit of a check for understanding, right? First thing we looked into is our sun. where’s a light source coming from. Uh second thing we looked into is our plants. Are we growing what we like to eat? Um and we’ll do well in our growing zone and climate, right? And then third, we looked into our containers, talking about the different uh materials that are made out of um what fits in our budget. And then something I’m not sure if I really touched on enough is the size that’s necessary because differing plants are going to need different size containers. Um, and this is going to be another plug for your local a extension. And now the a extensions are not paying me at all, but they are such a good resource. I have to say it to you again, check with your local a extension because they can usually recommend how deep of a root structure is going to be necessary for the plant you intend to grow. And now, of course, you can always just ask me in the comments and I’ll let you know as well. But why not have two trusted sources for information? But you know what? Now, we’re going to spend a little time talking about one of my favorite subjects, and that’s soil. I mean, in all earnest, I could spend all day just talking about soil because it’s one of the most important things that we can do for our plants. So, let’s go down and talk about some container soil. And ultimately, what we’re going to be looking for in our container garden is going to be a slightly acidic, well- draining container soil or potting mix. because this is a soil that’s going to have loose granules in it that’s going to allow you to be able to plant your plants in it without it becoming too compacted or retaining way too much moisture. Definitely make sure we stay away from garden soils because those are actually meant to be placed in either raised beds or traditional rows because those larger particles of wood are meant to break down and feed the soil over time. Plus those larger pieces of organic matter or wood or wood chips and whatnot, they can actually end up leading to a nitrogen lockout situation in your soil where your soil microbes are trying to break down the um larger pieces of organic matter and they end up starving your plants of the nitrogen they so need. So using a bagged container soil, potting soil is definitely a good starting point. This is your basis, right? This is where we’re going to jump off from. Now, of course, there’s cornucopia of things that we can add to our soil depending on what the plant requires. I mean, we’re talking about perlite, earthworm castings, uh cured manure, uh not to mention other soil amendments as well. We’re not going to focus on that just yet. We just want to get a good starting point first, uh before we start talking about all the different amendments and so forth. I mean, but if you’re the advanced grower and you’re already to that next step and like, well, hey, Gray, what do I add for plant X or what do I add for plant Y, just leave me a comment or send me an email. I answer emails at urban gardenwithgaygmail.com and I will help you out. Uh, if you can send pictures, even better. Uh, because if I can see the full picture, so to speak, that really helps me assess the situation and help you as much as possible without physically being there. Because truly my whole goal for being on the internet is not to become internet famous. That doesn’t matter to me. If I’m helping even one grower, one gardener grow just one more tomato or one more strawberry. That’s what I’m here for because I enjoy the peace and serenity that comes from gardening. And I just want to scream it from the rooftops and share and help as many people as I can. So, I hope this helped you today. And I hope maybe this brought in some of that confidence that you need to um to successfully start your container garden. Um you know, a lot of people tell me, “Oh, I have a brown thumb or I can’t grow anything.” No, we all can grow. I was not born with a green thumb. My thumb is brown. But, you know, over time, over trial and error, uh, and finding the right tutors and so forth to help me. I mean, my grandmother, she’s the one who got me into gardening when I was like 10, 12 years old, something like that. So, having those people in my life uh, to share those victories and fails with, uh, allowed me to become that better gardener I chose to be, right? And that’s what I want to be here for you. So, hopefully I’ve given you that confidence to get out there and start growing something. But of course, as always, I said all throughout this video, you have questions, let me know. I’m here to help. It’s been amazing speaking with you. I think our next video, maybe we should start talking about specific plants to put in our container garden. What do you think? Let me know in the comments. Yeah, I think maybe we should talk about plants next because we we hit on it a little bit, but maybe I should give you some recommendations on good starter plants to start with. Or you can actually check out my podcast. I have a podcast somewhere on here called uh Growing with Gray when I start talking about all those introductory plants. Check it out if you get the chance. If not, no harm, no foul. It’s been amazing speaking with you as always. Talk to you again real