Balcony Bloom

Grow real food on a balcony, a doorstep or one bright window

Balcony Bloom publishes practical, tested guides to container gardening in small spaces — with container volumes, watering routines and feeding schedules you can act on today, not generalities.

20 detailed guidesNo yard requiredContainer volumes for every crop

Start here

New to containers? Read these three first, in this order.

All guides

Everything published so far, newest first.

Why Are My Container Plant's Leaves Turning Yellow?

A diagnosis guide for yellowing leaves: watering, feeding, light, temperature and ageing, with how to tell which cause you have.

Overwintering Container Plants

Which container plants survive winter, how to protect roots and containers from frost, and what to do with pots between seasons.

12 Container Gardening Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

The errors that cost beginners a season: wrong pot size, garden soil, calendar watering, no drainage, overcrowding and more.

Composting on a Balcony Without the Smell

Bokashi, worm bins and small tumblers compared for balcony use, with what you can and cannot put in, and how to avoid smells and flies.

Succession Planting: Getting a Continuous Harvest from a Few Pots

How to plan what follows what in each container, with crop rotation for pots, catch crops and a simple three-pot rotation system.

A Month-by-Month Container Planting Calendar

What to sow, plant and harvest in containers each month, with a temperate Northern Hemisphere schedule and notes for warmer and colder climates.

Container Garden Pests: What You Will Meet and What to Do

Aphids, whitefly, spider mites, slugs, fungus gnats and vine weevil — how to identify each, and control methods that work on a balcony.

9 Vertical Gardening Ideas That Work on a Small Balcony

Practical ways to grow upward on a balcony: wall pockets, tiered stands, trellises and railing planters, with what each suits and the load limits to check.

Lettuce, Spinach and Kale in Containers

How to grow salad leaves in pots: varieties that suit containers, sowing density, cut-and-come-again harvesting and stopping bolting.

Growing Herbs on a Windowsill

Which herbs succeed indoors, how much light they really need, watering and feeding routines, and why basil and rosemary need opposite treatment.

Growing Tomatoes in Pots, Step by Step

From choosing a variety to the first ripe fruit: container size, support, feeding, watering, pruning and the problems to expect.

Are Self-Watering Containers Worth It?

How reservoir containers work, which crops benefit most, what they cost, and the three failure modes to check for before buying.

A Simple Fertilising Schedule for Container Vegetables

What N-P-K numbers mean, when to feed leafy versus fruiting crops, and a week-by-week feeding plan that avoids both deficiency and burn.

How Often Should You Water Container Plants?

A practical watering routine for containers based on pot weight and weather, with per-crop frequency ranges and the mistakes that cause most damage.

Drainage: The Thing That Kills Most Container Plants

How to set up drainage properly, why the gravel-at-the-bottom myth persists, and how to spot and fix waterlogged containers.

The Best Potting Mix for Containers (and Why Garden Soil Fails)

What goes into a good container potting mix, three blends you can make, and how to tell when old mix needs replacing.

What Size Pot Does Each Vegetable Need?

Container volume recommendations for 20 common crops, why depth matters as much as width, and how to avoid the two classic sizing errors.

15 Vegetables That Actually Do Well in Containers

A ranked list of vegetables suited to pots, with the container size, days to harvest and one practical note for each.

How Much Sun Does Your Balcony Actually Get?

A practical method for measuring sunlight on a balcony, what each light level supports, and how to work with a shaded space.

Container Gardening for Beginners: A Complete Starter Guide

How to set up your first container garden: choosing pots, mixing soil, picking plants and keeping them alive through the first season.

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What this site is

Container gardening advice tends to be written for people with gardens. This site is written for the opposite case: a few pots, limited light, a windy fourth floor, and a realistic amount of time to spend watering. Every guide on Balcony Bloom gives concrete numbers — litres, centimetres, days, temperatures — so you can plan a season rather than guess at one. More about the site →