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pvaldes • today at 8:43 AM • 1 reply • view on HN

That is the correct general answer

But you can add a lot of variations depending on the crop. A few don't mind to have their feet submerged permanently. Other are from dry climates and can be watered once in a blue moon.

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A big point is economics. As space, seeds, pots and materials are expensive, home growing vegetables are expected to be more expensive than mass produced market vegetables. Sun space is specially valuable in a city. Too much shadowing.

The newbie strategy will be to grow the easiest crops, but these are also the cheapest. A better objective could be to grow the most productive and expensive product possible instead to waste your precious balcony space culturing 100 pots of lettuce

It should be also organic. Because chemicals make the bill skyrocket, and because if you want vegetables with pesticides the market is plenty of the same, but bigger and for less money so eating good food without plastics and poisons is what make the effort worth it

Secondary goals should be to save time and gas (less travels to the supermarket), and to have full control over the process so you know what you ear, and to enjoy the process of having vegetable "pets" at home. In that sense lettuce can be competitive again, because the success ratio is high and can be used daily. Just don't spend 3 dollars in stuff to obtain a 1 dollar lettuce. Is 90% water.

Your goal should be to produce good food without the added waxes, plastic envelop, and pesticides, not to grow the biggest and most perfect vegetable in the planet.


Replies

pvaldes • today at 11:39 AM

> so you know what you eaT,

And another thing to consider is that some crops taste much better when fresh harvested. Freshly picked sweet peas or baby carrots taste much better than those put in a fridge or left for hours in a market. Apples or tomatoes are a totally different world also.

In a balcony use the vertical space with climbers (zucchini, scarlet beans). Pumpkins will grow well also, but some are very heavy and you must assure that none grow in a way that can't fall to the street, over somebody. Tiny pots give tiny crops.