what would you plant?

**Josephhgoins** · 02-10-2010, 08:32 AM

I have a small patio and should have room for about a dozen plants. I plan on using some pots and then some of those upside down pots (that I will make from scratch).

I don't get direct sunlight at any point during the day and its fairly damp.

I am going to try a couple of tomato plants in the upside down pots hung from the roof. Hopefully they will get enough air circulation to keep away mildew and blight.

what else would you plant? I won't have much room and only a few plants, so I want something with high yields.

Was thinking about 1 or 2 pumpkin plant's, a squash plant a cucumber plant, but what else?

Thanks for your input.

**Russ** · 02-10-2010, 09:14 AM

Small patio.. with pumpkins and Cukes? I don't think you will have much of a pation left by the end of summer.

**scooby8themall** · 02-10-2010, 09:37 AM

Salad greens maybe

**Josephhgoins** · 02-10-2010, 09:52 AM

yeah, I don't use the patio, so I would not care if it gets overgrown. would probably do a brush variety of each as well.

**Ceashels** · 02-10-2010, 09:53 AM

Would a grow light or some other sorce of light be beneficial for the plants and help dry off the patio area for better growing?

You might be able to get 1-2 cucumbers to grow and still have room for other things but they take up a lot of room as do most squash plants.

My zucchini and yellow squash plants took up a 2-3 foot diameter patch EACH. You could think about bush beans which if you help stake it up will contain itself pretty well. But I think salad greens may be your best bet since they can be planted and harvested throughout the season.

**Jerseygirl** · 02-10-2010, 11:02 AM

Green beans are easy if you have a fence or something to grow them up, this way they don't take up a whole lot of room.

**known2him5** · 02-10-2010, 11:15 AM

I was going to recommend green beans too. .. and salad stuff (lettuce, green onions, radishes)

If you do squash and cukes - you'll need mesh bags for the "fruit" - I use old nylon stockings - to support the growing squash, etc. Otherwise it will fall off the plant.

**Trentt** · 02-12-2010, 02:51 PM

With no direct sunlight and a damp environment, I'm not sure how well heat- and sun-loving plants like cucumbers, tomatoes, pumpkins, squash, beans, etc., will do. I'd grow spinach, lettuce, kale, chard, broccoli, bok-choy, radishes, mustard, endive, et al, and eat tons of salads.

**Russ** · 02-12-2010, 03:00 PM

what does Kale, chard and bok-choy taste like?.. if you can describe it.

**frugalfranny** · 02-12-2010, 05:42 PM

Originally Posted by Josephhgoins

I don't get direct sunlight at any point during the day and its fairly damp.

WHEW! A tough call here........no direct sunlight?

No ideas - just give some things a try. You could do squash and cukes in pots - and give them something to climb on.....plus - IF (big 'if' here) you get fruit be prepared to use the stockings or something to hold them - as another poster stated, as they get very heavy. No so much the cukes, depending on type, but the squash do.

What sort of housing material will they be up against....will this be any benefit to the plants......IE: brick gets much warmer and color of housing can help too.

Also - how about some herbs?......and dry some for future use. If no dehydrator - many things can be dried in the oven - though it takes awhile.

Good luck......and let us know what you decide and how it goes.....sounds like it might be a good area for broccoli......at least it won't 'bolt'.......which mine always does!

**madhen** · 02-12-2010, 05:48 PM

Hmm....moss?

Pumpkins probably will just rot, and tomatoes need light and heat to do well. And I can't think of a single veggie that doesn't need ANY direct light. You could perhaps try some mushroom logs.

Some flowers do well in indirect light, but I am presuming you want something you can eat?

**frugalfranny** · 02-13-2010, 01:01 AM

Originally Posted by madhen

Hmm....moss?

About what I was thinking......but.........wonder if there is food value in moss? Can you dry it ----for eating---not talking about for crafting!!!

How about a roof top garden???

**sabrelvssammy** · 02-13-2010, 03:46 PM

i used a couple of search engines last week and found quite alot of sites on growing vegetables...alot of them had sections on growing in pots and it seems to be a big thing now to grow alot of the climbers 'upwards' to save space... we are going to attempt to do this both in the garden and in pots on the patio...

the key, they say, for the bigger climbers (squash, zucchini, etc) is to make sure they have a good strong trellis to hang on to and have them tied securely so like others have said the veggies don't fall off or the weight of them tear your plants up....

we are going to ditch the annuals in the pots this year and grow tomato (both lg & small), okra, peppers (all varieties), squash, zucchini, beans, & eggplant..(in addition to those in the garden)... we plan on eating a 'boatload of veggies this summer as our main diet and then freezing/possibly canning the excess...
i also have long patio 'pots' and i am going to fill them with varieties of lettuce, spinich, etc...(some of the 'salad mixes' we grew last year were pretty darn colorful)....

i haven't quite figured out how i will do the trellis's yet as i am still in the 'discovery stages' but i know i am going to do a mini-version of what is suggested for making them in the garden for 'growing-up' and that is to take concrete wire (its the wire that is layed before concrete is poured) ...cut and formed into a circle and then secured into the ground...'spose to work wonders...but can't testify to that just yet...i plan on going to the farm store and 'thinking outside the box' look for something that can be modified to make good trellis's for them...

**sabrelvssammy** · 02-13-2010, 03:51 PM

Originally Posted by known2him5

If you do squash and cukes - you'll need mesh bags for the "fruit" - I use old nylon stockings - to support the growing squash, etc. Otherwise it will fall off the plant.

hey known...i haven't heard about using nylons yet...do you have pretty good luck with them...? i know this sounds like a stupid question but what do you do...cut a section and tie it off (so the veggie doesn't fall out the bottom) and then tie the other end to the trellis ??? and i suppose nylons are good coz the veggie can continue to grow and the nylon will expand around it ..? you don't get the veggie rotting or anything inside the nylon or do you have to do something special to make sure that doesn't happen ???
sorry...i am new to this gardening stuff....bear with me.... thanks!!

**NewLeaf** · 02-14-2010, 12:48 AM

I don't know about the sunlight but with the space you could grow tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cukes, yellow squash, onions, lettuce, strawberries in pots, sugar snap peas. The climbers would be good in the hanging pots. We made some of these last year out of buckets from the Ingles bakery. If the sunlight is a big problem then look into a grow light. This sounds like a fun project. Good luck and keep us informed!