Hi! I'm not in your zone, sorry, but I envy your southern exposure! It's kind of slow here, but you can eventually get answers :) Welcome!

Herbs might be best based on your location and space requirements - any new news?? are you going more for esthetics or planting veggies (food)?

Here is a link that might be useful: Indoor Gardening Handbook

Hey there, I'm new too. I'm in zone 8 in North Texas. I have an East-facing balcony on the third floor. Its large enough to fit several pots, so I'm trying my hand at tomatoes, peppers, okra, and various herbs. Might try some type of lettuce also. Hope they get enough sun.

I chose a dwarf tomato variety from Victory Seeds. Planning to start those in a week or two.

Just planted the herb seeds in Jiffy grow pots, and they are in my empty fish aquarium under a flourescent light.

I don't exactly have a green thumb, so we'll see how this goes.

This post was edited by lonestaralaskan on Tue, Jan 15, 13 at 11:35

As long as your light isn't blocked it should be fine. Your plants may enjoy the afternoon shade! Also don't be discouraged... you should have a long enough season that if things don't work when you start in advance that you can start again in the big pots. Zone 9 in TX though... isn't it time for you to put out tomatoes in a couple of weeks? :) You're in the cool crop season right now like lettuce, cole crops, spinach, peas, etc, right?

Hi & welcome to Gardenweb! I hope you enjoy your balcony as much as I do my front porch! Does it have a roof? My porch does and it messes with me, the way the sun shifts. I'm constantly rearranging plants, but that's part of the fun. But that makes it possible for me to do hanging plants too.

In any case, the soil is the most important element to success with any plants. When you find one that works well in your conditions, it's easy after that. Whatever plants make you happy, give them a try! If weight is an issue, I would devote as much of that as possible to soil volume and use lightweight plastic pots even though they're not as attractive.

Thanks for the replies. It is kind of a slow forum, but the info has been priceless.

I'm having a heck of a time with the Rosemary. Seeds sprout & damp off. Habaneros are growing like crazy though. I work in a grocery store & the produce manager told me how to sprout ginger rhizomes. THAT is cool!

I'm going for a combination of food & esthetics. After all my plants died, I got discouraged for a while. I'm finally getting back into it & getting my feet wet again. Basically I'm just seeing what will grow.

I do have a roof over my balcony & it is screened, so the light is somewhat filtered. Looking for suggestions on what to grow in a fairly shady spot outside my front door. Thinking of Hostas but have read that they won't grow in Florida. Any Florida growers of Hostas?

Why not one of the shade-tolerant gingers? Like hedychiums or maybe a shell ginger-- alpina? I have hedychiums Dr Moy and Luna Moth on my balcony. When i was looking for info on them people in the ginger forum mentioned to me that they did well in bright shade/filtered sunlight. :)

You might like some wax Begonias by the front door. They should bloom all year where you are. Maybe some Coleus for more height. Caladiums? You can get a similar look to Hostas from some of the Aglaonemas, or Aspidistra, just not the flowers. Or maybe something wild and tall, like an elephant ear.

I think a clivia could be tucked into a mixed container to add some blooms as well.

Florida, I have heat envy. All my citrus plants are inside now. If I had your place my Meyer Lemon would be in heaven. Makes the BEST lemon aid--there's a great forum dedicated just to citruses here. I've never tried growing rosemary from seed but have had amazing luck rooting it. Just cut a piece and put it in water. My advice would be to start with a few plants. Last year was my first year without a garden plot in a while and I tried several tomatoes (make sure they are determinate--they'll stay small) and peppers along with my typical herbs, citruses, and flowers...too much! I couldn't move and got a nasty infestation of white flies. I would also suggest to get some yellow sticky traps so you can see infestations before they get out of hand. Also, don't worry if your plants die. It happens! I've learned a ton from my failures!

Florida, I have heat envy. All my citrus plants are inside now. If I had your place my Meyer Lemon would be in heaven. Makes the BEST lemon aid--there's a great forum dedicated just to citruses here. I've never tried growing rosemary from seed but have had amazing luck rooting it. Just cut a piece and put it in water. My advice would be to start with a few plants. Last year was my first year without a garden plot in a while and I tried several tomatoes (make sure they are determinate--they'll stay small) and peppers along with my typical herbs, citruses, and flowers...too much! I couldn't move and got a nasty infestation of white flies. I would also suggest to get some yellow sticky traps so you can see infestations before they get out of hand. Also, don't worry if your plants die. It happens! I've learned a ton from my failures!

ARRGH!! My rosemary won't germinate!! Habaneros are growing like crazy & bell peppers are starting to germ.

I have a deep window box that I'm using to sprout baby carrots. Saw the first inklings of green this AM. I'm a Proud Plant Mama. :)

I've heard rosemary is notoriously difficult from seed. Cuttings work well.

Congrats on your plants! That is super exciting. I plan on starting my cobaea seeds when they come :)

Fun stuff! Cool to hear! I've only ever started with a bought Rosemary plant. Once you get one, whatever way, as long as you don't water it to death, it should grow like crazy year round for you. The one at my Mom's house grows faster than we can use it culinarily and I've had to just prune it a few times. Nothing lost there, though - the trimmings make grilling an incredible experience when soaked and added to the coals. One of these days I'll get around to putting one in this yard too.

I got a rooted plant, but then since it was in a trade, it was stressed-- and i ended up having to cut it in half to reduce canopy. I managed to root some of those cuttings even though it was at the wrong time of year. So it's not too bad. You just stick them in the soil and wait. It's worth a try to grab some from a plant you know does well in your area if you have access :)

Rosemary still won't germinate. #@*%#!! Gonna have to get a cutting.

Baby carrots are about an inch tall. Habaneros & Bell peppers are going nuts. We've had unseasonably warm weather so I'm seeing new growth all over the place.

Gotta get off the library computer. They allow an hour & a half & some Nimrod is standing over me. Will try & check back tomorrow.

Good luck finding a cutting. It was supposed to be warm here, then they changed that forecast last night :/

Yeah, it cooled off a bit yesterday & last night. My dog & I love it!

If I can't get a rosemary cutting I can buy a small plant pretty cheap where I work.