I started gardening on a balcony and pots, it's not easy and it's more costly. I was happy to get a plot at a community garden the following year.

The two 15 gal or 60q container sound wider than tall. Just wondering about how happy the root system will be in there.... the rail system is only 7.5 inch high, that's limiting to a certain type of plants.... the 15 gal containers should grow lettuce pretty well. Spinach can be finnicky, especially when transplanting. For brocc I would get a taller pot. Broc takes a lot of sideways room once it gets going, no way around it if you want results... it's a large plant. check out spacing on the net for different plants. There are also places that tell you average depth of roots. Peas also like it deep.

Some greenhouse online stores sell big pots for much cheaper than local sources.

Thank you for the response! The 15gal tupperware bins are 24" long x 18" wide x 12" high. Is 12" too shallow for peas and broccoli?

I thought about the idea of getting a community plot, but I don't see how I would have time to go there every single day to water and maintain it? I work 40-80 hours per week, so I feel it'll be much easier to water and maintain a garden at home. How are you managing it?

I used to community garden in CA, and I don't ever recall having to go out there every day to water and maintain. For peas, there will be a week or two when you have to come out every other day to pick. Everything else you're looking at has a much more relaxed harvest schedule.

BTW, basil really loves hot weather. Sure you want to do it as a fall crop?

Oh, how often did you have to water your garden? For the basil, I was thinking of starting it outside, then bringing it indoors when it gets cool.

As far as the pot size, I'd say this... and of course there are those who can disagree... just do it lol. If you are repurposing, then try it out and see what happens. If you find out that something requires more space, then adjust next season. You'll have all winter to find things that may work even better, but usually, cramping simply requires additional fertilization and sometimes reduces yield. And since it's your first time trying it, what have you got to lose? The worst that will happen is you'll get something, and you'll be learning at the same time!

One thing to be aware of in small-ish containers is the risk of over-fertilization. The soil is pre-amended, but you may need more as the season progresses. keep an eye for signs of nutrient deficiency. It may not be a problem at all. If you do fertilize, then use less than what the instructions recommend. It's easy to add more, very difficult to remove.

rgreen of course is true, because gardening is a lot about learning from trial. But you can also learn from planning the sizes your plants will need by using references---however seeing is believing, and even today it amazes me how huge tiny seedlings get, and I still overcrowd a little bit.

If you don't have money for buying pots online, you could also buy 5 gallon buckets and repurpose them. Also, I see 3 gallon black buckets all the time in grocery stores that have delis, they toss dozens out every few weeks.

In the height of summer, I water every 5 days or so. I still grow in pots outdoors and I water those slightly more, the smaller pots a lot more. This is because the ground is able to retain water longer than pots.

You can bring basil inside but it will mostly stop growing. It's best to harvest them young and tender anyway, no point in keeping them alive if you can sow more seeds instead.

Another thing you might want to consider in your situation is growing micro greens. It's fun, get you quick results, and it doesn't use much space.

I watered and weeded my CA community garden about every five days. Of course, it depends on where you are. If it's mid-summer in a bad heat zone, you might have to water every two or three days. Doing that right now in HZ10 with temps over 100F. Seems to me that in VA you wouldn't have to do that much at all. You should NEVER get in a situation where you need to water every day. If you did, you'd be asking for shallow roots and probably disease caused by permanently drenched soil.

As to basil, growing it inside would be fine (but it likes hotter temps than you'll see inside), and it also likes a lot of sunlight. But try it and see if it works.

First, in case you didn't know there is a Balcony Gardening forum here http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/balcony

that could be really helpful to you as it is a very different form of gardening. Then, since you will be using containers, also be sure to check out the Container Gardening forum here http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/contain

as that too is a very different form of gardening with different requirements.

While I agree that gardening is trial and error activity in part you can save you self a lot of time and effort by first learning from others and so avoiding all the common errors new gardeners make. With balconies two biggies come to mind -(1) not nearly enough sun exposure due to the roof or floor above. South facing is often not enough. And (2) sometimes severe water draining problems for those who live below you every time you water. Since containers have to drain well that water has to go somewhere. So be sure to thoroughly explore those issues upfront.

Then with containers the common mistakes are (1) using containers that are too small and/or too shallow. (2) filling those containers with dirt rather than a quality soil-less potting mix and that creates all sorts of problems. The potting mix is expensive so starting out with just a couple of containers instead of umpteen of them not only let's you learn as you go but also saves you a lot of wasted money. And (3) not understanding the very different feeding and watering regimens required for successful container gardening.

So with your proposal I see a couple of issues. First, snowpeas as a container crop - take lots of room for minimal production and the trellis will shade the other plants so I'd suggest sipping them. Plus they have very different nutrient needs than broccoli and spinach. Put the broccoli and spinach in the same container as they are high nitrogen users and peas won't tolerate high nitrogen. Second, both basil and dill will need a much bigger container than 1 gallon. They are very tall plants with big root balls. Third, as already mentioned I think there are much less expensive and better functional containers available than the ones you have linked. Not that i am recommending them but for the price of 1 of your linked boxes you could buy 5 of these and have almost 3x the planting space.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-15-in-x-7-99-in-Plastic-Leonardo-Black-Bronze-Window-Box-WB100F-BB/203621275

Just some thoughts to consider. Enjoy your planning.

Dave

That's great to see that you don't have to water in-ground plants everyday! I just emailed a local community garden to get more info. :) I probably won't have the money or commitment to rent a plot now, but maybe come spring time...

Thank you all for the suggestions; I made some changes based on your feedback:

Water drainage issues: Luckily I live above the rental office, so if I water outside of business hours, it shouldn't rain on anyone... Since I often work 6A-7P, I should be ok!

Railing planters: Yeah, I know they're weird, but I already have them.

Snow peas: I know they're not great for containers, but I really really want them... Taking into account Dave's advice about nutrient needs, I'll get separate containers for them. I'm thinking two 30" long x 6-12" wide x 10-12" deep containers. Put them to one side of the balcony so that they don't shade the broccoli.

Broccoli: I'll do 3 in one 15gal tupperware by themselves. But I will keep an eye out for deeper containers.

Spinach/Lettuce: 6 plants each in two 7.5" deep railing planters - various websites said depths of 4-6" were ok for these. Or maybe put the spinach in the other 15gal tupperware.

Herbs: I'll look for some 3 gal buckets for the basil and dill, or give in and buy some.

I attached a picture of my currently naked balcony. :) The railing is 12.5 feet wide. I'm planning to hang the smaller pots with herbs off the outside of the railing.