my biggest concern would be wind.. and the stability of the shelving unit in regard to such .. i suspect you wont be able to figure that out.. until you have lived it ...

as with any such... the heaviest MUST be on the lower shelves ...

ken

KATHY: No, there is no sunscreen around the balcony. It is open. I think what you're seeing is just shadow.

KEN: The shelving units are quite sturdy. Each shelf holds like 75 lbs. each. They are by Origami, and fold up to mere inches thick in about 30 seconds. I figure that will be handy when I am able to find my little tiny dream house and move out of the apartment.

I also had the wind in mind, and that's why I intend to put the heaviest (the 10 gallon) fabric grow pots placed on the tall 4-shelf unit in the lee of the floor-to-ceiling brick privacy wall on the western side. The brick wall should cut a lot of the wind, and the 10 gallon pots should add stability. I still have to decide whether I want to put the 1, 2, 5, and 7 gallon fabric grow pots on tiered shelves or a straight up-and-down shelving unit, on the narrow eastern end of the balcony. Since the picture shows that the sun doesn't penetrate very far into the balcony, I wonder if the plants on the lower two tiered shelves would receive any more light than if they were on the straight shelving.

(not my balcony, just illustrative of a tiered plant shelf on A balcony!)

VS.

You can maybe purchase some roller shades or make some out of shade fabric. I would be worried that Southwest sun is too intense. But maybe the overhang provides more shade than I am thinking.

Popmama, as you can see in the photo, it looks to me that the pure sunlight only penetrates a foot or so under the balcony. Mine is the middle floor. With a SW exposure, does that mean I'd get the afternoon sun?

shade is impossible to define in words.. and even harder to predict ... you just start growing things there.. and figure it all out ..

but with clear blue sky above .. you might be surprised what a wide range of plants you will be able to grow there ...

the outer edge of the balcony has no trees.. no shade ... it will be very bright ... and i SUSPECT.. no problem growing just about anything ...

now.. my concern with wind.. is not your plants stand falling over.. its your plants..FLYING OFF THE BALCONY .. that worries me ... i am sure.. you really dont want to take out a neighbor down below.. or a car.. or whatever ...

perhaps when a bad storm is coming.. you lay them all on the floor.. and collapse the shelves ...

its a bit of total drama island ... but this is a variable you have to think about ... and then ignore .. lol ...

ken

Hey KEN, thanks for your insights. Those R4 steel shelves are 41" high and about 36" wide, weight 36 lbs., so it seems very stable. They are about the same height as the top of the railing. I also intend to velcro-strap the uprights of the shelving units to the railing, so it won't be going anywhere. The fabric grow pots I chose have handles on each side. I'm thinking I could bungee cord through the handles and around the wires forming the shelf to anchor the top shelf's plants. There is like 15" between the middle shelf and the top shelf, leaving ample room to get in there to water, remove bad leaves, etc. And there is 17" between the bottom and middle shelves, leaving plenty of room between the middle shelf and the top of the bottom shelf's plants.

I spoke with the leasing manager today, to confirm my calculations about the actual working space within the balcony railings, which turns out to be about 6'. I'll have to put one shelving unit on the eastern narrow end and and one in the corner of the front railing. While speaking to the leasing manager, I found out that we are allowed to hang plants from the railing as well. So cool! So that's where I can add in some annuals for a bit of color pop. She also confirmed that lots of people grow lots of different kinds of plants on the balconies, and that my apartment is located on the side which gets more sun on the balconies.

I will box up all the hostas & heuchies the day before I move and head out the the Greyhound station on Long Island. They have a Greyhound Express package service which is actually very reasonable. I can ship the boxes of plants and have them delivered to my door in about 3 days. Perfect!