With all the interest around organic food, urban farming and locally grown produce, you’d think that everyone would be growing at least some of their own food and truthfully a lot of people are. In a recent survey it was revealed that over half of all the households in the city of Toronto report growing at least something for the table. That’s a huge number and – I believe- it reflects a simple and pleasant truth about us – we like to grow gardens and we like to grow our own food.

As I drove through the heart of the city, past literally thousands of condo balconies it got me thinking about what a wonderful thing it would be – on so many levels – to see those balconies being used to grow food and herbs and yes- even flowers. I would venture a guess that less than 1% are used that way and I’m perplexed that proportionately so few of these balconies have anything growing on them when information on container gardening is so readily available.

That in turn got me thinking about the REAL problems that prevent the legions of potential balcony gardeners from moving ahead.

1) The first problem is not knowing exactly where to start. I’m guessing that many people get stalled at the point where they need to lug the dozen-or-so large, heavy and ultimately messy bags of compost and topsoil to fill planters for their balcony. I’ll show you a way around that.

2) The second problem is that all too common fear of failure. Container gardens do require some care. You get around that by going with a super low maintenance concept.

3) I think the biggest problem is a lack of time. Let’s face it. Most of those empty balconies belong to younger people with full time jobs, and busy social lives. There isn’t any time to ensure some level of daily maintenance- because in the middle of the summer- in containers – daily watering is often a necessity. The other thing about a balcony garden is that if you’re travelling during the summer and many people need to travel on business, you need someone to water your containers. Many won’t last a day without water – much less a week. So a self watering system is the only logical answer.

What it comes down to is this: If you would like to walk out onto your balcony or deck this summer and pick your own, organically grown tomatoes or peppers (or peas, beans, cucumbers or herbs) and eat your own organically grown salad greens – (the kind they will charge you $16 bucks a kilo for in the store) you can.
It all starts with a very simple growing system that you can build (or I can build for you) that will provide you with an organic, hydroponic, balcony garden that is “powered” by gravity and is virtually maintenance free.
The materials you need include a reservoir, tubing, a few fittings, plastic planter trays, one gallon plastic pots and an Autopot™ Smart valve. To build it you need a drill with a 3/8″ bit and some sealant – preferably food grade. You’ll also need epoxy and some light weight picture wire.

The material cost to build a one planter system will be about $45-60 depending on your local prices. To add additional planters to a reservoir will be about $30.00-$35.00 each in material costs.

The Reservoir

I use a Rubbermaid tote like this one. What’s important is that it is a food grade plastic. It’s strong, with enough flexibility to allow you to drill holes in it without cracking. It’s opaque, which is critical because you will use it to hold a nutrient solution that cannot be exposed to sunlight. If the light gets at the nutrient solution you will grow an award winning algae garden. That’s not what you want to do.

These totes come in different sizes.

You can supply up to three planters from one reservoir (unless of course you want to fill it every day). Since each reservoir can only hold one type of nutrient solution you need to separate plants that you want to flower and fruit – like peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers, from plants that you do not want to flower like salad greens, root crops and herbs. So if you want to grow tomatoes, salad greens and basil you will need two reservoirs. One will feed the tomatoes and the other will feed the salad greens and basil. (More on that in “Planning your Balcony Garden”)

Fittings and Tubing

You will need ¼” flexible tubing – black, to block the light. You can find it in hardware and home center stores that carry outdoor drip irrigation systems. It’s sold in 50 foot lengths, more than you’ll need.

This is a ¼” barb connector – also from the ¼” drip irrigation systems. This one is under the Orbit™ brand name and sold in packages of 2. You will need one fitting for each planter that you are running off this reservoir.

This is a ¼” shut off valve – also part of the Orbit drip irrigation system. You need one of these for each planter. On my original design I didn’t use these. It was a mistake.

Planter and Pots
This is the planter I found that worked best for these gardens. This is what’s important. It cannot have any open holes in the bottom. It needs to have an even, flat bottom. It needs to be large enough to accommodate a 1 gallon pot which is 5 ½ “across at the bottom, 6 ½”across at the top and 7″ high. Buy the longest one you can find. Probably you’ll find a size that will allow you to grow 3-4 large plants- like tomatoes in each planter.

This is a one gallon pot. You wouldn’t think so to look at it, but last year I grew cherry tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes and green peppers, each in a pot this big.

The Valve

This is the Autopot ™Smart Valve MKIIi. It is the heart of this system and you’ll probably need to buy it online. It will cost you at least $20.00 US. You need one for each planter. This valve is a wonderful little invention that will flood your planter to a depth of around 2-3 inches at which point it will block the flow of any more water until the planter is dry again. Then it will re-flood. It’s gravity fed and you’ll position the reservoir at least 30 inches higher than your planter in order to have enough water pressure to operate the valve. For your average balcony or deck, that means that you will sit your reservoir on a small table and sit your planters on the ground. That’s just an example and how you do it, is up to you. Just remember that the reservoir needs to be raised and when it’s full of water and nutrient solution it will be heavy, so you need something strong to support it.

In this shot of an earlier version of the garden system, you can see how I sat my reservoir on the deck and actually positioned my planters below the deck.

To Assemble
1. Using a 3/8″ bit drill a hole just above the bottom of the reservoir. Insert the barb fitting from the outside in. Use the epoxy to seal it in place (both on the inside and the outside) and when that’s dry add a generous overcoat of sealant. You really do not want this to leak. Test it to be sure it doesn’t.
2. Cut a 12″ piece of the tubing and connect it to the Smart Valve. Insert the shut off valve in the other end of the tubing.
3. Position the Smart Valve in the planter. It will probably work best at one end, but before you secure it in place, put the pots in the planter as well to be sure that you have the best use of space. The valve needs to be positioned so that:
a. Nutrient can flow through the tube
b. The valve top can raise and lower freely (or it won’t work)
c. The base of the valve can be secured firmly in place (or it will float free and not work)

4. How you secure the valve will depend on the planter you’re using and what’s available for you to work with. You don’t want to glue it permanently to the planter bottom because you might need to remove and clean it at some point over the growing season in case it becomes clogged. I found that about half my valves got blocked at one point or another and it’s a simple fix as long as you can get at them. One thing I found that worked was to punch the smallest possible hole into the base and run and tie the valve in place with a piece of picture wire – but the key phrase here is “smallest” possible hole or you’ll spend the rest of the summer trying to plug a leaky planter and that is a major headache.
5. You will also need to tie the hose connected to the valve into the side of the planter to further secure the valve and keep it from floating away. This is easy enough to do by punching holes about 4 inches up the side (so they’re above the water line) and wiring the hose into place. Now add water into the planter and be sure that it doesn’t leak.
6. Place the reservoir and the planter in their final positions. Measure out and cut a length of hose to connect the reservoir with the shut off valve and slide the hose over the end of both connectors.
Here’s a Video Version of this Page