Plant balcony boxes: when and how to proceed

Planting balcony boxes and flower boxes is a good way to grow plants to save space. Both ornamental plants and herbs, fruit or vegetable plants can thrive here.

Whether vegetables, fruit or flowers - what you plant in your balcony box is of course up to you. But the fact is that balcony boxes have some advantages over normal pots on the balcony. You can save space, have a better working height and the plants get much more light. In this article you will find out how best to proceed when planting balcony boxes and what needs to be considered.

When should you plant balcony boxes?

From when you plant your balcony boxes depends entirely on which plants you choose. Frost-sensitive plants should only be planted out after the ice saints. These will be over by mid-May, so from then on you no longer have to worry about night frosts. If you still want to plant beforehand, you can cover the plants with fleece overnight to protect them from frost. There is also

hardy balcony plants, with which window boxes can be planted before the ice saints.

The right soil for balcony boxes

Once you have decided which crops to plant on your balcony, it is now important to choose the right soil. For this you should know how many nutrients your plants need.

Soil for undemanding plants in the balcony box

Should you choose herbs such as about lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), thyme (Thymus vulgaris), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) or sage (Salvia officinalis) we recommend a nutrient-poor soil with a loose, airy structure such as ours Plantura Organic Herb & Seed Soil. In addition to its excellent properties for herbs, this is also 100% peat-free, which saves more than 60% CO₂ during production compared to conventional soils containing peat becomes. It is also suitable for undemanding balcony flowers such as sedum (sedum), Flaming Katy (Kalanchoë blossfeldiana) or houseleek (sempervivum).
For nutrient-hungry herbs such as basil (Ocimum basilicum), chives (Allium schoenoprasum), mint (mentha) and parsley (Petroselinum crispum ssp. crispum) you should fertilize the soil a bit or with a more nutrient-rich substrate such as our already pre-fertilized one Plantura organic universal soil Mix.

Soil for fruit and vegetable plants in balcony boxes

Do you want for example strawberries (Fragaria) or chili (capsicum) on your balcony, we recommend a more nutrient-rich soil like ours Plantura organic tomato & vegetable soil. This is organically pre-fertilized and thus also supplies heavily consuming plants with sufficient nutrients right from the start and over a long period of time.

Soil for summer flowers in the window box

If you decide to plant flowers in the balcony box, the demands on the soil are different than, for example, herbs. Is it now? petunias (petunia), begonias (begonia) or marigolds (Calendula officinalis) are, we definitely recommend a high-quality soil, for example ours Plantura organic potting soil. This is ideal for many flowering plants. Since it is already pre-fertilized, the plants are supplied with nutrients right from the start. This ensures a long-lasting bloom.

Tip: Pay particular attention to good drainage in window boxes. To do this, you should mix about 30% of coarser material such as expanded clay or perlite with the soil or create a drainage layer at least 2 cm thick in the bottom of the planter.

How many plants should you use per flower box?

With a flower box of 100 cm, you can roughly count on 5 to 10 specimens. Of course, the number of plants varies greatly - depending on which plants you want to use. For example, do you want a classic like geraniums (pelargonium) plant in the balcony boxes, one assumes 5 plants. Of primroses (Primula) can in turn be planted up to 10. If there is uncertainty about the number, it is best to find out about the desired plant.

Tip: Plants need enough space for their roots, so less is sometimes more - after all, well-cared for plants develop much more magnificently.

Plant balcony boxes: step-by-step instructions

Gather all the materials you need, such as soil, drainage material, window boxes, a watering can and the plants. Gardening gloves are also required according to individual needs. Then it can go:

• Make sure the pots have enough drainage holes - some plastic flower boxes have to have these first be drilled or gouged out - and cover them with potsherds so that they do not clog and the earth does not can fall out.
• Place a 3 - 5 cm high drainage layer of expanded clay or gravel in the bottom of the window box.

• Optional: Cover the drainage with fleece. This keeps everything neatly separated and the drainage can easily be reused.
• Fill the balcony box about 2/3 with soil - the plants still have to be planted. If a standard box with a length of 80 cm is to be filled, you need just under
  20 l of ours Plantura organic potting soil.

• So that the plants are immediately supplied with sufficient water, the pot balls can be briefly submerged under water until they are completely soaked.
• Then do not plant the plant too deep - the surface of the pot ball should only be lightly covered with soil. Press down the substrate well to give the roots good contact and fill in any gaps with substrate.

• Leave a distance of about 3 cm from the top edge of the balcony box so that the water does not spill over when watering.
  Tip: If there is too much soil in the flower box, it is sometimes enough to press the substrate down a little at the edge. The resulting pouring edge ensures that the water does not overflow later.
• If there is a lot of sunlight, make sure to water sufficiently after planting. In this way, even the last gaps in the substrate are washed in.

You can find out which plants you can plant on the balcony at what time in our article Plant the balcony.