7 Fall Container Vegetable Combinations for Apartment Balconies
It’s never too late to grow vegetables! Fall crops, indoor seed starting, and container gardening are great ways to beat the seasons, whether you have an apartment balcony or a small window. Try one of these seven vegetable combinations that work perfectly in containers, from seasoned grower Jerad Bryant.
Contents
The last thing you want to do to your balcony is stuff it with giant beds! Container gardening is a great way to both enjoy the space and grow crops. Containers don’t take up the whole balcony. They fit into tight corners and are easy to move around.
In the fall, the weather cools and days shorten. These conditions are ripe for fall crops. Leafy greens, root vegetables, and quick-growing legumes thrive under the season’s cool weather. It’s not the time for tomatoes and corn, though it is the time for dozens of other vegetable crops.
Whether you’re starting seeds or planting starts, these fall vegetable container combinations work well for all container gardens. Try them in an apartment, condo, or balcony outdoors. Save money at the grocery store and grow lettuce, carrots, herbs, kale, and more!
Lettuce, Beets, and Herbs
Lettuce loves growing under the cool of fall. Seedlings form many leaves, and the heading types form thick, crunchy heads. Alongside your lettuce, beets take up space below the soil. They complement lettuce’s growing habits.
For the spaces in between the two crops, add common herbs like oregano and chives. Chives are perennial, and they have green onion-like leaves with mild, honey-sweet flavors. Oregano is essential in seasoning mixes, and the plant itself is also perennial.
Pair one of each in a small container, or grow many seedlings in a large one. Consider using other cool-weather herbs, like cilantro and parsley, if you’d rather use them instead of oregano and chives.
Chard and Carrots
This fall pairing combines a leafy green with a root crop. It’s one of the best fall vegetable container combinations, as carrots take up the space that chard leaves. They grow a thick, swollen root, while chard grows upright, collard-like leaves that are glossy green.
Chard is gorgeous, too. It features leaves with ribs of all colors. Find varieties that are orange, white, yellow, pink, and red! Swiss chard reseeds readily, and you’ll find it sprouting in nearby containers if you let it flower.
Carrots grow best under the cool of fall, winter, or spring. They require a big container at least a foot deep. If you have a small container, try the round carrot-forming variety ‘Tonda di Parigi.’ Or, consider growing the shallow carrot ‘Little Finger.’
Bloody Sorrel and Lettuce
Bloody sorrel is a gorgeous leafy green vegetable. It’s often the main salad in fine dining dishes, as its red veins look stunning in the green leaves. Use it as a baby green for the best flavor.
Pair bloody sorrel with lettuce in all sorts of combinations to make the salad of your dreams. Try a loose-leaf lettuce variety, as you can harvest its leaves consistently during the fall season. Also, loose-leaf lettuces require less space than heading types.
Lettuce is an annual, whereas bloody sorrel is perennial from USDA hardiness zones 4 through 8. It’ll survive through to the spring. When new sprouts appear, sow lettuce seeds to recreate the combination.
This sorrel, known scientifically as Rumex sanguineus, contains oxalic acid. It may be a concern if consumed in large quantities. That’s why mixing it with lettuce is a great way to put it to use to avoid the side effects of overconsumption.
Chives and Parsley
Chives are in the same genus as onions, which is why they look and taste similar. Chives have thinner leaves than onions, and their flavor is milder than the pungent bulbs. They are perennial, too, and they’ll survive year to year.
Parsley is a biennial herb, and it pairs well with chives in a container and in recipes. Use parsley and chives in vegetable roasts, tomato sauces, and meats. They’re an iconic duo with complementary flavors.
On apartment balconies, parsley may reseed itself if left to grow. It’s a biennial that grows leaves one year and flowers and seeds the next. Harvest the leaves, then leave the stalks to flower and set seeds. They’ll fall back into the containers and sprout anew with moisture and cool weather.
Kale and Chard
Kale and Swiss chard are hearty crops, and they’re one of the best fall vegetable container combinations if you plan on cooking greens. This pairing may look like it needs a lot of space, but it’ll fit in a small container! A ten-inch round pot will do, though a raised bed works well too.
Kale and chard thrive with the cool, moist weather of the fall season. They’ll grow well high up on balconies, and they need little space to produce a sizable crop.
Simply plant seeds or seedlings in containers with fresh potting soil, and keep the dirt moist, but not soggy. Snip the outermost leaves of both types when you need to use them, and let the innermost ones enlarge and take their place.
Kale and Scallions
Scallions, or green onions, are essential for fresh dishes. They add a subtle crunch and a punch of mild onion flavor. Snip them in salads, ramen soups, and cut them whole in sandwiches.
Alongside scallions, plant kale as a base vegetable. It works well fresh or cooked, and there are many varieties available aside from ‘Lacinato,’ or ‘Dinosaur’ kale. Try red-leaf, frilly, or white varieties.
Kale is frost-tolerant, whereas scallions may not survive the winter. Harvest them often by snipping their leaves. Then, before the first frost, move the scallions indoors to a kitchen windowsill to keep them going.
Spinach, Radish, and Mustard
This final group is one of the spiciest fall vegetable container combinations! It pairs radish, a root vegetable, with spinach and mustard, two greens. The three plants create the perfect base for a simple salad that packs a punch.
Flavorful, nutritious, and delicious, these three plants are perfect for apartment balconies. Radishes require less space to grow than other root vegetable species. Spinach is a quick grower, and you may reseed it steadily throughout the end of the growing season.
Mustard is also frost-tolerant, depending on the variety. Try ‘Florida Broadleaf’ for a large-leaf variety with thick foliage, or go for the lush, colorful variety ‘Red Giant.’
