Simple gardening tips for my almost 9yo?

[deborah_r]

We live in an apartment, so gardening means we are growing things in pots on the balcony. DS1 is very excited about this, and I was wondering if any of you who are good gardeners can give me any simple tips to help his plants grow well, like things we can add to the soil or whatever. I think they will get a good 6 hours or so of sun a day, and we picked things that could handle direct sun like that. We have:

tomatoes
chili peppers
thyme
basil
mint
flowers of some sort
and drumroll...DH and DS1 thought it would be a great idea to buy watermelon plants. How the hel! we can grow watermelons on the balcony, I do not know. I think they are smaller watermelons.

There are some seed packets too, but we haven't planted them yet. The above were all little "starter plants".

Thanks!

[brittone2]

This is a cute book. Not sure if it is what you are looking for. It is for 5 and up but IMO not so simplistic a 9 yo wouldn't get something out of it.

http://www.amazon.com/Grow-It-Cook-DK-Publishing/dp/0756633672/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336162158&sr=1-1

eta: Not sure how you'd feel about this, but would you consider vermicomposting? I have read about apartment dwellers doing this. It would let him compost in a small space and amend the soil. I always want to get around to doing this with my kids but haven't yet.

[misshollygolightly]

Fun! I don't have any earth-shattering tips, but you might caution him not to over-water things (ambitious young gardeners have a tendency to do this). Read about each plant to find out how to water it (whether soil should stay moist to the touch, whether you need to allow soil to get rather dry and then thoroughly soak it, etc.). Also, some of your herbs (like basil) may need to be pinched back to prevent them from flowering/bolting and instead keep producing useful leaves (of course, you won't have to worry about this for a little while). You could also encourage him to keep a photojournal or something to record his plants' progress (taking pictures at 1 week, 2 weeks, etc., and maybe measuring the height with a measuring stick). If he wants, he could experiment by placing one tomato plant on one side of the balcony and the other on the other side...it might be interesting to see which one grows/produces better, and it might help him know how best to position his plants next year. Have fun!

ETA: Oh yeah, and water you've used to cook pasta and/or veggies (without salt or fat) is the *best* kind to pour on your plants! Just make sure you cool it down completely first after draining it off your pasta. It has great nutrients in it for helping any plants...esp. container gardens.

[mskitty]

Basic tips:
http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=452&sid=140643

Egg shells help prevent tomato blossom end rot.
http://www.mamashealth.com/garden/eggshells.asp

Maybe try to find sticks to make teepees for your plants to grow up?
http://www.ehow.com/how_2090607_build-garden-teepee.html
http://www.veggiegardener.com/how-to-build-teepee-trellis-for-pole-beans-garden-peas/

mskitty

[babybunny]

Check out www.mybalconyjungle.com/watermelons.html

Sorry, I don't know how to make that a clickable link.

There are lots of web postings on growing smaller watermelon varieties on a trellis.


Good luck! I wish I could get my seven year old son interested in gardening

[infomama]

Square foot gardening is a great book/method to explore.
http://www.amazon.com/All-New-Square-Foot-Gardening/dp/1591862027

Here is the blog
http://www.squarefootgardening.com/
http://www.melbartholomew.com/