Finding Your Green Thumb! Part 2

Here is the second part of my gardening series! 

So after picking out my tomato plant, I decided it would be fun to grow my own herbs and lettuce as well. First, I decided on three herbs that we use frequently throughout the week - Rosemary, Basil, and Parsley. Then we picked out two different kinds of lettuce. 

We decided to grow our herbs and lettuce together because they grow well together and need the same amount of sunlight.
However, when you plant your herbs and lettuce, you have to TRANSPLANT THEM DIFFERENTLY! 

Tip #1 - When transplanting your lettuce, you first need to harvest the greens it already has. To do this, cut the lettuce 1 1/2 inches from the new soil line.

We did this with both kinds of our lettuce and they have grown back even more than before!

Tip #2 - When transplanting herbs, no harvesting is needed! Just position you herbs in the pot and fill it in with soil.

We have harvested our herbs for cooking about once a week and they have grown back very well! 

Finally, Tip #3 - When positioning plants in your yard, on your porch, or balcony, you need to know how much sunlight there is in each spot. 

When we set up our balcony, I kept an eye on how much sun our plants were getting. I noticed that the tomato plant was only getting partial sunlight and needed more full sunlight. Now I have propped the tomato plant up higher and it receives full sun! Our lettuce and herbs have been growing so well that I think their sunlight is the perfect amount. 

I hope you have enjoyed a view of our first balcony garden and will try out your green thumb and plant a garden yourself!

Finding your green thumb!

For this post, I am going to do a two part series, sharing some tips I learned as we started our first Colorado garden! I will be including tips on deciding what to plant, transplanting and things to consider when starting out.

This Past week, my mother-in-law, Julie came up from Texas to visit us! Since she came on Mother's Day, we decided to explore our local nursery for some plants to start our own BALCONY GARDEN. This was the perfect timing because Julie knows more about gardening and I have been wanting to learn! Also, all Coloradans know to wait until after Mother's Day to plant because of our unpredictable Spring weather!

Tip #1 - If you are trying to start a new garden, first find out when is the best time to plant. Here in Colorado, it can snow as late as Mother's Day! For that reason, it is safest to wait until then so your plants don't freeze.  

We decided that we wanted to grow some tomatoes...which turned into a bigger decision than we thought! There were so many different kinds of tomatoes to pick from! I kept just saying, "which one are the normal ones?" Finally we decided on cherry tomatoes, since we are growing them on our balcony. Those tend to do well in small spaces because they come as a dwarf plant or a compact plant and do not grow as big as others. 

Tip #2 - Pick the plant that will best fit the space you have. Ask questions if you aren't sure how big each plant will be. 

After we picked cherry tomatoes, we still had even more options of the kind of cherry tomato that we wanted. We ended up getting the Juliet kind, which will grow to look like these -

Cute huh?

Tip #3 - When transplanting a tomato plant, it is best to plant it deeper than its original soil line. When you go to put it in the pot, pick off the bottom stems up about 3 - 4 inches from the original soil. Then cover those 3 - 4 inches with the new soil. This will encourage new roots to grow and provide more stability for your plant.  

Tip #4 - Unplug your pot (if plastic) and add a water tray. By doing this, you will prevent ROOT ROT from over watering on accident. 

The metal wire thing is the cage for the plant to grow in. This provides continued stability as it will grow top heavy with fruit (hopefully!). 

Tip #5 - If you are PLANTING TOMATOES, you will want to make sure you know how big your type of plant will grow in order to pick the right size cage. If you are unsure, just do what we did and ask someone who looks like they work there! :) 

No matter where you live (Texas vs. Colorado, House vs. Apartment) you can't go wrong with growing your own fresh tomatoes! Check back for my next post with tips on gardening herbs and lettuce!