Gardening and Growing Food

What this topic covers

You don't need a plot of land to start a vegetable garden. A sunny corner of a balcony, a windowsill shelf or a few pots in a small yard is enough to pick your own lettuce and cherry tomatoes. This topic focuses on growing things you can eat. Keeping houseplants alive indoors is covered in the houseplant guide under Home and Interior; here, seven guides walk through going from seed or seedling to harvest, how to handle soil, water and fertilizer along the way, and what to do when insects or disease show up. None of the guides recommend specific products or companies. They focus on how to make the call yourself.

The four things a crop needs

Plants need light, water, soil and the right temperature. Of the four, light is the hardest to change. You can water more or less, swap the soil and time your planting to the season, but the sunlight your home gets is fixed. So garden planning starts with measuring how many hours of direct sun your space gets each day. Fruiting vegetables are commonly given a benchmark of six or more hours of direct sun, while leafy greens can grow with somewhat less. Without enough light, stems stretch thin and fruit sets poorly.

• Light: measure daily hours of direct sun first
• Water: go by how dry the soil is, not the calendar
• Soil: drains well but still holds some moisture
• Temperature: plant each crop in the season it likes

Why start small

Bringing home ten pots at once quickly turns watering and care into a chore. Growing one or two easy crops through a full season teaches you how light, wind and drying soil behave in your particular space. Expanding after that experience leads to far fewer failures. In the first year, one leafy green and one herb, plus one fruiting crop if you have the room, is plenty. Starting from seedlings rather than seeds lowers the failure rate and shortens the wait until harvest.

Suggested reading order

If you're new, check your space with the balcony garden guide, then read the guide on soil and pots before you shop. Choose what to plant from the easy vegetables guide, and once things are in the ground, keep the watering and drainage guide nearby. If insects or disease appear, turn to the pest guide; if you want to turn food scraps and leaves back into soil, read the compost guide; and for the fun of cooking with what you grow, read the herb guide. Each guide stands on its own, but the principles of watering and drainage run through nearly all of them.

Common misconceptions

The most common mistake is thinking that more water means better growth. Roots in a pot need air too, and constantly wet soil damages them. Fertilizer is the same: more is not better, and too much can burn roots and produce leafy plants with little fruit. Be careful, too, with the idea that anything labeled natural is automatically safe. Homemade sprays often end up scorching leaves. Finally, don't be discouraged if your plants don't look like someone else's photos. The same crop grows at a very different pace and shape under different light and temperatures.

Following the seasons

In Korea, garden crops broadly split into those that like cool weather and those that like heat. Leafy greens such as lettuce and spinach grow well in spring and autumn, and in midsummer heat they tend to bolt and turn tough. Heat lovers like cherry tomatoes, peppers and basil go in during late spring, after the risk of late frost has passed, and are harvested in summer. The right timing varies by region and by year, so for exact sowing and transplanting dates, the farming guidance from public bodies such as local agricultural technology centers is the most reliable reference.

Safety and your neighbors

Never hang or set pots on the outside of a balcony railing; wind can knock them off and injure someone below. When watering, make sure muddy runoff won't clog the drain or leak into the unit below by checking saucers and drainage. Large pots full of soil are heavier than they look, so don't cluster them all in one spot. If you use pesticides, follow the label exactly for target crops, dilution, number of applications and the pre-harvest interval, and store them out of reach of children and pets.

The seven guides in this topic

The seven guides below run from checking your space to using the herbs you harvest. Feel free to start with whichever one you need.

• Starting a balcony garden: light, wind, weight and drainage
• Easy vegetables such as lettuce and cherry tomatoes
• Choosing soil, potting mix and containers
• Watering and drainage: avoiding waterlogged roots
• Composting basics: material ratios and odor control
• Eco-friendly pest control and following pesticide labels
• Growing and using herbs: basil, mint and rosemary