Balcony Pot House¶
Status¶
Active.
Overview¶
Balcony Pot House is a small-scale urban food production and observation system located on a South-East facing apartment balcony.
The project serves three purposes:
- Food production.
- Plant propagation and experimentation.
- Practical data collection for future field-scale projects.
The system combines container growing, passive shading, volunteer plant selection and microclimate observation.
Current Inventory - June 2026¶
Large Round Pots - F30¶
Diameter:
- 30 cm
Quantity:
- 4
F30 #1¶
Contents:
- Pink Dream tomato
F30 #2¶
Contents:
- Pink Dream tomato
F30 #3¶
Contents:
- Sweet potato
Purpose:
- food production;
- biomass production;
- container ground-cover observation.
F30 #4¶
Contents:
- Tomato sucker #1
Purpose:
- vegetative propagation observation.
Rectangular Window Boxes¶
Quantity:
- 4
Window Box #1¶
Layout:
- Cherry tomato;
- Pepper;
- Cherry tomato.
Window Box #2¶
Layout:
- Cherry tomato;
- Pepper;
- Cherry tomato.
Window Box #3¶
Layout:
- Rosemary;
- Cherry tomato;
- Rosemary.
Window Box #4¶
Layout:
- Rosemary;
- Cherry tomato;
- Rosemary.
Small Window Boxes¶
Quantity:
- 3
Contents:
- Rosemary;
- Rosemary;
- Rosemary.
Role:
- culinary herb production;
- perennial balcony stock;
- drought-tolerant herb layer;
- propagation source material.
Square Cube Containers¶
Dimensions:
- 25 x 25 x 25 cm
Quantity:
- 4
Cube Pot #1¶
Contents:
- White bean;
- Parsley;
- volunteer cherry tomato seedlings.
Cube Pot #2¶
Contents:
- White bean;
- Parsley;
- volunteer cherry tomato seedlings.
Cube Pot #3¶
Contents:
- Pepper;
- Parsley;
- volunteer cherry tomato seedlings.
Cube Pot #4¶
Contents:
- Pepper;
- Parsley;
- volunteer cherry tomato seedlings.
Volunteer Cherry Tomato Population¶
Origin:
- Previous year's cherry tomato production.
Method:
- Old plant material and fruit residues were returned to the cube containers after the previous season.
Result:
- A large number of volunteer cherry tomato seedlings emerged naturally.
Observed selection effect:
- strong competition during emergence and early growth;
- only the strongest seedlings survived;
- surviving seedlings developed strong root systems before visible above-ground growth became dominant.
Project value:
- local balcony selection pressure;
- possible adapted planting material;
- reduced dependence on purchased seed;
- potential self-seeding production cycle.
Current Plant Inventory¶
Tomatoes¶
Pink Dream tomatoes:
- 2 mature plants in F30 containers.
Cherry tomatoes:
- 6 planned plants in rectangular window boxes;
- additional volunteer population in cube containers.
Tomato propagation:
- 1 direct-planted sucker trial in F30 container.
Peppers¶
Quantity:
- 2 in rectangular window boxes;
- 2 in cube containers.
Sweet Potato¶
Quantity:
- 1 in F30 container.
Role:
- container food production trial;
- biomass and cover trial.
White Bean¶
Quantity:
- 2 cube containers.
Role:
- climbing crop observation;
- legume support crop potential;
- container productivity trial.
Parsley¶
Quantity:
- present in all 4 cube containers.
Role:
- herb layer;
- edible green production;
- underplanting test.
Rosemary¶
Quantity:
- 7 plants total;
- 4 plants in rectangular window boxes;
- 3 plants in small window boxes.
Role:
- culinary herb;
- drought-tolerant perennial;
- pollinator support;
- perennial support layer;
- propagation source material.
Grapevine¶
Status:
- mature established vine canopy.
Role:
- seasonal shading;
- passive cooling;
- lower evaporation;
- biomass production;
- habitat creation.
Functional Layers¶
Canopy Layer¶
- Grapevine.
Production Layer¶
- Pink tomatoes;
- cherry tomatoes;
- peppers;
- white beans;
- sweet potato.
Herb Layer¶
- Rosemary;
- parsley.
Experimental Layer¶
- tomato sucker rooting;
- volunteer cherry tomato selection;
- sweet potato container performance;
- grapevine shade effect;
- balcony microclimate observation.
Active Experiments¶
Tomato Sucker Rooting Trial¶
Comparison between:
- direct soil planting;
- water rooting.
Sweet Potato Container Trial¶
Evaluation of sweet potato performance in F30 container conditions.
Volunteer Tomato Selection¶
Observation of naturally selected cherry tomato seedlings from previous-year seed.
Grapevine Microclimate Effect¶
Observation of shade, heat reduction and moisture retention under a living canopy.
Container Polyculture Trial¶
Observation of crop combinations in restricted root volume:
- tomato + pepper;
- tomato + rosemary;
- bean + parsley;
- pepper + parsley;
- volunteer tomato competition.
Rosemary Perennial Layer¶
Observation of rosemary performance as a low-maintenance perennial herb layer under balcony constraints.
Solar Monitoring Development¶
Preparation for future environmental monitoring and low-power balcony automation.
Feeds Data Into¶
- Plant Profiles;
- Crop Matrix;
- Field Journal;
- Microclimate Lab;
- 3-Year Development Plan;
- Crop Oracle.
Key Metrics¶
- container size;
- water demand;
- sun exposure;
- shade effect;
- heat stress;
- yield;
- pruning response;
- pest pressure;
- seed collection potential;
- volunteer seedling survival;
- crop compatibility in shared containers;
- rosemary survival and regrowth.
Next Actions¶
- record all containers with photos;
- track watering frequency by container type;
- thin or transplant volunteer cherry tomatoes if overcrowding becomes limiting;
- observe sweet potato vine growth and container coverage;
- document grapevine shade effect during summer heat;
- monitor rosemary survival and regrowth in small window boxes;
- connect sensor observations through Microclimate Lab.