For those who live in condos and apartments, you want to make the most of the space you set aside for growing your own food. That’s why we’ve searched for some of the best ways to get growing, keeping in mind balcony weight restrictions, size and light constraints, watering constraints, and of course keeping things as aesthetically pleasing as possible.

If you’re looking for a container garden that doesn’t require much work, but still yields a lot, we recommend using a self-watering container like the ones listed below. Self-watering containers have a built in reservoir that allows the plants to go for longer periods of time between watering and minimizing stress on the plants. Best of all, they are also designed to look great while producing a bounty of produce.

Our favourite containers for condos and apartments are the EarthBox and Balconera, but there are many styles and options to choose from.

This was one of several containers placed on an East-facing balcony in downtown Toronto. A variety of greens and herbs were grown to take advantage of the more limited sun conditions.

5 EarthBoxes were setup on this south-facing apartment balcony. In this picture, only three of the boxes are shown, each with a different type of kale.

This trio planter was part of a larger container garden installation on a balcony in East Scarborough. In this planter, cucumbers and beans were planted to grow up along the trellis. Additional planters included EarthBoxes and Balconeras to grow tomatoes, herbs, and edible flowers.

A Balconera planter with railing mounting straps planted with two different types of basil and other herbs.

This trio cottage planter was planted with 3 cherry tomato plants. The plants are supported by the trellis accessory.

This set of EarthBoxes was planted with mixed greens and herbs. The attached staking system provide additional vertical support for tomatoes, cucumbers, and other climbing plants.

When gardening on a balcony, sometimes the best way to maximize your growing potential is to grow vertically to take advantage of sunny area and utilize all of your available space. We have a number of container garden options that allow you to get growing vertically and grow quickly and easily.

The Nido hanging planter is our favourite hanging planter, coming in four colours in a woven wicker design. We like to grow strawberries, herbs, and edible flowers these planters.

This balconera was planted with a combination of greens, herbs, and edible flowers. Mounted on a balcony railing just outside the kitchen, it provides easy access when cooking and a splash of colour when enjoying the outdoor balcony.

The Cascada stackable planter is a practical and modular planter – allowing you to use each layer individually, as a 2-tier planter, or as a 3-tier stacking planter. Each planter features a large surface area and deep reservoir, allowing up to 13 different plants per layer.

The Cascada planter shown in its 2-tier design. We love growing greens, herbs, strawberries and flowers in this planter.

The Nido planter comes with a sturdy hook and support system and can support up to 100lbs (45kg) of weight).

When growing on balconies, it is important to rotate the containers every couple of days to ensure that all plants receive even sunlight.

All plants need light to grow and photosynthesize. When it comes to shady areas, sunlight and growing potential is more limited. For that reason, we have two recommendations.

The first option is to add supplementary lighting like LED growing lights. This allows the plants to grow despite lack of direct sun and allows all kinds of things to grow like greens, herbs, and even tomatoes and cucumbers.

The second option is to grow plants that can tolerate low light conditions. Typically, this means tropical indoor plants and most often non edible plants. We have a great list of indoor plants that are suitable for a wide range of lighting conditions that also serve as improve indoor air quality. Please contact us for more details.

Oyster mushroom kit. Grow delicious, gourmet, oyster mushrooms indoors all year round in as little as one week. Perfect for indoor areas, you can enjoy the freshest mushrooms in this easy to grow kit.

Grow wheatgrass, pea shoots, and many other microgreens with this easy to grow kit. 8 individual trays make harvesting and planting easy and modular.

We have a number of table planters in a variety of colours, shapes and sizes. Add some life with unique indoor plants that don’t require much direct sun that also help filter and improve your indoor air quality.

These larger Classico planters feature a series of braided “money tree” plants.

LED growing lights enable you to grow all types of edible plants indoors including tomatoes, herbs, eggplant, and more.

Black rolling Cararo planters showcase the guzmania’s natural beauty.

Outdoor gardens on condo and apartment balconies have their unique challenges and characteristics. First are the sun conditions. The ideal direction is to have a South-facing balcony without many or any other tall building to obstruct the sun as it typically receives sun for the majority of the day.

A West-facing location is second best, typically receiving direct sun from the early afternoon onwards into the evening. An East-facing location can still grow a variety of greens and herbs, but often sun and heat-loving plants don’t grow as well.

Balcony walls and railings can also work to limit the sun that reaches your plants. If you have an opaque wall or railing, we recommend raising the height of the plants/planters to give them as much time in the sun as you can. If this is your situation, consider propping your planters up on a stand or using a vertical garden for your balcony.

In addition, the higher up you live, the more wind and temperature fluctuations your garden will experience. This causes them to dry out faster, require more water, and become more easily stressed, leading to dead, weak, or low yielding plants. That’s why we’ve listed almost exclusively self-watering planters that come with a built in reservoir to allow the plants to go for longer periods of time between watering. This means less frequent watering, faster plant growth, more yields, and less work. It’s really a winning combination and why we love self-watering planters.

We’ve also put together two blog posts on 5 Things You Must Consider Before Starting An Edible Garden and 5 More Things You Must Consider Before Starting and Edible Garden to help get you started as well.