[tardigrade]

I think it is to late for this year for almost anything - you could purchase lettuce plants and get a few leaves off of them before you MOVE in July.
30 odd days does not give you a lot of time for anything.

If you are going to drag the pots with you on your move and like hot peppers; search online for a seed distributor and purchase some seeds. A pepper plant should live for 2-3 years if not subject to frost or freeze and near the coast will/should produce all year round in a sunny location near a window or on the terrace.

Otherwise, herbs such as rosemary, thyme, oregano and many more will live for years if kept watered but not over watered. A commercial grower will normally replace rosemary or thyme plants every 2-3 years.
A small bay shrub in a pot is also handy. Dried leaves can cost up to €90 a kilo in the shops.

Another option would be to go hydroponically or just indoor in soil. Hydroponics is the farming of the future will enable you to grow anything year round. There are hydroponic shops in most cities thru out Spain or online being that the police tend to look the other way for residents growing 2-3 marijuana plants interior - not on the terrace and keeping the smell from disturbing your neighbors.. Rule of thumb would be that if nobody knows that they are there then they are not there.

Happy growing

 

[tardigrade]

For when you do not have land to grow

 

[tardigrade]

The above is a simple aeroponic system. The next tray has 14 planting spaces.

 

[chloeeliabeth]

In case anyone is interested, an interesting discussion on plant genetics on today's edition of The Life Scientific (BBC Radio 4). The question was if you take a plant cutting from the UK and try and cultivate it in Spain, is the plant hard-wired to need a colder British winter? Aside from the fact that it's a bit of a myth that Spanish winters in my part of the world are milder - though they tend to be shorter - the finding was that plants are indeed programmed to expect a rhythm of weather.
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I know a bit nerdy, but as a keen gardener, it piqued my interest.

I agree with you.

 

[tardigrade]

Just received 200 saffron bulbs.

Will place them in the hydroponic system next week and hopefully 60 odd days later will start harvesting...

I do love playing mother nature with plants...

 

[Alcalaina]

Just received 200 saffron bulbs.

Will place them in the hydroponic system next week and hopefully 60 odd days later will start harvesting...

I do love playing mother nature with plants...

Wow! Keep us posted!
But I thought the conditions for harvesting the stamens had to be exactly right - early morning, not too hot, cold, damp etc. Can you replicate those?

 

[tardigrade]

Wow! Keep us posted!
But I thought the conditions for harvesting the stamens had to be exactly right - early morning, not too hot, cold, damp etc. Can you replicate those?

Going to try... Pretty much an experiment at this time to try and get some funding for a bigger, indoor adventure.
In normal conditions they also have to "freeze" a little in the winter. So I either have to put them all in a freezer for a bit, make my bedroom like winter , sell them on as bulbs or plant them in the ground in my roommates village land his family owns and use these first as "mother" bulbs to divide later.
With the ideal growing conditions it should be possible to harvest 3x a year.
The initial investment is not really big, so I think it is worth a try. Better than salad or herbs.

 

[chloeeliabeth]

As per the question above, does anybody do this? I was doing web searches for buying mushrooms to possibly make my own shroom ketchup and kept finding guides and books about being a mushroom grower. 🍄🍄🍄

Now I heard before that mushrooms are easy to grow depending on which species and conditions, but is it? How do you get started?

 

[tardigrade]

As per the question above, does anybody do this? I was doing web searches for buying mushrooms to possibly make my own shroom ketchup and kept finding guides and books about being a mushroom grower. 🍄🍄🍄

Now I heard before that mushrooms are easy to grow depending on which species and conditions, but is it? How do you get started?

It is very simple. Kits are available everywhere; either an oak log soaked in spores or a small kit - spores and growing medium. At the moment we are using coffee grounds as our medium. They are free for us (thanks to the spanish drinking a lot of coffee) and they provide enough nutrients thru the cycle so you do not have to add any additional nutrients - even after we squeeze them for the oil & when finished with the grow we then turn them into fire logs ( the coffee grounds). You can also use sawdust or wood chippings - not from a chain saw.

As long as you can replicate mother nature in a small portion of your house you will be fine. Temperature, humidity and light are all important. A Fluorescent or LED light is fine - mushrooms do not get a lot of light on the forest floor.
Kits are available online for around 20€. Our kits are shiitake and king oyster - the easiest to grow with good harvest numbers.
Happy Gardening..

 

[chloeeliabeth]

It is very simple. Kits are available everywhere; either an oak log soaked in spores or a small kit - spores and growing medium. At the moment we are using coffee grounds as our medium. They are free for us (thanks to the Spanish drinking a lot of coffee) and they provide enough nutrients thru the cycle so you do not have to add any additional nutrients - even after we squeeze them for the oil & when finished with the growth we then turn them into fire logs ( the coffee grounds). You can also use sawdust or wood chippings - not from a chain saw.

As long as you can replicate mother nature in a small portion of your house you will be fine. Temperature, humidity, and light are all important. A Fluorescent or LED light is fine - mushrooms do not get a lot of light on the forest floor.
Kits are available online for around 20€. Our kits are shiitake and king oyster - the easiest to grow with good harvest numbers.
Happy Gardening..
spore syringes

thank you so much for the suggestions. I will try this and let you know.

 

[chloeeliabeth]

It is very simple. Kits are available everywhere; either an oak log soaked in spores or a small kit - spores and growing medium. At the moment we are using coffee grounds as our medium. They are free for us (thanks to the Spanish drinking a lot of coffee) and they provide enough nutrients thru the cycle so you do not have to add any additional nutrients - even after we squeeze them for the oil & when finished with the growth we then turn them into fire logs ( the coffee grounds). You can also use sawdust or wood chippings - not from a chain saw.

As long as you can replicate mother nature in a small portion of your house you will be fine. Temperature, humidity, and light are all important. A Fluorescent or LED light is fine - mushrooms do not get a lot of light on the forest floor.
Kits are available online for around 20€. Our kits are shiitake and king oyster - the easiest to grow with good harvest numbers.
Happy Gardening.

thank you man it's really helpful for me

 

[Max Rigger]

For a balcony grow bags are fine, worth buying a growbag tray, makes it easier to move about. I use f1 beit alpha cucumber seeds, planting to picking is around 70 days so you can sow twice a year; they produce almost seedless cucs with smooth thin skin so perfect for picking early and making gherkins or raw. On a balcony I'd say grow bush tomatoes which don't need picking out they grow and die and again you can sow twice a year. Firm fave of mine are Veranda Red cherry toms which will happily grow in a 2 litre pot giving 40 or 60 toms per plant.

Aubergines are another easy to grow veg in a pot and look online and see how to grow courgettes vertically, perfect in a small space. Obviously you can fill your window ledges with pots of herbs. Thyme, sage, bay and rosemary are hardy and will supply you for years and they make a good decorative plant in a nice pot.