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You don't need one of these. Johannes Kornelius via Shutterstock

No garden, no problem: What can you grow in your apartment?

Just because you haven’t got a garden (or allotment) doesn’t mean you can’t grow your own vegetables.

AS THE MOVE toward growing your own vegetables continues to gather pace, those who find themselves living in apartments don’t have to feel left out.

With last year’s census reporting that 177,587 apartments are occupied in Ireland, that makes for a lot of balconies.

With many used as little more than a storage area for varnish-starved patio furniture and rusting BBQs, they could instead be used to help reduce the weekly food bill.

While the number of allotments available to rent throughout the country continue to increase, using a balcony has two major advantages – location and cost.

Stephen Alexander – a horticulturist with Teagasc who has written the free “A Guide to Vegetable Growing” – believes these everyday areas are easy to transform.

“It doesn’t have to be a balcony,” he says, “you can even make use of a window ledge.”

“The simple thing to start off with are herbs, such as parsley, as it will regrow,” Alexander suggests.

“That’s a very easy way to get started. You can buy them already potted for a couple of euro, but be careful. There will only be enough nutrition to keep it alive [initially] for a couple of weeks.”

Making use of your balcony floor will require what Alexander refers to as “the original for outdoor growing” – a grow bag.

(A grow bag in action – jeremytarling via Flickr/Creative Commons)

“Deeper grow bags will also let you grow carrots and potatoes,” he says.

“The beauty is that they keep on popping up. Lettuce is another one. That will keep on growing too.”

Other vegetables can prove to be more difficult. “Root crops [where the roots are the edible part] such as carrots, parsnips or turnips can be harder to grow,” he says.

You’ll also have to be more picky as you have less space.

If you can’t grow down, you can always trying growing up, by planting hanging vegetables such as bush tomatoes.

All of this comes with a big be a good neighbour caveat, however. It’s always worth checking what you are and aren’t allowed to do with your balcony before embarking.

Read: Iggy What? Lizard found in Kildare garden >

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10 Comments
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    Mute Mike Clinton
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    Nov 18th 2012, 11:28 AM

    Plenty of “grow houses” in Ireland of late.
    I don’t think the interest is totally horticultural .

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    Mute Paul Mc Namara
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    Nov 18th 2012, 11:10 AM

    Spent time in mauritius a couple of years ago , incredibly beautiful place , but also very poor outside the tourist traps . Anywhere vegetables or fruit could be grown it was , if there was a crack in the footpath you see a tomato plant growing there..

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    Mute Eimear Fleming
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    Nov 18th 2012, 11:33 AM

    Loads of people seem to be trying cannabis lately!!

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    Mute Cy hendrix
    Favourite Cy hendrix
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    Nov 18th 2012, 1:16 PM

    I would like too ,but there seems to be a marked lack of recipes for the finished product.Perhaps someone could provide some tips on how to use cannabis in recipes.I tried searching the likes of Ramsey,Oliver and even delia!!…no luck. Any help would be appreciated.Lidl’s and Tesco don’t stock it ,Though I managed to get some in the carpark of my local pub…strange that.

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    Mute mattoid
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    Nov 18th 2012, 12:04 PM

    Can’t beat windowsill chillis :-)

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    Mute John O'donnell
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    Nov 18th 2012, 1:35 PM

    I don’t have a window ledge and I would just love to grow chilli .. Can it be done indoors ?

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    Mute mattoid
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    Nov 18th 2012, 3:10 PM

    No prob, they do well indoors but the plants can get quite big unless you prune them. No point planting seeds now though – wait till spring…

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    Mute John O'donnell
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    Nov 18th 2012, 7:50 PM

    Thanks a mill Mattoid

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    Mute John Coole
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    Nov 18th 2012, 8:45 PM

    Hydroponicly grown Cannabis is very popular and very profitable too. Though it will be expensive on electricity.

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    Mute FlopFlipU
    Favourite FlopFlipU
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    Nov 18th 2012, 12:03 PM

    Could they charge you tax on it ,or rates ,or something that

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