Hardy Plants For Balcony

[midasthailand]

I have a balcony outside my bedroom and would like to put some potted plants there to brighten the outlook. My dilemma is that I often spend periods of up to 15 days overseas with work and worry that any plants I put there will die for lack of water.

Any advice as to what plants would survive these periods of no water?

I have included a photo of the balcony and the aspect from the balcony, this aspect sees the morning sun on the balcony until about 11 AM

Thanks in advance for any advice. The balcony is only about three feet wide and 10 feet long.

Dave

Edited March 1, 2012 by midasthailand

[isanbirder]

Warning: addict speaking!

The ideal plants for your situation are cacti. You can go away for a month, and they'll still be thriving when you come back. They are almost impossible to kill (except by over-watering), and they will love full sunlight. I buy mine in Chiangmai for 10-15 baht each, repot them, and watch them grow, and flower. I expect there are places in Bangkok where they're as cheap.

As you learn more about them, you can be more selective about varieties which produce good flowers or are otherwise attractive.

They even suit your forum name!

[tutsiwarrior]

no neighbors or friends to water the plants while you're away?...something a bit more 'leafy' sounds more appealing than cactus, then you and a friend can play 'Adam and Eve' when you come back to your apartment after being away and want to relax...

[xen]

Just a suggestion , but have you considered landscaping your balcony using a irrigation system. Buy a hose, a few drippers or nozzles and a timer to give the plants a good water every few days . It need not to be very expensive, the biggest expense being a timer that fits onto your tap (battery powered) . A few drippers into the pots to water the soil /potting medium rather than spraying water everywhere is a lot more water efficient and less messy.Doing this would open up the range of suitable plants that you could use .

A plant that is always suitable are the cycads the most commmon being the Sago Cycad (Cycas revoluta) and that will survive in both wet (for short periods) and dry conditions and both sun and shade. A few larger palms in nice pots and you have your balcony garden .

Use saucers under your pots filled with water and the plants will also draw up water ( but after you get home empty the saucers and let the plant roots dry a bit but this also depends on the plant water requirements as well) . You could also use lage containers filled with water and use lotus or water lillies etc - the water will not evapourate too much in 15 days.

Many ideas and having morning rather than afternoon sun is ideal.

Edited March 1, 2012 by xen

[isanbirder]

Cacti are plants you either love or you hate... but at least they fulfil OP's requirements. The other suggestions sound interesting, though.

[xen]

Cacti are plants you either love or you hate... but at least they fulfil OP's requirements. The other suggestions sound interesting, though.

I look at cacti as specimen plants rather than landscaping plants but I do find them fascinating. There are, also many succulents that are really useful in landscapes tho. Are you a collector?

[isanbirder]

Cacti are plants you either love or you hate... but at least they fulfil OP's requirements. The other suggestions sound interesting, though.

I look at cacti as specimen plants rather than landscaping plants but I do find them fascinating. There are, also many succulents that are really useful in landscapes tho. Are you a collector?

Yes, but I like the smaller kinds. BTW, does anybody know a source for the range of small desert succulents which are often collected with cacti? For example, Lithops, Conophytum, Cheirodopsis, Pleiospilos, Faucaria, and the nasty-smelling Stapelias.

[elektrified]

Just a suggestion , but have you considered landscaping your balcony using a irrigation system. Buy a hose, a few drippers or nozzles and a timer to give the plants a good water every few days . It need not to be very expensive, the biggest expense being a timer that fits onto your tap (battery powered) . A few drippers into the pots to water the soil /potting medium rather than spraying water everywhere is a lot more water efficient and less messy.Doing this would open up the range of suitable plants that you could use .

A plant that is always suitable are the cycads the most commmon being the Sago Cycad (Cycas revoluta) and that will survive in both wet (for short periods) and dry conditions and both sun and shade. A few larger palms in nice pots and you have your balcony garden .

Use saucers under your pots filled with water and the plants will also draw up water ( but after you get home empty the saucers and let the plant roots dry a bit but this also depends on the plant water requirements as well) . You could also use lage containers filled with water and use lotus or water lillies etc - the water will not evapourate too much in 15 days.

Many ideas and having morning rather than afternoon sun is ideal.

How do you get the water in your water plants to "not evaporate too much"?

I have many water plants, lotuses, etc. and in Chiang Mai I have to fill them every day; especially this time of year. They evaporate a lot in 24 hours; maybe 25% or more.

[xen]

Just a suggestion , but have you considered landscaping your balcony using a irrigation system. Buy a hose, a few drippers or nozzles and a timer to give the plants a good water every few days . It need not to be very expensive, the biggest expense being a timer that fits onto your tap (battery powered) . A few drippers into the pots to water the soil /potting medium rather than spraying water everywhere is a lot more water efficient and less messy.Doing this would open up the range of suitable plants that you could use .

A plant that is always suitable are the cycads the most commmon being the Sago Cycad (Cycas revoluta) and that will survive in both wet (for short periods) and dry conditions and both sun and shade. A few larger palms in nice pots and you have your balcony garden .

Use saucers under your pots filled with water and the plants will also draw up water ( but after you get home empty the saucers and let the plant roots dry a bit but this also depends on the plant water requirements as well) . You could also use lage containers filled with water and use lotus or water lillies etc - the water will not evapourate too much in 15 days.

Many ideas and having morning rather than afternoon sun is ideal.

How do you get the water in your water plants to "not evaporate too much"?

I have many water plants, lotuses, etc. and in Chiang Mai I have to fill them every day; especially this time of year. They evaporate a lot in 24 hours; maybe 25% or more.

That seems to be excessive evaporation. In four days or so the container could be bone dry if you didn't top up. Are these plants in morning sun, afternoon sun or all day sun? Are they in terracotta containers as they can be quite porous if they are not sealed and usually water plants do better if placed in plastic pots placed within decorative terracotta or porcelain pots? Also the shape and size/depth of the vessel will have some effect. Terracotta or porcelain pots also heat up and that can aid water loss to some extent - another reason to have a plastic inner container. I may be optimistic in saying a container will last 15 days but in morning sun it would last much longer than 4 days. High evaporation is 10% of the surface area otherwise Dams and reservoirs would empty within days.

[midasthailand]

Guys thanks for the suggestions, perhaps the lotus, water lily suggestion would be the easiest for me to implement.