What is "Gardening Aloft?"

Hello, and welcome!

This blog is basically about small apartment gardening above ground level (hence "aloft"). This is just a little endeavor but I'm hoping to share information that others may find useful and in turn attract helpful advice from others doing the same.

Please visit the Introduction page for some thoughts I had that inspired me to do this blog.

Also, there was one thing that was essential for me to get started (called "SIP"), and you can read about it in the "Getting Started" section.

What To Expect Going Forward

The very first post of a blog is one that ends up getting buried in the long trail of posts that follow, so I'll be brief.

In my first attempt at doing apartment gardening aloft, I'm limiting myself to basically two tomato plant varieties.  One is a Black Krim heirloom and the other is a Lemon Yellow Boy hybrid.  Both are indeterminate varieties (meaning they grow fruit all season long instead of in one large burst as determinate ones do) and are supposed to be resilient, produced steadily across the growing season. They are both very popular tomato variants with unique characteristics.  The Lemon Boy is naturally resistant to 5 different tomato diseases and several common pests, and is known to be a consistent long producing plant of very tasty bright yellow tomatoes.  The Black Krim is a Russian heirloom variety that grows as high as 8' and produces very large fruits that have a rich complex flavor.

I started out with two seedlings, one about 8" tall and the other 10".  About 9 weeks ago, I planted them in self-irrigated pots with a mix of good quality top soil, potting mix, and fertilizer.  At this point in early summer they are pretty healthy, showing relatively decent growth, and starting to bear some fruit. Hopefully as the blog journals my growing experience, I'll be reporting consistently healthy plants that bear lots of delicious fruit. There may be problems along the way and what I did to combat them.

While growing tomatoes is easier than a good many other vegetables, they can also present a variety of challenges with fighting disease, pests, and difficult weather. Also, there are certain zones that are ideal for growing them while some others make it an unsavory battle for even the most determined grower. I'm living in the New York City metro area, which is a reasonably good location for growing tomatoes.  I think the ideal is probably a little further south.  Too far south and week long stretch of 90+ degree days can cause severe blossom drop. Of course, if you have a greenhouse then you've got a significant advantage to controlling your conditions... but in an apartment, that's not really an option!

Anyway, the Lemon Boy has been growing well while the Black Krim has been languishing on setting fruit. Hopefully I'll be able to figure out how to make the BK happier in time to produce a decent crop.