Hi there, it's Minami.

Are you thinking about starting a vegetable garden, or are you new to looking at it but would like to add something a little less expensive?

Most home gardens have an initial cost but can be used for a long time.

If you are going to buy something, you may want to use a good one for a long time.

In general, it is quite expensive to start anything new, but with some ingenuity, you can use items that are already discarded at home, and depending on where you buy them, you can easily obtain them at a lower price than usual.

So, in this article, we will introduce the minimum items that you must have in your balcony garden.

Since this is written by a sloppy person, some substitutions can be made. I don't care how it looks! I think it will be helpful for those who don't care about how it looks.

　So here you go.

Tools

Planter pot

First of all, it's the base pot.

You can buy this one, well, stylish or not.

You can buy a convenient one.

If you don't want to spend money, a plastic bottle is fine.

Make your own pot by cutting a plastic bottle above the halfway point. It's good, because it's not that durable! If it gets dirty with soil, no grief. It's a plastic bottle.

By the way, my personal recommendation for something useful is this:

I have a similar one and it is very easy to use. Basically, I use it on plants that grow big and use a lot of water (raspberries, dill, etc.. Dill is supposed to be an herb, but it grows so thick and lush).

Please take a peek at my vegetable garden diary for a little more information on my use of it.

Also, this one below is cute when placed indoors, and since it is a reservoir type, it will supply water from the bottom if it runs out, and it's not too expensive! It's not too expensive!

It seems that some are somewhat fashionable and some are not. There's a lot more to it than this, so by all means, take a look on Amazon, etc.!

Limestone

We need limestone!

If you are new to vegetable gardening, you may not be familiar with limestone, but placing limestone under pots improves drainage and avoids rotting and dying of the roots of the seedlings and plants you are growing.

It's also pretty easy to throw away (or at least if you have to use a large amount of additional soil, it's better to use limestone, which is useful for adding bulk and increasing drainage efficiency).

Earth (Cultivated earth)

However, it is quite difficult to dispose of soil, especially in the city (basically, you can't throw it out as garbage).

We recommend that you buy only the minimum necessary.

There are many different types of soil, but the one that is needed from the seedling stage is called "culture soil.

Since I am speaking on the premise of a home garden, soil for growing food to eat is relatively soft soil that contains nutrients, such as culture medium, and is used to grow seeds and small plants in seedling pots from the seedling stage.

In many cases, other soils are a bit coarse and difficult to grow in.

Or, you may dare to take the plunge and try hydroponics. In such cases, I personally recommend that you do it indoors rather than outdoors (and being hydroponic, it is more likely to attract insects).

Incidentally, slaked lime seems to be a substitute for fertilizer.

Small pots for growing seedlings

In most cases, to grow seed to seedlings, it is not easy to plant them in a large pot out of the blue.

If you do not want to buy a pot, use an unused egg carton if you have one.

The size is just right!

There are even eco-friendly pots that can be planted as is!

If you prefer a smaller size, this size is also available. If you want to grow from seed to seedling, this size may be more common.

Scoop

Shovels are usually not substitutable for the ones you have at home. Buy one if you haven't given up.

You can find them at DAISO and other 100-yen stores, so if you want to spend less, you can do so, or you can buy them at

Stainless steel would be quite durable.

If shovels are left outside in the dirt as they are, I would recommend a material that will not rust, as they will rust sooner than expected.

Not only is it convenient, but it looks good too! If that's the case, this one with wooden handles is also a good choice!

In most cases, it is only possible to transfer seedlings with a small shovel, so having a small shovel and two large shovels is quite a relief.

Watering cans

A large plastic bottle can be substituted for the watering can.

Most of these systems are only good if you can give them water, so just use a plastic bottle that usually has water in it!

Of course, if water is suddenly splashed on the seedlings, the weak plants will quickly shrivel up and grow in a different direction, so be careful if you are that concerned!

I water them with a cap like the one shown above, which makes a plastic bottle into a watering can.

Since plastic bottles sometimes end up in the garbage, we are trying to make our life a little more circular by using them. I also like the fact that they are easy to dispose of when they get pretty dirty.

The following are some of the most common types of funnels.

Some stylish ones are like this. The water comes out at a narrow tip, so it is not too much of a burden on the plant (instead, I think it takes quite a bit of time to water it).

Gardening gloves (depending on what you grow)

Gardening gloves are required depending on what you are growing.

This is specifically needed for plants that have thorns, such as raspberry and blueberry plants, or are slightly fruity and branching and require some strength to handle.

On the other hand, herbs that grow directly from the soil, such as chamomile and mint, are useful but not essential (because they can be easily handled with bare hands).

These can also be easily purchased at 100-yen stores. However, thorns and other objects usually penetrate to the hand when using 100-yen ones, which is painful after all.

There's a link below if you want to buy it on Amazon!

These days, there are stylish and well-protected gloves like this. I am impressed.

Gardening scissors (if growing large items)

Gardening scissors are also case by case.

If you have a fruit system, you want to have it.

Also, tomatoes and such have surprisingly thick stems, so there is no harm in having one of some kind.

This also cannot be substituted, so if you are considering a type of vegetable garden that will produce large branches, buy them gracefully.

I bought a regular scissors shape, but I replaced it with the following shape. I don't really recommend the scissors type, they really take a lot of force!

Seeds or seedlings

For seeds, we will describe how to get them cheaply and economically in a separate article based on our experience, so if you are interested, please wait for other articles.

How was the article?
Most people do not want to spend too much on the initial cost of growing on a balcony, or on the other hand, they want to save money, but if they are going to buy something, they want to use something that will last for a long time.

I hope this helps those of you out there!