Growing plants and herbs on a rooftop terrace

7 comments

1. All I know is mine were wiped out by winds/typhoon. Make sure you buy seriously heavy plant pot bases.

2. I grow some herbs on my 1st floor porch (south side) in Saitama. This year was also the first time for me to try gardening here in Japan. It went quite well and I grew those plants:
   – Basil (from seeds)
   – Coriander (from seeds)
   – Mint (from seeds)
   – rosemary (sapling from garden shop)
   – Thyme (sapling from garden shop)

   You have to check which plants need how much of water. For example basil, coriander and mint need a lot, so during the summer months I had to water them every morning and sometimes also evening.

   Other lessons learned:
   – Use fertilizer for veggies (gave my plants a huge boost) as soon as the plants have a few leaves
   – Check regularly and prepare countermeasures for pests and parasites. I used garlic water and Neem oil to fight white flies and caterpillars on my basil.

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4. If you’re doing small pots then this doesn’t really matter.

   But if you’re doing big planter boxes makes sure the building can handle the extra weight. Soil when wet can get quite heavy.

   >Do you think chili peppers could be an option?

   I live in northern Tohoku and I grow a couple hawk claw?(鷹の爪) and jalapeño plants for myself. I don’t think it should be a problem gowning them in Tokyo aside from typhoons.

5. I read a lot about gardening, although my experience with rooftop is zilch and veranda is very limited.

   But from my reading, your biggest challenges will be wind, water and possibly how much light. Observe your rooftop and hang out there. Is it sunny, or does it get a lot of shade from surrounding buildings? How much natural light? How windy is it? Will you need to tie down pots? What will you do if a typhoon is forecast?

   I think a large pot of chili peppers (jalapeno!), a large pot of one cherry tomato plant with asagao cage, and a couple of long planters with rocks or bricks in the bottom of leaf lettuce (cut and come, container gardening are your keywords) would make a good starter kit.

   In fact, you’d probably have no problems growing some leaf lettuce and radishes (hatsuka daikon) this fall if you start this week. If they fail, well, you’ve got the pots and soil ready for next spring. (Probably mid-February for you.)

   Peppers & tomatoes need warmer temps, so you’d need to baby them in your apartment until March or April with grow lights, proper care. Kind of challenging for a beginner, but if you are motivated, it could be done, although you’d probably have to propagate from already-growing plants. Seedlings would be rare this time of year.

6. I used to grow chilis on my roof veranda in my old place in Tokyo and had a lot of success. I started from seed on New Years each year and would grow indoors until around March, then harden off so they could be outside full time by the end of April. Around July it gets difficult though, because Tokyo summers are very hot and it was necessary to water both in the morning and night (massive pain to haul multiple 2L bottles of water around all the time). It’s very worth it, especially considering how difficult it is to find hot peppers here.

7. I’ve got an 8th floor rooftop balcony loaded with plants, but it took a while to ‘discover’ what worked and what didn’t:

   Yucca plants and agaves do really well and can get really big, which is nice. Yuccas require almost no water/care. Agaves a bit more.

   Olive trees, eucalyptus trees, and mulberry bushes do really well in full sun, but require daily watering. Wind is definitely a issue with all of the above, and especially for anything like a palm.

   I’ve zip-tied most of the bigger plants to my railings. Got succulents, lavender, Wandering Jews everywhere, and a few big pots of chicks-and-hens, too. Heavy clay pots for lots of weight and, again, zip-ties.