No yard? No problem. Flex your green thumb with container gardens: Jasmine Mangalaseril

With so many people using the Victoria Day long weekend to start their gardens, it's a perfect time for first timers to develop their green thumbs.

But you don't need a front yard or a back yard to grow your own fruits, vegetables, and herbs. For people living in condos or apartments, or who otherwise can't turn over soil for a traditional plot, container gardening offers a solution for landless urban farmers.

If your balcony or patio gets about six hours of sun a day, you're off to a great start.

Many of the fruits, vegetables and herbs you find at local farmers' markets, like tomatoes, carrots, dill, and even some pumpkins, can be grown in pots. Simply pick seedlings for what you like to eat, and follow the tag's advice for sun, watering and spacing.

If you've never grown anything but want to dig in, first-timers can try easier-to-grow vegetables and fruits, like beans, lettuce, tomatoes and strawberries.

"Basil is easy to start from seed. Carrots usually germinate very well and grow as long as they're watered.  Another one that's pretty easy is peppers," recommended Waterloo-based master gardener Mary Ann Gilhuly.

If you can't put a container outside but have a sunny window, Denise Huck, co-owner of Manheim's Colour Paradise, says a line called Kitchen Minis are a great option. 

"There's peppers and there's tomatoes, and they just came out with a snacking cucumber this year. All these plants are actually being grown in a six-inch pot on your windowsill," said Huck.

Growing together

Companion planting – where you mix different plants in one container – can maximise your space. For example, you can tie a tomato vine to a stake or trellis, which would shade coriander, that grows on the soil's surface, while garlic grows under the surface.

You can also theme your containers to your favourite meals. The tomato bowl gives you the basics for many Indian, Middle Eastern, and Southeast Asian dishes. You can grow your favourite lettuce greens in a pot and pluck off leaves for salads all summer.

Huck suggested a pizza container, which mixes tomatoes and herbs.

"If you like to eat pizza then you could do stuff like arugula and basil and thyme and you can mix all those things together," Huck said.

Other ideas are:

• A Greek container: cucumber with dill, and garlic.
• A Middle Eastern container: eggplant, mint, and garlic.
• A Southeast Asian container: lemongrass, coriander, Thai basil, and chillies.

"Fortunately, plants aren't like people. They usually get along with each other," said Gilhuly. "You might have to think, does this one want sun and this one want shade?' But if you've got two or three or four things that want bright light then they will work together."

Seedling success

Your space will impose the biggest limits to what you can grow. Apart from how much sun and rain you'll get, there are height and weight restrictions to balconies.

And climate restricts what you can grow outside. For example, ginger, turmeric, and bitter melon grow best in tropical conditions, so they might have a better chance in a heated, humid greenhouse.

It doesn't matter what your containers are made from but they should allow for drainage. As Gilhuly said, "The cheapest pot you can find is going to work just as well as the most expensive."

Containers dry out faster than traditional gardens, so check your pots daily. While drying out is an issue, both Huck and Gilhuly said over-watering can be a bigger problem.

Managing your budget

You might not be able to replace your summer's entire fruit and veggie grocery bill, but you can put a dent into it (and potentially grow tastier things, too).

Starting from seed takes longer (they're typically planted in late winter), but can further reduce costs, especially if you get into saving seeds from one year's crop to plant in the next.

And there's lots of research about the benefits of gardening. It's a stress reducer. Time spent outdoors improves immune response and increases blood oxygen levels. And, if you're growing your own fruits and vegetables your diet may improve.

Gardening is always an adventure. As Huck said it's "all about trial and error and experimenting and having fun with it."