Wow...so much good info still coming in. Thanks :) I am going to add some buzzing friends to the mix. I have purchased, and will be making more, Mason Bee houses. Plan to put them around the deck and see if they can help with pollination a little (hopefully a lot). I won't be discouraged if things don't work out. I have been planting tomatoes in two gallon clay pots, sitting in the driveway, for three years now and they do fine. If my deck project fails, I'll go back to that. The deck is treated, and hopefully I'll do it again before I set up the deck garden this spring. I have a hot tub sunken into the deck in one corner, but I don't use it anymore. I plan to build a box over the cover and set planters on top of that. I'll do some before and after pictures and post them when I get a chance. Brody

Gravel (or pebbles) do not 'add drainage'. They merely reduce the plant-able volume. Not adding ample holes for drainage will prevent you from being able to water properly, and if this planter is exposed to rainfall.....yikes. Excess water will collect and stagnate in the bottom of the planter, causing a real problem for your plants. Place the planter on 'feet' so that the water can drain (from the holes you should drill) away quickly. Just like rainfall, your deck should be able to withstand something like that quite readily. Use window screen (or similar) to place over the holes before adding your porous potting medium. That will keep the 'stuff' from falling out of the holes when you water.

Hi, Laurie, Welcome back to roses. I can think of a couple of things that might help. Several years ago, the District Director of Buckeye District was working to see what roses she could recommend for pot culture (and some she couldn't). She found an aerosol spray/fungicide that controlled Black Spot very well. Her name is Terri Lady and if I were you, I'd contact her through the Buckeye District to see what she recommends. For dryness, I use water retaining granules in my potting mix; they give me wiggle room when I don't realize how dry the world has become. How cold will your patio be? Colder than ground level. And is the patio concrete or wood? IF it's wood, you'll need to elevate the pot and saucer above the wood. We had a place in the French Quarter in New Orleans and pots sitting directly on wood are a sure way to get the wood to rot. In NJ it wouldn't happen in one year (as it did in New Orleans, even on treated wood), but your landlord would be happier with pots elevated eiter with pot lifts or with pots on saucers with wheels. (Plants have better form if they can be rotated, as well.)

Hi Yipla and Clock! The company is called Blumat and I think is based here in Europe, but they do have an international shop...maybe you can find something there. My system cost about 135 euros ($175) but is TOTALLY WORTH IT! The best thing is that the "feelers" decide when to pull water from the tank. The tank, as you see is just a normal rain water tub that we picked up here at the home and garden store. The principle behind it is that when the ground is dryer than the clay feeler (which is filled with water) then it pulls water out of the cone feeler. This then pulls water out of the water tank. Of course it can also be connected to a water tap. This means that the tomatoes automatically get the increased water they need without me constantly adjusting the amount of drip/number of holes. The system lasts for years and years and if you rebuild you just need extra hoses. So to make it short - high investment up front, but low maintence costs. And through using the "distributor dripper" you can place the water exactly where the SFG plan needs it. And with the tank I have sun warmed water. We don't have a water connection on our deck, but my DH managerd to arrange a pretty convenient connection from the kitchen and we assume that in high summer we will have to fill once a week. The system can be really complicated so if you think you want to get it, please feel free to post here and/or email me, because I spent a long time trying to figure out what I actually need. :) Clock: Vielen Dank fuer Ihren Beitrag! Wir haben jetzt 9 Quadratmeter, was natuerlich mehr ist, als ich je zuvor in Europa hatte! Mir kommt es vor wie wahnsinnig viel Plaz, aber ich bin schon neidisch ueber die Leute die wirklich Reihen von SFG-Kasten haben. Aber wir sind erstmals nur zur zweit und eine Zuchinni, eine Gurke, uns reicht uns. For those that don't speak German: Clock expressed how amazed he was on how much we could plant in such limited space and I told him that this was the larged balcony/deck we have had here in Europe. And despite that we have made great use of our small space, I am still very jealous of all those who get to build rows and rows of SFGs! Cheers, Tasha Here is a link that might be useful: Blumat International