Plants on Board

[Kit-renard]

I love growing things like tomatoes and strawberries on the balcony of my apartment. My question is, do any of you grow plant on your boats? If you do, which plants are best suited to life on a boat? My strawberries might survive, they're pretty hardy, but I'd like to hear from someone who has actually tried this for themselves.

[Vasco]

We grow herbs. The first year we did this the salt got to them and they didn't do too well. We now put them down below when sailing and behind the dodger if it's blowing at anchor and they last all season. We have also started pepper plants from the seeds of goat peppers. We brought those home and they're on the deck outside my kitchen now, flowering. I have seen a large tomato plant on a trawler but it was started ashore and was fairly robust when they put it on the boat. Many Bahamas cruisers have herbs growing aboard.

[lorenzo b]

Get a copy of the book Sailing The Farm

[Mariness]

My FIL grew tomatoes on his boat...only problem he had was, had to give them all away to other cruisers before he went to NZ.

[MarkJ]

We kill everything on this boat. Basil is an exception and has a stay of execution for weeks.

We just bought a strawberry plant and it died within hours.

An orchid just laughed and commited suicide and all others green turn brown.

We have great sucess with shoots, though We recommend salad shoots easy to grow and once they realise where they are and want to die its too late! We've eaten them!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kit-renard]

Thanks for the replies, I wasn't sure if having plants on the boat was likely to work. I really like my plants so hopefully I have better luck than MarkJ! I'm going to at least give my strawberries a try, they're a favorite fruit!