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I started growing stuff more seriously on my balcony last year and it was a lot of fun, but I got started too late into the year and missed a few important times because of that. Trying to be better this year.
Firstly, I bought a red currant (Ribes rubrum) at a hardware store last year. If had already flowered when I got it and had very little fruit. I wanted to prune it now before it has much growth, but have no idea what to cut and where. Picrel is the plant, my issue is that my rule of thumb I was taught was "keep about 2-3 old shoots and 3-4 new/young shoots, cut down everything else. Cut any shoots that are too close to each other or competing too much for sunlight. But if I look at the plant in picrel I seem to have 5 old shoots and 1 new shoot (at least at the base). Do I not prune it at all this year then? Or do I cut all but 3 shoots? What would you do anons?
Second thing is I have no idea when to plant my chili seeds. I'm in germany, and the chilis will grow in sub irrigated planters on my west facing balcony. I can get them started in a small plastic enclosure/greenhouse, but then they'd go straight to the planters, I don't have pots to transfer them to between that. I can put the planters inside if needed, but then they won't have much sunlight compared to on the balcony. Apparently according to some website my area is the equivalent of the USDA 8a/8b zones (it's pretty close to the border). When do I best plant the chili seeds?
Thanks for any advice anons, you getting me into growing stuff on my balcony last year was a very rewarding process.
