What edible plants can you grow on HDB corridor – Over 80% of Singaporeans stay in the HDB flat. And together with it, it’s famed corridors.
If you are a gardener and wishes to grow some edibles, you must be thinking, what can i really do with the little space and less than full sun that i get everyday.
You will be amazed what can come out of a HDB edible garden on your corridor.
Firstly, this is the first post written by The Random Singaporean (shall call myself TRS from now on). So I hope you will enjoy some of the learning that i got from close to half a year of trying to grow edibles on the corridor of a HDB flat.
Some background of TRS stays in the East of Singapore and lives on the top most floor of a HDB flat. He stays on a corridor unit thus having a decent amount of space to grow things on the ledges as well as against the wall of his unit. His unit faces the west, which obviously means a warm evening from the sunset but otherwise, ample sunshine for the plants to grow well.
Why share top most floor and also west sun, this may be partially the reason why things are working well, but it may not work for every HDB unit in Singapore, so do find out if you are getting ample sunshine, East or West sun is highly preferred if you want to successfully grow plants that demand higher amounts of sun shine.
TRS prefers edibles because other than a few flowering plants that his girlfriend buys but do not really care for, he finds it more useful to grow food to support the Singapore Government’s 30 By 30 objective! If you are not aware, Singapore aims to produce 30% of the country’s nutritional needs by 2030.
So if you are reading about edibles and HDB, you probably are someone who is also keen to grow some yummy food or fruits for your family consumption, so without further ado, let me share with you what i have successfully as well as unsuccessfully grown on my HDB corridor and we could explore together what is possible!
My sunlight requirements will be tuned towards our HDB setting so:
- Full Sun = On Ledge where afternoon sun can reach, and gets either morning or evening sun for about 6 hours
- Shade = Blocked from Direct Sunlight, under the ledge of your corridor
So when I share my experience of their requirements, I’ll share the minimum requirements for them to survive and grow. But definitely any edible will prefer full sun to thrive and grow fast.
What edible plants can you grow in HDB corridor:
- Kang Kong
Minimum Sunlight Requirements: Shade, but growth is slower and leaves are smaller
This vegetable, is virtually indestructible.
Get a pack of those lovely big seeds from any nursery, soak them well overnight, throw them into the container you have and wait for them to germinate.
Once the Kang Kong germinates, ensure you kinda “flood” the container when you water them, to simulate their actual living environment, by the ponds of South East Asia.
And within 1-1.5 months you get a very nice and healthy harvest of Leafy vegetable you can fry with some sambal!
Good thing is, you don’t even need to spread them out when you sow them, just make sure the seeds cover almost every inch of your soil and cover them with soil, they will grow right next to each other and maximize your harvest, and do so healthily.
- Nai Bai (and Bok Choy)
Minimum Sunlight Requirements: Full Sun, you need to face them towards the sun if possible if not they will grow skinny and weak
My top favorite harvest from my HDB Corridor garden.
Honestly, they taste so much better than those you even have at a restaurant where you pay $25-30 for someone to fry.
Reason being? Freshness.
Nai Bai are also relatively easy to care for, give them enough sunlight and water, they will grow into a juicy head of vegetable that you can fry with garlic to awesomeness.
- Kai Lan
Minimum Sunlight Requirements: Full Sun, you need to face them towards the sun if possible if not they will grow skinny and weak
Similar to the Bok Choy/Nai Bai, this plant needs to be facing the sun as much as you can.
If it does not get sun, it will grow very skinny and weak and wont taste good
Though i have to comment that they do look a little weird if you see them the first time as a plant and not a dish at your favourite Zi Char stall.
- Lime
Minimum Sunlight Requirements: Full Sun, unlikely to bear fruit if not getting enough sun
Lime plants are great source of small lime fruit to juice and enjoy something that is sour and refreshing.
Lime is usually better off bought from the nurseries, as they take up to 2 years to start fruiting if you grow them from seed.
You will also be able to get a nicer bush for quite a reasonable price.
Full sun is required for nice flowering and fruiting.
- Chilli Padi
Minimum Sunlight Requirements: Full Sun, unlikely to bear fruit if not getting enough sun
Chilli Padi is one of the top favourite food items in Singapore to add to your lunch or dinner.
Chilli Padi is relatively easy to maintain, give it good sun and daily watering and fertilizing every week will give you a good amount of fruit.
- Mint
Minimum Sunlight Requirements: Shade, they grow decently well without direct sun
- Lemon Balm
Minimum Sunlight Requirements: Shade, they grow decently well without direct sun
- Cherry Tomato
Minimum Sunlight Requirements: Full Sun, unlikely to bear fruit if not getting enough sun
- Cai Xin
Minimum Sunlight Requirements: Full Sun, you need to face them towards the sun if possible if not they will grow skinny and weak
- Watercress
Minimum Sunlight Requirements: Shade, they grow decently well without direct sun
Currently Trying to Start, not concluded on success
- Thai Basil
- Coriander
- Cucumber
- Long Bean
What edible plants have I have ATTEMPTED but not successfully grown:
- Sweet Corn
You must be wondering, how adventurous are you to even be trying Sweet Corn.
So the thing is, I had a really nice big container that i could probably grow 4-5 Sweet Corn stalks to produce my family one good harvest of corn.
Or so i thought i did.
Turns out, the Corn germinated well, grew to a height of 10cm, but seems to be stunted for the next 1 month.
I was quite sure the container space was not the issue because when i eventually pulled them out, the roots were still growing well.
What i suspect was the reason for failure was the fact that Sweet Corn really needed A LOT of sunlight which it was not getting.
So HDB dwellers, Sweet Corn MAY not be something you can successfully grow, i may be wrong, PLEASE PROVE ME WRONG!
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