Brighten up your vertical garden with a bright, beautiful show of nasturtiums.

Nasturtiums are a great beginner vertical garden favourite. They are colourful, fast and easy to grow in poor soils and require little watering.

Nasturtiums come in dozens of colors grow easily in vertical gardens.

You may have difficulty finding nasturtiums at nurseries and garden centres as they are mostly grown from seed.  When choosing seed or buying seedlings, choose the trailing variety for vertical gardening.
Sow seeds in well-draining seedling trays in spring.  Wait until the frost season is over. They germinate quickly and within days you should see them germinating. Plants will start to flower around 8 weeks after planting.

When the plants are about 5 cm tall, transplant them into 12-15cm pots. Allow them to grow for around 4-6 weeks. Now you are ready to plant them in your vertical garden. Nasturtiums can be grown directly in the GrowPocketZ™ and do just as well in the GrowBagZ™.

Nasturtiums are grown as summer annuals in South Africa and grow well throughout the country if they can be watered regularly and are planted in full sun.

They will tolerate some shade but may not flower as well. They are hardy to moderate frost and in frost-free areas. Nasturtiums are evergreen and self-seeding, flowering almost all year round. They will grow in most soils but prefer moderately fertile soil that drains well. If they are planted in very rich soil or are over-fertilized, the plants will produce leaves at the expense of the flowers.

Medicinal properties of Nasturtiums
Nasturtiums aren’t just pretty flowers, they have medicinal and health benefits too. Both the leaves and petals of the nasturtium plant are packed with nutrition, containing high levels of vitamin C. Uses include sore throats, coughs and colds, as well as bacterial and fungal infections. These plants also contain high amounts of manganese, iron, flavonoids and beta carotene.”