Affiliate & Advertising Disclosure
Running this site costs money — hosting, testing gear, and the time it takes to write genuinely useful guides. Here's exactly how we keep the lights on, in plain English.
What affiliate links are
Some links on this site are affiliate links. That means if you click one and buy something, the retailer pays us a small commission — typically 3–5% of the sale — at no extra cost to you. The price you pay is exactly the same as if you'd found the product on your own.
We participate in programs including Amazon Associates and garden-industry affiliate networks (such as ShareASale and CJ Affiliate partners like seed companies and garden brands). Articles that contain affiliate links carry a short notice near the top so you always know.
How this affects our recommendations
Honestly: commissions influence which programs we join, but they don't decide what we recommend. Our rule is simple — if the cheap option wins, we say so. You'll find us recommending $3 fabric grow bags over $40 ceramic planters, a $25 hardware-store shop light over a $150 branded grow panel, and telling you when to skip a purchase entirely (like grow lights you don't need yet).
We test gear ourselves where we claim to, we buy review products at retail unless stated otherwise, and sponsored content — if we ever publish any — will be clearly labeled as sponsored, not disguised as a review.
Display advertising
This site may display advertising served by an ad network (such as Mediavine Journey). These ads are selected and served by the network, not hand-picked by us. Seeing an ad for a product on this site is not an endorsement of that product.
Digital products
We may sell our own digital products, such as planting calendars and garden planners. These are created by us, and we'll always tell you clearly when something is a paid product versus free content.
Contact
Questions about any of this — a link, a recommendation, an ad you saw here? Email us at hello@thebalconyharvest.com and we'll answer honestly.