In Today’s post, let us look into 15 household items and their miraculous uses for plants and garden.
15. Soap: Bar soap apart from cleaning purpose, there are some really powerful uses in gardening. You can scrape your nails into a bar soap before handling a potting mix and stuff like that. The dirt won’t enter your nail beds and this hack allows you to clean your hands easily after the job.
Liquid soap or even shampoo is used as a simple pesticide if you do not have any pesticide. Just add 10 to 20 drops or 1 or 2 teaspoons of liquid soap to 1 litre of water and spray on the affected plant. This will clear pests like mealybugs, whiteflies and aphids which are the most common pests in garden. Dish washing liquid soap is actually more potent than handwash liquid soap.
14. Chalk Sticks: Chalk is chemically Calcium Carbonate. You can take white chalk sticks and bury them into the soil while planting your veggies. That’s in initial stages. This really works wonders for plants like Tomatoes, Peppers, squashes, egg plants and almost any vegetable plant. You can bury two chalk sticks per container for these vegetable plants safely if you soil PH is around 6.0. For other plants to provide slow release calcium source, you can bury one chalk stick per container.
13. Turmeric: Turmeric powder has many effective uses in garden like: It repels ants when sprinkled around the plants. You can get rid of soil pests particularly fungal root rot and fungus gnats in the soil by mixing turmeric in soil. You can mix about 1 tablespoon per gallon of soil while making potting mix or 1 tablespoon of turmeric in 1 gallon of water or 1 teaspoon per liter of water and thoroughly water your affected plant with this solution. Its also helpful in healing tree wounds and in grafting as it prevents fungal rot. Another common use of turmeric is in rose die-back disease.
12. Vinegar: You can use vinegar to clean your rusty garden tools and pots. To make your soil more acidic for acid loving plants like hydrangeas, rose, hibiscus and so on and increase flowering in these plants. To do this, Mix one table spoon of white vinegar to one litre of water and water you acid loving plants with this solution once every 15 days to reduce the soil PH. Vinegar is also a strong pesticide. Its almost 100% effective in clearing powdery mildew fungus. To make this spray add One cup of White Vinegar to 1 litre of water and shake well and spray it on the affected leaves. It is also effective against white files and mealy bugs. It is also an animal repellent. Just soak some pieces of cloth and stuff them at entrances or behind pots to deter animals that can spoil your garden.
11. Baking Soda: Apart from cleaning your dirty garden tools and stuff with baking soda, you can also use it for other purpose like sprinkle to drive away Foul Smell from your Compost Pile or compost bin. To kill cabbage worms – Sprinkle Baking soda + flour like wheat flour in 1:1 ratio on the cabbage or broccoli leaves. The worms munch on this and die within 1 or 2 days. Baking soda also encourages flower blooming. Make a solution of 1 teaspoon baking soda in 1 litre of water and spray on your plants with flower buds or unopened flowers.
10. Asafoetida or Hing: The most effective use of asafetida is to treat leaf curl disease in plants. Add 5 gms of asafetida powder to one liter of sour butter milk. Mix well, leave for an hour, then sieve the solution and load your spray bottle. Spray over your affected plant. Repeat this every 3 days for 3 – 4 times. Leaf curl disease which is common in pepper and tomato plants will be completely cured by this treatment. Asafoetida can also be used to repel animals in your garden. Just hang some pieces of it in your garden entrances. Animals hate the pungent odor of asafetida. It also repels other insects and termites.
9. Charcoal: Hard wood charcoal has lots of amazing uses in garden like filling your pot bottom with charcoal pieces reduces pot weight. It can be used for mulching and garden décor. Mixing charcoal in soil can act as a good fungicide and prevent root rot, especially for expensive succulent plants. It also increases soil PH, when your soil is too acidic. It also works as a soil conditioner making the soil well draining. It also hold the fertilizers added for a longer duration and make them act like slow release fertilizers. Sprinkled charcoal powder helps deter many insects like the voracious beetles which can create havoc in your garden or on your crops.
8. Alum: Alum or Potash Alum can help to boost flowering. It makes the soil acidic for acid loving plants like hydrangeas, rose, hibiscus and so on. Just 5 gms alum powder per litre of water and water your plants once in a month. Alum is also a good pesticide in higher concentrations, like 100 grams per litre of water and spray on the plants to kill many pests including cabbage worms, cutworms, slugs and snails, etc. It is well known for mostquito control as a larvicide when sprinkled over the stagnant waters.
7. Banana Peels: Banana peel is one of the highest organic sources of potassium. It helps strengthen the plant and increases flowering and fruiting. You can make banana peel tea or banana peel fertilizer powder if you intend to store it. To make banana peel tea, soak pieces of banana peels in water for about 3 to 5 days. Use this banana tea in 1:5 dilution to water your plants once in a month. To make banana peel fertilizer powder, sun dry pieces of banana peels for 2 to 3 days till they are crispy enough to make a powder. Add one tablespoon of this powder once in a month and see the effect.
6. Aloevera: Aloevera has numerous benefits not only to the human body, but also to plants, like: It helps in faster rooting. Just insert a cutting into a piece of aloe vera and plant into soil. Rooting is faster and success rate is higher. Diluted aloe vera gel sprayed or watered to your seeds helps in faster and healthier germination. High levels of certain compounds found in aloe vera confer immunity or resistance against many plant diseases. Aloevera can also be used as a potent pesticide if mixed with other agents like neem oil, especially for pests resistant against certain pesticides.
5. Onions Peels: contain many useful substances like sulphur, quercetin, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and so on. So, do not throw away the onion peels. The simplest use of these peels is to use them for mulching. If you have time you can make a fertilizer out of these onion peels. Just soak the peels in water for 1 to 2 days and water the solution to your plants once in a month to notice the benefits.
4. Tea and Coffee Waste: Do not throw this away. It can certainly boost flowering in your plants. It contains tannic acid which helps plants like Rose and hibiscus to increase flowering. You can wash the waste for any sugars and directly add to your plants or collect this and sun dry this powder and use it for your plants. You can also add this waste directly into your compost bin for making a rich compost.
3. Cinnamon: Cinnamon powder from your kitchen is well known for its wonderful uses in gardening. It can be used as a rooting agent to increase the chances for rooting cuttings. Just dip the cutting into cinnamon powder and plant it. It also deters ants when sprinkled around your plants. Its antifungal properties also fight fungal attacks to your seedlings. Just sprinkle fine cinnamon powder over your seedling and prevent dampening off.
2. Eggshells: Though eggshells are a great source of calcium, do not add crushed egg shells directly to your plants. It takes many years to decompose and release that calcium into the soil. You need to instantly release this calcium from eggshells by using Vinegar. Make eggshell powder first and then add a cup of vinegar to it. Stir it well and leave for an hour. The acetic acid breaks the eggshell compound and release free calcium into this solution. You can then dilute this solution to 1: 10 or 1:20 and then water your plants to treat or prevent acute calcium deficiency problems like tomato blossom end rot disease and other problems like bud or flower or fruit drop off and increase your flowering and fruiting. You can also add egg shells to compost bin for a calcium rich compost.
1. Aspirin: Aspirin is acetyl salicylic acid. Salicylic acid is a plant auxin and a rooting hormone which is proven to accelerate rooting and also it confers immunity against many plant diseases. You can use a dispersible 350 mg Aspirin tablet. Just a little of it will do the trick. A quarter or half a tablet is sufficient. You can read all detailed articles on these individual stuff by searching our website for that particular stuff.
Having a beautiful, lush green lawn is every gardener’s dream. It really makes your home and garden landscape look beautiful.
We would all like to have that best-looking perfect lawn, but it is not always easy to achieve. Here in today’s episode, we will show you step by step, how to grow lawn grass successfully from seeds without the need of hiring a landscape designer and stuff like that.
Whether you want to fill a bare spot in your lawn or grow a brand-new lawn grass from the scratch, please read till the end, as it might surprise you with lots of useful tips and tricks. Let’s begin.
- Type of Lawn Grass Seeds?
This is the first important step where most inexperienced gardeners and home owners get deceived while purchasing grass seeds.
PURCHASE LINKS:
BERMUDA GRASS SEEDS: https://amzn.to/3P5npAr
There are many different grass species which thrive in different climates. Like, there are cool-season grasses which grow best when temperatures are 60-75 degrees Fahrenheit and warm-season grasses which thrive from late spring through summer. You can check the packet instructions and labels for this info.
Well, some of the common grass types to mention are Bermuda grass or doob grass, buffalo grass, bentgrass, ryegrass and so on. In this context I would like to highlight you on this important lawn grass seed scam mostly going on online even at big websites like amazon. Some sellers list out as Bermuda grass and the seeds you receive are some millet seeds like foxtail millet seeds or cattle fodder grass seeds which are actually very cheap. These types of seeds are usually fed as budgie food grains but they are selling as Bermuda grass seeds. You must know how to identify the proper seeds before planting and avoid these types of scams. These are mostly non-returnable items and also amazon does not publish negative reviews when we try reporting these fake items. We will grow these fake seeds in one container and genuine Bermuda grass seeds in another container as well as over the lawn area and show you the results in the end.
PURCHASE LINKS:
BERMUDA GRASS SEEDS: https://amzn.to/3P5npAr
- Preparing the Ground and Soil:
This is a very important step and you should know that the tender roots of young grass plants will not grow well in compacted soils.
Choose the location you want to grow lawn grass whether its your front patio or your back-yard. Optionally, You may also have to level the ground surface by adding some loose soil over your lawn area, days before planning your lawn grass.
Well, Firstly, loosen the top 2-3 inches of the soil. If it’s a small area, you can use a hand cultivator or if it’s a larger area you can dig with a shovel or hoe. After digging, you need to rake it smooth to break up any soil clods and rake the soil out into fine particles. Then you need to water the area thoroughly before planting seeds, because damp soil encourages speedy germination and provides immediate moisture to emerging roots.
- Planting the grass seeds:
For home gardens, you can just use your hand to distribute the seeds, flinging it out over the area. Spread them out evenly over the soil surface, neither too crowded nor too sparse.
- Covering the seeds:
After the seeds are sown, covering them is very much important to protect them from birds and also preventing them from washing away in a heavy rain.
You can just use plain soil to cover the grass seeds after planting. But best thing to do is to use a mixture of soil and a water retaining stuff like cocopeat or peat moss to cover them. Like 50% soil and 50% cocopeat and optionally compost like decomposed cow dung or vermicompost. You can mix all three in equal proportions or at least add some 20% compost. Cover the seeds evenly with this soil-peat mix to about one quarter of an inch but never more than half an inch.
- Watering:
This is most important step for germination.
Keep the top layer of soil moist (but not soggy). Too much water is as bad as too little, and avoid vigorous watering with a hose and stuff like that and this could wash the seeds away. A misting or shower attachment on your watering hose can cut down on the amount of force you use.
Till germination, Water at least once a day early in the morning and depending on the climate again in the afternoon if the sun and wind have dried out the soil.
But, once the grass seed germinates and begins to grow, reduce the frequency of irrigation but water more deeply. Once your new grass is about two inches tall, reduce your watering schedule to twice or thrice a week depending on the climate, but water until the ground is wet down to a depth of about three inches.
- Germination:
We will show you the results of seeds grown in containers as well, including the fake bermuda grass or fodder grass seeds.
PURCHASE LINKS:
BERMUDA GRASS SEEDS: https://amzn.to/3P5npAr
Germination should begin within a week depending on the type of grass seeds. In my case, you can see germination has happened within 3 days. On the third day, you can see these cute tiny grass seedlings popping out.
You can check the results in these containers. On Day 5: This one is the result for genuine Bermuda grass and this one is the fake Bermuda grass seeds. Just look at the grass blades and spot the difference. The fake fodder grass has wider leaves.
Then you can see the results after 1 week in containers and the ground. The whole area should appear green in about 2 weeks’ time.
We will make another detailed episode on how to take care of lawn grass like fertilizing lawn grass, trimming lawn grass and stuff like that.
Aloe vera is sometimes known as “the plant of immortality” – because of its properties to heal, soothe, and refresh. This is because Aloe vera is rich in nutrients, enzymes, and antioxidants that offer numerous benefits to the human body. So, what if I told you that aloe vera can provide many of those same benefits to plants too? Yes! It’s true! Let’s list out the top 6 benefits of Aloe vera for plants and your garden.
6. Seed Germination: Aloe vera is not only a rooting agent, but also promotes healthy seed germination and strong seedlings. Watering your seeds and seedling once in a week will improve the overall growth and yield. Mix 1 teaspoon of aloe vera gel per litre of water or 1 table spoon per gallon. Spray this over the seedlings or water them once weekly.
5. Plant Immunity: Aloe vera gel is fully loaded with over 75 beneficial useful nutrients and enzymes like amino acids, antioxidants, calcium, magnesium, zinc, salicylic acid and so on. High levels of acemannan and saponin found in aloe vera both provide antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties. This helps to protect plants and confers resistance or immunity against certain harmful microbes, fungi, yeast, mold, blight and so on. Just water the plant once in a while – like once in a month with aloe vera solution and see the difference. It not only gives resistance against diseases but also boosts overall growth and health of the plant. Add 1 table spoon of aloe vera gel per litre of water or a quarter cup per gallon of water, mix it well and water your plant. If you start this in early growth stage of a plant, it’s actually much beneficial in the long run.
4. Transplant Shock: Certain high levels of antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral compounds found in aloe vera help plant recover from transplant shock. A plant goes into Transplant shock when you repot it or transplant it from one place to another. The plant looks wilted and unhealthy after transplant. To help recover from this shock, you can water your plant with aloe vera solution at least once after repotting. Repeat after 3 – 4 days if necessary. Add 1 table spoon of aloe vera gel per litre of water or a quarter cup per gallon of water, mix it well and water your plant.
3. Fertilizer: You can either make a soil drench or a foliar spray. To make a soil drench, take some fresh aloe vera leaves and cut them into pieces and throw them into the blender and add some water. You don’t need to peel them. Add half a cup of this gel to one gallon of water or 2 table spoons per litre of water and water your plants with this solution once 15 days. Make sure you drench this within half an hour of making, because if exposed to air, fresh aloe vera quickly ferments and begins to degrade.
The second preparation is a foliar spray or foliar feeding your plants to help them absorb these beneficial nutrients directly through the leaf stomata. You need to make a fresh aloe vera solution like one table spoon per litre of water or quarter cup per gallon. You can sieve this to prevent your sprayer getting clogged. Mix it well before spraying. Spray more on the underside of the leaves because leaf stomata or openings are more concentrated on the underside. Spray this in the evenings to avoid quick evaporation in the presence of sunlight.
2. Natural Rooting Agent: The salicylic acid and other anti-bacterial and anti-fungal compounds help promote rooting faster. There are many methods to use aloe vera for rooting: Let’s look at them one by one:
a. Dipping the cuttings into fresh aloe vera gel and inserting into soil. I recommend you soak the cutting for few hours into aloe vera gel and then plant the cuttings into soil. This will not only promote faster root development but also the success rate of rooting cuttings is high because aloe vera fights fungal rot.
b. Second method is just inserting the cutting into a small piece of aloe vera leaf and plant the whole thing into the soil to achieve the same results.
c. A piece of aloe vera can be used for Air Layering to multiply your favourite plants with great success rate. Just wrap a piece of aloe vera leaf and wrap around soil or toilet paper and tie the ends.
1. Pesticide: Aloe vera alone may not act as a potent pesticide to fight all pests and diseases. You need to other natural agents to make it a powerful organic pesticide that fights common garden pests like aphids, mealybugs, whiteflies and so on. Let’s quickly learn how to make this organic pesticide using Aloe vera leaves plus 5 more ingredients from your kitchen.
– Take Fresh Aloe vera leaves and cut into small pieces and drop approx one bowl into your blender.
– Drop four to five green chilies.
– Add 1 large onion.
– Add 1 full garlic.
– Add one bowl of Neem leaves if you have.
– Add 2- 3 teaspoons of Turmeric powder or fresh turmeric rhizomes if you have.
– Add a cup of water and blend into a fine paste.
– Sieve this solution and collect the extract.
– Mix 100 ml of this to one litre of water or 300-400 ml of it per gallon and spray it on the affected plants. Repeat this after 4 to 5 days.
- Rooting Hack: For faster and guaranteed rooting of stem or branch cuttings, take a small piece of fresh aloe vera leaf and insert the cutting into it and then plant into the soil. Roots grow as early as 10 days depending on the plant you choose.
- Candle Hack: Seal the upper cut end of your plant stem or branch cutting using few drops of candle wax. This helps prevent moisture evaporation and result in faster rooting.
- No Browns for Composting? Use a paper shredder and use the shredded paper and card board to add into your compost bin for faster and smell free composting.
- Easy Tomato Stakes: Tomato plants require support to avoid awkward bends and also to get the best yield. String Support your Tomato plants using a small piece of GI metal wire. Make it into a U-shaped loop and insert it near the roots. Tie one end of a string to this and the other end to some support at the top.
- Banana Peel Fertilizer for Flowering: To make banana peel tea, soak pieces of banana peels in water for 2 to 3 days. Dilute this liquid with water in 1:5 ratio and water your plants to provide potassium to your plants which increases flowering in plants and also makes the flower size bigger.
- Anti-Gravity Plant Support: While growing climber veggies, do not take them to a height above 6 feet, but instead support in a slope like fashion, like take it to a height and then slope the growing ends downwards to assist in long-distance transport of water and nutrients for healthy growth. The arch like trellis is the ideal support fence for growing climber or creeper veggies.
- Hairs to Roots: Insert tomato seedlings as deep as possible to increase the density of roots formed from tiny hairy projections from tomato stems and this makes the plant stronger to produce the best yield.
- Big Leaves: To get large sized leaves in your money plant, use a moss stick or coir stick to anchor the aerial roots to it. Wet the moss stick whenever you water the money plant.
- Onion + Aloe Vera Rooting Agent: Making a paste using onion and aloe vera gel and dipping the cuttings into it for few minutes before planting in soil will help in faster and guaranteed rooting.
- Spoon Transplant: To transplant your seedlings, use a spoon, dig out as much soil with it including the roots of the plant and hold the leaves of the plant and not the STEM to pull out, because this can squeeze and damage the water and food conducting tubes – xylem and phloem and the little plant may die.
- Grow From Junk: Never throw away a pine apple crown, just remove the bottom leaves and keep the bottom inserted into a glass of water for a week and then transfer to a container. It will bear fruits within a year.
- Eggshell Water: One eggshell contains about 2gms of calcium. When you boil eggs, a small percentage of this calcium and phosphorous is released into the water. Do not throw away this water, but use it to water your plants that require a lot of calcium – like tomatoes and peppers as well as flowering plants.
- Cello Tape Pest Trap: Wrap the cello tape in reverse on your fingers and use the sticky part to touch on leaves infested with pests like aphids, whiteflies and mealybugs.
- Clay Soil Hack: Remove Clayey or sticky soil from roots using this simple Hack: When you bring your plant from a nursery and start repotting, most often you find they have stuffed the plant in a clay-rich sticky soil. You can remove this soil without damaging the roots by soaking the root ball in water for few minutes till this soil dissolves. Then you can repot this plant in a well-draining potting mix.
- Root Teasing: Always Loosen up or tease your roots before repotting into a new container.
- Toilet Paper Cloning Hack: Use Aloe vera and Toilet paper to produce roots faster during air layering your favourite plant.
- Aspirin Hack: During conventional air layering to produce faster and better roots, use one tablet of aspirin 350mg per litre of water and add this water you’re the potting mix and then wrap it around the injured stem for faster and dense root formation.
- Hydroponic Cloner: For faster rooting, make your own hydroponic plant cloner using a plastic bucket and an aquarium pump. Healthy Roots develop within 8 days.
- Free Calcium: Egg shells easily dissolve in vinegar and release free calcium to your plants. Make egg shell powder and the add about a cup of vinegar to a cup of egg shell powder and stir nicely and leave it for any hour. Then dilute this to 1:100 or more to water your plants and treat acute calcium deficiencies which can produce blossom end rot disease in your fruits and veggies.
- Simplest Plant Cloner: Use any container and place a couple of aquarium air stones to pump oxygen into the water. This helps in faster and guaranteed rooting of any plant cuttings in water.
- Wheel-Barrow: No Wheelbarrow to move garden stuff? Do not worry, the cheapest alternative is a large cloth or an old bed sheet. Just load on the heavy objects and drag it along.
- Aspirin for Rooting: When you propagate cuttings in water, do not forget to add a small piece of Aspirin tablet into it for faster and stronger root development.
- Seed Split Trick: Split the Cilatro or Corinader seeds before planting them the sand paper paper method and apply gentle scraping pressure to split the seeds and do not crush or damage them using a heavy objects like these. This helps to grow enormous cilantro harvest.
- Scrape and Sow: Use sand paper to scrape the hard seed cover of certain seeds like apple, chickoo and those with hard seed over for faster seed germination.
- Treat Leaf Curl Virus using Asafoetida: Take 500ml of sour butter milk. Add one teaspoon or about 5 gms of Asafoetida powder to it and mix well. Let it stay for 1 or 2 hours. Sieve this solution and Spray thoroughly over the affected plant including the underside of the leaves. Repeat this, every 3 days for 3 – 4 times to completely cure the leaf curl disease.
- Egg Shell Planter: You can use egg shells to sow seeds. To make drainage holes, scrape with a sand paper and use a thin drill bit to make a hole without breaking the shell.
- Egg Trays: Card board Egg trays can be used as seed germination trays. You can directly transplant the seedling along with the card board into the soil, as this is bio-degradable.
- Chalk Sticks: Chalk is chemically Calcium Carbonate. You can bury a chalk stick into the soil while planting your veggies. This really works wonders for plants like Tomatoes, Peppers, squashes, egg plants and almost any vegetable plant.
- Strong Roots: Strong Roots means a healthier plant with a better yield. In its early growth phase, adding a source of phosphorous like bone meal powder or organic rock phosphate powder will produce stronger roots and produce a better harvest.
- Seed Viability Check: An Easy method to check viability of your larger seeds is to pour them into a bowl of water. If the seeds are floating, this means they are dry and not viable. Discard them and use only those seeds that sink to the bottom.
- No Garden Gloves? Scrape your nails into a soap before working with your garden soil or potting mix. This helps in cleaning your hands easily later on and also the dirt won’t enter into your nail beds.
- Repel Animals: A simplest way to repel Some animals like cats, dogs and rabbits – is to soak a some pieces of cloth with vinegar and stuff them in some areas of your garden. These animals cannot withstand the smell of vinegar and may not return if you repeat this process for few days. Similarly using Asafoetida wrapped in a piece of cloth will deter these animals and certain insects.
- Magnifying Lens: Use a Magnifying Glass to closely examine and diagnose your plant pests and insects to identify them and follow the treatment accordingly.
- Tea Fertilizer: You can also use tea waste or coffee grounds on flowering plants as an organic fertilizer to boost blooms.
- Tea waste compost: Add used tea waste or coffee grounds into your compost bin for faster composting because earth worms digest them very fast.
- Seed Spacing: You can do perfect seeds spacing for Tiny seeds like spreading them apart in a row on toilet paper – for better visibility and even spacing and sowing. You can make a seed tapes either in a row or a square or round seed board specially for carrot seeds for even spacing and better growth and ease of harvesting.
- Over-Ripe: Garden vegetables and fruits that become over-ripe are an easy target for pests. Remove them as soon as possible to avoid pest growth.
- Faster Germination: A simple hack for faster germination and healthy seedlings is to soak seeds in Epsom salt solution for a couple of hours before planting – like half a teaspoon of Epsom salt in 100 ml of water. You can also spray Epsom salt solution on your seeds and seedlings for healthy outcome.
- Pick Small: You can Pick small seeds for sowing with a stick or tooth pick dipped in water.
- Acidify Soil: For Acid loving plants like Rose, Hibiscus or Hydrangeas, use 5gms of Alum powder in 1 litre of water once every 15 days and this will boost flowering.
- Soil PH Test Using Litmus Paper: Mix Water and Soil in 1:1 ratio. Dip the litmus paper and match the color with your color coding chart that came along with your litmus paper kit.
- A Rough Soil PH Test Method: Take a soil sample and pour some vinegar. If it fizzes and bubbles you have an alkaline soil. What if the soil is acidic? Add baking soda one or two teaspoons and mix it with soil. Then wet the soil baking soda mix with distilled water. If it fizzes and bubbles your soil is acidic, because the acidic content in soil reacts with a base or alkaline stuff like baking soda.
- Free Bio Seed Pots: Never throw away the toilet paper card board roll. But use it to make seedling cups which are bio degradable and can be directly planted into soil without disturbing roots.
- Paper pots: You can also make seed pots by rolling newspaper and even this is bio degradable and similarly you can directly transplant with the pot into the soil or into a larger container.
- Mosquito Repelling Plants: Growing plants like Lemon grass, Citronella, catnip, basil, marigolds, eucalyptus and many other plants helps deter mosquitoes.
- Turmeric Treatment: You can use turmeric powder from your kitchen treat and prevent rose-dieback disease after pruning your rose bush.
- Silica Gel Packets: Never throw away these tiny sachets, use them in your seed storage container as desiccants which increases your seed life and protects them from fungus.You can also use these to preserve and protect powdered gardening stuff like bone meal, fungicide powder, rooting hormone, etc. Just tape the sachet to the underside of the container lid and that’s it.
- DIY Watering Can: Take the base of a soda bottle and place it around one end of a pvc pipe. Heat it up with a lighter. It should shrink and clamp around the open edge. No glue needed. Use a pin and poke some holes in the bottle base. Next, cut the edge of the pipe at an angle using a saw blade. Next insert the pipe into the inlet and use some hot glue to hold it in place. Optionally, colour it to get that beautiful look.
- Mini Green House: Use plastic bins or containers as mini green houses or poly houses for faster seed germinations.
- Do Not Kill: Avoid spraying a pesticide on the flowers. This is to avoid any harm to beneficial Pollinator insects like butterflies and honey bees which are essential for pollination and fruit formation.
Want to grow edibles indoors even in winter season? Yes! You can grow many plants indoors, including your ornamental houseplants, succulents and even fruits and vegetables in containers. You need an appropriate full spectrum grow light and the main advantage of using grow lights is you can grow any veggie in any time of the year including the winter season. And also, grow lights are ideal for seed starting because they help in faster germination due to the warm temperature.
We will discuss some important tips and tricks on how to successfully grow veggies indoors using grow lights – like adjusting the appropriate amount light of light required for a particular plant by altering the distance or by using the Dimmer switch and many other useful tips.
Let us practically do this by first planting some seeds:
This seed starting mix contains about 30 to 40% compost, some 30% Garden soil and 30% coco peat or peat moss.
Let’s plant tomato seeds first. Just space them well and cover with some mix. Do not sow them too deep.
Now Let’s plant some greens like cilantro or coriander. You need to use the sand paper trick to split the seeds into two before sowing each seed is technically a fruit containing two seeds in it. So, you get two plants from one single seed. You can check a detailed episode on this topic HERE.
Now Let’s plant other green leafy’s like Spinach and Fenugreek. Do not sow them too deep. Cover with a thin layer of potting mix. Generally, the sowing depth = 2 times the seed thickness.
We will also plant some French beans and see how to do under a grow light indoors.
Before we show you the results, let’s review BESTVA Pro 4000-Watt LED grow light and keep all these containers under this grow light and we will simultaneously discuss some tips and tricks on growing plants under artificial lights. We will not bore you with physics or those difficult to understand technical details while discussing the specifications of this light. You can also check links provided below in the description box to see more details and specifications and also purchase links given in description below.
Let us quickly unbox this grow light. The package comes with some useful accessories including these grow room glasses, light hanging strings, rachet hangers and the double power cord and also the user manual. The overall look and design of this light looks awesome.
Bestva Pro 4000 Watt is a large full spectrum grow light with high quality Samsung LM301B LEDs and double Mean Well Drivers which means a long life. This light comes with 3 years warranty. It comes with 3mm thickness aluminum plate radiator for better heat dissipation. Holes on the aluminum plate and the glass make heat convection, run 50~60℉ lower than any other LEDs.
The dimensions of this light are: 543 x 512.6 x 77mm and it weighs 9.4 kgs – that’s huge.
The best part of this light is it comes with a Dimmer Switch which goes from 100% all way down to zero and even with a power off function. This is really helpful for many reasons, which we will discuss later.
Another useful feature is its Auto sensing power supply and works on both 120VAC and 240VAC and 277VAC. It comes with dual power cord. You need to connect it like this into the sockets. This power cord has another on off switch available in the cord itself.
Well, Let us now look into the area covered or the number of plants that can be grown using a single light. Well, according to the company specifications, its actually a large area covered by this grow light. Like Vegetative coverage at 18 inch 7.5 x 7.5 feet and Flowering coverage at 14inch is 6 x 6 feet which is actually a lot of space. You can grow a lot number of plants.
Other technical specifications are: Power Consumption 415W and PPFD 2.9 umol/J.
This light is a full spectrum light covering the entire growth cycles of a plant starting from the seedling stage.
Lets quickly hang this light. This comes with a different hanging design. These knobs are fitted into these grooves or anchor points at four corners and tightened. Then you just hang it to the rachet hanger which allows you to adjust the distance of this light from the plants. This distance is important and varies with the different growth stage of a plant. Like in Seedling stage: 60cm (24″) Growing stage: 40-60 cm (16″- 24″) and Flowering stage: 30-40 cm (12″-16″). If you increase this distance and want to cover a larger area, you need to keep it on for longer than 12 hours. This also depends on whether or not you use a grow tent.
So overall a great quality grow light if you want to grow anything indoors, anytime, any season!
Happy Gardening!
PRODUCT LINKS:
BESTVA PRO 4000W LED GROW LIGHT: https://dada.link/lGxeoy
Official Website: https://www.bestvaled.com
Amazon.com Link: https://www.amazon.com/BESTVA-Dimmable-MeanWell-Greenhouse-Hydroponic/dp/B08PD5TL6Z/
Growing and harvesting your own garden veggies organically without using any chemical fertilizers or pesticides gives one huge sense of satisfaction and a healthy feeling. If you love to do edible organic gardening at home, and if you do not have a proper ground space for growing vegetables, do not worry, you can easily grow most vegetables in containers, whether on your terrace or your balcony.
Beans and Peas are warm weather vegetables and can be easily grown in containers if you follow these 10 important tips and tricks.
- CONTAINER SIZE: The minimum size of the container to grow beans and peas especially the climber type of plant is 15 inches diameter and 15 inches depth. This is the minimum size and one plant per container. You can use a plastic pot, a cement pot, a clay pot or even a fabric grow bag. These fabric grow bags are very beneficial in space constraint gardens because they follow the principles of air pruning which helps in better root development in smaller containers.
- CHOOSING THE VARIETY: Beans can be climbers, semi-climbers or erect bush type. If you are growing climbers, please watch this video till the end, as we discuss some very important tricks and concepts that will certainly help you in vegetable gardening, especially the anti-gravity trick. Well, there are thousands of different species of legume plants including beans, peas, butter beans or double beans, kidney beans, pole beans or whatever you call it, the tips for growing these plants are common for all types of plants in the legume family.
- SEED SOWING: Legumes grows best in warm conditions. Right time to plant seeds is in early or late spring when the soil temperature is60 – 85 degrees Fahrenheit (15 to 30 Celsius). You need to choose a mature seed pod to grow Legumes like this one. The best pod is one which dries on the plant. Green pods are still immature and may show poor germination results.
You can sow the seeds directly on the ground or the container you choose for growing. In any case, the depth of sowing should not be more than 10 mm. Generally any seed is sown to a depth equal to about double its thickness. They usually germinate in 1 to 2 weeks.
- POTTING SOIL MIX: A well-draining soil mix is most important for healthy root development. A simple potting mix recipe you can use for growing most vegetables in containers is: 1/3rd garden soil, 1/3rd Coco-peat or peat moss and 1/3rd compost like decomposed cow dung or vermicompost. In addition to this, to help stronger root development and induce proper healthy flowering and fruiting, you can add a source of phosphorous like a handful of steamed bone meal powder into this potting mix. Or alternately, you can add Organic Rock phosphate powder, if you are a vegan gardener.
- SUNLIGHT / LOCATION: Legumes need full direct sunlight of at least 6 hours for flowering and fruiting. Also encourage pollinator insects like butterflies and honeybees to help pollination. Otherwise it may result in flower drop offs and poor harvest. Also avoid spraying chemical pesticides as this can harm the pollinator insects.
- WATERING: All Legume plants need a good supply of moisture. Daily watering is the general rule and whenever you are watering, water it deeply and thoroughly so that entire root system till the bottom of the pot is drenched with water. Improper or partial watering can result in flower or fruit drop off.
- FERTILIZERS: A handful of compost like decomposed cow dung or vermicompost or both once every 10 – 15 days is the minimum requirement for Legumes grown in containers. You can double this frequency or amount in flowering stage. In addition to nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium – NPK, beans also need small amounts of calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron and other trace elements.
Adding some source of calcium like gypsum or lime or even finely powdered egg shells in potting mix before planting is useful. Or you can make a cocktail mixture of all organic fertilizers to get the maximum nutritive value which includes all major and minor trace elements needed for vegetable gardening and store the mixed fertilizer powder, like how we have shown in one of our post on Universal Fertilizer Mixture.
Then, You can also foliar feed with Epsom salt solution once in a fortnight to supply instant source of magnesium, which is the central most atom of the chlorophyll molecule. 1 teaspoon Epsom salt per litre of water and spray more at the underside of the leaves because the leaf stomata are more in number at the underside of the leaves.
- PEST CONTROL: These are commonly affected by powdery mildew and whiteflies and occasionally by mealybugs and aphids. Best is prevention by spraying neem oil once in 15 days. 5 to 10 ml neem oil plus few drops of liquid soap in one litre of water is the recommended dosage. If it’s already affected, you can spray neem oil weekly once or even twice until all pests are eradicated. Make sure you do a patch test on a leaf before spraying on the entire plant to check its strength.
- SUPPORT / STAKING: This is a very important step for growing beans and peas or any climber vegetables. This has to be done in a special way to assist transport of water and nutrients along the stems to the growing tips which normally happens against gravity by the cohesion-tension theory. We will not go into details of this science. Only thing to remember is not to take these climbers too high. Keep these within a height of or less than 7 – 8 feet tall using some string net support in a slope like fashion, like take it to a height and then slope the growing ends downwards to assist in long-distance transport of water and nutrients for healthy growth. This arch like trellis is the ideal support fence for growing climber or creeper veggies. Initially you can use sticks or strings to support and then support the plant on a climber net like this. As the beans grow, they naturally wind themselves around the structure for support.
- PRUNING or TRIMMING: This is generally not required if the plant is branching on its own, which they usually do. But remove any dead or dried leaves from the bottom parts to promote air circulation and avoid fungal disease.
You can harvest beans and peas anywhere between 50 to 60 days after planting.
Chili Peppers is a warm weather vegetable and can be easily grown in containers.
- CHOOSING THE VARIETY: There are literally dozens of chili pepper varieties. Each type varies in taste, size and shape. Mildest type is Bell Pepper or capsicum. So, these tips are common for all varieties of chilly peppers.
- SEED SOWING: Chilli Peppers grows best in warm conditions. Right time to plant seeds is when the soil temperature is 70 – 85 degrees Fahrenheit (20 to 30 Celsius). You need to choose a mature seed pod to grow chilli peppers like the red one. Green pods are still immature and may show poor germination results.
You can sow the seeds first in a small container or seedling trays and then go for transplant after 4 to 6 weeks. In any case, the depth of sowing should not be more than 5 mm. The seed starting mix should have at least 50% compost like vermicompost or decomposed cow dung in it. They usually germinate in 1 to 2 weeks.
You can transplant these after 4 – 6 weeks.
- CHOOSING THE CONTAINER: You can easily grow Chilli Peppers in small containers. Its ideally grown in a 12 inch container. You can use good quality plastic pot or a cement pot or a grow bag.
- POTTING SOIL MIX: A well-draining soil is very important for healthy root growth. A simple well draining potting mix should include: 30 – 40 percent garden soil, 30 – 40 percent Coco-peat or peat moss and 20 – 30 percent compost like decomposed cow dung or vermicompost.
- SUPPORT / STAKING: Installing stakes or supports is helpful especially if they load up with fruits. You can use sticks or pipes tp support them. You can also tie strings to support the main stem.
- SUNLIGHT / LOCATION: Chilli Peppers need full direct sunlight of at least 6 hours for flowering and fruiting. Also keep them in a spot where pollinator insects like butterflies and honeybees visit frequently. Otherwise they will fail to produce fruit and result in flower drop off.
- WATERING: Give Chili Peppers a steady supply of moisture, but do not let the soil get soggy. Daily watering is the general rule and whenever you are watering, water it deeply and thoroughly so that entire root system is drenched with water. Improper watering can result in flower or fruit drop off.
- FERTILIZERS: Firstly during transplant adding a some amount of phosphorous source like bone meal powder or organic rock phosphate will really help the plant to induce lot of flowering and fruiting and also confers resistance to pests and diseases like the leaf curl virus. These two organic fertilizers are very important slow release sources of phosphorous which makes the roots stronger which in turn makes the plant grow healthier and yield better by boosting the plant immune system or resistance against pests and disease.
Secondly, A handful of compost like decomposed cowdung or vermicompost or both once every 15 days is the minimum requirement for Chilli Peppers. You can double this frequency or amount in flowering stage.
Then, adding some source of calcium like gypsum or lime or even finely powdered egg shells is also beneficial especially during fruiting stage.
- PEST CONTROL: Chilli Peppers is occasionally affected by pests like mealybugs, aphids and white flies. Leaf curl Virus needs a special mention. If the plant is affected by leaf curl virus, better to discuss the plant so that other plants are not infected.
Best is prevention by spraying neem oil once in 15 days. 5 to 10 ml neem oil plus some liquid soap in one litre of water is the recommended dosage. If it’s already infested, you can spray weekly once or even twice until all pests are eradicated. Make sure you do a patch test on a leaf before spraying on the entire plant.
- PRUNING or TRIMMING: Trimming promotes branching and this in turn produces more flowers and more fruits.
One important tip here: When the plant is about six to 8 inches tall, pinching the growing tip will result in a bushier plant and also remove any flowers that appear early, as the early flowers diminish the plants overall energy.
HARVESTING CHILLI PEPPERS: You can harvest chilly peppers anywhere between 60 to 100 days after planting.
1. Here is the list of things required for the frame: A 3 to 4 feet long and a 3 inch calibre PVC pipe. 2 elbows of 3 inch for this pipe and some threading or plumbing tape. I am going to show how to build this setup in a kitchen window. You can use your own custom length of the pipe, based on where you are going to build it.
2. Next you need a power drill and a hole saw of about 1 inch, if you are using one inch net-pots. These netpots are hydroponic baskets where in we plant the seeds. We are going to plant 15 hydroponic baskets into this pipe, so marking the same on the pipe after measuring to divide the space equally. You need a hole saw of the same circumference as the middle of the basket itself. We need to make sure that the basket is only about halfway into the insert we are about to make.
3. Once done with all the 15 inserts, let us put some threading tape at the edges and stick the two elbows in place. You can also purchase pipe head closers, but I found elbows to be cheaper and much more convenient. Stick around towards the end of the video and you will know the reason behind this?
4. That’s it, our setup is ready. All we need is some clay pebbles, cocopeat or peat moss and these plastic net pots. These are actually very cheap to purchase online.
PURCHASE LINKS:
Net pots https://amzn.to/3snnJfg
Nutrient Solutions https://amzn.to/2ZOMjZW
Hydroponic Full Kit https://amzn.to/3uqqgHf
Let us get to planting the seeds now. First let’s insert the net pots into these slots. Let’s drop 3-4 clay pebbles in each basket. These pebbles not only give easy access to roots into the water but also maintain the humidity and help in keeping the pH of the water in check. Now let us add some cocopeat in each basket.
Now we can start sowing the seeds. We are planting Spinach, Coriander and Amaranthus seeds.
5. Once the seeds are dropped, let us now install the frame in place, on the kitchen window. Any place with indirect sunlight and good ventilation will do. Make sure that the setup is perfectly horizontal, so the water doesn’t flow to any one side. I am just putting a zip-tie on mine to hold it in place. Spray some water collected from the RO discharge outlet using a bottle sprayer till the coco peat is nicely moist.
6. Within 5-6 days we can see the seeds have sprouted and are 2-3 inches long. Amaranthus is doing very well as you can see in the video below.
7. A week after the setup was put in place, start checking for signs of roots underneath the baskets. They are extremely delicate so be careful not to damage these. Once you spot the roots you are ready to start the hydroponics.
8. Let us get our nutrient solution ready now. Before we start preparing nutrient solution, you need to know few basics of RO water purifier. We all have this RO water purifier installed in our homes. The main drawback of this is excessive water waste. everse Osmosis (RO) purifiers use membrane technology to filter dissolved impurities, the impure water is filtered out and is often called waste water or reject water. Because of the high level of impurities and dissolved solids, this reject water is not fit for drinking. But this water can be used for watering your plants.
So, to make the nutrient solution, All we need is 1.5 liters of water collected from the RO purifier discharge outlet. You will need to add 1.5 ml of Nitrogen, 1.5ml of Phosphorous and finally 1.5 ml of Potassium solutions to the water. These liquids are easily available from many online sellers. If you want to go completely organic hydroponic nutrient solution, you can use about 1:50 dilution compost tea made out of organic fertilizers like decomposed cowdung or vermicompost. We will discuss this in detail in some other post.
Well, now give it a good mix and pour it into the elbow opening of the pipe so it’s evenly spread out. We will also drop a small air-stone connected to an air pump into the pipe to maintain the oxygen level of the solution. And cover the open outlets of the elbows with some paper cups to avoid insects or dust getting in.
9. Here is the progress after two weeks. As you can see the leaves are healthy and green with absolutely no disease. This is one of the major advantage of using hydroponic system for growing greens! Now Let us look at the roots. The roots have grown a lot too and appear absolutely healthy. So, This is working as expected.
10. After 2 weeks, it’s time to change the water solution and this is where I feel the elbows make it so much easier to change the water. No need to remove the setup from place, simply place a bucket under one of the openings and gently turn the pipe around. The water should flow out into the bucket and you are Done!
Prepare the same solution as earlier and pour it back in.
11. This is what our plants are looking after 3 weeks now. The spinach has reached the stage of harvesting.
12. And finally, this is what our beautiful plants are looking like after the 4th week of sowing. We have beautiful spinach ready to be harvested. You can see the Coriander leaves too.
13. To harvest all you need to do is snip the leaves using a small scissor. You can expect more leaves to regrow every time you harvest as the root system is now healthy and well grown to support leaf growth.
We all know the importance of planting right seeds in the right season for best results. Planting in the wrong season can result in poor seed germination, stunted plant growth, diseased plants and a very bad harvest.
Some Vegetables and fruits grow only in certain Temperatures, Humidity, and Soil PH levels, so it is critical to know which season is compatible to grow a particular plant. But, this growing calendar or the seasons are not constant and this varies throughout the world and varies from zone to zone. Hence, in this episode, we will learn how to make your own vegetable planting calendar and start vegetable planting or seed sowing based on the Soil Temperature. Do not worry, it’s not at all complicated. But this is actually very important. You may also have some questions in mind, like why only soil temperature and why not air temperature? We will answer everything in this episode in an interesting Q & A Format.
- What is Soil temperature?
Soil temperature is simply the measurement of the warmth in the soil. Night time and daytime soil temperatures are both equally important. It’s measured in Degrees Fahrenheit or Degrees Centigrade or Celsius depending on where you live. - What Gadgets you need to measure Soil Temperature?
Obviously you need a thermometer to measure temperature. Soil thermometers are not expensive. There are many types of soil thermometers available. You can use any thermometer with a long probe to measure the soil temperature, including this type of food or milk thermometer. This is really cheap and available online – you can check a link to buy it online from description below. You can also use this type of all in one gadget which measures PH, moisture and temperature.
How to Measure Soil Temperature?
For seed starting, you insert the probe 1 to 2 inches deep to check the readings. Whereas for transplants or for other plants, You need to insert the probe 2 to 4 inches deep or even more and then keep it in soil for about 2-3 minutes to get the right reading. You can also repeat multiple times and take average of all readings. One simple tip here: Do not press your thermometer harder to make it into the soil, especially if soil is harder. You can use a screw driver to make a hole into the soil and then insert the thermometer.
What time of the Day should I measure?
Soil temperature is best taken in the early morning when the soil is coolest and not yet warmed under the day’s sun.
- Why Not Air Temperature?
This is because, the relationship between soil temperature and air temperature is not fixed and varies in different seasons. Like in early spring, the soil temperature is lower than the air temperature and then in summer, its higher than the air temperature. If you know this concept, then you can use your zone air temperature and roughly use the weather readings from your smart phone and use it as a baseline for planting your crops. - What Factors affect soil temperature?
The moisture content in the soil is the most important factor that affects soil temperature. Moist soils heat up slowly. Hence when you measure soil temperature, its better to insert the thermometer at least after 12 hours of watering the soil. Another factor which is actually used in many zones with unfavourable temperatures is the use of Green houses or poly houses to maintain temperatures ideal for seed germination and plant growth. - What is Workable Soil test?
Before soil thermometers were used in farming, the common method of determining when to plant was soil workability. This is the in fact an old fashioned method to roughly know when to plant.
The soil is workable and ready for seed sowing or planting if it passes the Workable Soil Test. Here’s the test: squeeze a handful of soil in the palm of your hand; when you open your hand if the soil remains a wet or very moist clump, it is not workable. Let the soil dry. If the soil crumbles from your hand with a touch, it is workable. - What is the ideal soil Temperature for most plants?
Each vegetable has a specific ideal temperature that’s favourable for seed germination and best results. Ideal soil temperature for planting should be 10 degree above the ideal minimum and 10 degree below maximum for that vegetable. We will show you the temperature chart for various vegetables at the end of this episode.
- Why Soil Temperature is important?
The right Soil temperature triggers not only seed germination but is an important factor in soil chemistry as well. Soil chemistry includes the release and absorption of mineral and nutrients in soil by the roots and this is so vital for plant resistance against pests and proper plant growth and maturation till the harvest. Now! - Let’s build our own Seed sowing or Vegetable Planting Calendar depending on the temperatures. You can classify this calendar in two ways:
A much broader way is to put them into two categories – like WARM CROPS or COOL CROPS or COLD CROPS.
One more method is to divide into seasons or even months from Jan to December, or like:
- Spring Vegetable planting
- Summer Vegetables
- Rainy season vegetables
- Winter season vegetables
If you want your very own perfect calendar for all these seasons, you might have to measure the soil temperatures at your local zone, yourself and then prepare this chart. This hard work is perhaps very important and saves your time and might yield best results in future.
So based on the Soil temperature charts for different vegetables, My season-wise or month wise planting calendar is like this: I will show you how to use the temperature chart for different vegetables to build this calendar in a short while from now.
Spring Season Vegetables: All Gourds – like Bittergourd, Bottle gourd, Sponge Gourd, Cucumbers, Beans, Okra, Watermelon, Lettuce, Spinach, and even Onions and carrots.
Summer Season Vegetables: Capsicum and Chilly – that’s all varieties of peppers, Coriander or cilantro, Tomatoes, Okra, Amaranthus, All Gourds, Cucumber, cauliflower, Brinjal and so on.
Rainy Season Vegetables: All gourds, All Beans, Cucumber, Okra, Tomato, Carrot, Cauliflower, Radish, Cucumber, Onion, Peas, Spinach, Peas, Lettuce and so on.
Winter season crops: Beet, Eggplant, Cabbage, Carrot, Beans, Lettuce, Okra, Turnip, pumpkins, Watermelon, Muskmelon, Ash gourd, Ridge gourd, Bitter gourd, Bottle gourd, Cucumber, Cabbage and so on.
You can DOWNLOAD this PDF temperature chart for various vegetables from a link in description below and build your own Zonal Garden Calendar for perfect Vegetable gardening.
Plants can sense changes in the seasons. For example, in the fall, when the days start to get shorter, the trees sense that there is less sunlight. The plant is stimulated, and it sends messages telling the leaves to change colors and fall off and plants then go into dormancy. This is an example of photoperiodism, the reaction of plants, to the length of day or night.
Well, Spring is the most active and most important season for gardening. Plants wake up from their sleeping period that is the dormancy or inactive period of winter. Applying these Five steps and tips just before they start their active period really makes a lot of difference and helps them grow and yield better in the coming days.
5: CLEAN UP YOUR GARDEN : This should be your first task, especially if you do not do this regularly. You may see a lot of debris like fallen leaves, twigs, dirt and other garbage. This should be done first because neat and clean garden makes a perfect scene.
4: WEED REMOVAL: Early Spring weeds can be a nuisance. They can be a real problem and steal your plants nutrients from soil and can result in stunted growth of your plants. Head out into the garden and start pulling those weeds. Make sure you pluck them at the root level. This is really important to stop them from growing back again. Use different weed removal garden tools depending on the size of your garden.
3: FERTILIZERS AND SOIL PREPARATION: Winter season can make your soil hard and compact. You need not repot your plants completely into a fresh new potting mix. Just till the top 1 or 2 inches of soil carefully without damaging your plant roots. Then, You can apply fertilizer over this or remove this soil if it’s too compact or if it’s not much compacted, then remove this soil and mix it with compost like decomposed cow dung powder or vermicompost – one or two handfuls of it depending on the size of your container or the plant. Mix it thoroughly with this top soil and add it back to the plant. Well, this is a one time task to improvise the top soil.
Then regarding fertilizing your plants, Make sure you add at least one handful of compost like decomposed cow or horse dung or vermicompost per plant atleast once every 15 days. Spring season is the most important time the growth of your plant picks up, and fertilizing your plants is really important at this stage.
2: PRUNING – That’s trimming or cutting your plant branches. For most summer plants this is the best time to prune them, even hard pruning your older plants can be done at this time. Pruning encourages the plants to grow well and makes them bushy as the plant grows. You can check a detailed post on how to prune, types of pruning with important concepts of pruning.
1: START PLANTING NEW SEEDS OR PLANTS: Depending on the zone your live, you can start sowing your seeds like – summer vegetables or flowering plants for summer in this season.