What is COCO PEAT – How to use it for Plants?
Where does Coco peat come from? Is it a fertilizer? No. It is the fibers removed from coconut husk and processed into a usable crushed form. The most relevant property of coco peat w.r.t. gardening is its ability to retain moisture yet allow drainage. Another includes...
Growing flowers in yogurt cups & plastic bottles – Upcycling by Arpit Dhupar
In his own words... "It all began with a trip to hills with my family in 2007, while making a stop at a tea stall I saw a chilli plant which was loaded, I was only 12 or so at that time. The same year during the Trade fair i visited the agriculture emporium and found...
What’s up in my garden – Updates & Planning
As soon as September knocks on the door, the winter gardening madness begins. There's just so much to do suddenly after the summer lull! Sep. is like the Diwali of gardening world. We all get down to making lists, cleaning, prepping up and looking forward to the...
Growing Lantana plants from cuttings
Every time we take a trip to the hills, all I am fixated upon are the huge mounds of beautiful Lantana bushes. Pink, orange, red, yellow, bicolor – you name it, lantana’s got it! Hence naturally, I got back some cuttings from our recent trips, to grow in our garden....
Growing Succulents Indoors in Teacup Planters
I have a weird relationship with my succulent plants. I buy them with excitement but once they are home, I usually just put them in a corner to do their thing. I mean, they rarely (if) flower and grow slowly. They don’t need much water or attention. Hence, I was...
Homemade Organic Fertilizer for Roses
My rose plants have been screaming for some love & fertilizer lately. I’d bought a lot of them this season but lost a few prized ones due to heat & lack of care ( I was travelling too much). While I am trying to replenish my stock, yesterday was dedicated to...
Make Newspaper Pots – Start seeds, Plant bulbs and Grow cuttings
As an amateur but over enthusiastic gardener, I used to constantly look for ideas that could take my garden to a better level, on a low budget! *spending all my pocket money on garden things. One popular wing of these “garden ideas” is crafts i.e. recycling homemade...
Make an Indoor Herb Garden in Tea cups
You are not a true gardener if you haven’t attempted to grow plants in every container you can find around the house.. And then you achieve the mad-gardener status after you start buying “things” from the crockery section only to plant in them! You may also...
The Best HEAT TOLERANT Flower for INDIAN Summers – PORTULACA
After Spring ends, all Indian gardeners face a similar dilemma, what to do with the so many empty small pots that once held beautiful winter blooms. The solution is sometimes, the simplest & yet the best! I never paid much attention to the humble portulaca until...
SAVE SEEDS from your Garden for Next Year – HARVEST, CLEAN & STORE
Seeds are life..Literally! Most people get a kick out of their morning chai/coffee. My morning high is going out in the garden to check which seeds have germinated. A few days ago I was cleaning up the winter left-overs ( you know what I mean) and thought of saving a...
Easy Bulb Planting Guide – Grow Ranunculus Flowers
QUICK GUIDE TO PLANTING RANUNCULUS BULBS Soak the bulbs in water overnight. Get a pot of soil ready. Loosen the soil and remove debris. Plant bulbs with the "claws" facing down". Cover with more soil upto 1". Water moderately everyday, till bulbs sprout. When I...
SEED IDENTIFICATION GUIDE- SUMMER FLOWERS IN INDIA
FLOWER SEED IDENTIFICATION GUIDE CHART + INDIVIDUAL SEED IDENTIFICATION PICTURES & SEED CLOSE UP PICTURES NOTE: COLEUS & KOCHIA ARE NOT FLOWERS BUT SUMMER ANNUALS WITH COLORED OR INTERESTING FOLIAGE HENCE HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN THIS POST. WHAT DO...