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That's true... aamam, aprt thaan iruken... have a decent sized balcony... so konjam pots vechu irukken...athula appapo mint, cori, methi-nu try pannuven... aanal ethuvum sariyay valaralai... guess it's time I change the soil...Quote:
Originally Posted by Anoushka
Jasmines
http://toptropicals.com/This is probably the best source for buy Jasmine plants. They have all of them. Their plants are excellent and they ship overseas.
Their instructions for growing Jasmines are superb and I follow them literally to the word. Their plants are better than what we can purchase from some Indian vendors.
You will find instructions for growing jasmines here.
http://toptropicals.com/html/toptrop...sambac.htm#faq
If you look in the alphabetical list under J you will find a list of jasmines.
I also have Night queen (cestrum, Raat ki Rani).
With some reluctance my wife accepted Night queen. Now she feels fine with night queen. Her cousin sister died from snake bite (cobra) when she was picking up some flowers from night queen plant in India. (University professor’s quarters. - Not in a rural area).
I used to have few cacti before, but my better half and her friends ganged up upon me showing me some feng shui books, growing plants with thorns and shap pricky edges brings bad luck and sorrow. She won(most of the time she wins).
I do grow the dwarf variety of marigold plants next to vegetables in containers as they look pretty and marigold roots are toxic to nematodes in the soil and keep the soil healthy.
She developed a kind of phobia and dislike for Night queen for a short time.
If some one asks me what jasmines you prefer.
Giving ranking on the basis of fragrance, hardiness, long time blooming. Not growing rampant and easy to propagate I prefer jasmine samba(Jasmine arabicum), the common Indian Jasmine
(jathi Malli),
cestrum(night queen) and Jasmine Grand duke of Tuscany.
I prefer the new hybrid form as it produces a bunch of flowers some times as big as a rose with good fragrance.
One can raise some jasmines from seeds also.
Carolina jasmine and Madagascar Jasmine from Park seeds (five seeds for 3 dollars)
Easy to grow but they are second in rank, to the above.
Jasmines are easy to propagate. I used to propagate them by the traditional soil layering technique.
That is keeping a branch in potting soil (bend it, in a pot) and putting some rocks on it as a weight. One should keep at least 2 nodes for about 2 months here in USA zone 6.
Now I switched to an easier, failure proof, cheap propagation chamber. If any one is interested I will post a link and my experience with it. It takes about 20 minutes to make one, easy all you need is a shoe box9sweater box 2-3 dollars), seed starter mix and a clay pot without a hole( deepavali pramida-the one in which we put oil and light a wick)
This year I propagated about 11 plants. Next year more they will go my friends and to the temple for fund raising (take one and drop a five dollar bill in the Hundi).
The common mistakes are using garden soil in pots, instead of good potting soil, over watering and using a big pot at the first instance rather than changing the pots as they grow. And improper high nitrogen fertilizers.
The lilies(indian Rajani Gandha, single tuberose) are disappointing.
Short blooming time.Need to bring inside the home and dry the roots .
Dev: try changing the soil, adding compost or some plant food :) I used to do container gardening when I was in an apartment too.
Actually that is when I discovered that Tulsi plant stem is strong only if there is some amount of soil in addition to the compost in the pot! :)
Will try it out, Anou... thanks a lot...:)
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/...926870.html?75
This thread gives good information about container mixes.
It is oriented to North American gaderners.Vermiculite, perlite, organic planter mixes (soil less) are available in US, but may not be else where.
In my case reverse,We down sized very thing.
Moved from big house to small house, from huge, an acre and half garden to square foot garden (raised beds)
And container gardening. The needs are much less. Decision to spend not more than an hour and half per week in garden etc.
This seems to be the case with most of us living in US from early seventies.
Even becoming creative Oat meal dosa, Ragi and Jowar dosa (complex carbohydrates) Gave up traditional use of rice,No more fried food, changed to using virgin olive oil etc.
Hi Venkatappiah,
I used to visit that site often, but never able to find pine bark fines, so left the idea of making my own container soil mixes. Can i reuse the potting mix ? or should i buy new mix every year? can i mix some compost to the old potting mix and reuse it next yr?
One can rejuvenate the soil once or twice. I think the key is drainage. Does it drain the water well or the roots get drowned in water?
If the plant is grown in the container is infected with bugs and fungus I discard it. Add the compost. Pile The soil will carry the eggs and spores.
Once or twice I rejuvenate it.
This is what I do.
Take the soil out empty the container on a large trash bag.
Wash the container. If the drainage holes are small I enlarge it. I cover the holes in the bottom with a coffee filter or a mesh so that the soil won’t wash out.
To prevent the plastic cracking out, I just wipe with Armor all a plastic preservative.
I break the soil in the container add one fourth manure, little new planting mix add fertilizer add some lime usually garden lime, gypsum or crushed sea shells.keep it loose add water little and cover with a transparent plastic. The soil gets heated and the bioavailability will increase if one does it in the fall.
In a soil I grew members of Solanacea such as peppers, tomato and egg plants, I grow some other plants again, but I will not grow these plants again till I change the soil completely.
Usually I buy this Stuff from large nurseries or green houses. It is cheaper, if you buy a large bag. You get three times more for twice the price. They do not have any fancy printing, Just plain white bags.
Where are you located ?
I am located in NJ, searched the homedepot and few nurseries here for pine bark fine to make Al's potting mix. now i have 1 big bag of MG, it does drain well. i will add some compost,lime and gypsum to it.
I want to bring mint indoors and grow some greens( fenugreek) indoors for the winter.
you will add only either lime or gypsum. one of these 2, not both.
Fenu greek will grow easily.
wall mart got grow lamp for 15 dollars including the fixture.
I lived for 3 years 1977 in west orange, New Jersey.
This is what I do with Methi.Feel free to improvise it.
I use Indian grocery purchased methi ( fenugreek)seeds. Soak then in warm water. If water gets cold I change it, soak over night.
I use large sweater boxes, not very tall about 2 dollars each in wall mart, Dollar stores, big lots etc. I use three of them. Successive planting once in every 2 weeks. Methi looks like a lot, but when cooked, it looks smaller.
When thinning I pull them with roots or I cut them with scissors. In winter I water only with warm water and I use either a fluorescent light or grow light.
Still in January and Feb the growth rate is slow. I use any organic fertilizer, gardentone, plant tone etc. some times peters.
It is a pleasure to some thing growing in winter months.
In winter I use aluminum baking pan, the one made up of aluminum foil as a a tray. It reflects light.