The Jouney from October to February...

February 27, 2016

Welcome back Readers,

We have come to the end of February, but the plants that I had planted somewhere around October for my fall garden are still in bloom. This fall garden was a total success for me. Each time I look at the flowers and the plants I feel all my hard work has been paid off. It seemed very difficult for me at the beginning, but now the plants are taking care of themselves. To my surprise this year there was no pest attack on them at all and the saplings that I had planted have developed into very healthy plants. Every year some of the saplings die because of pest attacks or strong sun rays burn their tender leaves, or even if they survive these conditions they do not grow into healthy plants due to the lack of nutrients in the soil and have a stunted growth which results into less flower and attracting more pests ultimately affecting my other plants.

This year I took care of all the minute things from the beginning. The very first thing that I did was emptying the pots with all the soil it had. I used the potting mix which I have already discussed in my previous posts. I kept the pots with the potting mix for a week just watering it everyday, this was done so that the soil settles well in the pot and all the beneficial bacteria that where introduced by the manure and the compost build up the nitrogen cycle well so as to ensure a constant breakdown of the organic matter and supplying the essential nutrients to the plants. I bought the seedlings after inspecting them at the nursery. The saplings where planted to the pots ( four seedlings per pot) and I covered the seedlings with hay (dried grass clipings) so as to protect the seedlings from sun, water, wind and birds. I watered the seedlings everyday until they developed a strong root and shoot system and bore buds on them. I again introduced some vermicompost, cow dung manure and compost to the soil before the plants would bloom so as to provide some extra nutrients for the later stage. After an interval of 15 days I kept spraying the plants with neem oil and a commercial foliar spray(so as to enhance the blooms).

This is all the plants required. And here they are in full bloom this season. Below are the some snaps from my garden.