Hello all, Welcome to Gardens around me. This is Episode 3 (Part 2). In this episode, we are exploring Mr.Ragu’s garden and in this part, he is kind enough to share some tips on “How to set up a home garden and do gardening efficiently ?”.
Ragu’s Garden
Mr. Ragu is from Arni, TamilNadu. He is passionate about gardening from a very young age and started growing plants since then. Ragu is growing a lot of plants in his backyard. The backyard is so dense and beautiful. He has 7 different types of hibiscus, 4 different types of Banana trees and much more.
We have explored his garden in detail and learned “How to grow bananas trees at home?” in the last post. In case, if you missed reading the post, here is the link – EPISODE 3 – Part 1. It just takes 5 mins to read the blog post. So, do check out.
PLANNING A HOME GARDEN
He says, do make a plan to set up your home garden, depending on the size of the space you are having. If you have only a small space like a balcony, set up a container garden and start from growing herbs like mint, coriander, and some easy vegetables and flowers.
In case if you are having a much bigger space like a front yard or a backyard. Then plan to grow trees along the borders and grow other vegetables and flowers in the space left.
3 EASY PLANTS TO START GARDENING
Ok, let us start with this easy one. He says the following plants are the simple ones to start with.
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Green / Keerai varieties
The green / keerai varieties are damn easy to grow. Because you don’t need much maintenance growing them. Also, they are they can be harvested in 28-30 days. So they will motivate you to do gardening more and more.
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Tomato
Seeds are easily available at your kitchen corner. Just take a tomato fruit and squeeze them in the soil. In 2-4 days new tomato plants will start growing in your garden. After the plants reach 1ft height, transplant them. That’s it. They will start flowering and you can harvest the fruits.
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Lady’s finger
Lady’s finger is easy to grow too. But this plant will have some bugs attacks. They can be easily treated and removed from the plants. By growing this plant, you may get to know how to handle bugs and treat them. If you do well, you won’t be disappointed in the harvest phase.
3 TIPS FOR BEGINNERS
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Monitor the plants regularly.
Do visit your garden daily and inspect them for any new insects or bug attack. If you find anything, then treat them at the earliest possible. So that you can have a healthy garden.
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Don’t forget to water the plants.
Water the plants regularly. If you start monitoring the plants frequently, you might notice the yellowing of leaves, or dried leaves and stems. They are mainly because either over watering or under watering.
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Prefer Organic composts.
If you want your vegetables and fruits to have amazing taste and good nutrients, always prefer using organic composts and manures.
SOIL COMPOSITION FOR CONTAINERS
For container gardening, the following proportion of soil and manure will yield a good result. If you have any other suggestion, do leave it in the comment section below.
- Garden soil – 50%
- Compost – 25%
- Manure / dried leaves – 25%
THE WATERING PROCESS
He says he waters the plants both morning and evening during the peak summers. On winters, Ragu waters on alternate days.
Always touch the soil before watering the plants. If it is wet enough then skip that day. If it is very dry, then make sure you water the plants.
MANURES & COMPOSTS
Organic composts and manures yield fruits and vegetables that are very good in taste and healthy when compared to the harvests made using chemical fertilizers. So make sure you always prefer organic compost and manures.
HANDLING BUGS AND INSECTS
Now, for a beginner, this might be the biggest problem to deal with. All the insects and bugs attacking the home gardens can be removed, once they are properly treated. For any bugs and insects, he has 2 common solutions.
- Neem oil
- Cut the part of the stem or the plant that are most affected.
Neem oil
Mix 10 ml neem oil in 1 liter of water. Add 1 teaspoon any mild liquid soap to mix that oil and water. Start spraying on the affected part. Repeat a few times till you notice no bugs on the plants. Neem oil mixture is the most common for most of the pest and bugs.
Here is the video footage of Ragu’s garden and Interview.
Also, if you missed any of our previous episodes, here is the link to the playlist. Interested to explore more gardens? Click here – Gardens around me.
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Have a good day!
good work
Thank you 🙂