Roof Top Gardening Some Important Points

Want to do gardening but not having enough space in the backyard? Why not think upwards? If you have a roof top you can definitely use it to grow your favorite plants.

There are some benefits for roof top gardening:
1.    You can utilize your long unused space into a vegetable garden.
2.    Usually full of sunlight.
3.    Visually attractive.
4.    It can cool down the top floor of the apartment in the hot summers.

But unlike your backyard, you need to keep some points in mind before starting your roof top garden.

Weight: Weight is very important. First decide whether you want to use containers or you want to make plantation in the raised beds. In case you are planning to use containers try lighter material like plastic or fiber. Click here to know more about different container materials. Calculate the total amount of weight your roof top is going to bear. You need to add the weight of the soil (in wet condition), containers, mature plants along with their fruits, temporary weight such people and snow (in case you live in a place where snow fall is a regular incident). You can reduce the weight of the soil by mixing Coir or Perlite with the soil.

Sunlight: Generally roof tops are full of sunlight (unless your roof top is surrounded by some high buildings). So the chances are good that the plant will receive at least 6 hours of sunlight pretty easily. But over heating is sometimes also detrimental to certain plants. Beside heat from the top, there is a huge amount of heat also reflected back by the floor of the roof. So just keep in mind that in some cases you may need to provide some shading for the plants.

Wind: Your roof top is a place where the speed of the wind is maximum; especially if you live in high altitude. It is always better to provide some structural barrier or fencing to protect the plant in case of excessive wind flow.

Accessibility: This is a major issue. How easily you can access your roof top. Carrying soil, containers, equipments can be a real headache if the accessibility is poor. Please make sure you have lift or proper stairs installed before starting.

Watering: In the hot summer, the watering may required to do everyday. Make sure you have water connectivity in the roof top; otherwise carrying water everyday from downstairs can be a nuisance. Make sure you have proper drainage on the roof. You can also use the rain water if you have rain water harvesting system in place. You can find some idea about rain water harvesting in this article.

Besides these major issues some minor factors you also need to consider. In the likes of availability of electricity at the terrace can be really helpful though it is not essential. Also please take the required permission from your local authority before starting you garden.


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Gardening in Shade Some useful information

Gardening does not always means that you need to grow plants in full sun. Shade in the garden is like a nightmare for many gardeners. Though most of the vegetables like Tomatoes, or cucumbers require full sun for their development, many plants can grow wonderfully well in shade. Here in this article we will try to give you some idea on how you can do gardening in shady condition.

When people talk about shade they can mean a variety of condition. So at times it can be confusing to what actually a shade gardening refers to. First of all let us make a distinction between different types of shades.

Gardening in partial shade

1.    Partial shade: This kind of shading refers to a condition where the place receives direct sunlight for less than 4 hours.
2.    Full shade: This is a condition where there is no direct sunlight through out the whole year. There are some plants (like Euphorbia) which can grow well in areas like this.
3.    Dry shade: If you are planting under some big tree the chances are that apart from being shaded, the place will be very dry. As the water content of the soil is mostly sucked in by the big trees. There are few plants which can survive in these conditions also.
4.    Moist shade: In case the planting is near any big water source such as ponds or rivers the soil remains very wet through the season. In this condition plants are never short of water.

It is the partial shade that we will discuss in this article. As we have already discussed in out earlier article Sun or no Sun, if you want to grow fully grown fruits in a plant, you need to provide them more than 6 hours of sunlight. Having said that, crops such as Spinach and other leafy vegetables, Peas, Cauliflower can grow pretty on partial shade.

Some tips on growing vegetables in shade:
Most of the plants which grow in the shade generally have larger leaves to absorb more light. Do not crowd shade tolerant plants. It will help to absorb most of the light available. Less crowding will also increase the air flow through the plant and will reduce many diseases.
Paint the walls of your buildings surrounding the shady area with lighter paint. It will increase the light reflection and provide light support to the dark shady areas. You can also use mirror tiles or metallic surfaces for this purpose.

Benefits of Shade gardening:
There are some benefits also if you are doing gardening in shade. If you remember, while discussing growing tips about Cauliflower and several others we have informed you about the effect of heat on bolting. In case your gardening is in the shade the impact of bolting can be reduced. The leafy vegetables such as Spinach lettuce grown in partial shade will look much fresher and you can enjoy them for a longer period of time. This is due to the fact that the more they are in the sun the larger will be the amount of water loss.

Talking about water, you also need to water the plants less regularly than when in the direct sun. By knowing ideal plants for shade, you can very easily optimize your total garden space. Plant the plants which prefer the direct sunlight in the sunny place whereas as in rest of the partial shaded spaces you can easily cultivated rest of the plants. It will help you to double your total vegetable output.

You can get some vivid idea about sun and its impact on vegetables growing in this article.



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Gardening In the Rain

It is that time of the year when after a searing summer heat, the mercury has already come down and plans to dip even further in coming days as the monsoon clouds looms over our head. While rains evoke different moods for different people, it is also when it is raining that you get to tend to those beautiful plants in your garden, and watch plants grow faster and bloom in the glory of the rains.


Monsoons can be very tricky for Gardeners. With nature favouring the task, the plantation work turns easy. Introducing new plants into the garden, starting a new home garden, planning a terrace garden seems like the most obvious things to do. Crotons and flowering plants are the best to grow in monsoon and add a colourful tint to the lush green foliage.

Also, this is the time of the year when small errors in care or maintenance or neglect occurs and many times it gets overlooked by the green components of the garden. Since saplings and plants have needed water provided by the rains, they do not cry out of thirst even if you forget to water them for a day or two.

But just like scarcity of water is a problem for plants, excess of water can also be a big worry. In water logged conditions, the plants express this by wilting. Most of plants hate water logging and they need good soil drainage to survive and prosper. Some plants do enjoy water logged conditions but their numbers is small. Due to excess water algae get collected on top soil, and in absence of proper actions plants rot. Weeds, insects, Worms also flourish during this season. Stagnant water and worms can destroy the whole garden very quickly.


The following are some of the few points which we need to take into consideration for having a enjoyable gardening season in the monsoon:


1.The first and foremost thing is that you have to make sure you have a proper drainage system. If water got stagnant it will make the plants rot.

2.      To prevent the risk of fertile top soil erosion in the garden due to heavy rains use perforated sheets. It will allow the rain water to reach the plant as sprinkler. So the plants not get deprived of their natural nutrients available in the top soil

3.      In case of planting new saplings, plant only those plants that can adjust to the moisture of the monsoon season. The young plants in the garden and those plants which are too fragile should be sheltered adequately to protect them from the rains

4.      Avoid chemical fertilizers as far as you can, instead try natures own compost. Earthworms are a gardener’s friend. They not only aerate the soil by tunnelling down, they also fertilize it.

5.      Avoid pesticides altogether. As it will get mixed and transferred with rain and will cause huge damage to the garden. Instead try to use biological controller such as Toads and Frogs. They are voracious insect eaters and can be a very good friend to the gardener.

6.      Mix a good proportion of soil and compost manure for new plants.

7.      It is the right time to try your hand at indoor gardening. Also bring those plants outside so they can get the feel of the moisture in the air.

Perfect Solution for Rain

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6 Challenges of Indoor Gardening

Generally people dont prefer growing plants inside their houses but sometimes that is the only choice we have got. Like every other thing in the world Indoor gardening has its share of pros and cons. Though there is no doubt that pros outnumbered the cons there are some points we need to keep in mind before plunging into this kind of gardening.

This article gives you a brief about some of the challenges faced by the gardeners while planting Indoor. Knowing about these will definitely give you an extra advantage over others.

So here is a list of top six indoor gardening challenges:

1. Lack of sunlight: There is a minimum requirement of light for every plant, lack of which can seriously damage its health. Not every person’s apartment or house is blessed with enough sunlight. Sometimes it can resemble like a cave. The solution? You need to provide artificial lights so that plants can continue their photosynthesis. A small glow light which somehow resembles sunlight will do just fine. Also there are plants which do well in very low lights. You can always try your hands on them.
2. Moisture and Humidity issues: Requirement of humidity varies from plant to plant. Some appliances like heater or air conditioner can change the humidity level drastically. This can result into poor survival rate of the plant. One of the ways to solve this issue is to group your plants according to their likings and use humidifier to provide necessary moisture. Also one of the cheapest ways to provide humidity is to spray the leaves of the plants with water once or twice in a day.
3. Fertility of the soil: in order to increase the growth and the yield of the plant people add too much of fertilizers in the soil. This can do more harm than good. If you are buying the transplants from nursery ask for proper guidance in terms of fertilizing the soil. Adding compost with the soil can be a good idea rather than going for chemical fertilizers. You will find more about composting in this article.
4. Watering issues: If you are new to indoor gardening this might sting. Watering is totally different inside your house than may be in your backyard. You need to consider factors such as absence of light, temperature difference, air flow inside your house, container size etc. Make sure your container has drainage holes. Adding small sized pebbles inside the containers before adding soil might be the single best thing you can do to improve the watering of your plant. Just remember what seems absolutely perfect in the backyard might go horribly wrong inside the house.
5. Infections: Generally speaking, indoor gardening is much more susceptible to much more bacterial and fungal diseases than outdoor gardening. You need to be more observant and quick to react. Due to lack of air flow and natural sunlight the soil and plants become prone to various diseases. Use organic pest controlling techniques to solve those issues.
6. Pet problems: If you have pets in your house there will be some sort of problem. A cat in particular has a craving for leafy greens. One of the best ways to stop your pets apart from using protective shields around the plants, would be to grow some form of grass also. It will more or less divert your pets to them rather than to your hard toiled vegetables. Also select your plants carefully. You should not grow any plants which are poisonous to your pet.

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Top Five Plants for Indoor Gardening

If you are blessed with a backyard or a Terrace if might not want to row plant indoor but for the rest of us indoor gardening might be the only way out. It has its own share of problems. Lack of light, humidity, proper watering are some of them. Very few plants do good indoors without any artificial lights. Having said that there is hope. Here is a list of five plants which will give you satisfactory result.

Cilantro: Being a type of leafy veggies cilantro does well in indoor. Here is an article which tell you how to grow Cilantro.

cilantro

Mushrooms: Probably the best way to use the darkness of indoors is to grow Mushrooms. Here check this article for details on that.

Mushroom

Basil: Though basil prefer sun light and warm climate. It does fairly well indoors. The best place would be to place on a window where it will receive little bit of light here and there. 

Basil

Bay: It is a perennial plant and will do well in side your house. It also require proper air circulation. Please make a note if you want to grow Bay.

Bay

Chives: They are rich in antioxidants, Vitamin A and C and phytochemicals. These plants love humidity. Water regularly and make sure you soil does not get dry.

Chive

 

Which plant do you grow. Keep adding to that list.

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