How To Grow Spring Onions From Old Onions That Have Sprouted In Pots/Containers.

Spring Onions also known as scallions is a must have in my potted garden,i always a batch of them growing at all times.Its probably one of the easiest greens that a novice gardener or anybody with a brown thumb can grow,non fuss,simple,can handle a bit of neglect and almost free from the dangers of any pest attacks, and even better it does not need much space to grow and can be easily grown in pots/containers in your balconies,terrace gardens or gardens.So here is a step by step pictorial guide on growing your own spring onions using old onions that have sprouted and have been lying in your kitchen pantry for long.

Begin by taking a few sprouted onions make sure they are nice and firm because they have sprouted and have been lying for some time there are chances that some might be rotten, spoiled or mushy from within.

Once you have sorted and picked the good ones, begin by peeling off the top skin and a few layers of the onions, this step is important as it assures that the skin and peels don't rot in the soil,which may in turn rot the bulbs.

Next get the potting soil ready by mixing equal quantities of garden soil( you can use red soil,black soil or loamy soil),coco peat and compost/aged manure/vermi-compost,mix everything up together so that all of the potting soil ingredients are well incorporated.

Fill the soil in a pot/container make sure the pot has holes for water drainage.Once you have filled the soil press it down to remove any excess air pockets or gaps.Now simply stick the sprouted onions in the soil and cover lightly,don't bury them deep inside, simply place them on the surface and make sure the sprouted top remain exposed. 

Its important to start with a good potting soil mix that's full of organic matter and rich in hummus as we will not be adding any additional fertilizers once the sprouted onion bulbs are sowed in the soil.

You can place the pot in part or full sun,2 to 3 hrs of direct sunlight is more than sufficient to grow them.Spring onions love moist soil and grow quickly,until the green sprigs emerge simply sprinkle water on the top of the soil,making sure that it remains moist at all times but not waterlogged.Incase the tempratures and weather where you live are too hot or humid you can sprinkle water twice a day.

Within a weeks time the green sprigs will emerge from the soil once this happens it will grow rapidly.At this stage you can begin watering the spring onions but only at the base.

The trick to growing upright spring onions without any droopy or bent leaves is by avoiding pouring water on them,always water at the base,spring onions hate over head watering as they tend to bend over this way,making the leaves look untidy and giving it a messy appearance. Also avoid pouring water with force.

Planting bigger sprouted onion bulbs will give you better and larger green springs,so basically planting small onions will result in small sized springs.

In about 3 weeks time your spring onions will be ready for harvest,Now if you would like to have a continuous supply of spring onions you can snip only the green tops out using a clean and sharp pair of garden scissors,leaving the bulbs in the soil itself in a weeks time you will see new growth.

You can get two or three harvests using the snipping as much as you need method,because the green tops tend to become slimy and fibrous after a few harvests.Also once you cut the green tops and let them re-grow the spring onion will not produce a flower bud and go to seed.If you wish to let it seed just leave the spring onions to mature on their own without removing any of the leaves.

I personally do not use the snipping method,i prefer waiting and pulling out the entire bulbs with the greens,once they reach about a foot and a half or so in height.

Home grown spring onions are crisp,fresh and vibrant green in color,nothing beats the joy and satisfaction that you get by growing,harvesting,cooking and eating the produce that you grow yourself organically.Spring Onions are great raw in salads,they can be stir fried, and they make a wonderful garnish in soups,fried rice,omelettes, and porridge.

I  simply Stir fried the spring onion greens i harvested with along with some potatoes,salt and pepper as a side dish and had it with some rice and lentils :-)  Happy Gardening ♥

How To Grow Cilantro/Coriander From Seeds In Pots.

Cilantro or Coriander is widely used In Asian,Mexican, Spanish and Latin Cuisine.Its a popular herb that is catching up fast and gaining popularity in other countries as well.Its a herb that you can either love or hate due its distinctive flavor and aroma. The roots,leaves,stems and dry seeds are used in cooking.Its a fairly easy herb to grow and can be easily grown in small pots or containers,without taking up much space so its an ideal choice of herb to grow in a small balcony/ garden .So here's a pictorial step by step guide on growing your very own Cilantro/Coriander from seeds .

Begin by taking some dry Cilantro/Coriander seeds,then spread them out on a flat surface and gently crush them using a rolling pin,don't over do the crushing part or else you will end up turning the seeds into coriander powder and we don't want that,do we !! so be gentle and crush lightly applying  just enough pressure to help split the seeds into two half's.If you prefer you can sow the seeds whole, but it will take more time to germinate in comparison if you split them.

To speed up the process of germination you can soak the crushed Cilantro/Coriander seeds in warm saline water overnight,or else you can just skip this step and get to sowing them directly.

Prepare the potting soil in which you will be growing your Cilantro/Coriander  by mixing together,cocopeat,garden soil and compost in equal quantities,its important to give the Cilantro/Coriander good quality potting medium that is rich in organic matter and natural hummus and is well draning, as we will not add any additional fertilizer once the seeds sprout and begin to grow. 

Fill a pot with the potting medium and lightly scatter and spread out the pre-soaked split Cilantro/Coriander seeds over the potting soil,then gently cover the seeds with a thin layer of potting soil,water lightly and set the pot in a spot that receives full to part sunlight. Root rot and dampening off are some common problems that one can face when growing Cilantro/Coriander,and one of the main causes is over watering, its highly recommended that you just sprinkle or spray the soil lightly with water just to keep it moist and not water logged,also pouring water directly displaces the seeds.

Depending on the temperature Cilantro/Coriander seeds can take anyway between 7 to 10 days to germinate.Cilantro/Coriander needs cool weather to grow.In India you can grow Cilantro/Coriander from October to February. 

Once the first set of true leaves appear and the Cilantro/Coriander has established itself , water every alternate day keeping the soil damp but not soggy.

You can thin out the Cilantro/Coriander at this stage,simply pull out the smaller ones that are about 2 inches (you can use them in your cooking or as a garnish) and leave the rest,I do not thin out mines as i grow a Thai dwarf variety of Cilantro/Coriander called Pak Chi so i just let them grow and leave them as they are.

Cilantro/Coriander cannot tolerate heat or extremely warm climate,it just bolts or goes to seed in short.Hence its advisable to grow it only during the cooler season,this reduces the chances of the Cilantro/Coriander bolting or going to seed prematurely,Cilantro/Coriander also bolts due to other reasons such as over crowding,irregular watering,and due to poor soil that lacks organic matter.

To harvest the Cilantro/Coriander you can snip the top part away using a pair of sharp scissors,take as much as you want to use and leave the rest to grow back again.

Cilantro/Coriander plants get feathery and wispy when they bolt and they produce lovely lacey clusters of flowers that are called umbels these pretty looking flowers can range from white to pale pink in color. 

Cilantro/Coriander flowers are useful in attracting important pollinators like bees,butterflies and birds in your garden.

There will come a point when the Cilantro/Coriander will eventually Bolt or Flower/Go To Seed,so if you intend to save seeds you can let the flowers stay, once the tiny flowers bloom and fall,tiny green round Cilantro/Coriander seeds will start forming.

To collect the seeds simply let these seeds get fully matured and dry on the stems then collect and store them in a ziplock or paper pouch in a cool and dry place for future use.

So that's it friends,i hope you like and find this post useful,so until next time.... Its Happy Gardening To All ☺

Heirloom Tomato Harvest 2016 From My Potted Garden

I would like to wish all my blog readers a very Happy New Year 2017, i would love to share my last blog article for 2016 that's my tomato harvest pictures with all of you , was so short on time that i could not watermark my pictures with copyright :( so since there is a time crunch i wont be writing much,i will let the pictures do all the talking and speak for themselves in this post,until  next time its Happy Gardening & see you all on the other side in the new year ☺ 

Growing Purple Cabbage From Seeds In Pots In India

I love Purple cabbages and i have always seen Purple Cabbages denuded of its outer leaves and buffed(waxed) to shine and ready to be sold in markets and neither were they organically grown,i had never grown cabbages before , so this year i decided to go ahead  and try and grow my every own organic Purple cabbage from seeds in  a pot on my terrace garden.It was a pleasure to see the humble yet exotic looking "Purple cabbages" grow and form heads,so beautiful,vibrant looking in their natural state and most importantly they were free of pesticides.Patience was the key to growing them waited for six long months before i could actually harvest my very first home grown organic Purple Cabbage.

Purple cabbage belongs to the Brassica Oleracea family,its a cool season crop and can be easily grown in pots or containers.Purple cabbages get their gorgeous distinctive dark color from anthocyanins and are loaded with antioxidants.As an amateur gardener if i could grow them anybody can !! The best time to grown them here in India is Mid of June.All you need is good hummus rich soil and your ready to grow ☺

So here's a step by step pictorial guide which will show you  how to grow purple cabbages from seeds in pots/containers.

Start by choosing the type of cabbage you want to grow,Cabbage seeds can either be hybrid or heirloom.I choose to grow a large heirloom variety of purple cabbage called Mammoth Red Rock Cabbage which produce large purple heads.

Purple Cabbage grows in soil that is rich in hummus so prepare your potting mix by mixing equal proportions of soil and composted cow manure,add half the quantity of compost or worm castings and a handful of ground Neem cake,you can also add dry leaves to the potting mix,mix all the components of the potting medium to incorporate,line the base of the pot/container in which you intend to grow the cabbages in,with dry hay/pieces of broken bricks/gravels.

Cabbage seeds need humid weather in order to germinate so i sowed the seeds in the last week of June on the 20th, i used the direct sowing method and sowed 3 seeds per hole and spaced the seeds 10 inches apart from each other,after a week tiny purple cabbage saplings emerged from the soil.

I had 100 % germination rate,using a pair of scissors i carefully snipped out 2 seedlings leaving only 1 healthy seedling per slot.I ended up with 4 healthy seedlings in a 2 1/2 foot long pot.

Within a weeks time the first set of true leaves appeared on the saplings.Soon enough new leaves kept on forming i watered the saplings very sparingly as the weather was gloomy and cloudy with frequent light showers,as i feared that the cabbage saplings would succumb to root rot or water logging.

Almost a month had passed by and the rains had arrived the saplings were growing but very slowly, i added a handful of homemade compost at this stage.

Since the potting mix was porous and light, rain water drained of easily also the drainage holes at the base really helped.The purple cabbages started changing their shape slightly.

Up until this stage the cabbage saplings grew really well,they were hale,hearty and healthy and showed no signs of pests.Every two weeks i poured a weak brew of vermiwash followed by a handful of compost.

3 months had gone by no major changes in the purple cabbages ,i would always make it a point to check the undersides of the leaves for aphids and other pests,they did not have any and i was so happy.

At the end of the third month  they were some visible changes in the cabbages the leaves started cupping or forming the head,The leaves were so glossy and large with beautiful purple veins.Now i fed the Purple cabbages with well composted cow manure,i simply spread a handful around each cabbage plant.

  

So far so good things were going well, until one fine day the aphids came knocking on one of the purple cabbages door,my  worst nightmare was staring  at me right in my face !! I immediately got cotton ball dipped it in some diluted soapy water and wiped away those nasty aphids from the undersides of the leaves.But the next day they would be back again with a vengeance and in double the numbers than the last time.Fearing that they would spread to the other healthy cabbage plants i had to remove it with a very heavy heart :((

Now out of 4 purple cabbages, i was left with 3 and as a precaution i sprayed the cabbages with vermiwash,just to be on the safer side, i also could not afford to lose them to any pests at this stage,It was almost 5 months and it wouldn't be wrong for me to say that i had been caring for the cabbages like my every own babies,this time i would not have the heart to lose a single one of them.

I then changed the location of the pot in which the Purple Cabbages were growing from a spot that receives full sunlight to a spot that receives partial sunlight (around 6 hrs of direct sunlight followed by shade) on my Terrace garden.

The Mammoth Redrock Purple Cabbages were getting huge now true to their name and baby cabbage heads started forming and taking on shape,they also seemed to like their new spot on the Terrace Garden and were growing happily much to my delight.

I continued fertilizing them with undiluted vermi wash,composted cow manure and compost by lightly digging in a handful around the base of the cabbages, be careful while doing this you dont want to damage the cabbage in any way.

Things were going just fine until one fine day i happened to spot a cabbage moth larvae beneath one of the leaves,i squashed it then and there itself.It was time to make a dacoit moth to scare the real ones away☺

I used empty yogurt cups to cut out a butterfly shapes and then using a permanent marker i drew eyes and spots then poked a piece of copper wire through it and that's pretty much it,stuck it between the cabbages and work done !! 

Its only at this very last stage that i learned that cabbages love high doses of nitrogen,and they grow faster,will definitely keep this point in mind when growing them the next time. 

Another point to keep in mind is to water the cabbages every day,and do not let the soil dry out completely,you can add mulch to help retain soil moisture.

Cabbages are ready to harvest when the heads are firm,big and glossy and feel a bit heavy when you touch them,It was harvest time for my cabbages as the heads now were huge enough....

The long wait was finally over, the moment that i had been long waiting for was here !! It was time to taste the fruit in this case the (cabbage) of my labor !! Lol ☺simply cut the entire head and pulled the outer leaves and they just snapped off so easily,exposing the deep rich purple colored cabbage from within.

I turned the Mammoth redrock purple cabbage into a delicious Coleslaw, and enjoyed it with my family,It was by far the best tasting slaw we ever had, still have two more cabbages waiting to be harvested.

So my dear Friends i hope you like my post and experience on growing cabbages and also hope you find it useful,if you have any feedback or suggestion please do leave a comment below,Until next time "Happy Gardening ".