THE ACTUAL STARTING OF GARDENING AS A HOBBY

 THE ACTUAL STARTING OF GARDENING AS A HOBBY

(Disclosure: Pictures are taken from internet and acknowledged with thanks)

Now that I had decided on taking up gardening as a hobby, I took stock of what I needed.

INSTRUMENTATION:

Definite instruments are:

Gloves

A cloth apron with a pocket in front

A washable pair of shoes

Hand trowel

Spade

Hand Fork

Rake

A crow bar or a long instrument to loosen up the soil 

Scissors

Pruning Shears or secateurs

Container for storing the fertilizer, compost, insecticide.

Watering can or pot or bucket

And of course a lot of patience!😊😊

There are obviously other optional instruments  which are available in the market to suit one’s budget.

CHOICE OF WHAT TO PLANT:

Though there are choices of a vegetable or a flower garden, I opted to go for both, to get the best of both the worlds.

Plants can be shrubs,

trees,

climbers

 or 

creepers, 

or herbs.

Good to know these before knowing where to plant them. Most plants - flowering or otherwise need 4-6 hours of sunshine. Some of the indoor plants survive on artificial lighting.

START WITH SEEDS OR SMALL PLANTS?

I felt it is nice to start with seeds and initiated with mustard ( methi seeds), capsicum seeds tomato slices, cucumber slices. I learnt that about 50-60% of there time, the beginner has difficulty with seeds. The wait is long for the beginner. 

Small plants on the other hand, obtained from a nursery will only need to be transferred to the ground and the response is much easier to watch. 

I tried both and learnt the difference. Also I learnt how in some plants, you can plant part of the branch in sand and a few days later it sprouts roots and this begins to grow.

PREPARE THE GROUND

Obviously this does not apply if you are keeping the plants indoors or in a balcony.

We already have a garden, but everytime a planting has to be done, the soil has to be loosened. The fertilizer has to be mixed with the soil. Fertilizer is different for flowering plants and the non-flowering plants. Generally a pinch of pesticide is added to the pit to ensure that ant do not cause root rot.( I have seen once ; the whole plant was spoiled and when I emptied the pot, there were numerous ants at the base).

Though folks talk about acidic and alkaline soil, I tried asking how to go about testing. I was told I had to go to agricultural university for the testing. It is too far away and not practical given my limited time with the gardening. This applied to most of us. So I decided to do without pH testing.

It is true that soil has to be loosened before planting for the roots 'to breathe'. Generally some stones or parts of bricks inside a pot or even grount, will ensure that during watering, the excess water will drain down and not flood the roots and spoil the plant.

MORE ON WHAT PLANTS  FOR THE NOVICE IN MY NEXT BLOG!