I have a small garden in the balcony that I had planned when I arrived here .
It takes lot of patience and perseverance in putting up a good garden .
It was not very easy for me to make a garden on our balcony and that too in this desert where climate is the most unfavourable factor , with an annual rainfall of less than 10 inches ,soils with few nutrients, extreme temperatures and all that wonderful wind , that will root out any tender plant .
I knew I need to be creative and have some common sense with basic knowledge of gardening to make my garden flourish, but these were the things that I lacked .
I would never let it go , only because creating a garden was my dream.
I bought one tulsi plant from a nursery in a small pot with some oraginc soil .
I dont know what happens to these plants when they are got home , they start wilting .
Probably the heat was too much on them .
I had also sowed tomato seeds in another pot . how happy I was when I saw a tiny tomato plant after few days , then another sprouted , then another . This happiness was short lived as their growth also came to a standstill.
No efforts from my side helped any plant to grow .
Again ; I would not let this go
I thought the only way to protect the plants from heat and wind is to grow a creeper on the balcony railing so that it provides shade and protection to the tiny plants .
I had got seeds of the ever green plant from India . so I decided to sow those and kept the pot indoor . Days passed , weeks passed and then after almost a month with no positive result , and frustrated to the core I placed pot outside in the sun .
And .. a surprise awaited me the next morning a cute , small plant in the pot .
I was overwhelmed , so happy that finally I have a saviour for my plants .
Also the tulsi plant that had almost died is gaining new leash of life after I repotted it into a large one and used home manure on a regular basis as I learned that nutrients from oraganic soil get depleted very fast.
Now I need to learn how to grow vegetables and herbs , and I am all set for that.
Now I would like to share with you few tips that I learnt especially to grow plants in temperate climate :
Two things you are fighting most are heat and dehydration
The balcony probably goes even higher than the temperature actually read.. the plants should be watered twice a day. Just until it runs out of the bottom of the containers.If you are sparingly watering, the surface area will dry out in no time. the roots will not develop and can't uptake enough water to survive.
The soil there is terribly poor. You need nutrients. Compost your left overs. Any vegetable parts are good. No meat, dairy product etc. Don't over water them.
Cool down (partially shade) the plants, provide sufficient water and nutrients.
You'll have to adjust as you find out what works best with your new routine.
Also , I have mentioned the imporatance and method of container gardening in temperate zone in another thread balcony garden
thank you so much rosary !!!
feeling great to know that it helped you .
rosary you can try to grow any kind of plant you get here in the nursery
provided the conditions st your place are suitable for it .
tulsi grows fine here
you can try herbs and other ornamental plants
you can get these plants at nurseries located near mina mall
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