But Gardenia is getting totally trounced in fragrance department by Sir Michelia Alba. Nothing comes close to this plant. But at the same time it is also the most delicate plant I have.
This is also known as white orchid. Yellow Champa is closest relative. In fact this has been grafted on yellow Champa rootstock.
It is a heavy heavy feeder. In pots it needs extra fast draining soil. So be sure to add perlite in the potting mix you are using.
It does mean a lot of pain in summers. Repeat watering needed. I put it in a tray of water on 40+ days.
And only morning sun in summers.



Every bit worth it.

Hello guys,
My wife has a small garden consisting mainly of flowering plants. Lately there has been a very severe attack from mealybugs and this has literally caused her to lose her sleep. I suppose she has the same compassion towards her plants that we have towards our cars.
Yesterday I made a visual assessment and I too felt bad for the plants. Before I go forward and spray any chemicals on her plants, Is there any natural solution to get rid of this bug apart from pesticides?

Excellent

Could you please give some more details on the following ?
- What is the nutrients mixture you are providing and at what frequency and qty ?
- Are you areating these cans with an aquarium pump or anything ?
- How many days did it take for the tomato plant to start bearing fruit ?
- What is the anchoring medium you used at the root ?

We too had our fair share of mealybug attacks on our plants. Though we were successfully able to eliminate the bugs from lot of plants, we lost a few of them, and it was heart breaking to see the slow death of plants. We were suggested by many forums and nursery folks to use Neem oil, and it proved effective in most cases. Main advantage of using Neem oil is it's safe for other beneficial bugs/bees that use/live on the plants.

What we did: Took 100ml of neem oil, and mixed it with 1 litre of water. Added 3-5 drops of Hamam hand wash to water, I think any soap would do the job here, and mix them well. Then spray the mixture on to the plants every week.

Cheers!

I have moved the plant into direct sunlight, and I am hoping and praying that it improves. Transportation was just 3 km in my car from the nursery, so I doubt if that could be a reason. Should I try to re-pot it with fresh soil (red sand?) to see if over-watering is causing this trouble?

What is baffling, is that the other Peace lily is doing alright *touch wood*

- I am using GreenLoop Hydroponic Nutrients Leafy 200. Frequency depends on amount of solution left in the container. Normally I refill the container when solution level drops to around 20%. Using 10 ml each of A (macro nutrients) and B (micro nutrients) per litre of water.

- No extra aeration, but need to ensure that roots are not completely submerged in water. Leaving top 30% of the container for air is sufficient.

- About one and half months for tomato plants to bear fruits.

- I am using coco-peat to support the plant, roots will be in solution. Plastic containers for solution and to hold the plant are sourced from household items.

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This link might be useful.

It essentially tells us how to avoid overwatering and killing an indoor plant. In case the link goes bad later on here is the gist:

How to save an overwatered plant

An overwatered plant needs immediate first aid.
"Sometimes people will notice a plant looking bad and they'll take it out of a decorative pot and see it's been sitting in a puddle of water for a week," says Craig.
He wraps a dry towel tightly around the base of the pot and leaves it overnight.
"It wicks excess moisture out of the [potting] mix quickly. I've saved a few plants doing this."
The key is making sure the towel makes firm contact with the drainage holes in the pot, so capillary action can move the water.
"If you left it to dry on its own it could take two weeks, and in that time the plant would die," he says.

We have a pretty large garden area with lots of trees and these ants are a major hassle. They are everywhere, does make for interesting zoological lessons for my 4yr old son (who now knows not to to mess with them).

Got a pest control done in August for Ants and Roaches and i guess the effect was there for a couple of months but now they are back. The pest control contract was for a year and they do it once in four months.

I am looking for a grass cutter to use in an empty plot once every few months to avoid over growth.
The plot has a mix of grass, parthenium, some thick bushes and some small trees.

I saw this on Amazon which seems reasonable.
https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07M92K3PZ/...ing=UTF8&psc=1

I am looking for recommendations for similar products if anyone has used them which will last for a while, preferable that it has a petrol motor since there is no electricity provision.

Grass cutters have petrol motors. 50cc engines should be sufficient. Only the power tillers and weeders may have diesel engines.

Also look for ones that have at least an option for steel blades (apart from the usual nylon blade grass cutters).

Agripro, Agrimate etc are some of the brands you could check.

Check IndustryBuying.com. A little cheaper there. Check for ones with Honda engines.
( was talking to a dealer recently, and he said the Honda petrol engined tools are often better than the diesel based ones. Many of these power tools have china made engines mounted on locally manufactured frames. Kisankraft uses chinese engines mostly - as told by this dealer).

Saw this part when reading your post again. You would require the steel/metal blades. Nylon wire cutters are suited for lawn/grass.

https://www.iffcobazar.in/en/

IFFCO has started e marketplace for some of its products. Its got a good range of biologicals which are normally hard to come by in the market place. Some specialty fertilisers are available too.

Dont think it will help people with gardens. Even a product that is 100 ml or 150 ml, though not high priced, will last way too long for some who just wants to maintain his garden. And even the chemical (non-organic) stuff has expiry dates.

Another product range I checked there was the sprayers - these are 2 stroke petrol motor powered. Hardly attractive, esp at the price, because battery operated sprayers are available at about 5.6-6k, and those with farms get these at a minimum of 40% discount through the government agri outlets.

Thank you for the link. I just bought some fertilizer and fipronil insecticide for my lime tree which is having some major issues with butterflies.

From tomatoes to this, in the same setting:

Am new to gardening.
Of late, am struggling with my garden plants - they seem to yellow quickly and are attracting lot of white-colored flea-type pests/insects. Is it the onset of summer?
Any suggestions for good pesticide?
The plants are small and comprise of rose bush, orchids, small palms, marigold etc.
Also, would like to have suggestions for good nutrient sprays.