[Sebring]

Does alum help in rejuvenating soil? Our vertical garden is drying up. Plants get water but are not nourished I guess

[condor]

Originally Posted by Sebring

Does alum help in rejuvenating soil? Our vertical garden is drying up. Plants get water but are not nourished I guess

Are you adding any manure to the pots ?

One option is the additives from GKVK. Or get some from shops selling garden supplies.

[Sebring]

Vertical garden pots are mostly coco peat. Yeah I did add some manure and fertile soil, that made it worse. Now I need to replant. GKVK is so far, but I'll get those additives, thanks man

Originally Posted by condor

Are you adding any manure to the pots ? One option is the additives from GKVK. Or get some from shops selling garden supplies.

[condor]

Originally Posted by Sebring

Vertical garden pots are mostly coco peat. Yeah I did add some manure and fertile soil, that made it worse.

I havent tried vertical gardens, but is that what everyone does - cocopeat ? I dont think Coco-peat will last or has sufficient nutrients for the plant. Can you try coco-peat : red soil in 50:50 ? But yes, the weight will in crease.

[Sebring]

Tried red soil and coco-peat, but has not worked. There are nutrient sticks, and I got alum. Let's see Bro, thanks

Originally Posted by condor

I havent tried vertical gardens, but is that what everyone does - cocopeat ? I dont think Coco-peat will last or has sufficient nutrients for the plant. Can you try coco-peat : red soil in 50:50 ? But yes, the weight will in crease.

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by Sebring

Does alum help in rejuvenating soil? Our vertical garden is drying up. Plants get water but are not nourished I guess

Coco peat does not have any nutrients, Get NPK 19-19-19 and dilute 1 teaspoon ( small spoon) in 1litre water also add 1 spoon Epson Salt and give one cup of this solution in 15 days. If there are flowering plants you can increase the frequency to 1 week however don't give too much. Remember excess fertilizer can burn the roots so don't blame me if you put excess and burn them

You can buy both NPK 19-19-19 and Epson salt from Amazon.

Rule of thumb balanced NPK for foliage , for flowers reduce nitrogen and only apply phosphorous and potassium so you can replace NPK by MPK (Mono-Potassium Phosphate) and apply using same method during flowering season for heavy blooming plants.

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by condor

Hopefully the roots will not be disturbed much when I do this, and the trauma for the plant is minimised.

I am not sure why you are so bothered about disturbing the roots while replanting. Actually it is a myth that roots should be totally undisturbed
the root ball has to be broken a bit from the sides for plant to grow faster. I saw this on youTube and applied the method.
Two years back ( Sept 2018) I planted a goolar tree ( 2Feet) from pot to ground and now it is around 16 feet high.

Encouraged by this success in 2019 May-June I again planted 10+ tree species.


2. Kadamba ( each around 4-5 feet when planted ) now grown above 10 feet

2. Melia Dubia or Malabar neem they were very small around 1.5 feet one is around 14 feet and other 10 feet. These are very fast growing trees but
The growth has slowed down for last 2-3 months hopefully this is just seasonal and they will start growing again.

1. Indian beach tree when planted around 4 feet now 7

1. Canon ball tree/ Kailashpati : 10 feet + now

2. Tabebua Aregentea : Yellow colour flowering tree ,These are little slow growing from a sapling to 5 feet height now.

1. Tabebua Avalande : Pink colour flowering tree blooming in Bangalore
Again slow to grow and just 3 feet now.

1. Kokum tree : This is a tragedy it grew to around 1 feet from a 6 inch sapling but got chopped by ppl clearing grass and now again 4 inch with two
small leaves popping up


All trees planted on the side of a not much used road and undisturbed by animal and humans. Cocopeat + Organic fertilizer + DAP added to soil while planted. DAP applied at regular intervals every 1-2 months as I had to finish off the one kg DAP I purchased online

[sagarpadaki]

Any suggestions on how to stop weeds growing in pots? I keep removing them and they keep popping up after a week. I do not understand where is the source of them to grow when i have removed them almost every week for the past 3-4 months!!

[condor]

Originally Posted by amitk26

I am not sure why you are so bothered about disturbing the roots while replanting. Actually it is a myth that roots should be totally undisturbed

Thanks, Amit. Will try.

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Any suggestions on how to stop weeds growing in pots?

Mulching !
Put the dried leaves/flowers around the stem so that the mud is covered. Do the regular watering on top of this layer. This cover of bio-mass will prevent sunlight reaching any seeds of the weeds and hence prevent germination.

[Red Liner]

Wow Amit, some pictures of the trees lining your house would be nice!

[Sebring]

Thanks Amit. This sounds like a plan. And no flowering plants, just foliage

Originally Posted by amitk26

Coco peat does not have any nutrients, Get NPK 19-19-19 and dilute 1 teaspoon ( small spoon) in 1litre water also add 1 spoon Epson Salt and give one cup of this solution in 15 days. You can buy both NPK 19-19-19 and Epson salt from Amazon. Rule of thumb balanced NPK for foliage

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by condor

Thanks, Amit. Will try. Mulching !
Put the dried leaves/flowers around the stem so that the mud is covered. Do the regular watering on top of this layer. This cover of bio-mass will prevent sunlight reaching any seeds of the weeds and hence prevent germination.

Thank you. I will try this.

I am still not able to understand where is the source of so many seeds for the weeds to keep popping up!!

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Wow Amit, some pictures of the trees lining your house would be nice!

Here are the pics, as site is under construction please ignore debris/garbage and general unkempt look.

For reference block wall is 6-7 feet with barbed wire fencing another 3-4 feet above it.

First pic with row of trees the first one is Gular it is around
16 feet goes higher than balcony of 1st floor of neighboring building.

Next two in row are Melia dubia and there is a neem also hideen behind. You can see a small mango as well next to the pipe which has grown on it's own and I will replant it in rainy season. Next to that at corner of image you can see Tabebuia Argentae with TBHP watermark over it , its around 4 feet currently.

In the picture where I have stretched my hand up to show height, the tree behind is Kadamba planted 8 months ago at that time it was around 4.5 feet sapling purchased from Lalbag nursery. Now it has gained good height.

The last picture with single tree going slightly above fencing
is Canonball tree / Kailashpati purchased online from nurserylive. This tree is a cauliform means grows flowers on trunk.

Other trees such as Tabebuias are not in this pic.

[Mortis]

Any suggestions on some hardy, fine leaved grass SEEDS ? Don't want Bermuda grass. Preferably something like durva/doob grass

[condor]

Originally Posted by Mortis

Any suggestions on some hardy, fine leaved grass SEEDS ? Don't want Bermuda grass. Preferably something like durva/doob grass

I have been trying grass seeds, but they just dont work :(


If any one has found success with growing grass from seeds, please let us know