[carboy]

Any people with gardening knowledge in t-bhp?

Want to know what kind of fertilizer to put for plants grown in pots on the balcony.

Most websites advise using Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium mix as fertilizer. Any idea where this can be purchased in India (Mumbai in particular)?

[Wolfheart]

Interesting topic. Is it possible to keep a venus fly trap or another carnivorous plant at home?

EDIT:

It seems a little odd answering my own question. I just discovered a company that ships Venus Fly Traps. Have sent them an enquiry. I'll be happy to share details if anyone's interested.

[Fillmore]

For potted plants you can go to some nursery and pickup a bag of Organic manure.
You get pure manure , or manure mixed with soil ready for use.

I would suggest the latter as its easier to use.

[maddy42]

+1. Organic manure is better for gardening. We use a very light layer of N:P:K chemical fertilizer once a year during the rains and once more a slurry of cow dung.

Just be careful not to let your plant not get water after you do so as it could burn the same.

[rrahul_2778]

Just the thread I was looking for, was planning to start one on this today and voila here I see one on same topic.

I am trying to keep 3-4 pots in my balcony, only issue is that there is no direct sunlight coming in. The way my apartment is constructed and mine is 1st floor.

I wanted to know what kind of flowering plants I can keep when there is no direct sunlight? Also, my wifey is keen to keep the Tulasi plant, does it need a lot of sunlight?

[carboy]

Originally Posted by maddy42

+1. Organic manure is better for gardening.

Where do you get organic manure & how much should you use & how frequently?

Originally Posted by maddy42

We use a very light layer of N:P:K chemical fertilizer once a year during the rains and once more a slurry of cow dung.

What kind of shops sell the NPK fertilizer?

Originally Posted by maddy42

Just be careful not to let your plant not get water after you do so as it could burn the same.

What do you mean?

[changaez]

Originally Posted by rrahul_2778

I am trying to keep 3-4 pots in my balcony, only issue is that there is no direct sunlight coming in. The way my apartment is constructed and mine is 1st floor.

I wanted to know what kind of flowering plants I can keep when there is no direct sunlight? Also, my wifey is keen to keep the Tulasi plant, does it need a lot of sunlight?

@rahul : To answer your question, you can only keep non flowering plants without Sunlight. I am sure you are planning to get the plants from some sort of nursery. Ask the gardener there, he should be able to help you with this. You would actually be surprised with the huge variety of beautiful non flowering plants available these days.

Tulasi, although not a flowering variety to look at, it acutally flower and thats where you get Tulasi seeds from. So it needs sunlight atleast for a few hours everyday.

@carboy: You would not need fertilizers for plants which grow in pots. What instead you can do is, buy some manure from the local nursery and use it. One sure thing which always helps with the growth of potted plants is, that every once in a while just turn the mud around in the pot itself ( what i meant in hindi is " gamle mein jo mitti hain, usko hi thoda khod do").

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Tulsi will be happy with a bit of sunlight every morning and evening. Keep it in bright light. It does not like hot noon time sun.

rahul, What direction is this balcony facing? Possible to get an East facing one?

Remember to keep it well watered.

[maddy42]

@Carboy: Well my home is in coorg and its a farm country. So basically N:P:K is basically available in the local coop.

Now coming to the point of it being in mumbai here is what i found.
fertilizer in mumbai - Google Maps

Organic manure is available usually in any gardening shop. Try check out that. Am sure if you were in bangalore you would get that in Lalbagh garden there.

Well fertilizers work best when the soil is moist and the soil gets average amounts of rain. It is supposed to make these fertilizer wet and seep all the nutrients into the soil. Something like digestion. So water the plant well one day in advance and then apply the fertilizer. Leave for 2 days to let the soil dry and then average amounts of water daily.. Dont let the water overflow. You dont want the fertilizer on the floor do you.

One more piece of info. Eastern sunshine is good for plants and that is why usually plantations which have an eastern slope have a better market value.

[rrahul_2778]

Originally Posted by changaez

@rahul : To answer your question, you can only keep non flowering plants without Sunlight. I am sure you are planning to get the plants from some sort of nursery. Ask the gardener there, he should be able to help you with this. You would actually be surprised with the huge variety of beautiful non flowering plants available these days.

Tulasi, although not a flowering variety to look at, it acutally flower and thats where you get Tulasi seeds from. So it needs sunlight atleast for a few hours everyday.

Thanks Changaez. I am not very keen on the show plants, I like the stuff like Roses, Hibuscus etc. But yeah these needs direct sunlight. In my house in Chennai since it is independent house could plant a lot of trees like coconut, lemon, orange, pomogranate, neem etc. All these are still young except the coconut and neem and haven't yet bore fruits. Like you said let me probably check out with a gardener.

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

Tulsi will be happy with a bit of sunlight every morning and evening. Keep it in bright light. It does not like hot noon time sun.

rahul, What direction is this balcony facing? Possible to get an East facing one?

Remember to keep it well watered.

My balcony is like south facing and the way my apartment complex is designed there is no direct sunlight coming in at all. Though the place is nice and bright, the direct sun rays don't fall in the balcony.

Originally Posted by maddy42

@Carboy: Well my home is in coorg and its a farm country.

How I wish I had a home in a farm country, you are lucky . Well someday I will get there....

[santhosh_kumard]

These days my two rose plants are under attack from a green-pest of size of a mustard seed. One of the rose plants almost dried up and the usual pesticide ( organic, non-toxic - it claims ) is of no use against these teeny guys. I can't sit and handpick them since there are too many. Any home remedies for these green-pests ?.

-Thanks

[vj_carLover]

Roses are pretty fragile and start deteriorating on insect attacks. Neem oil works on most pests. But not the commercial neem oil, but there is a "neem extract" that is available on most fertilizer shops. Mix it up with water (couple of drops is good as this is extract) and poof your roses are up again.

Also make sure roses are shown in sunlight for a while (not in midday - but early morning). Certain insects run away too on sunlight.

Cheers

[carboy]

Originally Posted by vj_carLover

But not the commercial neem oil, but there is a "neem extract" that is available on most fertilizer shops.

What kind of shops are fertilizer shops? i.e. are they always part of nurseries or are there separate shops that just sell fertilizer?

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

In KL, all shops selling plants stock fertilisers, pesticides, tools etc.

There are a few whops which sell fertilisers and implements, but not plants. But that is an exception.

For use in apartment / few potted plants, stick to bio fertiliser.

As has been pointed out, remember to water the plant well after adding the manure. Reason - adding fertiliser means water is sucked out of the plant due to osmosis; so the plant will get dehydrated.

For most plants, just 1/4 teaspoon of fertiliser would suffice.

[Bomi]

carboy, I dont know where you live in Bombay but Grovers nursery, opposite the Bandra Talab (pond) stocks pesticides. It is just ahead of the signal, on the right of which the road leads to Bandra Rly stn(W) and on left of which, leads to Hill Road.

There used to be a similar shop at Byculla just under the flyover near the Persian Darbar restaurant. Dont know if its still there.