Updates From My Garden

Due to limitation of space, I don't get to sow many of the seeds that I bought. I gotta wait till there is an available flower pot in order for me to grow more plants. Most of my vegetables, foliage or flowers are grown in containers. Recently I have brought back some pots from my old place and decided to sow some of the seeds that I have bought.

I have sown some lettuce seeds in 2 small pots. These seeds were bought from the Shah Alam's Farmer's Market. I assume it is lettuce as it's written as 'salad' on the plastic bag. 'Salad' is the name commonly use for lettuce.

As I have an available big pot, I also take the opportunity to sow some Japanese Choy Sum seeds. These seeds were also bought from Shah Alam's Farmers' Market. In order not to scatter my seeds haphazardly, I lay a piece of tissue in the pot. Wet the tissue. And then lay the seeds in rows. I wanna ensure that the seeds are not placed too close to one another. Then I cover the tissue with a thin layer of worm compost.

A friendly neighbour, Winston, who also grow vegetables in his backyard told me that he adds sand into his soil mix as sand will give better drainage and the soil would be loose and not become compact over time. This loose condition is conducive for vegetables to grow well. So, I went to a nearby hardware shop in USJ1 to buy a packet of sand. Never did I expect that a packet of RM3.50 sand would come in half a gunny sack!! That's a lot of sand! I have added sand and worm compost to the soil mix for my Lettuce and Japanese Choy Sum. In my previous experience of using worm compost on my brinjal, the plant grew extremely fast.

My Thai Basils are growing very well now. The usage of concoction made from pounded garlic, bird's eye chilli & dish washing detergent to fight pests work very well. They are now flourishing and some of them even have blooms on them.

To keep the basil tastiest, prune the blossoms from the end of each stem before the flowers dry out. Basil has a tendency to grow very bitter tasting leaves if the flowers are allowed to mature to seed. Pruning and removing flowers from your basil herb plant will also help it live a longer life. If you leave the flowers to mature, this give sign to the plant that its life cycle has come to an end and the plant condition will just deteriorate and eventually die.

When cutting leaves, stems, and flowers, do not cut more than 1/3 of the plant's foliage. Removing a large amount of plant matter from a basil plant can cause poor root function and stunted growth in the basil plant.

The Thai Basil blooms are so beautiful and I am quite reluctant to prune them off.
But if I don't prune it off soon, it will mean the demise of my healthy basil.
Sorry blooms, you will have to go in a day or two.

My chilli has also shown some blooms. I hope they will be pollinated and I can have more harvest of chillies.

Another good news, my Marigold plant has shown its first bloom. I have grown this Marigold since April, if I am not mistaken. I got the seeds from CETDEM's Organik Day event. Now it's already August. Wow, does it really need 3 months before it blooms? Isn't that a bit too long? What is your experience in growing Marigold like? I am looking forward to the sunny yellow or orange bloom that I hope would brighten up my vegetable bed.