Sunday, November 6, 2016
Vertical Gardens: Anthurium plant
Anthurium plant is quite hardy and easy to take care. It does not require much sunlight and can be kept indoor. However, if it is kept in low light conditions, it will have smaller leaves and fewer flowers. The growth will be slower. I kept one pot near indirect bright light and it grows faster and new buds appeared. The new buds started growing on top of the mother plant and the roots will try to extend outwards. I was very tempted to remove the buds and finally one day, I took a pair of scissors and cut the buds away from the mother plant. I was very careful to keep the roots attached to the new buds.
Thursday, July 21, 2016
Dwarf Okra Plants
My Okra plant is now more than 6-feet tall. I think I planted it from seed in February 2016. It took 2 months to grow to about 2 to 3 feet and started flowering. The first flower didn't develop into a pod and was aborted. The second flower was successful and I tried to hand pollinate it. Then I realised that it did not matter whether you hand pollinate it or not, it would still develop into a pod.
The 6 feet okra is getting taller and taller and making it harder to harvest the okra. I only cut the pod away when it is 6 inches long. You need to use a scissor to cut at the stalk area because it is quite thick.
I had harvested about 22 pods from the okra plant already. The flower will only bloom for one day and it only bloom in the morning and by evening time the flower will close and drop away. The pod will grow about one inch per day and at the 5th day or 6th day morning, the okra will be about 6 inches long. I try to harvest them in the morning.
There are "runners" growing from the main stem of the okra. I was not sure whether to remove them and had kept them so that I can harvest the okra at the lower height. The plant seems to get heavier and heavier each day as the tip is quite thin as compared to the bottom. The okra pots at the top added more weights to the plant.
The dwarf okra plants look quite healthy at the local nursery, World Farm, aka Hua Hng. However, I'm not sure the origin and didn't buy them. I was wondering whether we can propagate the okra by cutting the runners and planting them. Will it ever root? Has anyone tried it before? I will try it and let you know.
The 6 feet okra is getting taller and taller and making it harder to harvest the okra. I only cut the pod away when it is 6 inches long. You need to use a scissor to cut at the stalk area because it is quite thick.
I had harvested about 22 pods from the okra plant already. The flower will only bloom for one day and it only bloom in the morning and by evening time the flower will close and drop away. The pod will grow about one inch per day and at the 5th day or 6th day morning, the okra will be about 6 inches long. I try to harvest them in the morning.
There are "runners" growing from the main stem of the okra. I was not sure whether to remove them and had kept them so that I can harvest the okra at the lower height. The plant seems to get heavier and heavier each day as the tip is quite thin as compared to the bottom. The okra pots at the top added more weights to the plant.
The dwarf okra plants look quite healthy at the local nursery, World Farm, aka Hua Hng. However, I'm not sure the origin and didn't buy them. I was wondering whether we can propagate the okra by cutting the runners and planting them. Will it ever root? Has anyone tried it before? I will try it and let you know.
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| Dwarf Okra Plants |
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Vertical Gardens - Airplane plant
A good candidate to add to your vertical garden wall will be airplane plant or spider plant. The scientific name is Chlorophytum comosum.
You can propagate the spider plant easily. The plant is called airplane plant because it sends out babies or pups hanging from the mother plant. The babies looked like airplanes.
The pups can be rooted easily when planted into the soil. The success rate is very high. I had the opportunity to get one pup from a friend and after a couple of months, I have many airplane plants. They grow very well and can tolerate little water and different grow media.
The airplane plant can help to purified the air if it is grown indoors. It is known to reduce indoor air pollution in the form of formaldehyde. I will grow some to plant indoor as a hanging pot. Another thing about this plant is that it doesn't require much sunlight. I have placed it near the balcony windows but not in direct sunlight and in fact, during March to September, there is no sunlight coming into my balconies.
When some plants died in my vertical garden wall, I will replace them with other plants. I didn't buy any plant now because I can propagate easily the plants that I have. When some plants didn't do well in the vertical garden wall, I can move them to the hanging containers near the edge of the balcony so that the plants can capture bright light to grow.
So, the airplane plant is ideal for the vertical garden wall as well as an indoor plant.
You can propagate the spider plant easily. The plant is called airplane plant because it sends out babies or pups hanging from the mother plant. The babies looked like airplanes.
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| Airplane plant in hanging pot |
The pups can be rooted easily when planted into the soil. The success rate is very high. I had the opportunity to get one pup from a friend and after a couple of months, I have many airplane plants. They grow very well and can tolerate little water and different grow media.
The airplane plant can help to purified the air if it is grown indoors. It is known to reduce indoor air pollution in the form of formaldehyde. I will grow some to plant indoor as a hanging pot. Another thing about this plant is that it doesn't require much sunlight. I have placed it near the balcony windows but not in direct sunlight and in fact, during March to September, there is no sunlight coming into my balconies.
When some plants died in my vertical garden wall, I will replace them with other plants. I didn't buy any plant now because I can propagate easily the plants that I have. When some plants didn't do well in the vertical garden wall, I can move them to the hanging containers near the edge of the balcony so that the plants can capture bright light to grow.
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| Airplane plant on the vertical garden wall |
So, the airplane plant is ideal for the vertical garden wall as well as an indoor plant.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Growing strawberry from seeds - beginning
In the tropical island of Singapore, nobody will think that it is possible to grow strawberry. However, there are a few people who liked to venture into things that are deemed impossible. Nothing is impossible unless you tried and tested it out.
Doing a Google search, you will find someone or people in Singapore that had grown strawberry successfully from seeds. Yes, the seeds that you extracted from the surface of the strawberry fruit. Strawberry is one of the rare fruits that has seeds grown on the outside of the fruit. You actually eat the seeds together with the fresh of the fruit.
Extracting the seeds is quite easy. You just need a tweezer to remove the seeds from the surface one at a time. I used a toothpick to poke the fresh and remove the seed. It is quite time consuming and you need to be patient. It took me some times to extract about 30 seeds and I needed to take many seeds as the germination rate was quite low.
After I had extracted the seeds, I would try to remove as much fresh as possible by rubbing the seeds with a paper towel. This was because that the fresh on the seeds might rot and become moldy. I used normal potting soil mix that were readily available in the local nursery. I scattered the seeds onto the soil and then covered with a thin layer. The soil was kept moist and away from direct sunlight.
After 3 to 4 weeks, the seeds will germinate and you can see many little leaflets appearing from the soil. When you water the seedlings, try to pour the water away from the seedlings. The seedlings are very fragile and may be washed away when the water is poured directly above them. I pour the water from the edges of the pot. At this stage, the seedlings are not strong enough to be placed under direct sunlight. Keep them in bright area but not under direct sunlight. This is because the leaflets will be burned and the growth will be limited.
I have grown some seedlings in May and in early June, I have many seedlings and I try to resist the temptation to transfer the seedlings to bigger pot and also to separate them from each other. This is because at this stage, the seedlings are fragile and their root systems are not mature yet. When you try to separate them or remove from the seedling pot, the roots will be injured or damaged. I read in the internet that it is better to wait for a couple of months before repotting.
Doing a Google search, you will find someone or people in Singapore that had grown strawberry successfully from seeds. Yes, the seeds that you extracted from the surface of the strawberry fruit. Strawberry is one of the rare fruits that has seeds grown on the outside of the fruit. You actually eat the seeds together with the fresh of the fruit.
Extracting the seeds is quite easy. You just need a tweezer to remove the seeds from the surface one at a time. I used a toothpick to poke the fresh and remove the seed. It is quite time consuming and you need to be patient. It took me some times to extract about 30 seeds and I needed to take many seeds as the germination rate was quite low.
After I had extracted the seeds, I would try to remove as much fresh as possible by rubbing the seeds with a paper towel. This was because that the fresh on the seeds might rot and become moldy. I used normal potting soil mix that were readily available in the local nursery. I scattered the seeds onto the soil and then covered with a thin layer. The soil was kept moist and away from direct sunlight.
After 3 to 4 weeks, the seeds will germinate and you can see many little leaflets appearing from the soil. When you water the seedlings, try to pour the water away from the seedlings. The seedlings are very fragile and may be washed away when the water is poured directly above them. I pour the water from the edges of the pot. At this stage, the seedlings are not strong enough to be placed under direct sunlight. Keep them in bright area but not under direct sunlight. This is because the leaflets will be burned and the growth will be limited.
I have grown some seedlings in May and in early June, I have many seedlings and I try to resist the temptation to transfer the seedlings to bigger pot and also to separate them from each other. This is because at this stage, the seedlings are fragile and their root systems are not mature yet. When you try to separate them or remove from the seedling pot, the roots will be injured or damaged. I read in the internet that it is better to wait for a couple of months before repotting.
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| Strawberry Seedlings |
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