Growing Okra Some useful tips

Okra is also known as ladies finger and Bhindi (in India). The edible part of the plan is the pointed seed pods. The flower of an okra plant resembles hibiscus and can be used as an ornamental plant.

Pods in the plant

Okra is a warm weather crop. A full sunny spot is ideal for the plant. If you are from the cooler region wait till the weather warms up before planting okra. Cold weather can really kill your plant.

While growing okra from the seeds, the first thing you will notice is that the seeds are much bigger than some of the other vegetables and it is easy to handle. Before planting the seed soak them in warm water. You can either sow them directly in the garden soil or you can choose to first grow the seedling indoor and then transplant them into the garden. If you are planning for the second option, use some seedling tray available in the market and use coir or peat moss as the growing medium. Mix a generous amount of compost along with the soil before planting.

The plant can resist drought and heat very well. But inch deep water weekly is ideal for best pod production.

Okra plants generally get large and it also spread its branches. So you need to do some thinning once the plans reach a height of 6”. It is recommended to leave at least 18” to 24” gap between two okra plants. In case the plant don’t get enough space to grow, the production of the pods will greatly suffer.

If you have used compost you don’t need to add any more fertilizer. Okra plants grow very quickly especially once the pods starts coming. The pods can grow with in 3 to 4 days. It appears first on the bases of the plant and goes upwards. A standard sized plant can grow up to 6 to 8 feet.

Freshly harvested Okra

Okra plants have spines. It is not wise to harvest the pods bare hand. They can be scratchy and irritating. Use gloves while harvesting the pods. The best time to harvest is when the pods are 2”-4”. At this time they the tender and tasty. Though sometimes larger sized pods are also tender and can be used as food. The best way to check its tenderness is by snapping off the end tip of the pod. It will not snap in case the pods have become fibrous. Keep picking the pods and there will be a new one in its place.

Like many other vegetables, okra is also best when eaten fresh. You can also store them in refrigerator for a week. Check out vegetable storing tips in this article.

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Some useful tips for Growing Mushrooms

Mushrooms are full of vitamins, antioxidants and other nutrients; they are low in calories and very good for health. Growing mushrooms is not as difficult as you might think. In this article we will provide you with some useful information which will definitely resolve most of your queries regarding Mushroom growing.

Unlike most of the other plants mushrooms don’t grow from seeds rather they grow from the spores.
Dark, cool and moist environment is ideal for mushrooms. Depending on the variety the ideal temperature ranges from 45 to 60 deg F. little bit light won’t do a lot of harm to the plant but make sure most of the time the light is absent.

One of the easiest ways to start growing mushrooms in your home is to buy Mushroom kits. The best part of a kit is it is already packed with the growing medium and the spawn. You can grow them in trays, bags or boxes. You can also use garden beds to grow them.

How to prepare your own compost:

Choose your composting ingredients. You will find a variety of composting ingredients in this article. After choosing the ingredients mix them and let them decompose. For better understanding of composting process check out our earlier articles:5 tips to faster decomposition.

Once your compost is ready take the mixture in a shady place for providing the ideal condition for mushroom growing.

Once you make sure that the temperature of the compost is bellow 30 deg C start the process of spawning. Add grains of spawns and mixed them properly with the compost. If done properly within two weeks mycelia will grow in compost. You need to provide good ventilation or install a cooling system because those mycelia will increase the heat in the compost.

The edible part of the mushroom is the fruiting stage of the plant. You can quicken the process by covering (generally done by using organic material such as compost, peat moss, cow dung etc.) the top surface of the compost. This is called casing.

Harvesting:

Harvesting of mushrooms are done in three stages:
1.    Buttons: this type is not that good in tastes and primarily for their appearances only.
2.    Cups: have a rounded cap and is next best to Flat mushrooms for eating.
3.    Flat: the caps are flattened and the gills are fully exposed. They are the best in taste.
Pick the mushrooms in an upward twisting motion. After picking the mushrooms, brush off the compost or dirt and use them as food.



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Grow Garlic A useful plant In Companion Planting

A nickel will get you on the subway, but garlic will get you a seat.

Once we discuss growing ginger, garlic is not very far behind. Today we will discuss about Garlic.

Botanical name: Allium sativum

There are basically 2 varieties of Garlic are available.

Soft-neck variety: in this type of garlic the neck of the garlic stay soft after harvest. This variety is the easiest to grow. This variety is also recommended particularly for the warmer climatic areas.

Hard-neck variety:here garlic has a stiff stem that dries to a rigid stick. And it makes braiding almost impossible.

Garlic is grown from the cloves. For growing, you need to plant the cloves into the ground with root end down and pointed end up. Break the cloves from the bulb but do not remove the papery husk which surrounds individual clove. Put the cloves two inch inside the soil with 6 to 8 inches apart. Each clove will produce a single bulb and the largest clove generally produces the largest bulb. If you planting the clove into normal soil and not in any soil-less media, it is better to soak the cloves in water containing baking powder and liquid seaweed to prevent fungal diseases.

Planting cloves from the grocery store can be a bad idea. They are generally treated with various chemicals to make their self life longer. Instead try your local nurseries or seed selling companies for the cloves.

Make sure your soil has plenty of organic matter. To increase the fertility you can always add compost to the soil. Select a place where the sun exposure is good. Garlic requires plenty of nitrogen so choose your compost ingredients accordingly.

Once you planted the cloves cover it with mulch. If you are new to mulching, and want to know more about it, check out this article. After 6 to 8 weeks, depending on the variety and the weather, you will find the shoots coming up through the mulch.  Water requirement of garlic is normally not huge. Inch deep water in every week is more than enough. Stop water once the leaves begin to yellow. This will help to make the bulbs firm.

Garlic has very few pest problems. Rather it is a pest repellant. That is why in organic pest controlling methods, using garlic is a common phenomenon.

You can harvest the garlic once three-quarter of the leaves become yellow. Dig up all the bulbs and get them out of the sun immediately. Keep them in dry and shaded place for six weeks. Once they become thoroughly dry trim the roots. Cut off the stalk 1 inch above the bulb. Now you can use your garlic.

Apart from its intense flavor and culinary uses it is very good insect repellant and thus used widely in companion planting. More about companion planting and its benefits check out this article.

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Gardening in Shade Some useful information

Gardening does not always means that you need to grow plants in full sun. Shade in the garden is like a nightmare for many gardeners. Though most of the vegetables like Tomatoes, or cucumbers require full sun for their development, many plants can grow wonderfully well in shade. Here in this article we will try to give you some idea on how you can do gardening in shady condition.

When people talk about shade they can mean a variety of condition. So at times it can be confusing to what actually a shade gardening refers to. First of all let us make a distinction between different types of shades.

Gardening in partial shade

1.    Partial shade: This kind of shading refers to a condition where the place receives direct sunlight for less than 4 hours.
2.    Full shade: This is a condition where there is no direct sunlight through out the whole year. There are some plants (like Euphorbia) which can grow well in areas like this.
3.    Dry shade: If you are planting under some big tree the chances are that apart from being shaded, the place will be very dry. As the water content of the soil is mostly sucked in by the big trees. There are few plants which can survive in these conditions also.
4.    Moist shade: In case the planting is near any big water source such as ponds or rivers the soil remains very wet through the season. In this condition plants are never short of water.

It is the partial shade that we will discuss in this article. As we have already discussed in out earlier article Sun or no Sun, if you want to grow fully grown fruits in a plant, you need to provide them more than 6 hours of sunlight. Having said that, crops such as Spinach and other leafy vegetables, Peas, Cauliflower can grow pretty on partial shade.

Some tips on growing vegetables in shade:
Most of the plants which grow in the shade generally have larger leaves to absorb more light. Do not crowd shade tolerant plants. It will help to absorb most of the light available. Less crowding will also increase the air flow through the plant and will reduce many diseases.
Paint the walls of your buildings surrounding the shady area with lighter paint. It will increase the light reflection and provide light support to the dark shady areas. You can also use mirror tiles or metallic surfaces for this purpose.

Benefits of Shade gardening:
There are some benefits also if you are doing gardening in shade. If you remember, while discussing growing tips about Cauliflower and several others we have informed you about the effect of heat on bolting. In case your gardening is in the shade the impact of bolting can be reduced. The leafy vegetables such as Spinach lettuce grown in partial shade will look much fresher and you can enjoy them for a longer period of time. This is due to the fact that the more they are in the sun the larger will be the amount of water loss.

Talking about water, you also need to water the plants less regularly than when in the direct sun. By knowing ideal plants for shade, you can very easily optimize your total garden space. Plant the plants which prefer the direct sunlight in the sunny place whereas as in rest of the partial shaded spaces you can easily cultivated rest of the plants. It will help you to double your total vegetable output.

You can get some vivid idea about sun and its impact on vegetables growing in this article.



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Mango Growing Some Useful Tips

Mangoes are called the king of fruits. It is generally a plant of the tropics. Typical weather resembles hot summer and cool winter (not very cold). If you live in a place that is more or less of this type; you can definitely try growing mangoes. Here in this article we will provide you with some easy growing tips.

There are two ways to grow mango:
1.From the seed: Growing from the seed is pretty easy. Peel a ripe mango, separate (or eat) the pulp. Then wash the remaining hard portion (it contains the seed) with water and let it dry. Then sow it where you want to plant the tree. Within 2 to 3 weeks you will get the seedlings. In this process the plants grows really big but the fruiting requires minimum 8 years. 
2. From grafting: Most of the plants bought from nurseries are grafted. You just need to plant them. In this method the plant reach manageable height and can bear fruit within 5 years. In this process quality of the fruit is almost assured.

Mango plants grow well in acidic soil pH range of 5 to 7. They can not tolerate frost. While planting the trees give at least 6 to 12 meter spacing. They grow really big and need that much space to grow properly. They don’t require much water. Make sure your soil has enough drainage.

Over watering can kill your plant. You need to protect them from weed especially in the initial years. A thick layer of mulch is a very good idea for mango trees. In the initial years you need to provide compost for the nutrition of the plant. The more it grows the lesser you need to care.

Once the plant gets little bigger you can think about pruning. Pruning is a very good choice for mango trees. Apart from giving space and nutrients to the branches, it also helps to give the plant a proper shape.

While harvesting mangoes be careful. The sap can really cause problem (skin problem, allergies) to the body.

The mature fruit can be of varied size and shape depending on its variety. Best time to pick the mangoes when they are ripe. But in case you have picked them early (sometimes done with the intent to protect the fruits from birds, bats, and other animals) pack them in paper bags and keep them in the room temperature for some time.

The flavor of a ripe mango is always welcomed. Enjoy your vitamin and mineral packed fruit with friends and family. You can also use the raw ones into making pickles or in salads.






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Growing Bell Peppers Some Useful tips

Back to growing tips. Today’s edition Bell Peppers. You can check rest of the vegetables by exploring the site.

Peppers grow very quickly. Depending on their variety they can become within 60 to 150 days (after transplanting). For the beginners we suggest you use the early varieties for growing. You can use your backyard or growbags to grow pepper. Just make sure receives 6 hours of sunlight in a day.

Though you can directly put the seeds in the garden, we strongly recommend that you first grow the seedlings indoor. It takes 2-8 weeks for the seeds to grow into a proper transplant. Now plant them into the garden where you intended to grow pepper. Give 12 to 15 inches gap between two plants.

Prior to transplant mix a good amount of compost with the soil. They are not a very hungry plant. That much of compost is enough for the plant. While using compost ingredients, make sure you don’t use a high amount of Nitrogen in the pile. This can result in lush foliage and lesser fruits. For more on C/N ratio read out earlier article.

Watering is very important in plants like pepper. They require a good amount of water but make sure the soil have proper drainage and the roots don’t get water logged. One of the solutions you can use is to add Perlite with the soil.

Pepper is a very good companion plant which goes well with plants like Tomatoes, Carrots and Basils. It is important that you provide some form of support to the plant. Once the plant stars growing fruits it becomes tough for the plant to strive without support.

Pepper is usually pest free. In rare cases spider mites or aphids attacks peppers. You can easily hand pick and remove them.


Harvesting:

Don’t wait for the peppers to fully mature before picking. Most of the peppers taste best when picked little early. Also it increases the yield. Use a sharp knife to cut the fruit from the plant.

It is best to eat them the same day you have harvested. You can also use a refrigerator to store them. You can get more on vegetable storing in our earlier article.






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