Winter is over; the cool times are gone and summer has already marked its heated presence all over India. If you grow plants at home, you may have noticed that the growth of your potted plants was more or less dormant during the four months of winter. Interestingly, most of the home garden plants end their dormancy and start giving out new growth at the beginning of the warm season, so that plenty of flowers and fruits can be formed during mid-summer. Therefore in order to help your houseplants to grow in a healthy and graceful manner, we bring you following gardening activities that you must take up asap:
1. Loosen the soil thoroughly.
As a home gardener, when you just water the pots for days and months, over a period of time, the pot soil tends to become really hard and compact. This is not a good sign for your plants. In such compact soil, the roots are unable to breathe and absorbing soil nutrients also becomes very difficult resulting in stunted growth. With the help of a proper tool like hand weeder, you must dig the top soil upto 3 to 4 inches and loosen it when the soil is semi-dry. Any unwanted weedy plants should be removed at this point.
Click here to buy potting soil mixtures online in India.
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| Loosen the soil in pot once a month |
2. Provide manures generously.
Since summer is the start of the new growing season, the potted plants are craving for nutrients. It's not a good idea to provide any synthetic chemical fertilizers to the soil, since it may show quick results but can prove to be harmful in the long run.
After loosening the soil, provide plenty of organic fertilizers like well decomposed cow manure, vermicompost, homemade bio compost. Add at least a couple of handfuls in each pot and mix well with topsoil. Top it up with natural biofertilizers like Ghana-Jeevamrut.
Click here to buy natural fertilizers online in India
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| Provide Organic Fertilizer every 15 days |
3. Water your plants wisely.
After loosening the soil and adding organic manures the pot must be immediately watered. Avoid watering directly from a mug or a bucket, this can physically damage the roots. It's important to use a 'Watering Can' with shower-head to water potted plants. The water falling on the soil must mimic rainfall rather than single jet flow.
In summers, watering should be done in the mornings. It's better to do proper thorough watering 3-4 times a week rather than daily light watering.
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| Watering should be in the form of shower |
4. Spray the natural medicines timely.
Summers can bring some unwanted visitors to your potted plants in the form of pests and diseases. Avoid spraying harmful chemical fungicides and pesticides on your infested houseplants. It's better to protect your plants by spraying natural, home-made solutions regularly.
Neem oil in soapy water spray will keep your plants clean and insect free. Buttermilk solution is useful to keep fungus at bay. Gomutra is a very effective fungicide and growth promoter. Natural farm-made solutions like Dashparni Ark and Neem Astra can be used to get rid of existing infestations.
Click here to buy natural pesticides online in India
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| Use hand sprayer for misting the medicines on leaves |
5. Manage the sunlight smartly.
In the hot season, you must have a good look at how much daily sunlight is falling directly on your plants. Potted plants kept on an open terrace may require green shade-net protection. For balcony and window plants like Roses, Hibiscus, Tulsi, Chili etc., 4 to 5 hours of daily sunlight is also enough. Succulents and indoor plants will be happy to grow with reflected sunlight or indirect bright light coming from the window. In this season, most potted plants prefer the shady situation between 11 am to 3 pm.
In the next part we will have a look at summer specific care and maintenance tips for your common potted plants.
If you wish to develop your own home garden Or if you want to do monthly maintenance work on your existing plants by our skilled gardeners, click here for more details on WhatsApp, and book/ schedule our home visit.
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