Beans Growing: An Ideal Vegetable For The Starters

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It’s never late to start gardening. And if you are a starter growing beans...

It’s never late to start gardening. And if you are a starter growing beans is a very good option. Beans belong to the legume family. They are one of the few easiest vegetables to grow (Check out the entire list here). Some of the beans are grown for the seeds whereas some of them are grown for their pods (green beans) which can be served as vegetables. Here we will use the term beans to mean green beans in general.

Ideal temperature of growing beans lies around 70 to 80 deg F. Put them in a place where you will receive at
least 6 hours of sunlight. Mix some coconut coir or perlite along with the soil to increase its water retention and drainage capacity. Add a generous amount of compost with the soil before sowing the seeds. Being a member of the legume family, they will produce their own nitrogen. So while deciding on the composting ingredient you don’t need to add much of the ingredients which are very rich in nitrogen. You can find the list of minerals or plant nutrients in this article.

The seeds are generally bigger in size than many vegetables. Ensure the seed is entirely covered (sow them one inch deep in the soil) by the soil. The best way is to keep at least 3 to 6 inch gap between two plants, to ensure proper growth.

They are very fast growing plant. You can choose either the pole or the bush variety. Though the earlier one takes more time to mature it produce much more yield than the later. Bush variety is also self sufficient i.e. they don’t require any outside support. But in case the area is too windy, it is always recommended that you give them something to hold on to. If you are planning to grow pole variety then you have no choice but to give them trellis.

Depending on your variety of the beans germination time will differ. Generally the bush type will germinate within a week whereas for a pole variety it might take couple of weeks. Water deeply, at least once in a week (to know more about how to water a plant click here). You can also use mulch to reduce the water loss from the soil.

Harvesting of beans can be done everyday to encourage further fruit formation. The best time to pick them is when they are tender and before seeds become prominent. Pluck using your finger nails or scissors. You can eat them fresh or can incorporate in other dishes. You can also store them in refrigerators.


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Vermicompost: A Basic Idea

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When we talk about vermicompost we mean composting organic materials by using redworms and...

When we talk about vermicompost we mean composting organic materials by using redworms and other such worms. The process is called vermicomposting. Worms create a blend of different composting ingredients. You can enrich the quality of a soil many a times any adding vermicompost with it. It is considered to be very high quality organic fertilizer.

Worms in general situation eat in plenty in a whole day and with that proportion they release the casting. Most interesting fact is that their casting contains 8 times more microorganism than their food. These organisms do wonders for the plants. Besides the cast is also pathogen free. This cast is full with nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), and Potassium (K) than the normal soil. If you remember (in our earlier article we have discussed about this) these 3 minerals are essential for any plants growth. These casts are also rich in humic acid which is very much beneficial for any plant.

Several countries like USA, Canada Japan etc practice vermicompost in larger scales for agriculture. But use can practice it in your own house also. All you need is these basic materials:
1.    A container
2.    Bedding
3.    Water
4.    Worms
5.    Kitchen scraps

Fill the container with bedding and kitchen scraps. Mix some water to make it moist; after that, add the worms into the mix. They will eat the mixture and create casts for you to use.

A word of caution: do not use any material such as bottle caps, polythene bags, aluminum foils etc. Avoid any type of insecticides or chemical near the bin. These will kill the worm population.

Vermicomposting is a fantastic way to convert your kitchen scraps into fertile manure. You can use earthworms to convert your kitchen wastes into manure (worm cast and some decayed materials) which you can then add to your window boxes. This acts as a buffer to reduce excessive acid or alkaline present in your soil. It will also help storing nutrients and retaining moisture. General recommendation is to add vermicompost and normal soil in 1:10 ratio.


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5 Tips to faster decomposition

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We have discussed about compost earlier also. This article will focus on some of...

We have discussed about compost earlier also. This article will focus on some of the steps which will improve the decomposition speed of the pile. Now one of the headache people feel when doing composting is that most of the time they do not get desired result. Here we will give you some simple but very important steps which you can take to improve the decomposition speed drastically. It will also result in good quality compost. So let’s start:

Chopping and shredding: The first thing to remember is to chop the ingredients into finer pieces. The finer the materials easier it is to decompose. Chopping and shredding increases the surface area of the pile and make the microbes work faster than in normal condition.

Use Proper mix of Brown and green materials: We have discussed about various composting ingredient in our earlier article. It is essential that you choose your ingredients wisely. Ingredients such as dry leaves, saw dust, wooden chips etc are generally rich in carbon (C). They are also called the brown ingredients. On the other hand kitchen scraps, grass clippings, fresh cow dung etc is rich in Nitrogen (N). A proper mix of Carbon and nitrogen in the pile is a prerequisite which will increase the speed of decomposition.

Moisture: Moisture is very essential for the smooth decomposition of the pile. But while adding water you need to be careful not to exceed the limit. Too much or too little moisture will dampen the whole process. Generally if your pile contains more than 60% water it will result in stinky anaerobic oxidation whereas less than 35% water means it will not decompose properly as the microbes will not be able to continue their metabolism process. Though it is not possible to measure the moisture to such an accuracy the thumb rule of moisture is that you make sure that your pile has water contents that of a “wrung sponge”.

Keep them moving: It is one of the key to proper decomposition. Remember cooking? You just cannot leave the vegetables on oven with keep stirring. The same logic applies here. If you do not stir them frequently most of the pile will not get decomposed. The best principle is to turn the pile every 3 days. Take the material from the center of the pile and replace the center with lesser composted materials on the other sides of the pile. Moving the pile helps in better air circulation and proper distribution of the microbes through out the pile which results in faster decomposition.

Add microbes: Microbes are the main cause for decomposing your pile. If you make a new pile and perform the above actions properly you will get microbes inside the pile within few days. You can definitely fasten the process by adding a bit of decomposed material from your earlier compost. It will provide the pile with instant microbes which will proliferate much more quickly and also make the decomposition faster.

So do you follow these steps? If not, try applying them to your pile and see the result. Share your experience in composting with us. 



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Growing Papaya: Some Tips to Remember

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Papayas are easy to grow. It is one of the plants you should consider...

Papayas are easy to grow. It is one of the plants you should consider growing in your backyard if you live in predominantly warmer climate. You can grow them pretty easily from the seeds.

First cut the papaya in half and then take out all the seeds. The seeds are covered with some jelly like substance. Squeeze the seed out of that coating. Use clean water to wash the seeds and then let them dry out. Once they are totally dry, use them for plantation.

Select the place where you want to grow papaya. They are very sensitive to root shock so it is advisable to plant the seed where you want to grow. Transplantation process can really hurt the plant. Before planting the seeds make sure you have mixed enough compost with the soil. They are very voracious feeder so make sure you have provided them enough to eat.

The spacing required for each plant is minimum 1.5 meter.

If you read our blogs regularly you would have known by now that papaya plants require full sun; More the better. Though papayas also grow in partial shade; the fruit growing is delayed and the tastes are also not so good.

Papaya plants are very susceptible to root rotting. So watering becomes very crucial. Much more water than required and you end up harming the plant. Also, considering the fact that they generally grow in warmer condition and have large leaves (they transpire a lot of water) you can not provide too little water either.  The best soil type is loamy type for growing papayas.

Papaya plants can be male female or bisexual. It is important that your garden have at least some female or bisexual plants. The male plant will not bear the fruits. It is recommended to have 1: 10 ratio about male and female plants to have a healthy yield. Generally it will start flowering once it become more than one meter in height. Expect to harvest the ripe papayas within a year.

The best part of growing papaya is that unlike most of the plants, you will get the fruits all year long. The only problem is with time they become taller (it will become difficult to pluck the fruits) and much more prone to diseases. Also, older plants tend to flower much less than the younger ones.

Papayas are very nutritious fruit. They are rich in vitamin C. You can have them ripe or raw.

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Edible flowers

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Flowers are generally not for eating they are left so that you can grow...

Flowers are generally not for eating they are left so that you can grow vegetables which are generally much tastier. Having said that; there are some flowers which are definitely worth eating. The reason may be that in not in all cases these flowers develop any tasty fruit. Or in some cases they can be added to you cuisine to add a different tinge to the taste buds. Though there are many vegetables which are biologically flowers, like cauliflower or broccoli but we have not added them here as they are considered more of a vegetable than flower.

This article is about flower which may not be popular vegetables but you can definitely use them as for some change in your cuisine. Some of the flowers which you can eat are:




Squash flower: All squash flower are edible. You can use both summer and winter squash flowers for stuffing and other type of cooking. Plants such as Zucchini are famous for their large sized edible flowers.

Nasturtium: Young flowers can be used in salads. It has pepper and slightly spice tasty. Apart from the flowers you can also use the leaves for eating purpose.

Borage: Borage flower taste like cucumber. You can add this to salads drinks etc.

Marigold: they are called poor man’s saffron. You can use the petals to color your dishes. They can also be used as a garnish on salads.

Rose: The petals of roses are used in many Indian dishes. Those fragrant petals always add the special aroma to the food. Click here to know more on rose gardening.

Basil, chives, dill, fennel, and arugula: These flowers are all aromatic and can be used in the food for flavor or color.

Here are a few tips on edible flowers:

Feed the plants once the first bud appears. Plants such as roses need a good caring. If you are planning to grow roses check out our tips on rose growing.
Choose the compost ingredients which are rich in Potassium (K) and Phosphorous (P).
Use much to control weeds and retain enough water into the soil.
Do not eat any flower on which any pesticide or chemical has been applied.
Not every flower is edible. Some can even be toxic. Use the scientific naming process to select your flower.


What is your favorite edible flower? Share your experience. Use the comment box below:

Companion Planting: A basic Know-how

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What Is Companion Planting?

Companion planting is a process where two or more different kind of plants are planted in close proximity to provide some benefits such as pest control and pollination to the plants. The best part of companion planting is that it is organic or natures way of controlling pests and improve pollination. 

We all aware of the benefits of going organic. I have written an article on this also. If you are interested to know more about the benefits of being an organic gardener you can check this post.

There are various mixes of plants which apart from making the garden more eye catchy, provide a healthy benefit to the plants. From ancient times and before the introduction of mass scale pesticides and fertilizer, people used the concepts of companion planting. They believed certain combination of plants have mysterious power to help each other. Now science also proved that some combination in deed help to grow the plants very well.

Benefits Of using Companion Plants:

There are basically 4 type of benefits you get by opting for companion plantation:

1. It helps both the plants to grow. Tall plants provide shade to the sun sensitive shorter plants.
2. You can use your space more productively. It also increases the chances of getting a good yield, even if one crop fails.
3. This provides pest control in an organic way. Some companion plants help in preventing pest insects and pathogenic fungi. It can also divert pests from the other plant.
4. It attracts pollination by attracting beneficial insects. Companion plants some time produce more nectar than the main plant and thus attract more beneficial insects.

 

Best Companion Plants For Tomatoes:

Examples Of Companion Gardening:

Below are some of the example of companion gardening:

Planting beans and corns together can be beneficial for both of them. The beans fix nitrogen to the soil which also benefits the corn. Whereas the cornstalk can be used as a trellis by the bean plant to climb up.

Growing dill and cabbage can be another example of companion planting. Dill can attract many beneficial wasp which can control cabbage worms and other cabbage pests.

Planting basil along with tomatoes (click here for tomato growing tips) can improve the flavor and growth of tomatoes. It also repels mosquitoes.

Planting garlic near tomato or cabbage plant can help to control beetle and aphids from infecting tomatoes.

Cucumber and radish also work together pretty well. Radishes help to deter cucumber beetles. But make sure cucumber is not planted near potatoes as it can encourage the late blight in potatoes.

There are so many such combinations available. You can find many of them through internet.

I hope you get an idea about the companion gardening concept through this blog. It is definitely an option you can try out in case you are thinking of going organic. Check my blog the meaning of organic for more information about going organic.

Read Best companion plants for Tomatoes

Thanks for reading the article. Enjoy Gardening.