Growing tomatoes Upside Down- Amazing idea

 

Recently I came across a new way of growing tomatoes - upside down so that the roots are up and the plant, especially the vegetable is facing downward. This is supposed to give a better yield. Explanations are that root gets better air and lighting and of course, the gravitational pull makes the vegetables bigger. Before venturing into setting it up, I would like to know if anyone of you has tried this out, and if yes, is it really true. What this will mean is we can have plants hanging from small posts in the garden - a way to create our own hanging garden. Of course, it will be easier to pick the vegetables.

Where to Plant ? One important tip

If you are trying to have maximum plants in your garden, the outer periphery of the house can also be used and made a part of the garden. Of course, the key concern would be a threat to the plants from cattle (assuming people are not a threat). There are certain plants which cattle do not eat. The Oleander, for instance, is not consumed by cattle. Among trees, the Indian Beech tree, popularly called Pungai in Tamil, is not touched by cattle. Any cactus-like plant would also be a safe bet to plant outside. The Parijat Tree(Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, also called Night-flowering Jasmine) which bears beautiful flowers that give off a very pleasant scent, is another good tree to plant outside. The Parijaat tree is revered by Hindus. It also has immense medicinal properties. The flower stem, which is a brilliant orange in colour, is used for cloth dyeing.

A word of caution here. While cattle do not eat these plants, they could trample on them(which is often the case near my house). One should build atleast a simple wooden fence to protect the crops.

Its raining Bitter Gourds

If there is an easy vegetable to grow, its the bitter gourd. My garden is full of bitter gourd creepers now and I keep harvesting bitter gourds frequently. Here are some tips on growing bitter gourds:

1. WHERE TO GET BITTER GOURD SEEDS-
While I bought them initally, I would suggest that you buy bitter gourds, cut them to discover wet seeds inside, dry them in the sun and once its fully dry, you have the seeds ready for planting.
2. WHERE TO PLANT THE BITTER GOURD SEEDS -
Its a climber. So decide upon a location which will easily allow the climber to catch up and grow. Its a lean plant, keeps growing tall and the leaves are very flimsy. Plant the seeds near the building. From the first floor/ any high level, drop a rope(preferably nylon) which will reach all the way upto the place you have planted seeds.
3. THE STAGES OF GROWTH
The climber will grow and even within a few weeks, nice yellow flowers will pop out. Its a very tender plant - be careful not to brush against it. Do not touch the flowers. They are flimsy too.
Within sometime, the flowers will dry up and turn into bitter gourds.
And you can enjoy the fruits(sorry, vegetables)!

Growing Mints - Some practical lessons

The Good phase

Growing mints has been a real experience. Initially, i bought mint from the vegetable market. Most of the mint stems had roots. After removing all the leaves and using it for cooking, i planted the stems. Even within a few days, nice little green leaves started growing.

The Mints took a real beating this summer. Not only that, the plants started growing prolifically and covered a large patch of the garden. I always picked the leaves and never removed the stem.

The Bad Patch

During peak summer, the mint plants started drying up. I missed watering the plants for only a day and it resulted in a disaster - except for a few of the mint plants, the rest turned black and no amount of watering revived them.

I would suggest those having mint plants in really hot places to grow them in the coolest corner of the garden. Its a bitter lesson I have learnt.