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What Plants Can You Grow Organically in Your Own Backyard
In the last blog we gave you an insight into how you could begin your journey of growing organic and start living a sustainable lifestyle.
Till now you would be sure that growing your own produce is easy. All you need are some planters, some potting soil, seeds or saplings and a little patience.
Here we tell you about all the different kinds of fruits, vegetables , and flowering plants you can grow in your own backyard quite easily with little to no effort and see tremendous results in no time.
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Vegetable crops you can grow:
After a tiring day at work, we all know it’s tough to find time to go grocery shopping, invest in some real quality veggies.
Even if they have found out the time for the same, betting on the quality still seems a risk, as chemical free vegetables are a rare sight out there.
The safer & smart choice would be to begin growing & eating your own produce, by utilising a little time on your day offs, here we tell you which vegetables will not take much time to grow, and can give you great results within some weeks only. Consider growing all of them, in your journey to go organic!
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Chilli
This key component of most Indian cuisine is really simple to grow. The seeds for the same are available right in your kitchen in the form of dried red chillies.
- To get started mix equal amounts of cocopeat & manure, for a good compost.
- Put the mix in a small pot & soak it in water overnight.
- Next day, put the seeds into the moist soil & cover it with hay.
- Water adequately each day, till you observe the seeds germinate.
- As soon as the plant starts growing & leaves start to come, make sure that you transfer the saplings to a bigger, deep-mouth pot.
- Water daily, till the plant starts flowering, reduce the amount of watering as the plant starts flowering.
- Harvest fresh chillies, once fruited.
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Tomato
Tomatoes are an essential ingredient in practically every cuisine, from a simple garden salad to a deliciously tasting ketchup. Here’s how you can produce tomatoes at home quickly and easily.
- Potting mix prepared with mixing sand, red soil, compost, and cocopeat.
- Sow the tomato seeds, by spreading them at a separate distance inside the mix. Sprinkle water right after sowing.
- Mulch the sown seeds with dry leaves or hay.
- Continue watering the seeds every 2-3 days, till the seeds start to germinate.
- After a set of leaves appear, transfer the sapling to a larger pot, to support a better growth.
- Add a handful of compost occasionally, till the plant starts to flower.
- Tomato plants are vulnerable to attacks from pests & insects, you can use neem oil to keep your plant safe from them.
- Harvest the tomatoes when they turn red & juicy.
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Capsicum
The more well-known relative of the chilli has now established itself as a necessary component in urban gardens and Indian cuisines alike. Here, know how to cultivate them.
- Prepare a similar potting mix, as prepared in the case of chilli, by mixing coco peat & manure.
- Initially choose to grow the seeds in a seedling tray, cover them up with a plastic wrap, to retain the mositure.
- Once the seeds germinate, usually within 2 weeks, keep them under the sun after removing the plastic cover.
- Transplant the saplings in a larger container, once leaves start to appear. Cover the soil loosely with the potting mix.
- Maintain a strict watering schedule in the case of capsicums.
- You can also use a water soluble organic fertiliser, to support a healthy growth.
- Fresh capsicums will start growing within 60 to 90 days after germinating.
Other vegetable crops that you can grow almost in a similar way are brinjals, bitter gourd, mint, and corriander.
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Fruit crops you can grow:
Did you know that fruit trees could be grown indoors? Growing a dwarf fruit tree not only improves your home’s aesthetics but also circulates and creates clean air for your residence, along with providing fresh fruit for your family.
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Limes
The citrus fruit known as a lime is sour, spherical, and vivid green. They are nutritional powerhouses because they contain large amounts of vitamin C, antioxidants, and other nutrients. Primarily used as a dressing for salads or to add a flavour to dishes especially when preparing vegetables.
- Use a slightly acidic (pH 6 to 7), loam-based potting mix.
- Most citrus trees need eight to twelve hours of direct sunlight each day. If you’re growing them indoors, place your plants next to a window that faces south and has sufficient airflow.
- Watering regularly is essential. Reduce evaporation and maintain moisture at the crucial surface-root zone by adding attractive, decorative mulch (like pebbles or moss).
- Every three weeks, treat your tree with a high-nitrogen citrus fertiliser.
- Citrus are susceptible to scale, aphids, mealybugs, and spider mites. Make sure that you use a good organic fertiliser to keep them at bay.
- Harvest them when a good bunch of them start fruiting.
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Passion fruit
Passion fruit is a kind of berry that is available in oval and round shapes. It is juicy and a healthy fruit especially rich in vitamin C
- Select a container with a 15-centimetre diameter and fill it with soil.
- Place your seeds on the soil bed, and then add a thin layer of sand over them.
- To keep the soil bed moist, water it and cover it with plastic wrap or a bag.
- Place the pot in direct sunshine and maintain a temperature of between 0 and 35 degrees Celsius.
- Give the seeds at least 4 hours of direct sunlight each day and water them twice weekly.
- Choose the three best looking saplings after two weeks and replant them in a new pot; this will be your passion fruit vine.
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Guava
Growing guava in containers is extremely easy. It is a tropical tree that produces sweet fruits, especially grown during winter seasons. The fruits can be eaten or used as an ingredient in drinks, smoothies, and desserts.
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- To break seed dormancy and hasten germination, put guava seeds in a pot of boiling water and boil for five minutes.
- Add soilless seed-starting mix to a 4-inch nursery pot.
- In the middle of the pot, press one guava seed. When you have gently pressed the seed into the soilless mixture with your thumb, add more soilless mixture on top of it.
- To avoid disturbing the seed, fill the pot with water by using a moderate misting spray.
- Put the pot in a warm location. Guava seeds might take two to eight weeks to sprout.
- When the top of the soil begins to feel dry to the touch, moisten the soilless mix to keep it moist. This will support a quick growth of the plant.
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You can grow almost all kinds of citrus fruits, like oranges, etc. indoors with a similar procedure as mentioned above for growing lime.
