Many people find great joy in investing time in gardening, nurturing fresh plants, fruits, and flowers. Till today people in villages find it mandatory to plant trees and take care of them unlike the city dwellers. And one cannot blame the urban people for that because there is lack of space in their building or in their society. But one can make use of their balcony or the backyard or terrace to grow plants and enjoy a livelier environment. Because plants are our friends for life. So, if you still don’t have that habit of growing greenery in your space but you are looking for imbibing that capability, this write up is going to be a beneficial one for you.
India have a tropical monsoon climate and that makes it primarily a hot sultry climatic region of the world. Although the climatic classification says summer season prevails from April to June but we experience summer season almost all round the year except from December to February. So, summers with its scorching rays and its resultant perspiration is knocking at our door again and we have to bring out our summer clothes, lighter shades, mesmerizing perfumes, and floral extract shower gels. Similarly, the plant world would also require some special care to sustain in this season. Let’s have a look at that.
- Water the plants more than often as the relative humidity of the atmosphere is on the higher side, you have to. If you live in a flat or apartment where plants are potted in your balcony, you got to be more careful because these plants cannot reach out deep into the earth in search of water when it is thirsty. As per the soil type and plant the requirement of water varies and you must keep the plants moist during the day. Remember, how we feel thirsty in summer days! It’s the same with plants.
- If the pot soil is sandy, you must mix some clay into it because sandy soil dries up very easily. So a balance with clay would keep your soil moist to sustain the growing plant.
- You must work a bit provide some sort of layering to cover the soil with mulch consisting twigs, wooden pieces, dead plant, leaves, etc. This would work as a good fertilizer for the plant and would also help the soil to retain the moisture. You may also use small pebbles as the top cover so that the moisture doesn’t evaporate in summer rays.
- Keeping them in cluster if you have mostly potted plants in your space, would be suggested. In this way, the water loss would be only from the external side and they would face the sun also from one side only.
- Watering the plants in summer should be done before sunrise and after sunset specifically to avoid the extra evaporation. This may also change as per the humidity of a particular day. If the humidity rises, you may extend watering for four times also.
- You must take out time to get the pruning of plants done properly and remove the unwanted or unnecessary foliage. This would help the plant to avoid loss of water through transpiration.
- Do not miss the fertilizer session! To promote higher growth of plants and providing them extra energy after the dry and dormant winter season, fertilizers are very important. In winters due to climate, growth becomes almost stagnant and these fertilizers would boost up the plants.
- Wipe out all types of weeds from the plant soil because their presence may eat away the nutrients and water given to soil.
- Application of manures like cow dung, bone dust, hoofs and horns, and oil cakes once in two to four weeks would be suggested for a healthy growth of plants.
- You must follow watering terrace plants twice a day. But in case of potted plants, you must permit excess water to run out from the bottom of the pot into a saucer placed below.
So after knowing the basic guide to grow plants from the above paragraph, you must now try to grow the right crops for this summer season. Cucumber, bitter gourd, pumpkin, watermelon, lady’s finger, a variety of chilies and brinjal are best to plant in this season. Keep in mind that for a healthy growth of vegetables in your balcony, the pot size should be of at least 8-10 inches. In category of flowering plants, you must grow Periwinkle, Zinnia, Portulaca, Gomphrena, Calliopsis, Amaryllis lily, etc.
