Tuesday 3 January 2012

Coco Peat and Other Garden Experiments for 2012

My foray into vegetable gardening began only last year. And while I'm far from attaining any kind of self sufficiency in the garden, the experience has been very fruitful.

Prior to my little rooftop patch, I didn't know the taste of a tomato picked fresh off the vine. I didn't even know that at the end of their season, it would be harder to get red tomatoes. But that it was okay. Green tomatoes are perfectly edible. They just need to be used differently. It's not just the tomatoes that I understand better now. I know the taste of raw lady's fingers: they're sweet and crunchy when freshly picked and not all slimy like I expected them to be. I know that moolis don't have to be peeled when they're garden fresh, that growing fennel is as simple as growing weeds.... the list is long.
End-of-season Green Tomatoes and Other Garden Produce for a Chutney
Most of all, I'm glad to see that my son is learning about the food he eats. While most kids (including mine) can be picky about their vegetables, my son is very enthusiastic about the ones he's helped grow. Gardening (i.e. mucking around) is one of his favourite activities and what grows in the garden is treated with due reverence by him and indeed the whole family.
My Son Enjoys Messing Around in the Dirt
So this year, I've decided to expand my garden. My plans include growing plants I've not grown before: lemon, curry leaf, capsicum and onion. I also have ambitions of growing some cool-weather vegetables. Then there are the potting soil experiments I have to do. I've heard of so many formulas for the ideal potting soil that I've now come to believe I need to develop my own, for the kind of compost I use and the weather we have.
Curry Leaf Sapling
At a recent gardening workshop that I attended, the many benefits of coco peat were elucidated. But sourcing coco peat in Chennai is not that easy. It was only after some hunting that I found a supplier that sells the stuff  at a reasonable price. In case you're from Chennai and interested, it's the Prarthana Inn Drive Nursery on East Coast Road. Though Chennai is not lacking in coconut trees, it's unfortunate that coco peat isn't easily available in the market. It appears that TN suppliers find it more profitable to export this wonder material than stock it for the local market. For those of you who cannot source coco peat, an alternative would be to tear away the little coconut husk that is left on the coconuts that one gets in shops. Don't try to separate them too much and use them as little chunks itself. On separating the fibre, it seems to retain less water. Since this form of husk is not an exact substitute, use it much  more judiciously.

Coco Peat / Coir Fibre Pith / Coir
What's so great about Coco Peat?
Coco peat is a natural fibre derived from coconut husks. Since coconut trees grow in abundance in India, its use is environment friendly. It has tremendous water retention capacity and cannot be easily over-watered. It helps soil aeration and provides for a healthy root system. Because it is lightweight, it's a good option for rooftop gardens housed on roofs that haven't been treated to bear the extra weight. However, since coco peat doesn't provide any nutrients of its own -- it could in fact draw some of the nutrition away from the plant -- regular fertilizing is important.

Equipped with plenty of coco peat and compost this year, I've begun planting my seeds in my new potting soil. If my soil recipe works well, I shall post it. Here is my homemade seed starter tray - a discarded egg carton. The seeds were from a coloured capsicum that I dried at home. The  >90% germination rate indicates that I'm on the right track. While I like to start all my plants from seed, the lemon and curry leaf trees are going to be exceptions. I've got saplings of the two as the right seeds are hard to find.
Capsicum Seedlings: 11/12 Sprouts in a Converted Egg Carton
More about them and other new plants in future posts. Till then, happy gardening!
A Sunny Zinnia

35 comments:

  1. Yep, you've definitely got the Gardening Bug! It's nice to see your enthusiasm growing in line with your skill.

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  2. Hi Anita,
    You have a lovely writing style.
    I will be visiting often.
    May I add your blog to my bloglist?
    Chitra
    http://just-my-garden.blogspot.com/

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  3. In the UK, coco fibre mats are sold to line hanging plant baskets. Looking forward to seeing the results of your experiments.

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  4. Hi Chitra, I would be more than happy that you add my blog to your list. You have a nice blog and I shall be following it.

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  5. Congrats on the new plans of expansion. With your kind of devotion I'm sure your veggie garden will do really well. I enjoy seeing photos of your garden produce and till date there's been a wonderful variety.

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  6. Found your blog through Mark's blog and I'll be adding it as well. Very interesting on the cocoa fiber. I almost never eat coconut and usually then it is not fresh but I really need to start trying more things.
    I, too, use egg cartons to start my seeds and I would like to at least get a Meyer lemon this year. I had one before but didn't water enough and lost it (I am bad about not watering enough when the temps get too hot here in the summer.)

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  7. Interested to see how it works with the Coir! It's is nearly inpossible to find here near Chicago. Found you through Becky. Keep up the good work!

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  8. Interesting write-up, Anita. It's good to involve kids in gardening activities; has positive impact on the kids. I use coco peat a lot; for seed starting, for soil mixture, for growing a variety of plants such as ferns and seasonal plants. Try using paper pots (with coco peat) to germinate seeds; it's amazing to see how well roots develop. All the best, and looking forward for updates about your new collection of plants.

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  9. Coir is available here in the US, but I have never used it. We seem to have and use a lot more peat moss here as part of a soil mixture. Cute photo of your son. Maybe he'll grow up to be a gardener as one of my sons did.

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  10. lovely pictures. good luck!

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  11. I think having an understading of food and growth are such enriching things in childhood and the tastes and smells of those foods will bring happy memories for ever.

    I was wondering if you (and indeed your gardening followers) might add your garden to Folia the online gardening website (it's free). I'm always looking to encourage more gardeners to join as it's the best garden site I've found in several years.

    It's a great resource for gardeners and has helped me keep on top of my 800+ plantings with photo's, notes, journals, milestones etc. They have an extensive plant wiki and a seed stash section where people can also list seeds for swapping and see who else is growing the same plant around the world.

    Here's the link join and to access my own Folia pages www.myfolia.com/gardener/CDfolia/invite. (my member name is CDfolia).

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Cally for the invite. Folia seems like a great gardening site.

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  12. Hi Anita,
    Just found your blog-always fascinating to see gardens in other climates. I was particularly interested in your lovely Curry Leaf plant. I do so love cooking with the aromatic leaves. I have two 3 year old plants which are still rather small, as in my Welsh climate, they struggle to grow much. In the Summer they live in the greenhouse and I bring them inside on my kitchen window sill in the Winter. Unfortunately my Burmese cats also adore them and are forever nipping up there and trying to have a sneaky munch on them too...

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    1. A lot of people I know grow curry leaf with ease here in Chennai. That's because it's so sunny here. I'm really impressed at how you're able to grow it in your region.

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    2. Fascinating...do they grow the plants from seeds or take cuttings?

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    3. While you can grow curry leaf from seed, it's not commonly done. That's because the seed has to be just the right ripeness for it to germinate successfully, which is for a very short time. And while cuttings can be used to propagate them, the simplest and most common way of propagation here is by suckers. Plenty of small plants/suckers are seen at the base of a mature curry leaf tree, which when young, can be easily separated from the main tree and grown in another location.

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  13. Anita, I am now inspired to try my hand at veggie gardening! I just got my first lot of compost from the kambha, and am happy about that!

    I like your little egg-carton seed tray, maybe I will try that. What is the easiest (read, sure to succeed!) veggie to start with in Chennai?

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    1. Congrats Flowergirl! I am so happy to hear that you got your first batch of compost. Now you'll never stop composting!
      I found spinach, chillies and ladies fingers very easy to grow here in Chennai. If you want specific information about where I got the seeds in Chennai, please mail me.

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  14. In a basic sense, Coco Peat moss is a natural roughage designed from grape husks. Throughout the years, it has been established as one of the excellent natural solutions to peat moss moss. Furthermore, what is exciting about coco peat moss is that it is an entirely natural increasing method, which is prepared through sun blow drying and become several items such as prevent, briquettes, platforms, and so on.

    Coir Peat

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  15. Thanks so much for the recommendations ...Most helpful indeed!

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  16. Hi,

    Your Blog has a lot of very useful information in simple language, Kudos to your effort.

    I am struggling to get some good pest control remedies for a Kitchen garden, mostly vegetable plants, Please advice or point me to some pest control remedies.

    -Vijay

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    1. Hi Vijay,
      Sorry for the delayed reply. Different pest problems require different remedies... but to generalize, natural pesticides that I've used comprise: neem oil (found in country medicine shops), turmeric, tobacco/cigarettes, soap solution, dried and crushed custard apple seeds and garlic. How exactly they are to be used and in what quantities, depends on the pest problem. A good book on Indian organic gardening may be the best place to find the pest remedies.

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  17. Hi Anita,
    Am glad to have come across your blog. I have started a vegetable garden recently in my balcony and am a complete novice. Wanted to check with you if i can use only cocopeat as a medium to grow my plants. Red soil is heavy, messy and staining the floor. When using only coco peat, should we use fertilizers often and can we use organic fertilizers only.

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    1. I'm not sure how you can go about with "only cocopeat". You'll have to check with an expert. I've always used a combination of red mud, sand, cocopeat and compost. I know soil can be messy, indoors. I use plastic plates under the containers, to reduce the messiness.

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  18. Prarthana Inn Drive Nursery.

    A complete address would be useful. Please provide. I am in Chennai. Not able to find any source of coco peat.

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    1. Hi Soumyakant,

      The nursery is attached to the Prarthana Drive Inn Theatre, which is on ECR.
      The Address is:
      Prarthana Beach Drive-in Theatre Complex
      East Coast Road,
      Injambakkam,
      Chennai 600 041
      http://prarthanadriveintheatre.com/locationmap.aspx

      BTW... there are several nurseries on East Coast Road, but not all are good. Quite a few of them sell substandard or overpriced stuff.

      Hope this helps.

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  19. where do I get seeds for curry leaves plant???

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    1. Usually nurseries sell saplings. You can also look around a curry leaf tree for young saplings. This is the easiest way one can start a curry leaf plant.
      It is much harder to start a plant from seeds as they have to be just the right age for it to germinate.

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  20. Hi Anita can you please let me include your blog in my website
    www.mrsroofgardener.com

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    1. Hi Benit,
      You have a really nice blog. Would be happy if my blog was featured on your site,

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  21. Nice Blog on Kitchen Gardening Information, can you let me know can i grow vegetables on terrace with help of only "Cocopeat + Vermicompost". i am confused.

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  22. can i grow my flowering and vegetable plants only in cocopeat

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    1. Cocopeat will not provide any nutrition on its own. Please add some compost to the coocopeat.

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