Ila Sharma Spoke on Plant Propagation & Scanty Survival of Nursery Bought Plants
Unit 8 of All India Kitchen Garden Association met after a gap of two months of summer heat on 2nd July at 12 noon at Sagar Ratna, Ashoka Hotel. Ila Sharma was our guest speaker. Topic of discussion was ‘Plant propagation and scanty survival of nursery bought plants’. Members attended the meet at almost full capacity because they all missed each other for two months and secondly the popularity of Ilaji and apt subject for the rainy season.
Since the summer sun is harsh for the plants, there are a lot of casualties, especially this year when the temperature touched almost 50 degrees in Delhi.
Most of the owners of home gardens are cribbing about losing expensive and well cared for plants. So as soon as the rainy season starts, we rush to the nursery to make our garden look green and colourful. In the process we buy lots of plants, which look stable and healthy in the nursery and place them as per our choice at home.
During this period, we have to be patient and do the initial preparation like taking out the rotten leaves from the gamlas and pinch the flowers which have lived their life. Do gurdai and leave the plant until the soil is free of unwanted moisture, not the time to be impulsive and plan how many plants you need at a time and where they are going to be placed according to the requirement of Sun/half shade/shade etc. For instance, money plants and some other plants with green leaves can not withstand full sun. Yet adenium is happy in the sun for a couple of hours.
Three things are important for propagation of plants: a. placement, b. watering and c. fertilizers. Nursery plants should not be potted immediately. It has to acclimatize in the new environment. Placement should have air circulation. Too much watering can harm the roots. Pruning should be done before the start of season. Start with light pruning where one can prune light branches and those which have already given one season eg mongra. Consequently, plants will have thick new ground which will give good flowers/fruits.
Mulching has its own role. After light gudai one layer of soil has to be taken out and dried following the feeding of vermicompost, few grains of DAP and a bit of haldi powder and dose should be mixed well. Next layer can be of soil taken out of the gamla, sprinkle water and cover it with fallen leaves. This will be a good cover for the plant to grow. Mulching is the process of gudai of plants.
Coming to different types of khaad and there are two types: Organic Khads are of two types: a. Gobar Khad, b. Vermicompost, c. Kitchen waste and putti khad.
Vermi compost has more utility provided it is good quality. There are different types of vermicompost in the market. Yet the best is gobar khad with vermicompost wash because gobar khad sometimes has weeds in it. So, they grow as and when you use khad. These weeds have to be taken out time and again. It involves time, energy and cost.
Khad should be used while preparing the ground. It should not be used if the flowers start coming because khad feed at this stage will hasten the ripening process. As a result you get small fruits.
Kitchen waste and putti khad- both are very good provided they are properly prepared, for your small kitchen garden. It can not fulfill the requirement of a big garden. Please remember three things before buying vermicompost with living worms in it is a good khad. Secondly, the khad should not be like chura. Thirdly it is not necessary to buy branded khad. Even local khad can be used if it has the qualities mentioned above.
We are learning about fertilizers for the time being. It will be taken up at a later date. Members were very happy because of good ambience, good speaker and lovely food. Thankyou Bhabiji for your good organization of the Meet and other paraphernalia in spite of her health problems. Bharti gave a vote of thanks on behalf of everyone present there. This was the closing ceremony of the Meet.
