Gardening Talks ft. gardenwithher

Raksha and her Lovely Vegetable Plants: 

“Hello and good afternoon everyone, welcome to the Gardening Talks featuring gardenwithher. Today we have with us a set of frequently asked questions about Vegetable Gardening and to answer them for us, we have Miss Raksha Agarwal. Hello Raksha, how are you?” Asked Zehra. 

“Hello everyone. I am fine. Thank you for having me here, it’s a pleasure to be here thank you to the Affordable Organic Store for this amazing session.” Said Raksha. 

“So talking about her she is a pro at gardening and harvesting vegetables. She also has a variety of vegetables growing in our home and if you need the inspiration to grow vegetables, she is the one you should follow. So before beginning with the session, Raksha can you tell us a little about yourself?” Asked Zehra. 

“Hi everyone my name is Raksha Agarwal. I am a senior student and a passionate gardener as well. I started my gardening journey back in 2020 when the whole world was in lockdown, so basically, it started just as an everyday gardening activity to spend my time when we all were looking for something to do. Later, it turned into my passion, my hobby, and you can say something that I look forward to every day. Plants are just magical it gives me so much peace and confidence in myself. It was a journey full of ups and down, so there were so many failures and many successes I will learn to experience them by growing vegetables, water plants, and indoor plants, and with the help of my experience, I am here to answer your questions.” Said Raksha. 

“So our first question is:

1. how to grow vegetables from seeds?” Asked Zehra. 

“So growing vegetables from seeds is the basis of gardening. So the important points are: 

1. Firstly, you need to have good quality seeds, you can purchase seeds from the market or you can also use the seeds from the ripest vegetables in your kitchen. Take out the seeds from the vegetables, dry them out and then plant them in the soil. You can use seeds of various kinds of vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. 
2. Secondly, the most important factor that plays a role in germinating a seed is the season or the weather. If there is no season for growing a particular vegetable the seeds will not germinate, so you should know the season of the vegetables be it a winter vegetable, summer vegetable, or monsoon vegetable, etc. 
3. Thirdly, the important factor is Sunlight. As Sunlight plays a very important role in germinating your seeds or else the seeds will be leggy and weak, and they will not turn into a healthy plants to give you a good harvest. You need to give them an ample amount of Sunlight and along with the sunlight, they need to rest for certain hours also, so you should make sure that they get the whole day’s sunlight, direct light or indirect sunlight depending upon the vegetable state and then you can place them in a position or a place where they can get their requirements fulfilled. As plants require sunlight for the whole process from germinating to turning into a healthy plant and if you ask me to tell you about a plant that can grow without sunlight then I would be having no answer to it. As every plant requires sunlight and especially in the case of vegetables they require a good amount of Sunlight for healthy growth. 
4. You need to have a fresh Soil mixture. I would say do not use the garden soil that you have already used for other plants and not the soil in which you have planted any kind of plant and reuse it. Because a fresh soil mixture ensures that your seedling will grow disease free and your harvest the vegetables and eat those vegetables it is very much required that you need to use healthy soil for their growth. 
5. You can grow the plant in any kind of container but they should be two to three inches deep.” Said Raksha.

“So, let’s move on to the next question:

2. “how do grow vegetables in pots at home?” Asked Zehra. 

“So normally the vegetables are fast free doesn’t depend upon the kind of container you are using but the important point to keep in mind is that the bigger the container more healthy the plant will grow as the plant requires its roots to be expanded in the soil, therefore, they require a certain amount of space, they require a certain amount of height to grow their roots healthily and therefore the size of the container matters I will highly recommend growing bags for it maybe 12 to 18 inches long and 10 inches wide grow bags. Grow bags are very helpful as they are very deep and cost-effective you can also use any kind of pot or planter that are big enough for growing the vegetable I would recommend that every kind of container you are using make sure that it has drainage holes will help in the release of extra water from the plants or else the roots of the plant may rot due to waterlogging. For example, if you are growing Coriander or Spinach you need wide containers and if you are growing Brinjals you need deep containers.” Said Raksha. 

3. “How to grow vegetables at home in summer?” Asked Zehra. 

“So for me, summers are the best season for growing vegetables because at that time you get a lot of direct sunlight. Important points to keep in mind are:

1. Choose a summer vegetable: You need to take care that the vegetables that you are growing are suitable for growing in the summer like brinjals, zucchini, okra, tomatoes, cucumber, etc.
2. Keep the soil moist: Make sure that the soil is not very soggy, not very dry, but moist. You need to water the plant twice a day and again it depends upon the container that you are using. As if it is a garden bed the water will evaporate very quickly but if it is a big container with a very compact space the water will evaporate very slowly.
3. The important trick,

• ‌ If your plants are burning and suffering from extreme heat, sprinkle some water on the leaves of the vegetable plants, so that the plant will cool off. And make sure to not over sprinkle the water on plant leaves as it will store water and will attract pests. 
• Always water the plant early in the morning or in the evening as you water the plant in the morning they have the whole day and they can pass the whole day without suffering from the extreme heat of summer. 

So the best time for sowing your summer seeds is February to March because at the end of March-April they will start generating. In April-May, it will grow in bigger plants. A temperature of February-March is the right time for the seeds to germinate and turn into healthy plants. In May-June, it will start giving you harvest.” Said Raksha. 

4. “How to grow seeds from vegetables?” Asked Zehra. 

“Most people don’t know that you can harvest seeds from any kind of vegetable you are growing you can store those seeds for the next season and you have the most amazing and healthy seeds readily available for the next season. 

So once the plant has given you the harvest then the plant will focus its energy on growing the seeds let those seeds grow properly on the plant then let them dry off on the plant and then you just have to harvest seeds cut those seeds and save it for your next season for other plants like the brinjal or cucumber let those fruit ripe on the plant itself, once it gets fully ripe on the wine itself then pluck the fruit, takeout the seeds and let them dry off for a week and then you can save those seeds for the next season to grow a new plant from them. The seeds should be dried off completely before storing them for 1-2 years. Use airtight containers or pouches for storing seeds. It is like a Cycle of growth.” Said Raksha. 

“So our last question for today is:

5. “what vegetables we can plant now (August)?” Asked Zehra. 

“As the summers have passed already and monsoon is also about to end and winters are starting, this is the month of August and this is the best season for growing vegetables like Brinjals, Zucchinis, Bottle Gourd (lauki), Tomatoes, Okra, Chilies, Radishes, Lettuce, Broccoli, Cauliflowers, etc., because the temperature has started to cool off so you can also start your winter vegetables it also depends highly on where you stay like if you are in North India or South India. So you can start with the vegetables according to the temperature in your area. I leaving in Rajasthan where there is so much heat I have started by planting Chili seeds because it is always a challenge to grow Chili seeds in extreme heat because it requires cool temperatures secondly I have also planted tomato, brinjal. I have also grown some bottle gourd and ridge gourds. Regarding pests, always use Neem Oil solution or mild soup solution but don’t use any kind of chemicals.” Said Raksha. 

Thank you so much, Raksha!

Thank you, Raksha, for the detailed explanation and beautiful answers to all the questions. I hope everyone has enjoyed the informative session. Thank you all for joining the session. 

HAPPY GARDENING!