Gardening Talks ft. the.plant_doc

Vikranti and her Vegetable kitchen garden:

“Welcome to the gardening talks featuring the plant doc. Today we will be answering questions on how to grow Common Vegetative Plants at home. So, today we have Miss Vikranti Sailor with her healthy and vegetative plants. Hello Vikranti, How are you?” asked Zehra. “Hello everyone, Hi Zehra, I am doing great. It’s always a pleasure talking with you guys. Thank you to the affordable organic store and Taos for organizing this wonderful doc session.” Said Vikranti. “Vikranti is a Doctor by profession and a loving and passionate plant mom, as you can see from her beautiful balcony. Before we take our first question. Vikranti, please tell me about yourself?” Said Zehra. “I am Dr. Vikranti Sailor. I’m Physician by profession, currently working in Surat, Gujarat. I have a keen interest in biology, so I love experimenting and growing new plants. Therefore, I always cherish my plants.” Said Vikranti. 

So:

1. “how to grow a Lemon plant from seeds?” asked Zehra.

“To grow a Lemon plant, you need to remove the seeds from the lemon plant and clean the seeds and dry them thoroughly. There are many ways to grow plants.

• You should take the seed from the most ripped lemon. As there are chances, they survive for a long period. You also need to prepare a Propagation Tray and prepare the soil medium, which contains 60% garden soil and 40% compost. You have to place the seed in the middle of the soil with the help of a stick and cover it properly, and make sure that the plant is not in direct sunlight. After 2-8 weeks, the seed starts to germinate. You can transfer the small sapling into a pot, only after it develops in the Propagation tray. There should be compost addition in 15-20 days. And after the plant grows to 5-10 centimeters, you have to give support to the plant. 
• You can also grow the lemon plant in a Tissue. You need to secure the seed in tissue and sprinkle water on it. It needs to be kept sealed in a zip-lock bag. It should be kept in mind that there is moisture in the bag so that the seed can germinate properly. When the plant becomes 2-5 inches, you can transfer it to the Propagation Tray.” Said Vikranti.

“Yes, that was a wonderful explanation. So, moving to the next question:

2. “how to grow a Capsicum plant from seeds?” Asked Zehra.

“So, regarding Capsicum, it is easy to grow the yellow and red capsicum, because they are grown on plants and are considered mature. So, even if you keep the seeds in water for 2-3 hours, they are fast to germinate. You can grow the plant in many ways:-

1. You can grow the plant in a Zip-lock bag.
2. You can grow the plant in water, and then transfer it to a soil medium.

Originally, the Capsicum plant needs a lot of nutrition, like Calcium and Potassium. If possible, provide the plant with Bio enzymes and various sources of Calcium for better development of the plant. You can also go for using Neem Oil in the soil, it grows very well. Capsicum usually takes 90 days to grow big and healthy. If you are bringing stored seeds of capsicum, then usually they are dry so you need to make sure that it is moist before planting it in the soil. The method of first growing it in a propagation tray, then transferring it to a small pot when it becomes a seedling, and then with every stage, it is transferred to the right size pot for better growth of the plant.” Said Vikranti.

“So, how many days does it takes to harvest the capsicum from the plant?” asked Zehra. “It takes 90 days to harvest, but it also depends upon the fertilizers we use. Usually, if you use more inorganic fertilizers the size of the capsicum is very big, in comparison to the capsicum that you have grown in the house with organic fertilizers. These plants need sunlight, the best time is morning 6-8 a.m. sunlight.” Said Vikranti. 

“Thank you for the explanation. The next question is:

3. “how do tomatoes grow with seeds?” Asked Zehra.

 “You have to choose ripe tomatoes and extract seeds from the pulp, and then dry them and then plant them. Tomatoes usually take 1 week to sprout, and then you have to attach a stick for the support to the plant. At the end stage, Suckers are developed between the main stem and side stem, they don’t provide any help to the plant rather they suck the material provided to the plant, so you need to keep in mind to remove the suckers from the plant at their beginning stage.” 

“You can grow tomato plants near capsicum as they both require nutrition. Tomatoes require a lot of pesticide infestation because they develop a lot of infections. To save them from infection you can use Neem oil spray, as they are considered the most sensitive plant.” Said Vikranti.

4. “which kind of fertilizers do you use for your plants?” Asked Zehra. 

“We prepare our compost from the kitchen waste (vegetable peels) on our terrace, and we add eggshell and banana peel into that organic homemade compost. We use our organic compost to fertilize our plants.” Said Vikranti.

“So, next question;

5. “how to grow Lettuce in pots in India?” Asked Zehra.

“So, Lettuce is a winter crop, it is difficult to grow it in the summer season. At the beginning of the winter season, the seeds of the Lettuce plant are sown in the soil, they look similar to cumin seeds. You have to put the seed in a Propagation tray and nourish it with water. Within 1-2 weeks, they start to germinate. After that, you can transfer the small plant into a small pot. The most important thing is, the harvest from Lettuce seeds gets ready in 6-7 days. You have to keep in mind while harvesting, first harvests the outer leaves and then the inner leaves, as the inner leaves can grow again at a good pace, as you get space to grow the plant. Points to be kept in mind while growing Lettuce plants:-

• Spacing the plant, or it will turn into a bushy plant.
• Sunlight should not be direct sun rays. In winter, you can keep the plant in indirect sunlight.
• Compost should be used in addition to growing the plant every 15-20 days.” Said Vikranti. 

“So, the last question of the day:

6. “when to plant Lettuce seeds and in which month?” Asked Zehra.

“Since Lettuce is a winter crop, so, in India, if you grow the plant in November or the end of October month. Usually, the water from Rain is also checked for better growth of the plant. The best time to plant the seeds is when the rain has stopped and there is an early breeze of winter, this is the time when the plant grows healthy. It should be kept in mind that, even if the temperature is around or more than 25 degrees Celsius, the plant will not germinate as it requires a cooler atmosphere for germination, as they are not able to withstand hot temperature.” Said Vikranti. 

7. “what happens to these plants in the summer season, do they die?” Asked Zehra.

“Yes, the plant dies. As they start to wipe off and die during the summer season, as they are not able to withstand the hot temperature. Even the growth of the plant slows down. So, eventually getting the harvest again from that plant is not possible. You have to go through the process of sowing the seeds in the soil and the next winter season. You can get the seeds from the plant itself or you can buy it from stores, as they also obtain the seeds from the flowers of the plant.” Said Vikranti. 

“Thank you so much for the deep and detailed explanation, as you have solved all our doubts.” Said Zehra.

Thank you so much Vikranti!

I hope that the session helps and thank you everyone, for being in this workshop.

“Thank you so much Vikranti for giving your valuable time and knowledge, to solve our viewers’ questions. Thank you all of you for joining the workshop.”

“A garden feeds more than the table, it feeds the Soul.”

HAPPY GARDENING!