It has been a while since I published a post about gardening. Part of my advocacy is promoting healthy food choice by growing natural herbs and veggies at the comfort of your home garden. This post is about Urban Gardening Ideas.
Urban Gardening Ideas Tips
How to start an urban garden?
To start an urban garden, first think of the purpose of your gardening. Are you going to grow herbs or vegetables, flowers, or simply ornamental plants? How often can you attend to your plants? Where do you plan to set up your urban garden? These are the basic questions that you should answer before you start up.
To help you establish your home gardening plan, let me share with you my Urban Gardening Ideas and tips.
First, choose the best spot for your urban garden. Facing the morning sun is always the best location of your plants. But, if your place doesn’t have that spot, you can simply set the area where there is a good source of sunlight and air.
Second, choose terracotta pots over plastic pots. Terracotta pots are eco-friendly, allows for air and water to move through them, preventing soil disease and rot. Cloth grow bags are good to consider because they are breathable too.
If you are on a tight budget, you can use recycled plastic bottles and other recyclable materials that can be your pots. Plastic biscuit containers, used baskets can be great pots.
Third, choose good quality of potting mix or soil. Based on my gardening experience, it is best to mix 50% compost or vermicast to the garden soil if it is abundant in your place. A presence of CRH or carbonized rice hull of at least 30% is better to prevent root disease.
If you are a follower of Sir Don Bustamante’s Urban Container Organic Gardening, his potting soil mixture ratio is 3:1:1:1. That is three parts garden soil, one part carbonized rice hull, one part coco coir or rice hull and one part vermicast.
In my organic planting training at Sanctuario Nature’s Farm four years ago, this is the potting mix soil percentage suggestion:
Summer Season: potting mix needs to hold more moisture.
- Coco coir dust – 60% or 40%
- Carbonized Rice hull – 30% or 40%
- Vermicast/ Processed chicken manure – 10% or 20%
Rainy Season: potting mix should easily drain its water
- Coco coir dust – 40% or 30%
- Carbonized Rice hull – 50%
- Vermicast/ Processed chicken manure – 10% or 20%
If you are preparing your soil from scratch, make sure to sterilize the soil. One way to sterilize the soil is by using a clear plastic bag. Put soil inside it, then seal it. Leave it for 3 to 4 sunny days under the sun.
Fourth, place a UV garden net to filter and protect the plants too much exposure to the sun. This is advisable mostly when placing plants at the balcony or roof deck.
Lastly, use natural organic fertilizers for your plants. For flowering or fruiting, use banana peels. Cut it into slices, then soak it in water overnight. Use it to water the plants the next day. To strengthen the stems, flowers, and fruits, make use of CALPHOS.
To make CalPhos, you’ll need 1 part eggshells to 2 parts vinegar (phosphoric acid). First, grind the eggshells into a fine powder, then mix them with the phosphoric acid in a glass jar, and let it sit for 2-3 weeks. After that, you can use the CalPhos as a soil amendment or foliar spray.
Watering Tips: It is best to water the plants before the sunrise or when it is about to sunrise. When the weather is too hot, water the plants probably the soil in the afternoon at around 2pm to 5pm but not close to sunset.
Because of my passion and advocacy to Go Natural, Grow Herbs and Veggies, you can buy herbs and basic garden needs at my store Herbs To Go PH.
Happy Planting!
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