Friday, 5 August 2011
Saturday, 23 July 2011
soil in pots - cost vs quality
One the most difficult aspects of my balcony garden is balancing cost and quality. Like any interest or passion, it's as expensive as we want to make it - and soil can be an expensive part of the set up.
Here in Malaysia, we can find some really cheap 2kg bags of soil in the supermarket for only RM2.50. It's fantastic, especially if you're filling up a very large tub. The only problem is that water retention is low, and although they have some nutrients, they run out of them quickly.
So how can we maximise our plant potential and keep costs low?
On my balcony, most of my plants have cheap soil, because it's what I can afford. However, I'm constantly having to water thirsty plants - the hibiscus and herbs such a basil are particularly thirsty. To completely replace all the soil is out of the question. So, I've replaced the top layer with a clay soil or a mulch. They both allow the water to come through, but slows down evaporation from the pot.
For new plants, I'll choose the soil according to the plant's needs.
Thirsty plants/plants that don't like dry roots:
- invest in good quality rich soil - it saves so much time walking in and out with the watering can.
Plants that don't like wet roots or don't need a lot of water (such as aloe vera)
- the cheap soil is fine. It's got good drainage and doesn't rot the roots. Just need to add fertiliser from time to time.
What soil do you like using for your pot plants?
Here in Malaysia, we can find some really cheap 2kg bags of soil in the supermarket for only RM2.50. It's fantastic, especially if you're filling up a very large tub. The only problem is that water retention is low, and although they have some nutrients, they run out of them quickly.
So how can we maximise our plant potential and keep costs low?
On my balcony, most of my plants have cheap soil, because it's what I can afford. However, I'm constantly having to water thirsty plants - the hibiscus and herbs such a basil are particularly thirsty. To completely replace all the soil is out of the question. So, I've replaced the top layer with a clay soil or a mulch. They both allow the water to come through, but slows down evaporation from the pot.
For new plants, I'll choose the soil according to the plant's needs.
Thirsty plants/plants that don't like dry roots:
- invest in good quality rich soil - it saves so much time walking in and out with the watering can.
Plants that don't like wet roots or don't need a lot of water (such as aloe vera)
- the cheap soil is fine. It's got good drainage and doesn't rot the roots. Just need to add fertiliser from time to time.
What soil do you like using for your pot plants?
Friday, 15 July 2011
Balconies in KL
It's been taking a long time to get this sorted out, but it's finally going to happen!
For a while I've been wanting to showcase beautiful and interesting balconies around KL so that we can share ideas. However, I've been having lots of technological problems which have held it back. Recently, they've been sorted out and I can get started. I plan to have the first ones out very soon.
Another highlight I'm bringing to my blog is videos on how to do different things about the place. The first one is being made right now.
So, watch this space. See you soon.
Sunday, 22 May 2011
Japanese Paper Roses
When we went to Sungei Buloh to get plants a few weeks back, both my daughters wanted to get roses. I wasn't so keen as they are very difficult in a tropical country, but they wheedled me into it, so we came home with three traditional roses and two hybrid plants which the vendor called a Japanese Paper Rose.
The paper rose has a beautiful flower which looks just like a rose, but the plant is quite different. The traditional rose is quite bushy and has woody stems. They most often come up from one stem and branch off from that. The paper rose, on the other hand, looks more like an annual. All its stems come straight up out of the soil and don't branch off. The stems aren't woody either. They are herbaceous and thornless. In that regard, I think they won't last longer than a year.
As you can see, the leaves come out straight from the main stem itself without any small one of its own. It looks more like a sweetpea leaf.
We've tried to find out information on the internet about them, but haven't succeeded yet. Frances did find out a lot of information about traditional roses of course, sadly none of it about growing them in a tropical country. All the same, there was a lot of practical information that could be applied to them wherever they are.
1. They like well-drained soil. They don't like sitting in water, but they want a lot of it passing through. Frances solved this by getting an IKEA metal kitchen shelf with holes in it and putting a container under it.
2. They like lots of sun, but no heat.
3. They also like circulating air, but no direct breeze on them.
4. They don't like sharing their pot or space.
5. They like rain on them or a spray from time to time.
6. Regular fertiliser
So fussy!
She has got them in her window which gets afternoon sun and she leaves her fan on low to circulate the air.
She says that they responded well at the beginning, but they seem to have paused in their growth. She says that the soil is very wet even with it being drained. I wonder if it needs to dry out a little before the next watering because of the local humidity. I looked up on http://scvrs.homestead.com/WaterAndRoses.html and it mentions that they like a lot of water, but less in high humidity. So, it might pay to give a little less. We'll see. It also mentions that it's good to add a mulch to the top, such as bark. I might have to look into that. The mulch inhibits evaporation, helps keep the plant roots cool and provides nutrients.
This shows how the two types of roses look quite different. The new hybrid is on the right. You can see the metal shelf that Frances uses too.
The paper rose has a beautiful flower which looks just like a rose, but the plant is quite different. The traditional rose is quite bushy and has woody stems. They most often come up from one stem and branch off from that. The paper rose, on the other hand, looks more like an annual. All its stems come straight up out of the soil and don't branch off. The stems aren't woody either. They are herbaceous and thornless. In that regard, I think they won't last longer than a year.
As you can see, the leaves come out straight from the main stem itself without any small one of its own. It looks more like a sweetpea leaf.
We've tried to find out information on the internet about them, but haven't succeeded yet. Frances did find out a lot of information about traditional roses of course, sadly none of it about growing them in a tropical country. All the same, there was a lot of practical information that could be applied to them wherever they are.
1. They like well-drained soil. They don't like sitting in water, but they want a lot of it passing through. Frances solved this by getting an IKEA metal kitchen shelf with holes in it and putting a container under it.
2. They like lots of sun, but no heat.
3. They also like circulating air, but no direct breeze on them.
4. They don't like sharing their pot or space.
5. They like rain on them or a spray from time to time.
6. Regular fertiliser
So fussy!
She has got them in her window which gets afternoon sun and she leaves her fan on low to circulate the air.
She says that they responded well at the beginning, but they seem to have paused in their growth. She says that the soil is very wet even with it being drained. I wonder if it needs to dry out a little before the next watering because of the local humidity. I looked up on http://scvrs.homestead.com/WaterAndRoses.html and it mentions that they like a lot of water, but less in high humidity. So, it might pay to give a little less. We'll see. It also mentions that it's good to add a mulch to the top, such as bark. I might have to look into that. The mulch inhibits evaporation, helps keep the plant roots cool and provides nutrients.
This shows how the two types of roses look quite different. The new hybrid is on the right. You can see the metal shelf that Frances uses too.
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