Home Gardening

management
Vanditha.C.V.
 Various areas of Home Garden

• Backyard- Vegetable
• Patch Lawn
• Flower Beds
• Hedges, Edges, Topiary Pots
• Terrace Gardens

Here we discuss on Vegetable Gardening in Backyard, Pots and

Terrace.
 Kitchen Garden- General
Guidelines
• It should be in a sunny location as most fruiting plants need ample
sunlight.
• North or East Facing garden will get most Sun

• Layout to be done in such a manner to avoid shade of taller plants/trees

on smaller plants

• Irrigation source is a must, we can use the bathroom and kitchen waste
water
• Provide for a compost pit for taking care of trash and for round the
year supply of manure

• Soil to be Sandy loam with good drainage. Use lots of organic manure for
best fertility
 Kitchen Garden- General
Guidelines

Depending upon size of plot, we can choose

– Fruit trees- Mango, Papaya, Lime, Pomogranate etc (
choose dwarf varieties)
– Trees yielding vegetables- Drum sticks
– Herbaceous Vegetables- Tomato, Brinjal,Chillies
– Leafy Vegetables- Spinach, Fenugreek, Coriender
– Root Crops- Radish, Turnip, Carrot
– Climbers- Cucurbits- Can be trained on trellis, walls, trees
etc
 Layout Plan and Choosing
what to grow

• According to the space, the Plan should be made to avoid

too much crowding and also maximizing the space- both
Horizontal and vertical.

• Perennials and tall crops to be planted towards the North

boundaries away from Sun so that they may not interfere
with vegetable crops.

• Vines can be trained on these crops.

• Longer duration crops to be intercropped with smaller

duration crop.
 Drum stick

Mango

Banana & Papaya

Maize Okra Okra

Maize Okra Okra

Crop Photos of intercrops

Chillies Brinjal Brinjal

Capsicum Brinjal Tomato

Tomato Tomato Tomato

Suggested Plan of a 50 Sq M Vegetable Garden

Spinach Spinach Tomato

Compost
Spinach Spinach Pit

Water Channel
 Land Preparation

• Land to be thoroughly prepared to a fine tilth. Organic

Manure to be applied as much as possible.

• Depending upon the soil, we can lay out flat or raised

beds. Width of the beds should not exceed 4 ft and a gap,
Water channel or walkway of 1-1.5 ft to be provided for
easy watering and access.
 Fertiliser Application

• Plants Need regular Fertiliser application in order to grow

properly. As much as possible Organic manures to be used
in kitchen Garden.
• Fertilisers can be used either as a Basal or Top-dressed.
 Interculture and Weed
Management

• Kitchen garden should be planned and grown in such a way that

no inch of land may be wasted, however unwanted plants or
Weeds do come up and compete with the main crop.

• As much as Possible, Weeds to be managed by Interculture and

not Chemically

• Weeds can be controlled by mulching the open area between

crop.
 Plant Protection

• We do not recommend Pesticides use on crops until absolutely

necessary.

• Insects, where ever possible may be physically collected and

disposed off.

• Neem Based Formulations should be preferred as first line of

defense.
• For Termites, ants etc, Srigent Gr ( Fipronil 0.3% Gr) 2 gm per Sq
m may be mixed in soil during soil preparation.

• For most Fungal and Bacterial diseases, Preventive application of

Acer @ 2 gm + Bacterogold 0.05 gm per lit water may be used as
spray or Soil Drench at every 15 days interval.
 Pot and Terrace Garden
• In Urban living, Space is a constraint and a Kitchen Garden is a luxury.
However, gardening can be done in Pots and Terrace.

• Pots can be of various Shapes and Sizes.

• Crop selection should be done so that the Roots of the plant do not crowd the
Pot.

• Largest size of Pot available should be preferred

• Drainage and aeration is an important factor while choosing pot.

• Duration and Amount of sunlight will decide the crop selected. Fruits and leafy
vegetables need at least 4 hours of high intensity sunshine. Potting Mixture
should be 1/3 clay, 1/3 Sand and 1/3 well decomposed organic Manure.
Coconut Husk or dry coconut powder may be added to increase soil water
retention

• Fertiliser Application should be done very carefully and wherever possible

Foliar feeding should be done.
 Pot and Tarrace Garden

• For a Pot, the Fertiliser dosage to be calculated as follows

– Assuming a 30 cm deep furrow depth in plot, we arrive at
the volume at 300 lit per sq m.
– The volume of soil in the pot can be taken from below
mentioned table. Eg, for a 60 cm dia pot, the soil capacity is
100 L. Hence the Fertiliser application will be 1/3 of the
land plot on per sq basis.
 Pot and Terrace Garden
• Terrace gardens can be made in any space, they may be either large
containers or a patch of Soil deposited on a Roof.
• Waterproofing and Drainage are key to hassle free waterproofing.
• Adequate Sunshine is vital to successful Terrace gardening especially for
growing fruit and leafy vegetables and Flowers
• Depth of Soil will determine what you can grow. Hence small herbaceous
plants can be grown in 15 cm depth, while for larger root systems such as
sweet corn or Okra, minimum 50 cm of soil depth is a must.
• If you are making a Terrace Garden on the Roof as a base ( Entire or a
corner- Your choice), Make sure that
– Small subplots to be made that are accessible.
– Some Constraining structure should be provided to contain the soil and it may not
overflow and fill the entire Roof or clog the drains.
• Soil Mixture will be the same as explained earlier for filling Pots.
• Similarly fertiliser application to be according to the volume of Soil in the
Garden.
Tips for successful Home
Gardening
 Composting

• Most of the kitchen waste can be converted to valuable

compost.

• If space is available, then dig a Pit of appox 50 cm and as

suitable dimensions. If not, then take two large sized Barrels.
When One Barrel is filled, keep it aside in a shady place for
about one month,fill the other barrel while the first gets
composted.

• Add Earthworms for better composting and nutritive value.

• Compost should be well decomposed before adding to soil.

 Step 1: Add Kitchen Waste in
Container

Add kitchen waste like fruit peels, vegetables, eggshells, coffee or tea powder to a container
(bucket, drum, terracotta pot). For a continuous cycle, maintaining two containers so that if
one is filled, you can continue the process in the other.
 Step 2: Add the Browns

Arrange for the browns like dry shredded leaves, sawdust or cocopeat to control the
moisture and add them to the wet garbage.
Step 3: Arrange for Microbes

Arrange for microbes to break down the wet waste. Either get microbes from semi-
done compost or generate a fresh patch by adding cow dung. You can also add
buttermilk to kickstart the microbial colony.
 Step 4: Provide Oxygen

In aerobic composting, providing oxygen is very crucial for a smell-free composting

cycle and to avoid crawlies like maggots. Either you can make perforated holes in your
container or churn the pile of waste once every four days.
 Step 5: Layering

Aerobic composting will prepare manure in 40-45 days. All you have to do is keep adding kitchen
waste daily and ensure oxygen flow. If the mix becomes soggy, add more browns to maintain the
ratio.
Composting is like the art of cooking and is completely subjective. There is no hard and fast rule
regarding the quantity of waste, dry leaves or the size of the container. Keep containers covered and
do not let rainwater percolate inside
 Seed sowing and
transplanting
• Seed should be from reliable source.

• Very small sized seeds should be grown in germination trays and

kept in partial sunlight for germination. Moisture level should be
maintained but no waterlogging to be allowed.Rooting mixture may
contain coconut powder mixed with Compost.

• Once seeds grow sufficiently, they can be transplanted to the main

growing area. Before trasplanting, reeots should be treated with
Biogold slurry made with 10 gm Biogold in 1 lit water. It should be
soaked for 2-3 hours before tranplanting. If soaking is not feasible,
slurry may be applied in the root zone 24 hours before
transplanting.

• Transplanting should be done in morning or evening hours to let the

plant come out of transplanting shock. Moisture to be adequate for
seedling to establish.
Common Insects

APHID

MEALY BUG LEAF MINER

 Control of Pests
• As much as Possible, Physical
control should be preferred.
Phyto-sanitation to

• Be observed for reducing the

pest infestation, if other
measures fail, Neem Based
Formulations are recommended
for Pest Control

• Predators such as Lady Bird

Beetle should be preserved.
 Common Diseases

Damping Off Wilt Powdery Mildew

Downy Mildew Anthracnose Leaf Spot

Happy Gardening!!