WOEBEGARDEN

HOW TO GROW COSMOS PLANT

2011-08-10T01:24:00.000-07:00

Also known as Mexican aster.
Spiritual significance of cosmos

A native of Mexico, this plant belongs to the sunflower family. There are about 20-26 varieties.
In India, in the plains, the most common varieties found are the yellow and orange flowers. The pink and white ones are found in hill stations. Double flowered cosmos varieties have been evolved at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, by induced mutation using X-rays.

The plants grow up to 6 ft in height. Though most varieties are perennials, after a certain stage they become very shabby. The seeds scatter everywhere and new plants come up almost taking up all ground space. So replace old plants when they start getting leggy. Thin out the seedlings or they get out of control. They start flowering 2 1/2 to 3 months from sowing.

Manuring: No need. As manuring produces excessive vegetative growth.
Location: Full sunlight or semi-shade.
Uses: Cut flower.

LANTANA

2009-07-04T18:52:00.001-07:00

Lantana depressa

This is the species with yellow flowers. This semi-trailing plant is sometimes used in bonsai. It is a hardy plant that withstands any amount of pruning. The flowers as you can see are borne in attractive clusters - and probably due to the shape of the leaves, they look like clusters of roses from afar.

I don't know the species name for this lantana. But of the 5 species of lantana in my garden, I love this best. It is truly intriguing - the colours & hues you see during the various stages of blooming.

WIKIPEDIA
provides further information about these plants.

GROWING A BANANA TREE IN YOUR HOME GARDEN

2009-06-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

The bunch seems to be diminutive and the fruit shriveled – reason I forgot to cut the flower as and when my mother told me to.

Growing a good yielding banana tree is very easy if you know how to go about it…
Here are some tips from my farmer uncles.

1. Dig a pit 1 ½ to 2 feet deep – the pit has to be really deep - otherwise the tree is not sufficiently anchored to bear the weight of the heavy fruit.
2. Leave the pit open for a couple of days. Let it have a good sun bath.
3. Select a healthy sucker – one that has a well developed rhizome.
4. Plant the sucker. Half fill the pit with well rotted manure (FYM – Farm Yard Manure or cow dung), leaf manure or wood ash. Fill the other half with the soil you dug out of the pit. Any soil left is banked around the tree.
5. A ridge is dug around about 2 feet away from the tree and the soil thus removed can be kept on the side of the ridge away from the tree – to be used for further banking the tree when it bears fruit.
6. The plant has to be watered on alternate days.
7. You can apply more Farm Yard Manure after 6 months and again after 8 months.
8. Bank the tree some more after each application of manure.
9. Now your tree should yield fruit in about 10 months.
10. Once the bunch has formed and the flowers start falling without more bananas forming, the flower has to be removed – this ensures bigger fruit and fuller bunches.
11. You get only one harvest from each banana plant. After the bunch is harvested , cut down the tree leaving a stump about 1 feet from the ground.
12. The tender stem in the middle layer of the trunk is used in cooking.

Note:
1. Frequently harvesting leaves from the tree means poor flowering and fruit setting.
2. If you must harvest leaves, then do it from only one of the daughter plants that shoot up around the mother plant letting the others grow unhampered.
3. Don’t let more than 3 daughter plants (tillers) – the growth of the main plant will be quicker and healthier. One of these can be the new mother plant after the mother plant is harvested.
4. The tree might start leaning to one side with the weight of the fruit. Bank the base of the tree with some more soil and support the fruit with a sturdy stick.

This particular tree took about 20 months to bear fruit. This is my first banana tree. I am hoping to do better next time.

BANANA TREE UPDATE

2009-06-28T18:28:00.000-07:00

Here's the update on my banana tree.

I had to support the tree with a stochy stick - else with the bananas growing in size and number the tree would have fallen down. The monsoon rains wash away the soil bund at the base.

The bananas have started showing. A few more weeks and they'll be reripen enough to eat.

MY BANANA TREE

2009-06-02T01:45:00.000-07:00

MY banana tree has finally decided to reward me for my efforts. After 1 year and 8 months of work and patience or should I say gestation, the tree is finally bearing fruit - literally.

2009-06-01T01:01:00.000-07:00

I am battling not just against bad soil but also against pests and bandicoots that take pleasure in eating up all my leaves and uprooting my plants. So here's some of what is left of all that destruction - My Hibiscus collection.