Gardening And Second Chances.
Last year, it was around the time when I started blogging that I also started some home gardening. Albeit, I neglected it much more than I should’ve; which led some seeds to be thrown away, while they’re being stratified in my refrigerator, by family.
Others that were planted grew, and were growing just fine; these were — a Brinjal plant, a Plumeria tree, and a couple of bonsai trees. Out of these the Brinjal plant, along with its container, got stolen; these plants/trees were housed on the community terrace of my apartment building. The bonsai trees, I gave away to another. The Plumeria tree, I neglected it for the longest time, disheartened by the fact that people could steal plants of all things, and due to some other personal circumstances (more about that soon) withstanding, the Plumeria tree had wilted away when I finally had the will to check on it.
Not a good track record that. But, I still wanted to grow some plants at home; I still wanted to see these plants grow from their respective seeds. I wanted to so desperately take care of them once again, properly so — maybe to make up for past discretions. I set out yet again to start on a new set of seedlings, making sure that they will not be neglected, stolen, or wilt by keeping that accessible, and within my tiny little room.
Hemp Plants.
I planted my first set of seeds, about a week back. These were hemp seeds, and as such did not need any stratification. So planting them was easy. I always wanted to plant some hemp — no, not to utilise it but just to grow them (you know, I am curious that way). Besides, when people do come over, and eye these hemp plants they would not know what they will be looking at; well most of them anyway.
After planting the hemp seeds, it took about three days for them start germinating. One night, the soil was barren; the next night, it was full of seedlings. I kept them at my window, which has a small grill covering it but with a gully. The seedlings were kept on this gully.
A Neat Little Trick To Keep Pigeons & Other Birds At Bay.
About two days in, and these seedlings got harassed by pigeons. This led me down the path of finding solutions to keep birds away, while I was away. All the commercial options seemed too expensive, for me. I decided to wait, and go ask the owner of the gardening shop I buy my soil, and other gardening stuff from. And, let me say this here — that man is freaking brilliant!
He advised to find old CDs/DVDs that were not in use, cut them into small pointy little arcs, and plant them around the seedlings. While I was searching for some commercial solutions online, I had come across barriers like this, and they were quite expensive. My next stop, after meeting him, was the stationary store. I enquired if they had some CDs/DVDs that were dead stock (spoilt, corrupted, throwable). They sure had, and I got a ton of them for cheap. That took care of the bird problem.
More Bonsai Trees Coming Up.
Along with the hemp plants, I’ve recently planted about 18 more seeds. All of them belonging to two bonsai trees - Common Gardenia, and the Jacaranda Mimosifolia. Both have similar a germination period — around 8 weeks. Both do not need much in terms of stratification — just soak them in normal water for 24 hours, and then sow them in coco-peat. Then wait for them to germinate, and show up as seedlings.
How To Grow Jacaranda Trees From Their Seeds
Here’s a short video that shows how to grow your own Jacaranda trees from seeds. It’s easy to grow, and care for. It is perfect if you want to start your own bonsai projects.
Video: How To Plant Jacaranda Trees From Their Seeds
Seeds of yet another bonsai tree - Japanese Honeysuckle, are in the process of stratification currently. They require cold-stratification for 8 weeks, before the seeds can be sown.
Roses
I am not a rose person. With that being said, I was looking for a new backpack on AliExpress, when I stumbled upon some Chinese shops selling black rose seeds. Now, I know that this may be a long, long, long shot but, I went ahead with ordering a bunch of different “kind” of Rose seeds - Blue rose seeds, Purple rose seeds, Rainbow Rose seeds(yea, I did search the Internet for anyone who may have had success with this, but as I thought, it doesn’t exist), White Rose seeds, Pink Rose seeds, Yellow Rose seeds, Red Rose seeds, Midnight black (apparently a cross between blue, and black roses), and of course the Black Rose seeds.
I went ahead with ordering these to confirm if these cool coloured roses could actually be grown, and if they would grow as claimed. I haven’t had a chance to start cold stratify them yet, but will be doing so soon. For more on these roses, keep an eye on the blog. I will be posting my findings here.
Some Recent Photographs
Hemp
Common Gardenia
Jacaranda Mimosifolia
What Are You Growing?
Do you grow plants or trees? What’s your experience been like? Do comment, and share your thoughts.
