My solo gardening started when I was in Bangalore (I am still supposed to be in Bangalore though. For Chedichatti, now back at home). I started with hybrid chrysanthemums, which I bought from a roadside nursery. The plant was in its full bloom and it attracted me a lot. I did not think much and grabbed 2-3 random colours. I asked the nursery person to repot them to a medium-sized pot since I didn’t want to go search soil to repot them (you know those apartment gardening struggles. Arghh). I wasn't aware of seasonal flowering plants those days. But, now if you ask me how many seasonal flowering plants I have. My answer will be a big NO. Seasonal flowers will bloom and reach a dormant state after a while. So I won't recommend seasonal flowering plants to anyone. By this time, you would have also understood the fate of the first set of plants that I bought my own. Not only that, I have killed a number of plants in the initial days of my gardening. In COVID terms, now the number of plants in isolation and the mortality rate has comparatively reduced. 😉
After the bad ending of my chrysanthemums, I had almost given up my gardening idea. But later once we shifted to a new apartment, I got some empty pots that previous tenants dumped on the balcony. One day, I planted some mint stem cuttings and gave them routine care. The mint babies started showing new leaves. They grew bushy and every morning on opening the balcony door we used to get a refreshing smell which made us fresh. That encouraged me to try different veggies. I tried onion, garlic, chillies and tomatoes. Not all of them were successful, but I continued growing them.
After six months, we shifted to our own apartment. YAAAY Freedom. We bought some plants and got some plant cuttings from colleagues, which all started growing. This was the real start. Also, we started buying more and more plants and planned to make our flat a living jungle. We were almost there but COVID had another set of plans. We came back home. I didn’t stop there though. Within a span of a year I turned my home into a cute jungle and also became a victim of the birth of Chedichatti.
In the below video, you can have a glimpse of my gardening beginnings. Video is in Malayalam and not of a good quality. My recent videos are much better. :D
To conclude, if you are a beginner and want your balcony or home to give a lush green effect, start with simple low maintenance foliage plants. I can guarantee that their growth of new leaves is going to definitely encourage you. Also, trust me, they do play a big role being a stress buster. But don’t get stressed by spending too much on high maintenance plants. It will result in giving you more stress. So start with low maintenance foliage plants. Slow and steady will win the race. Atleast, in this case :P
So that's it for now. See you all in other blog.