Namasthe! from Hyderabad, Telangana, India

Hi to all Urban Farmers/Gardeners

Nice to meet you all here. I use to read about SFG, watch video but postponded the journey to move to new place but now i started in 1 box for time being to learn the art. Once i move to my new house i am planning to do a full terrace SFG!.

My only SFG is attached here. Just concern about the wood i use, its plywood for time being. I have 9 holes for drainage. Thought its a basic setup i am not having Mel's mix. We wont get Mel's Mix in India/Hyderabad i have to do my own to find all ingredient.  I yet to add Trellis. apart from this my farm is done setup with some plants and seeds. 

Meet you all soon more to come in future

The force be with you

Hi, Raj, and Welcome from Ohio, USA!  You look like you are off to a good start!  The wood you used might not hold up as well as plain lumber, but to get you started it will be just fine.  

Just do the best you can with the Mel's Mix; it can be hard to find the ingredients.  The best thing you can do is start your own compost pile, that will be most helpful in the garden.  

Again, 

Scorpio Rising wrote:Hi, Raj, and Welcome from Ohio, USA!  You look like you are off to a good start!  The wood you used might not hold up as well as plain lumber, but to get you started it will be just fine.  

Just do the best you can with the Mel's Mix; it can be hard to find the ingredients.  The best thing you can do is start your own compost pile, that will be most helpful in the garden.  

Again, 

Yes   I am talking with my carpenter to find a good wood and good quote for around 10 beds in future. (My whole terrace filled  )

The current mix is having some animal manure + cocopeat + compost.  I have added Neem Cake + Bone meal. 

I have Panchagavya , Neam oil and BioFungi in hand just in case.

Hello Raj,  Welcome to the Forum from California, U.S.  Very nice box with grid.  I'm curious what ingredients you used to create your Mel's Mix.  It looks like the climate is warm or very hot so you can grow something year around?  We love photos so please feel free to post your gardening journey here.

Add on: You answered my question regarding the Mix ingredients. Many of us use a milk solution (10-50% milk plus water) for some insect and disease control or a weak Neem Oil solution with water for major control. Both can hurt bees and other flying pollinators so it is best to use at sundown when they are not flying.

Raj, Is you terrace on the ground floor, like what we would call a patio, or is it on top of the roof? I was thinking that if it is on the ground, you could use cement or cinder blocks to form the beds. They will last forever.

Hi Raj!  Nameste' and
Your box looks beautiful, and with the liner you put in, the plywood should be fine for quite a while.  The ingredients in your mix sound good to me, compost being the magic word.    The only thing missing is the vermiculite.  Can you find pearlite in your area as a substitute?  Just a little something to hold the moisture in.  Or, if not, I've also heard that the granules inside disposable diapers are good, too.  May be worth a try.  Or just leave it as it is for now.  

Anyway, have fun, share your progress with us and ask questions any time.  There's always someone that will show up to help you.

sanderson wrote: Many of us use a milk solution (10-50% milk plus water) for some insect and disease control or a weak Neem Oil solution with water for major control.  Both can hurt bees and other flying pollinators so it is best to use at sundown when they are not flying.

Sanderson, are you saying milk spray is harmful to bees?

CC

CC, I thought so. Or maybe it's just getting the bees wet. ?? If the milk kills true insects, maybe bees also? I'm pulling this out of thin air.

I use the milk spray for powdery mildew only.  Never heard of it for bugs but I'll look into it...  

"Milk is a research-proven fungicide and soft bodied insecticide – insects have no pancreas to digest the milk sugars."
http://thegrownetwork.com/milk-molasses-magic-for-your-garden/


Now, back to our regularly scheduled program...

sanderson wrote:Hello Raj,  Welcome to the Forum from California, U.S.  Very nice box with grid.  I'm curious what ingredients you used to create your Mel's Mix.  It looks like the climate is warm or very hot so you can grow something year around?  We love photos so please feel free to post your gardening journey here.

Add on:  You answered my question regarding the Mix ingredients.  Many of us use a milk solution (10-50% milk plus water) for some insect and disease control or a weak Neem Oil solution with water for major control.  Both can hurt bees and other flying pollinators so it is best to use at sundown when they are not flying.

I never imagine that the organic pestiside may be harmful to supporting insects also! Good point i will surely consider !

sanderson wrote:Raj,  Is you terrace on the ground floor, like what we would call a patio, or is it on top of the roof?  I was thinking that if it is on the ground, you could use cement or cinder blocks to form the beds.  They will last forever.

The pic i shared is in terrace (roof top) .

I do have some space in ground but i like to isolate it from soil completely .  I will share some pic in full view   When i move to my new house i may not get garden in ground floor so i keep all my plants in roof top. I have some in this house i have some flower plants like rose, hibiscus etc but my roof top is for veggies.

CapeCoddess wrote:Hi Raj!  Nameste' and
Your box looks beautiful, and with the liner you put in, the plywood should be fine for quite a while.  The ingredients in your mix sound good to me, compost being the magic word.    The only thing missing is the vermiculite.  Can you find pearlite in your area as a substitute?  Just a little something to hold the moisture in.  Or, if not, I've also heard that the granules inside disposable diapers are good, too.  May be worth a try.  Or just leave it as it is for now.  

Anyway, have fun, share your progress with us and ask questions any time.  There's always someone that will show up to help you.

sanderson wrote: Many of us use a milk solution (10-50% milk plus water) for some insect and disease control or a weak Neem Oil solution with water for major control.  Both can hurt bees and other flying pollinators so it is best to use at sundown when they are not flying.

Sanderson, are you saying milk spray is harmful to bees?

CC

Hi

Its a DIY setup First setup of the SFG so i did is faster and not yet properly did research on availability of all ingrediant of Mel's Mix. My next box will have some more things from the book particularly Mel's Mix..  

I will definitely share pics and come up with LOT of questions surely.   just starting by One Square at a time

Raj, Nameste from Atlanta, GA (SE USA)! We're glad you're here!!

It will be exciting to see what you can do there in India....! Looking forward to hearing more about your plans...

Raj, welcome from Ottawa Canada. I am really looking forward to seeing more of what you will be doing with SFG. Thank you for joining this great forum.

Honestly, you have near optimal conditions to have a great SFG experience.  I can not wait to see your progress, Raj 

Hi Raj!
I welcome you from the state of Pennsylvania (Mid-Atlantic part of the east coast.)
One box is a great starting size. Can you tell us what you're growing? I think I see five plants, and am I seeing labels indicating you've planted seeds in the other squares? I love learning what people in other climates grow because I enjoy cooking different cuisines.
- Beetles / BPSF

AtlantaMarie wrote:Raj, Nameste from Atlanta, GA (SE USA)!  We're glad you're here!!

It will be exciting to see what you can do there in India....!  Looking forward to hearing more about your plans...

Thank you

Currently i am started doing Composting of Wet Waste from my house. We have a movement of Composting from Bangalore called Daily Dump. They call it Khamba https://www.youtube.com/user/pbkasturi I am not part of there team but i am spreading their message in my city or at least near me in Hyderabad.

Ya the pic is my very first DIY SFG plot. For almost 2-3 months i was reading about SFG/UrbanFarming etc.... My goal is to soon reduce going to market to get veggis

Once i am familiarized with this one plot my goal is to convert my rooftop full of SFG. I have planned it takes around 9-12 plots i can have. for that i have to plan a proper wood frame, Mel's Mix ... if i sort out both I am all done to go. I will post all my journey, questions , hurdles here

trolleydriver wrote:Raj, welcome from Ottawa Canada. I am really looking forward to seeing more of what you will be doing with SFG. Thank you for joining this great forum.

Sure! feel free to follow.

Scorpio Rising wrote: Honestly, you have near optimal conditions to have a great SFG experience.  I can not wait to see your progress, Raj 

#Fingerscrossed   Lets see. doing my best to learn

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:Hi Raj!
I welcome you from the state of Pennsylvania (Mid-Atlantic part of the east coast.)
One box is a great starting size. Can you tell us what you're growing? I think I see five
plants, and am I seeing labels indicating you've planted seeds in the other squares? I love learning what people in other climates grow because I enjoy cooking different cuisines.
- Beetles / BPSF

Above is the plan i sketched.

Its not bittergourd its ridge gourd

Plants are Tomato, Onion, EggPlant, Chilli and Okra.

I have not planted based on season i just put what veggi i like. if it wont come i will put something else. I do have to learn seasonal planting

Raj, I like how you are trying 1 square of everything. You will learn a lot this way. The Khamba program looks great!

Yes, it does!

One thing I see in your plan - the spinach & cauliflower are more winter-type plants. Everything else is more of a summer-type.

I'm glad you put marigolds in there. That will help with bug control.

The bees will love your corn once it starts pollinating. Just keep in mind that it's a very "heavy feeder." It likes a LOT of nutrients!

AtlantaMarie wrote:
The bees will love your corn once it starts pollinating.  Just keep in mind that it's a very "heavy feeder."  It likes a LOT of nutrients!

and a lot of water.

rajmahendra wrote:

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:Hi Raj!
I welcome you from the state of Pennsylvania (Mid-Atlantic part of the east coast.)
One box is a great starting size. Can you tell us what you're growing? I think I see five
plants, and am I seeing labels indicating you've planted seeds in the other squares? I love learning what people in other climates grow because I enjoy cooking different cuisines.
- Beetles / BPSF

Its not bittergourd its ridge gourd

Plants are Tomato, Onion, EggPlant, Chilli and Okra.

I have not planted based on season i just put what veggi i like. if it wont come i will put something else. I do have to learn seasonal planting

Trying things and seeing if they work is the best way to learn seasonal planting. Books and the internet can say what should work, but by trying, you will learn what does work.

I am growing tomatoes, onions, cucumber, eggplants, peppers (both spicy and sweet) and okra, too.  I have beans, but they are not French beans. I will buy French bean seeds once I run out of my other bush bean seeds. I am not growing corn because it is a big crop where I live. I can buy it very readily for a reasonable price, so I save my garden space for things that are more rare, or more expensive, or best when very fresh.

I am trying to grow carrots, but not very successfully. Starting with a small garden will allow you time to figure out problems and learn more. I have not had time to figure out what my problem with carrots is because I tried to grow too many new-to-me plants this year.

I agree with AtlantaMarie that the spinach and cauliflower grow better when it is cool (often, radishes, too - but it depends some on variety.)  I'm just starting to sow and transplant my cool season vegetables again. I grew them in my cool spring season, and it's getting close to my cool fall season. I grew broad beans (I call them fava beans), but I planted them late - I think they are another plant that prefers some cool weather when they start growing.

I have had bitter melon before - is that the same as bitter gourd? I have not had ridge gourd before. I have seen it at the groceries, but did not know what it was called because they did not have a label. Now that I know, I can look it up and read more about it, and try it out. Thank you.

I am glad to see you have a marigold. It's good to have some flowers in the garden, they attract pollinators, and give a place for beneficial insects to live.

AtlantaMarie wrote:Yes, it does!

One thing I see in your plan - the spinach & cauliflower are more winter-type plants.  Everything else is more of a summer-type.

I'm glad you put marigolds in there.  That will help with bug control.

The bees will love your corn once it starts pollinating.  Just keep in mind that it's a very "heavy feeder."  It likes a LOT of nutrients!

&yolos
Yes  i am reading reading Mel's  book again again on Corn

Raj, Isn't the weather warm year around?