General Plant Growing Instructions

Congratulations on acquiring a new baby plant! 

Here are some basic pointers to help you look after your plant: 

 

1. When to Plant:

Your plant CAN survive in the little pot for another week or two if you take care of it properly (this means that you do not HAVE TO plant it out TODAY!). Make sure that your plant gets around 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight every day and water it a little bit every day or every second day (about 50ml to 100ml of water a day should do the trick). The soil must stay MOIST, not soaking wet. And it must also not dry out completely. If day temperatures rise above 28 degrees, make sure your plant is sheltered from the hot afternoon sun. Basic rule of thumb: If it looks like your plant is getting a bit LIMP, it might be getting TOO MUCH SUN or NOT ENOUGH WATER (or a little bit of both). If it looks like your plant is getting a bit YELLOW, it might be NOT HAVE ENOUGH sun or TOO MUCH water (or a little bit of both). 

 

2. Growing Instructions:

Before planting out, make sure you have read up about the variety in our “Growing Instructions” documents and make sure you have good quality soil to fill up your pot, planter box, grow bag or garden bed. Also, make sure you have what is needed for that specific plant (some plants might need a trellis, some need staking, etc.).

 

3. Watering:

If you have more than one plant, it is best to group the plants together according to their watering needs. This will make it easier for you to keep regular watering schedules for each group of plants. 

 

4. Hot Afternoons:

If your garden or balcony gets very hot in the afternoons, make sure you have a 30% to 40% shade netting to protect your plants from the harsh afternoon sun. You can also plant/place your plant(s) next to a bigger plant that can shelter it from the afternoon sun. 

 

5. Container Gardening:

In general, pots, planters and grow bags dry out much quicker, so if you have your plant in a container, you might have to check the moisture of the soil more often. 

 

6. Pets & Small Children:

If you have pets that like digging in the garden or chewing plants, or if you have small children that might damage your plant, make sure your plant is protected. If you happen to have a lot of birds in your garden, it is probably a good idea to invest in some bird netting. 

 

 

7. Plant Food:

Not only does your plant need water, but it also needs FOOD! So, to get your plant to keep growing happily, you can purchase some organic fertilizers from your local nursery. There are various different kinds of organic fertilisers available. Just ask your local nursery or have a look in the gardening aisle of some of the large retail stores like Checkers Hyper. Or you can make your own organic fertilizer! Here are some basic methods to make organic fertilizers for your plants: 

 

a) Greens: Once you have done some weeding or pruning or if you have some grass clippings, chop it all up and throw it into a bucket. Fill the bucket with water and let it steep for 2 to 3 weeks. Then strain, dilute one part fertilizer to four parts water and feed your plants. Make sure you have a tight lid for the bucket! You can open it up once or twice a week and give it a good stir. 

 

b) Bananas: You can also keep banana peels in a bucket with water and let it steep. Use the same method as above. Bananas contain a lot of potassium, which your plant will need once it starts flowering and making fruit. 

 

c) Manure: If you have access to any manure (chicken, sheep, horse, cow – not pig!), you can also let this steep in water for 2 to 3 weeks, then dilute and feed your plants, using the same method as mentioned in point a). Manure contains a lot of nitrogen, which is good for the root development of your plant. Always make sure you get manure that has dried out properly! 

 

d) Earthworms: You can also keep an earthworm “farm” in your garden or balcony in a shady spot. VermiTea and VermiCompost are of great benefit to plants! 

 

e) Epsom Salts: When your plant starts flowering and is getting ready to set fruit, you can give it a foliar feed with some Epsom Salts. "Foliar feed” means you feed the plant by spraying a feed right onto the leaves. Always do foliar feeds early in the morning or at around sunset when it is cool, never in the middle of the day or during a heat wave. Epsom salts contain magnesium, which makes your plant green when (if) it looks a bit yellow and is also beneficial for the setting of healthy fruit on your plant. 

 

8. Pests & Problems:

Sometimes you might encounter some pests and problems, but if you treat it immediately, you will easily stop the annoyance before it becomes a problem. Here are a few basic things that might go wrong; and easy, organic ways to treat them: 

 

a) Aphids. Aphids are plant lice and can come in many different colours (black, brown, white, grey, green…). They are small and sometimes hard to spot and they often have a habit of “hiding” underneath leaves and at the base of plants like Spinach and Celery. So, inspect your plant regularly, especially under the leaves and at the base of certain plants. If you see only a few aphids, you can remove them with your fingers or a damp cloth or simply spray them off with water. If the problem seems a bit bigger, you can give it a spray with an organic insecticide. There are many different types of organic insecticides on the market. 

 

 

You can purchase Neem Oil or just ask at your local nursery. It is easy to use and will last you a whole season (depending on the size of your garden and/or the persistence of your pest problem). Just follow the instructions on the leaflet. You can also make your own insecticide with vegetable oil (like canola oil – but sunflower oil or olive oil will also work), and a bit of organic dishwashing liquid. (Add a tablespoon of oil and a teaspoon of organic dishwashing liquid to 2 litres of water). We call this mixture “White Oil”. Simply mix it up in a spray bottle and spray directly onto the pest. Usually, one spray is enough, but you could follow up the next day just to be sure. Another recipe for an organic insecticide is to chop up a handful of chillies and a handful of garlic, then boil it in 1 litre of water for 10 minutes. Let it cool down, then strain and add a litre of cold water, then add a tablespoon of oil and a teaspoon of organic dishwashing liquid. Again, add it to a spray bottle and spray directly onto the pest. 

 

b) Red Spider Mite. These are tiny little red spiders that are also very hard to spot, so make sure to inspect your plant for any “red dots” regularly. Use any of the treatments used for the Aphids (see above). 

 

c) Powdery Mildew. This is a fungus that can sometimes grow on the leaves of leafy greens like Spinach, but especially on Squashes and Cucumbers. If you see a white powdery substance on the leaves of your plants, you can treat it with Bicarbonate of Soda. 

 

d) Slugs & Snails. These guys can sometimes create havoc and eat a whole lot of leaves and/or fruit in one go! The problem is that they only come out at night, so we do not see them during the day. If you see a slimy line going across your plant (or on the soil or on the pot….), you have a slug or a snail or two. The best is to catch them at night, but they also come to the surface when it rains or when you give your garden a good watering. They like hiding in cool areas, away from direct sunlight, so check underneath your pots too. Organic snail pellets are available, but sometimes hard to find, so if you do find some snail pellets, please check the labels in order to make sure that it is organic. Crushed eggshells will also help to keep slugs and snails away or you can use a “beer trap”. Slugs and snails are attracted to yeast, so you can either mix up some yeast or use beer. Pour it into a shallow dish and place it in the container or garden bed, making sure the surface of the liquid is level with that of the soil. 

 

e) Bugs: All kinds of critters can get to your plants; from grasshoppers to beetles to pumpkin flies… To keep bugs out of the garden, shade tunnels can be used, or you can use your companion plants (onion, garlic, Marigold, etc.). – Plants with a strong smell usually help to keep critters away. If the bugs start eating more than they should, you can again use your organic “White Oil” spray or your chilli and garlic mix. Educate yourself on which ones are the “bad guys” and which ones are the beneficial bugs, so that you don’t kill your garden helpers unnecessarily. Butterflies, bees, praying mantis and ladybirds are the good guys, to give you a bit of a hint…

 

It might sound like A LOT can go wrong with your plant, but most of the time nature takes care of itself and if your plant is well-fed and well-watered and planted in good soil, it should be able to withstand most possible pests and problems.

 

9. Companion Plants:

Using companion plants in your food garden can be beneficial in many ways, so do a search on the internet and familiarise yourself with the various possible combinations. For instance: Marigold and onion varieties next to your tomato plants will help to keep pests away. Basil planted next to tomato, will improve the taste of the tomatoes. Brinjal grows well with peppers and chillies, while most plants don’t like growing near potatoes and fennel. 

 

10. Garden Lingo:

We might use some words that seem foreign to you. Here is a quick breakdown of some of the words and phrases used in organic gardening: 

 

a) Mulch: Mulch is any organic, dried material that is placed on top of the soil to prevent the soil from drying out, to prevent the sun from burning the micro-organisms in the top layer of the soil and to prevent weeds from growing. Anything from dried grass to dried leaves or bark can be used as mulch. Try not to use material containing seed, because then you will encounter a problem later. If there are some green leaves or green grass clippings in between, make sure you use at least two-thirds brown material and only one-third of the green material. If you do not have access to organic material, you can also use cardboard and/or newspaper as mulch – just make sure you hold it down with some heavy objects as it might blow away if it is dry (but it is also not really supposed to dry out, so try to keep it moist). The idea is to use quite a thick layer of mulch (at least 5 cm thick) and the mulch will then slowly decompose over time and become part of the soil and therefore help you to build soil. 

 

b) Annual: This means that a plant grows only for one season (either a winter season or a summer season), then makes flowers, fruit and seeds, and then dies down. 

 

c) Perennial: This means that a plant grows (or survives) more than one season. 

 

d) Bi-annual: This means that a plant grows for two seasons, then makes flowers, fruit and seed, then dies down. 

 

PLEASE NOTE: 

These are really the very basics of organic gardening in a shell. There is a wealth of information about organic food gardening in various gardening books, gardening magazines and platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. If you absolutely LOVED the experience of growing a plant and enjoyed the experience of feasting on your own harvest, join the Green Revolution and like, follow and join us on our social media platforms! 

Trixie SkyWalker 

Urban Farmer – Edible Gardens