Rooting Store Bought Herb Cuttings

Hi There Y'all. 

Sorry for the long break in postings. I have just finished this experiment and still working on some others. I am glad to say that this one is a success and I am happy to share with you how I did it. 

For many, being impatient is an issue, so growing your own herbs is like pulling teeth. The wait for it to grow, the maintenance of the soil and plants, the days to water, the days not to water, seems like a burdensome prospect. Well for those that do wish to start their own little herb patch, i will gladly share my experience.

Here in Malaysia, our climate is not suitable to grow many things outdoors in full sunlight. The sun is sometime too intense and extra care needs to be taken. Many sites will say that certain herb thrives on full sunlight etc etc. Those reading those posts must understand that the writer is talking about cooler climates or multi-season climates. we have to adjust what we read and be weary of the affects of our scorching temperatures or our long rainy spells. One thing is for sure, the heat and rain will not dampen our spirits in trying.

I recently bought this lovely herb from our local supermarket. It is Pineapple Mint - Mentha suaveolens 'Variegata'. It has a clean and crisp pineapple-ish bouquet and snappy taste. Should be good in salads, spritzers and also cocktails. 

I for one am a sucker for any variegated plants. Therefore it was a challenge to root it. Yes there are much more simpler ways by just sticking it in water, but where is the fun in that. So here is what I did, try it if you like.

Store bought organic herb Pineapple Mint - Mentha suaveolens 'Variegata'

Chanced this in a store so I bought 2 bags to ensure the experiment works well. Make sure you choose nice fresh looking leaves and branches to increase the chance of success.

Removing it from the bag, you must make sure the contents DO NOT get wet. When the leaves get wet, they deteriorate very quickly and rot sets in if it is kept wet. Once you have removed the contents pluck away all the dead leaves and also trip away the rotting parts of the stems. Select nice fresh stems with good leaves. In this way you know the plant is strong enough to root. You may try with the others too. Prepare stems that are about 3 to 4 inches long. Allow the bottom end of the stems about 2 inches clean of any leaves. i found that the shorter the stems the easier it is to take root. 

Prepare a planting bowl or container. I am using a plastic take away container. They are sold in supermarkets and are quite cheap too. I buy them in bulk because I also use them in seedling propagation. They come is bags of 20s and 50s..around MYR 17.00 or equivalent to USD 5.00 for a bag of 50s. 

The planting base as you can see is basically just reconstituted Coco Peat. You can buy them in dried compressed blocks. When you add water, the block will swell up to at least 10 times its original volume. It is somewhat inert, and sometime towards mild acidity levels. I tested the one I use with a little tester tool I found during a recent trip to the US. It reads near neutral. I do not see the acidity level affecting the plants at all. 

Layer about an inch of moist Coco Peat at the bottom. How moist should it be, well i soaked the whole thing in water, then allowed it to sit for a while so that excess water could drain out. The only moisture that is left is only what the coco peat can absorb and carry. 

Lightly compress the material so that the mint plant can get a good footing as it root, but do not over compress lest the roots will find it difficult to grow and spread. Use a toothpick, a satay stick or some thing similar to poke a hole in the coco peat. Insert the the bottom end of the herb stem into the hole and gently press the sides in. It does not matter if it will not stand upright. It will soon enough once it takes root. Continue until you have planted all the selected mint stems. 

Let it sit in this coco peat for a couple of hours. You will notice that some rather limp leaves would start to perk up and open up. This is a good sign. If it doesn't then let it be, and hope it will later. The faster the leaves perk up would indicate the plant is lively and can be easily rooted. 

The next thing, using another base cover over the plants and try to keep the mouths of the container together. There should not be any holes that will allow moisture to leave. You can either put  some with weight on the top or even put another filled plastic container above it to hold the lid down. Leave it be for a week and see what happens. Check it daily to make sure the coco peat is moist and that there are no rotting or dying leaves. If there are any dying leaves just use a small scissors and cut it away. 

After about a week of sitting in the moist coco peat the mint stems will slowly take root. The good thing about using these containers is that it is transparent and that you can actually see root forming at the base of the container. Once you see roots that you know you are on your way to planting a nice little herb plant. Just let it be. Keep a watch on the coco peat material so that it stay moist (NOT WET). If it is too wet the stems would rot and die. Too dry and the roots will dry out and that will be the ned game too. At this stage it is critical to make sure the mint is growing and waiting to be planted. As soon as you can see the roots from below. You can sprinkle some fine grain compost into the mix. This compost will feed the plants and help them grow bigger. I did this about 10 days into rooting this set.

This is what it looks like when it is ready to be transplanted into a planting pot or ground. ensure good drainage but also it must have good soil that retain some moisture. Mint and other herbs just love moist soil with good drainage. Dry soil will make it week and impedes growth. hence perpetuating the growth for future harvest will be difficult. 

They look nice and strong and green and perky. All the qualities of a nice healthy and ready to transplant herb. 

As a footnote, this little box has been sitting outside on my window sill. In is under the verandah. has bright light and not exposed to any direct sun or rain. It thrives on this bright light.

Good Luck in your own attempt. Let me know of your success or failure and we will work at it together. Till the next post... Happy GardeningY'all

Vertical Planting Tower

I have been meaning to do a nice shelving unit to house pots for veggies and herbs, been deliberating on the design, where to put it and also to materials to use. Shall i buy the building material, shall I recycle, shall I hunt down in nearby construction sites....too much thinking and not enough doing...that is the trouble with procrastinating over thinkers.

So after a jolly get together on Saturday morning on 23rd of January with some online gardening friends, i was asked point blank about a vertical planting tower. I was stumped to say the least. I realised I was thinking too much and not just doing anything.

The very next day, I took out my cordless drill and got to it. Keeping it sweet and simple for anyone to follow. I have seen many examples online about vertical planter boxes and below is the culmination of my design.

It took me one hour to get this installed and ready to plant.

Items needed:
2"x2" post about 5 to 6 feet tall. As tall as you can reach.
22 plastic pots - recycled
22 good strong screws. best to get the ones that do not rust.
1 "good" cordless screwdriver and drill set. (there are many cheap one in the market but a good one does the job better with less effort).
1 big clay pot about 1 1/2 feet wide, the wider the better.
4 bricks (new or recyled)
1 bucket of very course gravel (as filler and weight)

Method. 
Before we start, a note on timber selection for the post. I have chosen a nice solid and heavy timber from the lumber yard. it was cheap and hardy. in our tropical climate having a heavy hardwood ensure the posts will last longer and will be effective in fighting against decay, rot and insect attacks.

so now we begin, firstly...and most importantly...YOU must decide how far the pot have to sit from each other. Decide on the height separation. This is important. You must know what you want to plant and how tall they will be. Pruning will help keep the height but there has to be a minimum and a maximum height. I have chosen 8 inches for this prototype. This will allow me to see if I need to modify it in future towers. I had decided to use this configuration more because of the overlapping nature of the pots. I wanted a plush and flush tower. Possibly a nice herb and veggie christmas tree....

Each level has 2 pots, 1 pot opposite each other. Staggering the height of the second level and the direction on the post adds some dimension to the planting tower and space for the plant to grow. So the next level is on the other 2 face, again opposite each other, and then so on and so forth. Simple and neat. Make sure you leave at least 2 feet of length on the post to secure it inside the base pot.

After deciding where the pots will be, using a pen and a measuring tape to keep the distance identical, mark the spots where the screws will be. Use the drill to make guide holes for the screws. the holes should be smaller that the screw's diameter. Pre-drilling also helps to screw in easily and avoids the screws from cracking the post.

So the holes are drilled, and you are ready to attach the pots. I would recommend that you secure the post to the base pot first. It will allow for easier work in attaching the pots. This is how I did it and it is so secure. Firstly, Place the base pot at the final location where you want to place this vertical planter tower because once you fill it up with the rest of the stuff and the post, it will be difficult to cart around.

Place the post in the middle of a pot.
Place the bricks on the 4 flat sides of the post. I used a whole brick on each side for more surface area. The brick is then wedged against the side of the pot. move it around till you find a solid foot hold for the post. The post should not be able to move around. Now fill the pot with the course gravel, ensuring the gravel gets into the little nooks and space between the bricks. The gravel has 2 purpose, (1) is to ensure the bricks do not move while landing support to keep the post firm, and (2) the weight of the gravel will provide a solid base and helps avoid the whole structure from tipping over in strong winds. Note: the pot needs to have a wide base for stability.

Now that the post is secure and standing, make small hole in the side of the plastic pot about 1/2 inch to 1 inch from the rim of the pot. This will be the hole for the screw. Insert the screw partially so that it doesn't run away and it helps you to find the pre-drilled guide holes. Gently screw in and move on to the next till all the pots are attached.

There you go all done.

Now you will notice that the following picture, they are double potted. Well, the attached pots are actually pot holders. In this way i can actually repot or change plants whenever necessary. i do not have to detach the pot from the post. I can move the pots around should they need more shade or even take them down to go into rehab from too much sun or water. It allows a huge amount of flexibility.

So have a go.

Happy Gardening and DIY.

Modification of a small compost bin

In the search for the perfect compost bin for a small garden, I have searched the web. There are many examples to choose from. But most often they are either too expensive or unsightly in a manicured garden. I needed something unassuming but yet cost effective. It had to be big enough to accommodate our daily organic kitchen refuse and also the garden wastes.

As always thinking too much and doing nothing, is a sign of a great procrastinator. My problem is I want it perfect before I do anything about it. I want to do it right the first time or not at all. So searching thru and seeing the many examples, I chanced upon designs with an opening at the bottom.

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, why was I wasting so much time trying to create a new garden composter bin when I could modify what I already have. Moreover the vegetation and kitchen waste has been sitting in this composter bin for more than 6 months. It was ripe for harvesting, but I could not get at it as it was on the bottom. So why not make an opening like what I had seen in the examples on the web.

So here it is. This composter bin is actually a clothes or laundry hamper that I have recycled into a Garden composter bin. It already had the required holes for aeration. Just dump in the veggie and garden waste and let it decompose. Ensuring that you have the required mix of green and brown matter for the nitrogen and carbon balance, the recommended ratio is 50/50 balance, These would be no smell and no fuss.

So using some handy power tools I set out to make it happen. I used a Bosch Multitool and a cordless drill. 

I marked out the line  where the hole was supposed to be and used the semi round blade of the multitool to cut the hole. It was perfect for the job. 

Next using the cordless drill, I bored some holes to attach the plastic cable zip ties. This will serve as the hinges to the opening. You could get metal hinges and rivet it to the plastic, but since this was already old I didn't bother. 

    

Now the compost harvesting hole is ready to use. Harvested a nice basin of compost and sealed the bin with a couple of zip ties for another day. Should I need to harvest more, I just cut off the zip ties, harvest and close it back again. Simple. 

All in all, it took me about 30 mins to do the whole thing. You can do this to any one of your composting bins. If the bins are bigger than mine above, then you may have to make openings on either side or on all for side if the bins if it is really large.

Composting...A better way to recycle.

Happy Gardening and DIY.

My favourite FB group chat about gardening. https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourhome.mhmgmr/