And I am excited !!
This time, my whole scheme of sowing/planting as much as possible has worked and has been showing super results since the past month. With my bhendikayis/okra, I sowed close to fifty seeds in two beds and even after two serious bandicoot attacks, I have about twelve to fourteen plants that survived, have grown well and are full of little bhendikayis and loads of pretty blooms. After experiencing quite a few (huge) setback with my ground patch, courtesy the bandicoots... This season, I decided to change my strategy. I was all the more determined to use my little patch (Of four, four/seven feet beds) to maximum advantage ! Because, this is the only space I have that is meshed up and safe from the monkeys. Though the bandicoots defy logic and keep tunnelling into the patch and creating havoc whenever it please them, it is still much safer than the other spaces I have in the backyard and front yard. This time around, since I started afresh on the beds in February, I have been sowing/planting a lot. The idea is to grow so much, that even if the bandicoots attack and ravage, there is still quite a bit left. And to my luck, that is exactly what has been happening.
These many plants should be sufficient for a family of three, where I could get at least a quarter kilo of bhendikayis in one harvest. The bed in which the bhendikayis are growing, was mulched well with dry leaves before sowing the seeds. And by the time I sowed the seeds, the mulch had already broken down three fourths and the soil was nicely moist and crumbly. I had added vermi-compost and some neem cake powder to the bed before mulching. When the plants began sporting buds, I added another round of compost. About a handful per plant. A couple of days back, I noticed, the mulch had completely disintegrated and mixed up with the soil and the bed was getting quite dry by evening, in the harsh summer sun. Just yesterday, I mulched the bed again with half-composted dry leaves that I have been collecting under a chikoo tree in the backyard. I have not sprayed anything externally and hopefully will not, even in the future.
Okra benefits with the addition of nitrogen and phosphorus. For any such additions, I rely on natural methods. I grow mustard and methi and some other greens too all around the beds. And that's what I did for this bed too. I harvest some of the greens as young-greens and the rest I chop and drop into the existing mulch. Thankfully, my bhendikayi plants look healthy with just vermi-compost and neem cake powder, mulching, right watering and good sunlight. I have supported them with slender bamboo stakes, to be on the safer side.
Bhendikayi/Okra is a heat and sun loving plant and a well drained and composted soil with direct sunlight should do wonders for it. After my gritty efforts at growing bhendikayi in my earlier balcony patch, with less sunlight, less space and a host of other limitations, I was ecstatic to have gotten this little patch of land in the compound around the house. My dream of growing and harvesting bhendikayis is finally coming true ! I was fairly successful last summer, but this time, I have been extra focused and am going about my gardening efforts with a single-minded determination. And as a result, the present situation with bhendikayis looks quite promising, unless something unforeseen occurs... I have all my fingers crossed and am trusting nature to gift me what I deserve.
I have been closely looking out for aphids, cucumber beetles, leaf curl, leaf wilt and white powdery mildew, the usual suspects with bhendikayi. Over experience, I've noticed, if your plants are inherently healthy and have a healthy environment around them, they tend to attract as less pests/diseases as possible. And companion planting and planting pest repellant crops and trap crops around, is a great natural way to further avoid pests. Some good companions for bhendikayi/okra are tomatoes, peppers, sweet potatoes, beans, lettuce and squash. The companions I managed for my bhendikayis are bush beans, capsicum and lettuce. And apart from that I have some harivi soppu/amaranthus, pundi soppu/gongura/rosella, palak/spinach, cauliflower and a couple of Italian basil plants and marigolds in between. It is evident, this companionship is working and I hope the beneficial friendship lasts till the end of harvest for all the crops in this bed...
And now, I'm looking forward to some bhendikayi pallya, bhendikayi fry, bhendikayi raita, bhendikayi in sambar, stuffed bhendikayi... Ah, the list can get endless...
This time, my whole scheme of sowing/planting as much as possible has worked and has been showing super results since the past month. With my bhendikayis/okra, I sowed close to fifty seeds in two beds and even after two serious bandicoot attacks, I have about twelve to fourteen plants that survived, have grown well and are full of little bhendikayis and loads of pretty blooms. After experiencing quite a few (huge) setback with my ground patch, courtesy the bandicoots... This season, I decided to change my strategy. I was all the more determined to use my little patch (Of four, four/seven feet beds) to maximum advantage ! Because, this is the only space I have that is meshed up and safe from the monkeys. Though the bandicoots defy logic and keep tunnelling into the patch and creating havoc whenever it please them, it is still much safer than the other spaces I have in the backyard and front yard. This time around, since I started afresh on the beds in February, I have been sowing/planting a lot. The idea is to grow so much, that even if the bandicoots attack and ravage, there is still quite a bit left. And to my luck, that is exactly what has been happening.
These many plants should be sufficient for a family of three, where I could get at least a quarter kilo of bhendikayis in one harvest. The bed in which the bhendikayis are growing, was mulched well with dry leaves before sowing the seeds. And by the time I sowed the seeds, the mulch had already broken down three fourths and the soil was nicely moist and crumbly. I had added vermi-compost and some neem cake powder to the bed before mulching. When the plants began sporting buds, I added another round of compost. About a handful per plant. A couple of days back, I noticed, the mulch had completely disintegrated and mixed up with the soil and the bed was getting quite dry by evening, in the harsh summer sun. Just yesterday, I mulched the bed again with half-composted dry leaves that I have been collecting under a chikoo tree in the backyard. I have not sprayed anything externally and hopefully will not, even in the future.
Okra benefits with the addition of nitrogen and phosphorus. For any such additions, I rely on natural methods. I grow mustard and methi and some other greens too all around the beds. And that's what I did for this bed too. I harvest some of the greens as young-greens and the rest I chop and drop into the existing mulch. Thankfully, my bhendikayi plants look healthy with just vermi-compost and neem cake powder, mulching, right watering and good sunlight. I have supported them with slender bamboo stakes, to be on the safer side.
Bhendikayi/Okra is a heat and sun loving plant and a well drained and composted soil with direct sunlight should do wonders for it. After my gritty efforts at growing bhendikayi in my earlier balcony patch, with less sunlight, less space and a host of other limitations, I was ecstatic to have gotten this little patch of land in the compound around the house. My dream of growing and harvesting bhendikayis is finally coming true ! I was fairly successful last summer, but this time, I have been extra focused and am going about my gardening efforts with a single-minded determination. And as a result, the present situation with bhendikayis looks quite promising, unless something unforeseen occurs... I have all my fingers crossed and am trusting nature to gift me what I deserve.
I have been closely looking out for aphids, cucumber beetles, leaf curl, leaf wilt and white powdery mildew, the usual suspects with bhendikayi. Over experience, I've noticed, if your plants are inherently healthy and have a healthy environment around them, they tend to attract as less pests/diseases as possible. And companion planting and planting pest repellant crops and trap crops around, is a great natural way to further avoid pests. Some good companions for bhendikayi/okra are tomatoes, peppers, sweet potatoes, beans, lettuce and squash. The companions I managed for my bhendikayis are bush beans, capsicum and lettuce. And apart from that I have some harivi soppu/amaranthus, pundi soppu/gongura/rosella, palak/spinach, cauliflower and a couple of Italian basil plants and marigolds in between. It is evident, this companionship is working and I hope the beneficial friendship lasts till the end of harvest for all the crops in this bed...
And now, I'm looking forward to some bhendikayi pallya, bhendikayi fry, bhendikayi raita, bhendikayi in sambar, stuffed bhendikayi... Ah, the list can get endless...
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