Monsoon is beautiful weather for plants to grow and flourish.This is the best period for growing new plants, starting a new home garden, planning a terrace garden and maintaining your current home garden. In monsoon, plants grow very rapidly so they require extra care. Here, we are going to talk about how to take advantage of this naturally occurring cycle, and work with nature to create some beauty in your home garden.
Home Garden Care Tips During Monsoon:
Fertilisation: Fertilise the plants to accelerate the growth. You could use 6 months old cow manure (FYM - Farm yard Manure), home-compost or vermi-compost for plants. It is better to use natural fertilisers than chemicals for plants during monsoon. Also the requirement increases not only because of plant growth season but also due to rain, there is frequent wash out of applied fertilisers. Slow release fertilisers like Cow dung manure has been proven to be the best manure for plants. Some gardeners also use foliar spray of NP&K (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) nutrients to feed plants. During the monsoon season, the stomata (pores) in the plants open up and spraying the fertiliser helps the plants to absorb them immediately.
Soil: The soil mixture should be a well draining soil to avoid water stagnation and root rot. A well draining soil is indispensable for your plants especially in the rainy season. This is the reason why we always recommend you to prepare a well draining soil for each and every plant during repotting. Use up to 30% coco-peat in a potting mixture.
Watering: Overwatering is the most common cause of plants to die during monsoon. Root rot is very common so to avoid it, water the plant only when you see the drying soil. Excessive watering can suffocate roots and affect the soil’s fertility and your plants may not survive for long.
Proper drainage in pots: Double-check the drainage holes of pots and remove any obstruction if present for draining of excessive water. Make sure you insert a sharp pointed tool like a screwdriver into the drainage hole and make sure it's open. This is a very important care tip in the rainy season because stagnant water can suffocate and rot the roots of the plant easily and this is the high time for fungus attacks. This also helps in breeding of mosquitoes and diseases like dengue. Hence, rain water during the monsoon should be drained out completely as much as possible. It's also better to avoid using trays under your pots. It is important to move your pots to a place where the plants are not damaged by heavy rain and get enough light. This is especially essential to avoid soil erosion.
Pest control:During monsoons the pests like slugs, snails flourish so spray insecticide regularly to avoid pest infestation. Mix neem oil in water and sprinkle on plants as a natural pest repellent. Though, some pests like earthworms help in plant growth by aerating the soil. This is the time when they are found maximum and if you find them concentrated in one container, you can pick them up and spread them around the garden to allow best fertilisation of soil at multiple places. And frogs, on the other hand, help in pest control in gardens so they are called Gardener’s friends.
Trim/ Prune: Plant growth is maximum in the rainy season. Trim or Prune regularly to enable fresh growth of the plants in your garden. Trim the branches of your trees and get rid of dry and dead leaves and extra growth that may have happened. Prune and trim the plants either just before the season starts or during the season to boost flower budding and prevent wild growth.This helps the fresh shoots to grow and increase branching and growth.
Pull out the weeds: Weeds can grow rapidly during the rains and thus soak up the nourishment intended for your plants. Hence, keep weeding in timely intervals to avoid harmful growth.
Important points to note:
Check there is no stagnation of water in pots.
Remove excessive plant growth
Protect plants from insect pests.
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