How to get free compost?

Compost or fertiliser are not cheap. To save cost, you can bury wood, dry leaves, fresh leaves, cardboard, banana skin, leftover and etc. Make sure to google whether the ingredient is safe to be bury (which means won't cause fungus disease and other disease).

Worm bin is also a good way to improve soil quality and improve the soil nutrient.

Summary of what I do wrong as a beginner in gardening in year 2020

 1) My watermelon plant dies after I put leftover red bean soup to the plant. That is because I thought everything can be nutrients for plant. It turns out to be wrong because the roots of the plant is then infected by fungus. 

2) Pumpkin plant dies because I did not know that you need to remove the suckers.The suckers are getting all the nutrients of the plant. 

3) Tomato plant dies. It wilted.  Cause when I plant the tomato plant I did not plant it deep enough. ( I transplant from seedlings). Thus, I use wood as a support but it didnt work cause the tomato plant is getting taller and heavier. 

4)  French bean plant. My planting method for the french bean plant is wrong. For french bean plant will tangle or climb itself up the fench. I didn't provide support for them (sigh)

5) Cucumber plant cannot withstand lots of water. I plant my cucumber plant outdoor, then during moonsoon season the cucumber plant die.

6) Lots of variety of vegetables. Destroyed by my dog... (it's hard to garden with dog around). My dog either dig out what I just planted seconds ago or step on them. Ugh!! 

7) Not giving fertilizer or compost. I prefer to give compost tho. But the compost I give is not enough. If you want better harvest, give compost, once every two weeks.

How did I begin gardening?

 I started gardening on March 2020. After being chased back home by the university... Cause of lockdown...(ugh covid19).

When I reach home, I was shock. My backyard looks like a mini forest. Grass very tall, the backyard looks very ugly and dark cause some of the plants are blocking the light into the garden. That is when I started gardening! I try to do it as often as possible, since I still need to study online (ugh). 

Actually, I have been wanting to do gardening since I was young. However at that time I was still young and didn't take action. Other than that, you know lah (Asian parents), when I tell me mum I want to do gardening (she discourage me) such as telling me: you don't know how to plant lah, you make the house dirty, do all that planting and only get little harvest, you cannot do it lah....... and the list goes on. That is why I didn't do gardening until now. 

And I don't know why this time, I just do it (laugh). The more I garden, the more addicted I get to gardening. I would do it everyday. I would go research online, watch youtube videos about gardening. And I did lots of stupid things (haha). Although my gardening skill is not good but at least is better than before.

I still remember looking at my success. The pumpkin flower, it's my first time sawing a pumpkin flower, watermelon flower, corn, french bean, chili and etc.  And let my mum see those flower and harvest ( but then still got mock by her (sigh). I don't feel excitment from her when I tell her knowledge on gardening..... She would be like O, is that so.... and then ask the same question to me again after a few days. But whatever.... (hehe) 

Let me end this, if you guys are interested in gardening just do it. Don't just keep on thinking about it, do it!! Gardening brings benefit!

Answer to how many seeds should be plant

 After harvesting my harvest from my backyard, I would recommend others to plant as much seeds for each variety as you can. 

Why? 

1. Some of the plants may die due to certain reason. Some plants die due to too much rain, my dog, plant disease and etc.

2. The harvesting time for each plant of the same variety is different. eg. I harvest my french bean however there are some that are still small and cannot be harvest. So I end up only with a small amount of harvest. I need to harvest the ready ripe one cause if I leave it they would turn old.

3. My mum laugh and my little harvest (sigh). She laugh and say to me that it is only enough for one person...

4. Cause plants like edamame and french bean provide good harvest. The more you plant the more you can share and store or maybe sell to get an income. 

5. You work hard planting them so you should get more of harvest. 

Trust me, I regreted planting less. Plant at least 50 seeds or more for each variety of plant. And plant more than 50 seeds for vegetables. I still remember my first harvest of kankung, only can harvest a few of them cause others are still short... (laugh)! You can plant lots of seeds in a small place. I didn't know about that, thus I plant everything at least 15 cm apart thus I wrote this (https://sellerinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2020/10/how-many-seeds-should-be-planted.html). Looking back at this post I wanna laugh!!!

mistake when planting cucumbers

I had a bad experience when planting cucumber. At first my cucumber plants are doing well. The cucumber plant has produce cucumber and I am very happy. But then, the plant started to wilt and the cucumber turns yellow. 

I did not give up on planting cucumber, so I try to plant the seeds by direct sowing. The seedlings did appear but then it died again.

I keep on wondering why? But then got my answers after visiting the gardening store to buy new seeds. 

1)Cucumber plants need much more care than other plants. You need to give nutrients to it. eg. compost or fertiliser.

2) Cucumber plants cannot stand to much water. I didn't know that. My cucumber plant is at the backyard and it always rains in the past few months. Thus, the cucumber plant dies.

Planting not enough

 This week is the harvesting week for my backyard garden. There is always the same problem occurring at my backyard garden, which is not enough harvest. 

This week,  I have harvested edamame and french bean and both of the harvest are not enough. I will recommend everyone to plant more french bean and edamame as they are easy to plant. 

Both edamame and french bean plant do not need to much care and you can still get harvest from both of the plant.  Just plant lots of them. I have just directly plant more of the seeds yesterday and can't wait for them to grow and produce harvest.

 

I buy my seeds from this shopee seller. The seeds I bought 100% germinate. The delivery is also fast, the seller is also very kind and will mostly give some free seeds. If you guys are interested to buy the seeds, click the link below:

 

Edamame seeds: https://invol.co/cl296kl

Japanese baby corn: https://invol.co/cl296mf

Asparagus seed: https://invol.co/cl296nb

Japanese lady finger: https://invol.co/cl296pc

Japanese sweet potato (cuttings): https://invol.co/cl296po

There are still lots of seeds I bought from the seller than I haven't plant. I will only share the link that I have successfully planted for now. Later I will update more new harvest in the blog and share new information of the other seeds after obtaining good result.

 

 

Harvest edamame fresh off from my backyard

 

The edamame taste different from what I ate at Japanese restaurant. These edamame have richer taste (fresh). Edamame are easy to plant so I will recommend most people to plant. Why should you eat frozen edamame beans from store when you can plant fresh edamame which are more healthy.

 I bought my edamame beans from a seller in shopee. The seeds I buy from the seller 100% germinate, the seed sold by the seller is high quality. The postage are also fast, there are also wide variety of seeds available. Free shipping if you purchase RM15. The seller is also kind and will sometimes give free extra seeds.

 If you are interested to buy press the link below:

Edamame seeds: https://invol.co/cl296kl

Other seeds that I have bought from the Shopee seller, which have produce harvest are:

Japanese baby corn: https://invol.co/cl296mf

Asparagus seed: https://invol.co/cl296nb

Japanese lady finger: https://invol.co/cl296pc

Japanese sweet potato (cuttings): https://invol.co/cl296po

Beetroot: https://invol.co/cl296qg

Japanese pumpkin: https://invol.co/cl296qv

 

There are still lots of seeds I bought from the seller than I haven't plant. I will only share the link that I have successfully planted for now. Later I will update more new harvest in the blog and share new information of the other seeds after obtaining good result.

Mistake of not doing direct sowing

 As a beginner in gardening, I would germinate seeds and transplant the seedlings into the garden. That is a bad decision. 

Why?

1) Transplanting seedlings takes a long time. 

2) We may spoil the root system of the seedling when transplanting

3) The seedlings may have stress.

4) Takes up space

5) Direct sowing will make the root system more superior and the seedlings from direct sowing are more adapted to harsh climate.

Conclusion: I am trying out direct sowing now and would share my experience soon.

what else should I plant in my garden?

 Anyone has any suggestion on what should I plant in my garden. 

For climbing plants, I have already planted french bean, edamame, pumpkin, watermelon, okra, cucumber, cherry tomato and tomato.

I am trying to find more climbing plants that will provide me useful foods to eat anyone has any suggestion?

mistake when planting tomatoes

My mistake when planting tomato plant is that:

1) I did not plant the tomato plant deeply into the soil. That is why, my tomato plant is slanting. 

2) I simply give fertiliser to the plant, during my beginning of gardening, I thought cooked red bean soup can be use as fertiliser but then fungus disease came and infect my tomato plant. 

3) Tomato plant need to have support. So it is recommended to plant the plant deeply and provide support.

4）I did not get rid of the tomato plant sucker, thus the energy of the tomato plant to produce more fruit is snatch by the sucker. The sucker must be cut, you can use as a clone if you think it is wasteful.

5) You should harvest the tomato fruit a day or a few days before it is ripe, or the bird is going to eat it. If not, tying up the fruit with plastic bags also can (dont tie to tied)

How many seeds should be planted

 As a beginner in gardening, I always don't know how many seeds should I plant for each type of plant. 

The first plants I planted are tomatoes, pumpkin and chillies so there are no problems in deciding the amount of seeds to plant. After that, I got more and more hook up on planting and bought vegetables seeds. 

I still remember that I got laugh by my anut and my mum(just a few weeks ago), because the Kale (Kankung) I can harvest from my vegetables garden has only 12 of them. They laugh and told me it is not even enough for a person to eat. It is so embarassing. I had lots of trouble with figuring how many seeds should I plant..... What should I do?

Now I just literally plant most of the seeds I have, but there is just too much of them. One variety of vege already has lots of seeds and now I have trouble with planning the amount of seeds to plant for my okra, cucumber, french beans, white radishes and etc. I want to plant lots of variety of plants. I now plant almost 75% of each variety of plant and wondering is this a good choice...

I am thinking why can't the seeds sold be packet on the right amount of seeds that we need? (bitter smile)

why did my watermelon plant die

I plant my watermelon plants for months, the watermelon plants have produced both female and male flowers. The flowers bloom perfectly but the plants died after my mistake. 

I guess the mistake is made because of me being a beginner at gardening. The mistake I did is that I thought everything can be fertilizer to plants, this cause me to throw cooked red bean soup to the soil near the watermelon plants. The next day, I found root fungus at the root of my watermelon plant. Root fungus cannot be cure, the leaves of the watermelon plant continue to wilt and died. 

Moral of the story: Not everything can help provide nutrients to the plants. Research before hand so that you won't waste a good fruit bearing plant.

mistake when planting pumpkin

The first fruit I harvest in my backyard garden is a pumpkin fruit. There are lots of mistakes when planting the pumpkin plant. 

1) Planing.

Pumpkin plant grow really fast and can be very long so it would be best to plant it near the fence directly ( I tie my pumpkin plant to the fence using string). My mistake is that I did not plant it at the fence at first, this cause me the need to transplant the plant but then transplant the plant to a new location is dangerous. I plant 6 of the pumpkin plant, but after transplanting them only 2 manage to survive.Thus, I recommend new growers to plan before planting.

2) Planting distance

The pumpkin I plant is a chinese pumpkin. The plant can reach a very long length. It would be best to plant the pumpkin plants further apart so that the plant would not collide with each other on a fence. Planting the plant close to each other will make it look very messy.

3) Give nutrients

I did not give nutrients to my pumpkin plant and this cause the fruit of the plant after harvest is tasteless. Based on what I learn from other growers, if you want to plant to grow at it best peak, provide the plant with compost or fertilizer every 14 days.

4) Provide support for the pumpkin fruit when it is growing

When you grow pumpkin plant near a fence for support, tie a basket and put the pumpkin in the basket for additional support to the pumpkin fruit 

What I learned about growing pumpkin (learn from Youtube and Google)

1) How to differentiate male and female pumpkin flower?

2) How to pollinate the male and female pumpkin flower?

3) When should I harvest the pumpkin fruit?

 What I learned about growing pumpkin (from experience)

1) How big are the pumpkin flowers?

2) The joy when getting the pumpkin fruit?

ps. It is easy to grow pumpkin as it is very easy to take care of it compare to lots of plants but there is one downside which is the space needed but there are lots of farmers that prune the pumpkin plant and they had a successful harvest.

 

gardening during MCO

I am a beginner at gardening. Started gardening during MCO. Before, I have tried gardening but all of them did not work. I learn how to do gardening from YouTube and this is the results. 

My plants have starts to germinate, flower and fruiting. This tomato plant and pumpkin plant are grow from food scraps. I get the seed from the tomato and pumpkin before we cook. (The seeds of pumpkin will be thrown anyway so I use it). I have also grow other plants such as watermelon, lemon, chilli, ginger and capsicum. I am now trying to do hydroponic. You guys should also try gardening. You can grow own food and reduces waste.

Chili and garlic pesticide.

Prevent worms and insects destroying your vegetable by using this organic pesticide recipe.

1) Cut 5 chilies and a garlic into small pieces.

2) Add on litter of water into the garlic and chili mix.

3) Stir the mixture. Left the mixture for 24 hours.

4) Strain the mixture. Only take the water.

5) Pour the water into a spray and spray the organic pesticide to the leaves of your plants.

Use the organic pesticide as fast as possible. If the organic pesticide is left for to long it will lose it function.

What can we do with shell in gardening?

Shells contain lots of calcium.

To prevent the shell from being garbage, we can use the shell for compost.

How do manke the shell into compost?

1. Clean the shell.

2. Crush the shell,into smaller piece.

3. Pour the smaller shell pieces onto the plant soil.

Calcium in plant is use as soil amendment and helps to maintain chemical balance in the soil, reduces soil salinity, and improves water penetration. Calcium also plays a critical metabolic role in carbohydrate removal and neutralizes cell acids.

Calcium deficiency will cause necrosis at the tips and margins of young leaves, bulb and fruit abnormalities, deformation of affected leaves, highly branched, short, brown root system and stunted growth.