Green Patches - Mediterranean Gardening

Harvesting Sunflower Seeds

2016-08-13T12:07:00.004+02:00

Some time ago I decided to try to grow sunflowers from seed. This was my second attempt at growing from seed, as my first was a disaster. I took some extra care, and after a few weeks the seedlings appeared. They grew quickly and soon out grew the pot that they were in. It was time for a nasty decision. The instructions said to grow two, but to only keep one! So which one was I going to keep?

Since one of the seedlings did not look as promising as the other one, and don't ask me how I made that judgement, I thinned and separated the two flowers, and replanted the lucky seedling in a bigger pot.

My Sunflower after a few weeks

Waiting for the flower to bloom was a daily display of layers of leaves peeling. Row after row until one day a speck of color appeared.

Just about ready to bloom

Finally after about a month I was blessed with a cheerful, sunny, sunflower. I know that they are called sunflowers because they follow the sun, but for me are such cheerful flowers they are like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.

One word of advice when planning sunflowers, take care where the sun rises and sets on your location, because the flower head will point towards the sun, and you may end up with a set of flowers looking away from you rather than at you :)

My sunflower in full bloom

All good things come to an end and my sunflower withered and died after just a month. I decided to keep the flower head to see if I can harvest the seeds. I have hundreds of seeds left in the original packet, but seed harvesting is such a rewarding activity I try to do it with every plant that I grow.

I had never harvested sunflower seeds before but I know they were in the head so I grabbed it with both hands and gently pulled it backwards to 'break' the surface layer and reveal the seeds inside. It was the easiest thing to do since sunflower seeds are quite big and you can just pick them out of the head and place them in a jar.

How sunflower seeds are harvested.

There you are, from two seeds, to one flower, to lots of seeds, the life of a sunflower. Nature is just amazing.

Spring Comes To Qrendi

2015-04-15T09:20:00.007+02:00

They say in life you have to stop and smell the roses. Well in my case I stopped and took pictures of the flowers. Looks like Spring is finally setting in. Here are some of the flowers that I see now on my afternoon walk around Qrendi.

Green Patches Fundraiser - Planting Trees in The Park

2015-02-19T19:30:00.001+01:00

Over the Christmas period I have started my very first fundraiser. It was on a November afternoon as I was catching up with group posts on our Green Patches Facebook group that someone mentioned sponsoring trees with the 34U Campaign. We had just had some violent storms and many trees were uprooted or destroyed. The idea was to donate EUR 1 each to sponsor some trees as a replacement.

Maybe it was because Christmas was coming, and I was feeling particularly generous, but I decided to take on the challenge, and organize a fundraiser. After some searching online I found a good website, and after a few clicks it was online and official.

I was prepared for the waiting game, thinking that it will take forever for people to make the first payment, luckily that was short lived. Money started coming in almost immediately, and I was so relieved. The fundraiser lasted till the end of January and we collected enough money to sponsor 23 trees.

We decided to plant the trees in two children's parks around the island. Aleppo Pine Trees and Juda's Trees were chosen for us, both indigenous to Malta. Unfortunately the 34U Campaign only operate during the week, and almost none of the people who donated money could make it on the day of the planting. We met the gardeners, planted the trees, posed for some pictures, and in a couple of hours it was over.

That's me planting a Juda's tree

The Group at MScala Family Park

Green Patches Plaque

The people from the 34U Campaign were very efficient, and it was also thanks to their brilliant staff that everything went like clockwork.

I was very pleased that we did this, not only did we leave a legacy behind for our children, but the parks are now a little bit nicer thanks to the people of Green Patches!

The Umbrella Plant Who Gets Homesick

2015-02-14T18:02:00.002+01:00

I have a love hate relationship with my Umbrella plant. I have had this plant for over four years now and it has been growing happily ever since. Growing so much in fact that it is completely taking over my small yard.

Umbrella Plant - 2010

Umbrella Plant - 2012

I have tried various methods to keep this plant under control. The first attempt was to prune off almost one third of the plant, and brought it back to its original size. This was an easy job, and I was quite happy with the result. I did, however, do one mistake. I placed the plant indoors thinking it will make a fine indoor plant.

In general Umbrella plants make good indoor plants, they are also beneficial as they absorb a lot of toxins from the air, and release clean oxygen. I placed my plant next to a big window in the living room, where it got lots of natural light but no direct sunlight.

Umbrella Plant Indoors after Pruning

After a couple of weeks I started seeing signs of decline. The leaves were going yellow and dropping off. Then I realized that the remaining leaves had a sticky substance on them, it almost looked as if the plant was sweating. I feared bugs, but there were none to be seen. Eventually, after about four months I gave up and placed the plant outside in its original spot.

Almost immediately I saw an improvement. The plant started growing new healthy leaves, the old leaves were no longer sticky and I can honestly say it actually looked happy! Needless to say in about a year the plant was back to its enormous size, so I decided to try a new tactic.

Instead of trying to control the plant's growth I was going to set it free and place it on my roof. The plant was so big it hardly passed through the doorways of my house, but finally I set it in place, in a sheltered spot. I changed the pot to a bigger one so that the roots had space to grow, thinking that this plant was going to become a monster, and I left it alone.

Umbrella Plant New Leaves

A few weeks went by and once again the plant went in decline. I saw the same series of events occurring, the leaves started yellowing and dropping, and the plant looked miserable. I persisted and after a few more weeks, one of the branches was almost without any leaves. There was sign of new growth, however, so I decided to leave it, and wait a bit more. The plant started growing new leaves but there were nothing like the original large and dark foliage. They were small and shriveled leaves. I thought maybe this plant needs a bit of time to adapt to its new climate so I left the plant out on the roof for over six months.

Umbrella Plant on Rooftop after 6 months

This afternoon I couldn't bear to see it anymore. I brought the plant back down to my small yard where it belongs. I will give it a few weeks to recover, I am sure that it will jump back in no time at all. I plan to propagate this plant with layering. I will try to get the leaning branch to root, and make a new plant out of it. Then I will trim the remaining plant into shape, and keep it in my yard, in its proper place forever.

Life Lessons From A Humble Gardening Blog

2015-02-14T14:47:00.002+01:00

I started writing this blog in 2009. It was then when I decided I wanted to try my hands at gardening. We had just bought our first set of plants, and I needed a way to record progress.

My requirements consisted of a log where I could write my observations, collect information about my plants from other sources, and keep pictures of the plants for comparison. It was 2009, so I thought, why not create a blog? And so it began:

The mission: Keep a log of my plants and make sure they don't die.

My plants and my blog were doing well, I was faithfully writing blog posts about every growth spurge, every color change, and every fatality that occurred in my small back yard.

Growing Pains

Two years went by and some of my plants were happily growing, others were dead, and not replaced. I found myself at a loss for things to write. Season after season I was writing the same things about the same plants, with the only difference being that they were a few inches taller or wider. The blog was drying out, and I was ready to call it quits.

52 Page Views and Digital Marketing.

The day had finally come, I logged into Blogger with the intention of deleting my blog, and call it a day. As I was searching for the delete button I came across the Stats button. I clicked and saw that I had 52 page views. Huh? 52 people had read my blog, and they came from USA and Canada.

I don't remember why that was such a big deal for me at the time, maybe because I always thought of the blog as a private journal, not really something that people would come across. Those 52 page views that I collected in two years were reason enough for me to keep the blog. I thought if other people were reading, then I will not be the one to stop them.

Something changed however. I found myself checking the stats page a few hundred times a day, willing for those 52 page views to increase. I started reading about digital publishing, blogs, content, analytics, marketing, SEO, everything I could get my hands on to increase those page views.

The blogging platform was changed, from Blogger to WordPress, back to Blogger. The template also changed about five times before I settled with this one. My free time now consisted of following other blogs, reading their posts, commenting, and linking back to my blog. The numbers started to rise, slowly but surely.

I soon realized, however, that there was one fundamental problem that I was faced with. I had a great design, I knew a lot about the marketing, but I had no knowledge about the subject - gardening.

Content is King - and the plants?

So apparently content is king in this business. Well, my content consisted of very detailed accounts of my dear plants, and, therefore, not very exciting. The topic was gardening so I started reading and researching topics for my blog.

Container gardening was my niche, so I focused on writing interesting, evergreen, keyword rich, search engine friendly articles about container gardening. I also knew I had to do this three to four times a week to beef up my blog.

In the meantime I had to keep up with the marketing, so I published my articles on gardening sites, registered my blog in directories, read my fellow bloggers' posts and commented, checked out google analytics and webmaster tools, ...... who has time for gardening?

After about a year I had over 90 posts, over 3,000 page views a month, a trickle of adsense income, and no garden.

I eventually abandoned my fellow bloggers's posts, in part because they made it look so easy. One post a week, and they got so many comments, so many page views, so many awards. I failed to see the mark, and I crashed. I was exhausted, frustrated, brain dead, and hated gardening at that point. So I quit.

Social Green Patches

Part of my social media strategy for my blog was to create accounts with every possible channel, I had a twitter account, Google Plus page, I posted on Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, and also created a group on Facebook.

One evening I receive a message on Facebook from a fellow gardener who found the group, and asked me if it was still active. He encouraged me to start posting on the group, and told that that there was a real need for it in Malta. I agreed to try, and in a matter of two days I had over a hundred members. Like an addict, my first thought went back to the blog, maybe this was the audience I was waiting for. I soon realized however, that Facebook is a different medium.

Facebook is a medium of instant gratification. You need help with a plant? Post a picture, and you get all the help you need within a few minutes. It was no place for me to post lengthy blogs about the difference between clay and sandy soil.

Today my Facebook group has over 2,000 members, and we have started getting more active doing some fundraising for trees in parks, and caring for public gardens around the island.

... and the blog?

My last entry in my blog was in May 2014, when I was trying to write about my visit to Butchart Gardens, and never quite got to finish the series. I still get over 1,000 page views a month from the articles, and a few cents from adsense.

I do believe that the biggest lesson I have learnt is not to force something to be what it is not. Who knows, had I continued to write about my plants I would have become a better gardener, and content would have increased naturally. Now that I am more active with other gardeners out there I have more stories to tell, more adventures that I want to share with people.

This is what those blogs that I abandoned were trying to tell me back then. Those blogs didn't share recycled content derived from summarized online articles, they shared the writer's unique experience, which is something truly worth reading about. Maybe it is time to start gardening.

Butchart Gardens Part 1 - The Sunken Gardens

2014-04-28T20:17:00.000+02:00

Last Summer we had the pleasure of visiting Canada, crossing from Toronto to Vancouver by train. When we got to Vancouver, we could not leave without crossing over to Vancouver Island. I had the privilege of visiting the most beautiful garden I've seen to date, Butchart Gardens.

Welcome - Butchart Gardens

Butchart Gardens started to take shape over a century ago when Jennie Butchart decided to turn the old cement quarry that used to belong to her husband into a garden. Over the course of time, one garden turned into two and three, and now the gardens are composed of six main areas. The Sunken Garden, the Rose Garden, the Concert Lawn, the Fireworks Lawn, the Japanese Garden, the Italian Garden with the Star Pond.

The gardens employ over fifty gardeners who do all the work at night, so that the visitors can enjoy the gardens during the day time. It is meticulously kept with not a dead leaf in sight. When you see the enormity of this place it's quite a feat.

I will split this feature into four posts, one for each garden, starting with the Sunken Garden. It is perhaps the most breathtaking garden of all, and the entrance to it is certainly intended to leave visitors in awe.

Butchart Gardens Sunken Gardens Entrance

Towards the Sunken Gardens

As we made our way through the darkened paths we were completely unaware what was waiting for us beyond the final bend. We were quite happy feeling belittled by the enormous trees that surrounded us. Then we came to a clearing ....

The Sunken Gardens

The Sunken Gardens - steps to another view point

It was hard not to gasp, and as we stood there is was quite entertaining watching people who were walking behind us have the same reaction we did a few seconds before them. The pictures cannot begin to describe the work involved in this garden.

It took Mrs Butchart twelve years to transform this cement quarry into a garden. She started in 1909 and finished in 1921. To date this garden still blooms, and it just as magnificent as it was over one hundred years ago.

Sunken Garden - The Original Cement Quarry

Animals in the Sunken Gardens

Sunken Gardens Quarry Walls

Towards the back of the quarry a small lily pond appears, and Ross Fountain dances in the distance. The fountain was installed in 1964 to mark the 60th Anniversary of the gardens.

Sunken Garden Lily Pond

Ross Fountain

We have come to the end of the first part. I hope that you have enjoyed our tour of the Sunken Gardens, stay tuned for part two, the glorious Rose Garden.

Wild Fennel and a Trip To The Country

2014-04-27T13:08:00.003+02:00

Today I want to share with you some country views. This time it's Mtahleb, Malta. I think this place has some of the nicest views on the island. It is not easily accessible and there is no public transport that goes down there I believe, so not many tourists make it there. It has some lovely trails and great scenery though, especially in Spring.

Mtahleb Views

Mtahleb hills

The hills, the trails and the sea

As we were walking along the trail I could not help noticing a plant that was predominant. I later found out that it is wild fennel. Once you know what it is, the smell is instantly recognizable. The plant in not edible apparently but the flowers are really beautiful.

Wild Fennel plants

Fennel Flowers

If you are on this part of the island, or know any locals who can take you, please visit this place. It is quite lovely. Just make sure you keep out of farmland and away from pesky farm dogs!

The Power of Snails, The End, and The Beginning

2014-04-27T12:44:00.000+02:00

The new season this year brought with it a new pest to my little yard. Snails! I never had a problem with snails before, and I do believe I have brought this upon myself. I remember foolishly throwing a snail or two from my fresh lettuce, out the door into my yard. I had no idea they would grow this big, and multiply this fast.

After the first rain came what seems like an army of hungry snails wreaked havoc in my enclosed yard. They had nowhere to go and they had plenty to eat. Lots of fleshy succulents for the taking.

Snail damage on Kalanchoe

Kalanchoe eaten

Snail caught red (brown) handed!

It took me about a couple of hours to remove more than 25 snails for my plants. In total they destroyed all succulents, eaten a good chunk of my passion flower and one leaf of my Hoya. The only plant that remained untouched was the Schefflera.

Snail hiding behind the passion flower trellis

It was with some sadness that I almost emptied the entire yard. Was this the end?

The only remaining plants that I have now are the Passion Flower, the Schefflera, and a shelf of a few surviving cactii.

Snail pellets

I have started using snail pellets and have since removed another ten snails. I no longer find any snails now, and I am beginning to feel hopeful again. If you ever find snails in your fresh greens, DO NOT throw them out in your garden !! Lesson learnt.

Two Wrongs Do Make One Right In The Garden

2013-07-18T17:42:00.003+02:00

I enjoy going out in the yard, have a look around, like a foreman watching a project unfold, and give some satisfied nods. Lately, however, two spots have been catching my eye, and I look at them in disapproval, as if they will magically disappear or right themselves.

The first sore spot was a large pot that I had purchased with the idea of filling with herbs. I did plant rosemary and sage in it once, but that was a disaster. After I threw the dead plants away, I stuck the container in a corner never to see a pinch of soil again. It was too big for my yard, and I had no plants to plant in it.

My second sore spot was my succulent on the succulent shelf. I have had this plant for over four years now, and it just keeps hanging on to dear life. I have completely neglected this plant, never repotted it, hardly ever water it, and when I do the water goes straight out, the compost has become so hard it fails to absorb any water now. I know what I should do to rescue it, but I just don't want to! Still there it is, a monster of a plant staring at me in defiance everyday.

Yesterday I decided I had to do something about this plant. I took a closer look at it, and I saw that all its stems and leaves had sprouted roots. Now I know where it was getting its water from. The stems' roots that touched the wood collected the water that came out of the pot, ingenious. I had noticed these roots before, but now it was like a small jungle, a mini ecosystem hidden among the leaves.

I was curious to see what was going on in the pot, so I lifted it as gently as I could. I was not able to hold all the stems in my arms it was so big. I spread it out on the floor, and I could see the main stems jutting out of the pot. I am not sure if this is the way this plant is supposed to grow, but it looked almost deformed. All the stems took the shape of an 'S' as they hung out of the pot, and rested on the shelf. The middle of the pot was almost completely void of any leaves, just a few stems looking haggard, and half dead.

So what now? As I stared at it many thoughts came to my mind. Give it away to someone with a bigger garden? Cut it up in smaller plants and give them away? Throw it away?! (Yes that thought did cross my mind I'm ashamed to say). I pondered for quite a while, and I even asked my gardener friends on my gardening group on facebook. Then it hit me, ideally this plant would go into the ground as someone suggested. I don't have any ground, but I do have a rather big pot! I was sure it would fit nicely in it, and it could be a contender for my roof garden.

Today, after more than four years, my succulent has a new home. The soil crumbled in my hand as I gently lifted out of the pot, and carefully placed it in the new soil. It was no easy task. The stems were bent in such as way that I could not get them to stay.

I gave the plant a much needed shower, and soaked it through. I am hoping now that the roots will take to the soil. If it does and this plant continues to grow it's going to be huge. I might take cuttings and place them in the soil where there are empty patches. That could wreak havoc, but I am now confident this plant will endure the tightest of living quarters, and the harshest environment. It could very well be my super plant!! :)

How To Tell When Containers Don't Fit The Plants? The Plants Tell You!

2013-06-30T10:16:00.000+02:00

This week my garden has taught me another lesson. I learnt the meaning of fibrous and tuberous roots. I learnt that fibrous roots are thin roots which are shallow and stay close to the soil surface. Plants with fibrous roots tend to spread them wide and therefore require shallow but wider containers. Tuberous roots on the other hand go long and narrow. A tubular root is one long root which travels deep into the soil in search of nutrients to sustain the plant. Plants with tubular roots therefore require a deep pot to accommodate the them.

In a normal garden the root system of plants may not really matter that much, because the plants' roots can travel every which way and there will still be enough soil, provided they are planted with sufficient space around them. In a container garden however, the space is limited to the type of container chosen, and it is important to know a little bit about the root system of your plant before choosing the container. I have already highlighted these issues in a previous post on how to choose the right containers, so I will not go through that again. In this post I want to highlight the task of identifying the root system of plants and how sometimes the answers do not lie out there.

I few months ago I got an Aloe Vera from a friend. It came to us in a tiny container, and has been growing steadily ever since. Around the beginning of May growth stopped, and I decided it was time to repot. I know these plants can grow quite large, and it was not meant to stay in a three inch container! Since the plant was still so young and seemed to be doing well I didn't really look up much information. I watered it whenever the soil went dry and it seemed to like it's place in the sun. I placed the plant in a bigger container and it started growing again in no time.

Aloe Vera After Repotting

Two months later I noticed that the plant seemed to stop growing again. It had not out grown it's container so I attributed this to the fact that I had moved the plant to a shadier spot in May to make room for other plants. Slightly worried I looked up some information about the plant. Among other things I learnt that the plant's root system was fibrous, meaning the roots were thin fiber like and spread out.

When I repotted the plant, the roots were only tiny so I didn't think that the plant would have grown so much as to be root bound already. This week however, I was proved wrong. As I picked up the plant to water it I got a rather fuzzy surprise!

Aloe Vera Fuzzy Root

So what's going on here? Is this plant not an Aloe Vera, perhaps I got it wrong. I was certain that it was a root coming out of the pot and not some alien growth. I did another search online and as it turns out there are mixed opinions on the plant's root system!

I found some sites that say that the Aloe Vera has a tuberous root system, and to plant it in deep pots to accommodate the root system. Other sites, or in this case the same site, on the other hand say that the plant has a fibrous root system. To complicate matters further I came across another site which said that the Aloe Vera can develop a fungus called Arbuscular Mycorrhiza. According to this site, the Aloe Vera has a fibrous root system, but the fungus goes deep into the soil, and allows the plant to get more nutrients. Huh?

I decided this case needs further investigation. I removed the plant from the container, and although the plant did have some thin roots, the main root was the one that found its way out of the pot. Root or fungus, I decided to place the plant in a deeper container as that was the obvious course of action. The length of the root is quite impressive, almost as long as the plant itself. That could be a good rule of thumb to determine the size of the container, provided this root is going to keep growing as the plant grows. The container is not much wider than the previous one, as the plant is still young I don't want to overwhelm it.

This goes to show that sometimes, you can get it wrong when it comes to container plants. The best thing about nature however, is that it will always show you when there is something amiss. You just need to read the signs, and with some common sense, and help (or added confusion) from other gardeners, take action.

The Challenges Of Blogging About a Passion Flower

2013-06-16T13:55:00.001+02:00

This week I meant to write a long post about the passion flower vine I added to my garden a few weeks ago. I wanted to write about the incredible flowers that are blooming every day now, about its fast growth doubling in size in just three weeks, and about the fact that the vine is slowly but surely trying to get into my house. I meant to write all this, but I didn't.

When blogging about my garden, it is very easy to write posts that have been written and re-written all over the net. I have a few container plants that are quite common, and the simplest thing to do would be to write about how to take care of them, how the changes in weather is affecting them, how they are growing and so on. I have done this in other posts for other plants, and I was planning to do just that with the passion flower, this is a log of my plants after all.

As I was doing my research on the plant, I realized, why do I have to repeat what's out there, what value is my blog post going to add to the reader? The challenge then became, how to write something interesting about the passion flower that the readers can enjoy, without repeating what others have written many times before.

In my search to find interesting posts, one of two things normally happens. An idea may come to me, which I then try to support with good pictures. Alternatively, the garden will show me something interesting, where I take the pictures first, and then I try to explain it in a blog post. It is not always clear which comes first, but I do find myself in situations where I have pictures, but no post, or the other way around.

Coming back to the subject, I have taken quite a few pictures of my passion flower now, but the post still eludes me. What can I write about a passion flower that no one has written about before. How can I look at this from a different angle? Nothing comes to me, I find myself uninspired. It's such a wonderful plant, however, that I still take pictures to mark its progress, and this brings me to another point. Are the pictures any good? Not really.

Summer has come all of a sudden, two days ago, without warning. My garden has turned into a dust bowl, full of soil blowing in from the surrounding fields. With no rain to wash them down, my plants look like they have been abandoned for years gathering dust, even though it has only been a few days. Not the ideal environment to take pictures. I could spend a few hours hosing them down, trying to get the soil off the leaves, letting them dry, and take a few pictures for my blog post, but it's too much work in this summer heat.

So here I find myself with no post, and dusty pictures. I am waiting for the vine to crawl in some unexpected manner, or to do something so outrageous as to warrant a blog post. In the meantime, I check on it everyday, train it, teach it how to crawl in the right direction, talk to it, and marvel at its beautiful flowers. I still take pictures, perhaps they can catch something I missed. Until that day comes, however, my post about the passion flower is going to have to wait.

Aphid Control Using Garlic Pesticide

2013-06-10T20:55:00.000+02:00

Last week I had the unfortunate displeasure of meeting aphids for the first time in my container garden. In hindsight I was the one who introduced them to my garden quite unknowingly. They hitched a ride on my Hoya, and I had no idea they were there until two entire stems were completely covered in yellow. I had noticed the yellow tinge before, but never really took any notice of it. I foolishly thought it was how new stems looked, since the stems were a darker color than the rest of the plant, see the mistake here. All was well until I realized, the yellow tinge was moving, and some of it had wings!

Aphids on Hoya

My first reaction was run for the shears; my second reaction was moving the Hoya away from the rest of the plants. It took me a few seconds to realize that this was useless in my small yard. If the aphids can fly, they don't have to go very far to get to another plant. My final decision was to run inside, and search the net. The source of all wisdom, I was bound to find the answers there, and here is what I found.

To my relief, the yellow aphids were oleander aphids, which are mostly found on Oleander (no brainer that), Milkweeds and the Hoya among others. They are bright yellow indicating high toxicity, and spiders and birds tend to stay away from them. Luckily for me, they were not attracted to any other plants in my garden.

Oleander aphids feed on the sap from the plant terminal. A colony can get very big, very fast and the aphids can cause substantial damage to a plant. Depending on the size of the colony, the plant can suffer a few stems, or it can be killed altogether. A good indication of the damage done comes from the aphids themselves. If they grow wings, then the colony is getting too large, and they are preparing to move on. This could mean that there is not much left of the plant to sustain them, or that the colony was centralized in one place, and they have outgrown it. In my case, all the aphids were congregated on two stems, and the rest of the plant was untouched.

Oleander Aphids - Image Source

Now, how do I get rid of them? In all my gardening adventures I always try to go as natural as possible. The only store bought item in my garden is an all purpose liquid fertilizer, which I don't use very often since I made my own homemade compost. I was lucky that I never had to deal with pests before, so I was quite unprepared for this one. I once again turned to the net. I found all sorts of homemade solutions for getting rid of aphids, and for various reasons I dismissed all of them but one. Garlic.

Garlic is such an incredible plant. I have a high regard for it, and I always try to use it in my cooking. I also found out that it makes a great natural pesticide. It can be used against a whole list of bugs, diseases, fungi all without damaging the host plant. The plant will smell like garlic for up to a month, but it's a small price to pay.

So here is the garlic pesticide recipe:

4 cloves garlic
1 cup of water
1 splash of olive oil (not sure what this does)

Boil the water and add the garlic. As soon as you can smell the garlic, take the water off the heat, and strain it into a spray water bottle. Once the water has cooled down, add a splash of olive oil, give the bottle a good shake to mix it up, and you're done. Please resist the urge to spray boiling water on the poor plant.

With my pesticide in hand I sprayed the aphids until I could no longer see any movement. I sprayed the entire plant with garlic, and the smell was awful. It worked beautifully, however, and I got rid of all aphids in no time at all.

Hoya soaked in garlic pesticide

The reason this works is that aphids are soft bodied creatures, and the garlic will burn them up. One drawback of using garlic as a pesticide is that it will kill beneficial insects and bacteria as well, so it would be best to use it in a localized area, not like I did.

There is a natural predator of the oleander aphid, and it is not the ladybird. The braconid wasp attacks oleander aphids, and kills them in a rather gruesome manner. I always imagine insects killing each other by eating one another, and that is somehow acceptable to my mind. Not the wasp though, the wasp will use the aphids to inject her eggs inside them, sort of like an incubator. The aphids will carry on with their daily life, until the eggs hatch inside them, and the wasp larvae start eating them alive. Once the larvae turn into tiny wasps, they cut a hole through the aphid's body and come out, leaving behind an empty shell. It's like watching a horror movie!

I think I will stick to my garlic remedy, it's better to fry them and kill them quickly. The next day, all the aphid bodies had fallen to the ground, and no more movement could be seen. My Hoya was pest free. I gave the stems a quick wipe, and that was the end of that. My only concern now is that the stems where the aphids were are dark brown, and possibly dead. I am not sure whether I should cut them off, or wait and see if they recover. I think I will wait and see.

Raised Bed Gardens On Rooftops - Things To Consider

2013-06-05T18:37:00.000+02:00

Roof gardens have always been popular, particularly with urban dwellers, who may not have the luxury of space. A roof garden can cover the entire rooftop with turf and plants, and these are most commonly seen in commercial or public buildings. They are expensive to set up and maintain, and not everyone can install them due to weight restrictions. Another common type of roof garden is made up of containers and raised beds. It is the most affordable option, since containers can be made up of all sorts of materials, including reused old junk. Containers are easy to set up, require little planning, and can be easily moved around until the right location is found. Raised beds, on the other hand come with a few restrictions, and there are a few things to consider before thinking about that vegetable patch on the roof.

Image from uncommonground.com

The Pre-Planning Phase:

Before even planning to install raised beds, it is important to note that if the roof is owned by a landlord, permission should be sought. Raised beds are heavy structures that require a lot of work to set up. It is not as easy to remove them if the landlord or other tenants object. The building code also needs to be observed. It is possible that roof gardens are not allowed on rooftops due to fire hazards. Permission may also be required to lift all the materials on to the roof. Lifting tonnes of soil up to a four storey building is no easy task, and requires some careful planning and organization.

The Planning Phase:

Once permission is obtained, or unnecessary, the first thing to consider before building the beds is weight. Assuming that the raised beds are not going to be built out of concrete blocks, soil, especially wet soil, can get very heavy. A rough estimate for dry soil is around 1,200 Kg per cubic meter, or 2,100 pounds per cubic yard. Depending on the desired size or quantity of raised beds, the rooftop can be put under a lot of strain.

Soil density and weight varies, and the best way to calculate the potential weight is to measure a sample of the soil that will be used, both dry and wet. Then calculate according to the inside measurements of the raised bed. Apart from the soil, the weight of the raised bed itself, the weight of the plants that will grow in it, and any other structures that already exist on the roof need to be considered. If the rooftop has a protective membrane installed it will not take too kindly to harsh materials being dragged on it. An additional layer could be installed to protect the membrane, and this will also add to the weight on the roof.

A nursery or landscape designer should know if the roof can withstand the weight, possibly following an on-site inspection. Alternatively, the building’s architect will be able to offer accurate guidance. The architect should also guide you on providing the rooftop additional structural support if necessary. It is important that an assessment is done properly as structural damage is a real possibility, and can be quite costly to repair, especially if the roof is not your own.

Another consideration that should go into the planning phase is the kind of plants that will be grown in the raised beds. In the case of vegetables or other edible plants, such as herbs, care must be taken to ensure that the material that the beds are made of will not run into the soil, possibly adding unwanted chemicals and toxins that the plants can absorb. It could be bad for the plants, but also bad for human consumption. If the beds are made of wood, it should be water resistant, so that it doesn't deteriorate with repeated watering.

Image from upper-living.com

The Construction:

Raised beds are essentially large containers. They can be made up of anything from wooden boxes, concrete boxes, barrels cut in half, or even old bath tubs. Raised beds are raised off the ground, and they should have sufficient clearing to allow for proper drainage and air circulation. If the beds are not raised off the ground they can cause serious water damage to the roof of the property, as water sits at the bottom and seeps into the stone.

The Environment:

A rooftop, as with a garden, is exposed to the elements. There are, however, certain characteristics that may be unique to a roof garden, not necessarily applicable to normal gardens on land. When selecting the plants for the raised beds, whether the plants need sun or shade will determine the position of the beds.

Sun is unavoidable on a roof top, however, unless shade is provided by means of man-made shelter. Heat on a rooftop is also unavoidable. Apart from heat that is reflected by the sun, the heat coming out of the building, in the form of thermal heat is also present, and can be unbearable in the middle of summer. Proper air circulation underneath the raised bed is essential.

Wind is also a problem for roof gardens. Depending on the position of the building, the position of surrounding buildings and the altitude of the roof, wind can be a killer for raised beds, just as it is for container plants. Since raised beds are normally higher than containers they may not have the shelter of the roof walls, and may be more exposed to wind. If wind is a risk, it may be worthwhile to invest in shelter, either man-made or by means of other hardy plants that can be grown to act as wind breakers.

Image from livinghomegrown.com

The Gardening:

When the raised beds are ready, filled with soil and plants, and sheltered from the elements. Something may become obvious very fast is water supply, or the lack of it! Depending on the size of the raised beds, it is ideal to have a water connection or some sort of water storage on the roof. It can get very tiring going up and down stairs and lifts filling up buckets of water. If there is no water connection, a rain barrel could be installed on the roof.

Space permitting, it would be also a good idea to have a storage unit for all the gardening equipment. Items like watering cans, fertilizer, soil, and gardening tools can be stored on the roof in a small closet and available when needed. Better than to realize that you forgot your fertilizer, and you have to go down three storeys to get it!

The Conclusion:

I think rooftop gardens are a great idea for those who do not have the space for a garden. Raised beds or containers can look great on a rooftop especially with proper design. If the idea is to create a peaceful spot, then it is possible to add a comfortable seating area where one can sit and relax whilst enjoying the view. The sky is the limit in terms of what to you can turn an empty roof space into, it all depends on the budget, and some proper planning. The latter, at least, we have covered!

Image from apartmenttherapy.com

Types Of Soil For Container Gardening

2013-06-01T19:03:00.001+02:00

In this post I would like to talk about the different types of soils, where they are best used. I am no expert in soil, in fact I have recently learnt that I have never used soil in my gardening. I decided to investigate online and the results were slightly confusing, so I will mention all definitions here, and then you can decide what is best. I will mention three types of scenarios, container plants, raised beds and gardens. I will not go into farming, and large plots of land as it is beyond the scope here.

I used to think that soil is soil, you can find it in fields, buy it from nurseries, or get some from generous relatives. One visit to the nurseries, and I suddenly found myself with a dozen different types of compost, peat, fertilizer for vegetables, for herbs, for plants; the combinations were endless.

Nursery Selection

Plants in hand, I asked the person at the nursery what type of "soil" was best for my plants. He got a packet of multi-purpose substratum (even though he called it compost, and really it's the same thing), and I never looked back since.

One day a relative of ours gave us a bucket full of soil from his garden. It was reddish in color (soil in Malta is called 'Terra Rossa' or red earth), and was full of weeds, and bits of pottery! I had just planted half of my basil seeds in my substratum, so I decided to plant the rest of the seeds in this soil to see if it made any difference. The basil that I planted in the multi-purpose compost grew and flourished, the basil that I planted in the soil never even sprouted. I was gutted, thinking, we have some of the best soil in the world, and I can't even grow basil in it. I decided to do some research to understand why this happened, and I now realize that my basil never had a chance.

I would like to mention some types of soil/compost/mix as I found them to be the most commonly used. I hope this helps the humble beginners like myself, experienced gardeners feel free to contribute.

In the Garden

Garden Soil - Image Source

Garden soil is made up of topsoil and subsoil. Topsoil is normally the first few inches of soil and is where all plants grow. This soil is rich in organic matter as all sorts of insects, plants, weeds have lived and died there. Plant roots normally do not go deeper than topsoil and therefore all plants get their nutrition from this soil.

On the other hand, I have also read that topsoil is considered of little quality and referred to as dirt. The lack of nutrition can be rectified by adding compost or other fertilizer to it.

Beneath topsoil is subsoil. This is the soil that is the most dense and compacted, and little plant life can survive or grow in this type of soil. This type of soil does not contain the organic material found in top soil since plant roots do not reach this far down. As a result this type of soil contains little nutrients and makes it unsuitable for growing plants on its own.

Loam:

The amount of praise I saw online for this type of soil makes it necessary to give it special attention. This week was the first time I heard about this soil so pardon my ignorance. It is however, apparently the best soil you can use for gardens and farming, being an ideal mixture of sand, clay and silt, contains lots of nutrients, and retains the perfect amount of water. You couldn't manufacture something like that!

All these types of soil are not ideal to be used in containers for the following reasons:

1. They are full of bacteria, bits of rock and dead organic matter that you don't want in a container.

2. The soil is dense and compacted and does not allow for proper air and water flow.

3. The soil retains a lot of moisture causing possible root rot for plants in a container.

Raised Beds - Somewhere in between

Raised Beds - Image Source

Raised beds are neither gardens nor containers, but something in between. They can have a large surface area and are too big to be considered containers, however they are in a container so they are not a garden! The soil used in raised beds is also a mixture of topsoil and potting mix, or compost.

The compost or potting mix helps to aerate the topsoil, so it is not as dense. This helps the water to flow more easily and drain better in the beds. Due to their large surface area, however it is also desirable that the soil retains some of its moisture. The sun plays a big part in moisture loss, so in large volumes it is best that the soil is not too well draining, or the beds will dry out too quickly.

Containers and Small Environments

Containers - Image Source

In my experience I am beginning to see how container gardening can be more challenging that owning a normal garden. You need to create a small world in a container for your plant to live in and flourish. Soil is the basic medium in which the plants will grow so it is important to get it right, especially in a container.

Potting Soil vs Potting Mix

I have seen the terms potting soil and potting mix used interchangeably to mean the same thing. I found, however, a distinction between the two, in Tennille's very informative blog post Potting Soil vs Potting Mix.

Potting soil is a mixture of topsoil and compost as mentioned above used in raised beds. In large containers this type of soil can also be used for the same reasons.

Potting mix is a mix of peat moss, perlite and vermiculite among other things, and does not contain any soil. Vermiculite and perlite are two interesting minerals used in areas such as construction and insulation. When mixed with soil however, they add certain desirable properties.

Vermiculite retains air, moisture and plant food and has a slow release system, so the plant will get the right amount when required. Perlite, on the other hand, retains very little moisture, and is used to prevent the soil from becoming compact, encouraging air and water flow.

Potting mix is what we generally buy from nurseries and use in containers. The 'soil' is normally sterilized to kill off all bacteria, and prevent the chance of disease. It is not recommended to re-use this type of soil for plants after other plants have died in it, although I have done this on occasion, and I did not run into any trouble.

The nutrients in potting mix tend to be absorbed quickly by the plants, and the soil should be replaced once a year, or mixed with fertilizer to replace them.

Compost

Compost is made up of decomposed organic material such as leaves, greens and food if made at home. This material is very rich in nutrients, and is normally used as a fertilizer, so it should not be used on its own when planting container plants. It can however be mixed in with other types of soil to increase the nutritional value, such as mixing with top soil to make potting soil. Compost is not dense, and can be mixed with other soils to create water and air flow in containers or raised beds. In gardens, compost can be placed directly on the ground, and mixed in with the top soil before planting the seeds, or plants.

So there they are, the basics of soil! Many things can go wrong in container gardening. Too much water, too little, lack of food, too much sunlight etc. The wrong type of soil can also prevent the plants from reaching their full potential, so it's a good idea to have at least some basic knowledge of what there is out there. Hopefully this post will help achieve that.

Taking Care Of A Hoya Plant

2013-05-29T18:08:00.001+02:00

My latest addition to the yard is a Hoya. I got to know about this plant only recently through my dad, who has a big one in in garden. I thought the flowers were fascinating, wax like with a pretty pink color. Last weekend I got a cutting from him and decided I will add it to the rest in my yard. My dad was very generous with his cutting and I got a plant which was already over a meter long in some places.

Hoya Basics:

The Hoya originates from the tropical forests in Asia. It's habitat is humid and moist, and it can survive for long periods in rain or drought. The plant is a climber, weaving it's stems around branches of trees as it grows, and makes its way up. I have seen mixed reports on its growth, depending on the variety, it can grow from 4 feet up to 20 feet. Let's just say, it's not a small plant!

At home, the Hoya prefers indirect sunlight, since it's natural habitat is normally filtered light through the forest canopy. It could tolerate shade, but perhaps won't bloom as much. The Hoya can be grown as a houseplant, placed indoors behind a window with filtered light. Outside, it can be grown in hanging containers, allowing the stems to hang down, or else as a climber against a trellis.

The plant is pretty low maintenance when it comes to watering and re-potting. Starting the plant in a container of potting mix is the best idea as it likes rich soil with very good drainage. The compost can be left to dry a bit between each watering. The plant enjoys being root bound, and will produce more blooms this way, so unless it is absolutely necessary, the plant won't need re-potting.

The variety I have is called M.Carnosa and has pale pink flowers with a magenta corona. The plant flowers in Summer and the flowers do not need to be removed once dead, the plant will drop them when ready and can produce more flowers from the same stalk. I have read that moving a plant that has flowers will drop them when placed in the new location. This hasn't happened to me yet, but you never know.

My Hoya Plant

Back to My Plant:

The plant I have was propagated from a bigger plant which is already over 2 meters long (6 feet) in some places. It was placed in full sun, and all the leaves are yellowish, and burnt in places. I am hoping that my yard will be a better place for the Hoya, and the leaves will be replaced with green ones.

Hoya hanging on the wall

The Hoya was planted in soil, just as the original plant was, and I think the container is a little too big for it. I have, however, decided not to move it for the time being. The plant should be flowering by now, and I don't want to disturb it too much. If the container (an old pail) is is too big, or the soil is not rich enough, then I will re-pot it in another container with potting mix sometime towards the end of summer, or early winter. I should be able to tell all this by the amount and quality of flowers that are produced, but since this is my first time with Hoyas, I will probably leave it there a couple of years, unless it is looking really bad.

For the time being, I have decided to hang it against the wall, until I can figure out what to do with it. I am still not sure if the place I chose for it is good enough. It does get some morning sun, maybe a couple of hours. It is very close to the passion flower though, so I will give it some time to settle down, and they make a decision.

Hoya Fowers

I have just two bunches of flowers, which, as you can see from the above picture, did not take the move all that well. They are still hanging in there though. It's another reason why I don't want to disturb it that much, I want to see it bloom so I can see those lovely flowers.

I am sure that after a few months in my yard it will look great. I am tempted to buy a pole/large branch for it to climb. Wouldn't that be a nice feature ?

Hoya

How To Make a Passionate Trellis

2013-05-25T17:49:00.000+02:00

One of the things I have always wanted to do in my yard is to have a trellis against the wall with a vine or creeper to hide the ugly looking pipe works. My biggest obstacle in this project was that I didn't know what plant to choose that would hide the entire wall.

I decided to get some help so we went to the nursery, and the lady there limited my options to three choices (thankfully). For my small yard, with no direct sun, but lots of light, the contestants were, a Jasmine, a Passion Flower or a Stephanotis I love the smell of Jasmine and the Stephanotis, but I thought it would eventually be too overpowering in such a small space. I loved the Passion Flower flowers, so I decided to go for it.

The wall I wanted to hang it against was about 2 meters by 1 meter so the lady said to buy two plants, and place them one meter apart. I obeyed. She gave me some quick instructions on how to take care of it, and was off. The decision was made. The next problem was a trellis.

The nursery had dozens of fancy trellises made of wood, wrought iron, plastic, but all of them were too big for my wall. In the end I decided to make my own, and I bought a piece of plastic fencing from the local pet shop. I figured the plant should hide the trellis/fencing anyway, so there was no need to go for anything elaborate.

My Trellis

The wall where I wanted to attach the trellis had a small shelf stuck to it which we removed. I relocated the cactus and succulents that were on that shelf onto another shelf. They will not get as much light there, but it will have to do for now. Next we got a few wire clips, and attached the trellis to the wall, cutting off the extra bits to make it fit just right.

Shelf to be removed

Trellis attached

It was time to attach the passion flower to the trellis. This proved harder than I had anticipated. The plant was intertwined with a piece of wire in the pot, that's how I got it from the nursery. To untangle the passion flower was quite a challenge. As I was removing the tendrils, they seemed to have a life of their own, grabbing onto other stems, and leaves as I removed them. As I was untangling it I realized how long the plant was, when I finished it was over 3 meters long already. I couldn't help thinking, this could get me!

The actual attaching to the trellis then was a piece of cake. The tendrils proved quite strong, and it was just a question of winding them round a piece of plastic.

Tendril attached to the trellis

I attached both passion flowers opposite each other. I placed each plant at the edges of the trellis, more than one meter apart, but I will train them to go to one side as they grow bigger. When I finished I had a lovely display already.

passion flower stuck to the trellis

Both passion flowers attached

I hope that as the plants grow bigger I will be able to train them to fill up the entire wall. It might take a couple of years, but it has already made quite a difference to this yard. This space is finally looking better.

Should You Mulch Succulents In Containers?

2013-05-23T19:15:00.004+02:00

One of my latest additions to my container garden is a small bowl of succulents that I created from scratch. We went to the nursery last week, and they always stock a large selection of mini cactus and succulents. They look great stacked against each other, and I always end up buying a few.

I bought a small, shallow pot, and planted all of them next to each other. I used normal potting mix to plant the succulents even though they would prefer sandy soil. I have used potting mix with cactus and succulents before, and I didn't have any problems. I also bought some small gravel from the nursery. I thought it would bring the whole thing together, and make the container look much better. After doing some research though, now I wonder if I should.

My Succulent Arrangement

Placing a thin layer of gravel on soil has many benefits in general. It protects the soil from extreme temperatures such as cold and heat, as it acts like a layer of insulation. It also prevents moisture from evaporating quickly from the soil as it is covered. This is normally called mulching as is used primarily in gardens where you have a lot of soil. When used in containers I am not sure if you can call it mulching as well, but it is used for the same effects.

There are all sorts of mulching material, there is the organic kind such as pieces of bark or wood chips that slowly decompose into the soil. Rocks and gravel and also man made material such as rubber pallets. (Rubber is not really recommended due to potentially harmful run off in the soil).

My question is, should you use mulching with succulents and cactus ? These plants require well drained soil, very little water, and prefer the heat. Covering an already moist soil (potting mix) with gravel may prolong evaporation, which may be a good thing for other plants, but not necessarily for succulents. On the other hand, does a thin layer of gravel really make that much difference?

In our Mediterranean climate it never really gets too cold, and the temperatures are ideal for these plants. In other countries where soil freezes, or gets too cold, perhaps it would be a good idea to cover the soil in winter. In summer I usually let the soil dry up completely before I give my succulents any water. They can always withstand some hardship, with gravel they might even endure some more! This poses another question, do you mulch in a Mediterranean climate?

Succulent Container with Gravel

I have decided to give it a try. I have covered the soil with a single layer, just enough to cover the soil, and make the pot look good. I have also placed the pot in a spot where it will get about four hours of direct sunlight each day. I can then compare them with my other succulents which don't have any gravel, and see which fare the best. I will probably have a new post about this towards the end of summer!

Of Sparrows and Gas Heaters

2013-05-18T15:07:00.001+02:00

The yard where I keep all my plants is also used as a utility area which houses things like gas bottles (we don't have direct gas connections in Malta), and a gas water heater. A couple of weeks ago we noticed that the water heater was not heating as well as it used to, and so my partner decided to take a closer look.

A couple of twigs jutted out of the outer cover, but nothing could have prepared us for what was inside. It seems a couple of sparrows had decided to make the heater their home for Spring. Every cavity was filled with twigs, pieces of hay, pieces of grass, and even plastic. The burners that are used to heat the water are further down, but I can guess they realized that this was a warm place to build their nest in. Not that they need warmth in this weather. The obvious problem for us was that the fumes from the burners could not get to the chimney because of all that nesting material.

Gas Water Heater Nest

As we removed all the twigs and material from the gas heater I could see the male sparrow flying overhead chirping. I can image their disappointment as they saw us destroying weeks of labor in half an hour. We ended up clearing half a garbage bag of the stuff. Next we closed off all possible entry ways with wire mesh.

Entry ways closed off

Since we evicted the couple rather ungraciously, I bought them a bird house, and we hung it right next to the gas heater in the hope that they can make it their new home. It's much smaller than their chosen location, but that's all they get I'm afraid.

Job well done we were ready to call it a day. I stood in the kitchen which leads out to the yard, and then I saw Mr Sparrow flew over to investigate.....

Mr Sparrow assessing the damage done

Mr Sparrow flying down for a closer look

Mr Sparrow accusing me

Mr Sparrow calling out to Mrs Sparrow

Mr and Mrs Sparrow eyeing their new home

Will they go for it? Not yet.

They still come occasionally, but I don't think it will happen this year. We are in peak Sparrow mating season right now with countless sparrows chirping away building their nests and laying their eggs. Some birds are already being born (they sometimes fall out of their nests onto the street :( ) I think it's too late for them to start over now.

Maybe next year.

A Walk In The Country - Qrendi

2013-05-13T20:09:00.001+02:00

Today I went for a short walk in a small village called Qrendi. Qrendi is situated in the south west of the island, and is mainly composed of farmland. I walked along the outskirts of the village from another small village called Mqabba up to St Matthew's church.

This short walk is one straight road with farmland on one side, and the village on the other, as you can see in the image below. In the distance is another village called Zurrieq. (Yes Malta is that small).

Typical field in Qrendi

Another typical field with prickly pears in the foreground

Walking along the street, a long rubble wall with prickly pears leaning against it is the only thing separating the fields from the traffic zooming by. Prickly pears are a staple plant in the Maltese Islands , and even featured on our national emblem before it was replaced in the late eighties.

Malta's national emblem till 1988

Prickly pears are commonly grown at the edges of fields along stone walls to protect the crops from high winds. As a result of this, the fruit is for anyone's taking.

Prickly pears from street level

Flowering prickly pear

Apart from the prickly pears I also came across these very tall flowers. They must be over ten feet tall, and I can't quite find a name for them. They could be Danish Hollyhock, but they are slightly different. Does anyone know what these are? I have also seen them in people's gardens, and they are cultivated, not found naturally here.

Very tall flowers

Danish Hollycock?

Horses are also a common sight in the streets of Qrendi. I came across four in my short walk, trotting away in the street, oblivious to the cars rushing by beside them. The owners ride them up and down the same street a couple of times, supposedly for exercise, although I have seen a couple racing the horses; they just couldn't resist.

Horse riding in the street

Towards the end of my journey, the buildings start making way to farmland. Most fields have been growing potatoes, and have been harvested by now. Here is a typical farmland setting complete with electricity pole standing in the middle.

Farmland

Freshly harvested field

At the end of my journey I come across the church of St Matthew. This is not the main church of Qrendi, but a small chapel, one of six in a village of a few thousand residents! This chapel, however houses what is most probably the oldest crypt on the island supposedly dating back the the 14th century.

St Matthew's Chapel

The interesting story about this chapel though, is that in 1343 a tremor created a crater, 130 feet deep, right behind the chapel, but it was left standing there unharmed, and remains there to this day. In the image below you can see the church marked in red, and the crater, now full of trees and shrubs behind it. People can see the crater today via steps on the side of the church, but no one is allowed to go all the way down.

Aerial view of the church and the crater thanks to Google Maps

Chapel at the edge with steps going down to the crater

I hope you enjoyed my walk through Qrendi. This short walk and few pictures capture the gist of Maltese farmland. Across the country pockets of land like this still exist, giving us crops that no importer can match. Unfortunately they are shrinking every year as reckless development increases. I only hope that Qrendi will be one of the last villages to be swallowed by the concrete jungle that is turning our island into yet another European metropolis.

Of Mint, Rosemary and Basil - A New Approach!

2013-05-10T21:11:00.000+02:00

The other day my better half went grocery shopping, and came back with three pots of rosemary, basil, and mint. Since we were not going to use the herbs for another few days, and most probably not all at once, I decided to place them in bigger pots in the yard.

I have tried to grow basil and rosemary before with some success. The basil was always grown up on the roof in full sun, and it was always a success, but we had to make sure that we watered it almost every day. Rosemary was not as successful, believe it or not, the summer sun was a little too much for it, and despite watering it regularly, it died pretty quickly.

I have come to realize over the years that when you read, 'requires full sun' on plant instructions, there is a big difference between say, full sun in England (sorry guys :) ), and full sun in Malta. Our sun can be a bit too much, and normally all plants here can live with bright conditions in bright places away from direct sunlight. Imports that come from European countries further north from us especially.

When it comes to herbs, I have always shied away, thinking I don't have enough space in the yard, and it was too inconvenient on our roof top. This time however, I have decided to give it a try.

So here we start with Mint:

Mint

I have actually read that Mint can grow everywhere so I will be pretty disappointed if this plant dies on me. Apparently it requires partial shade and soil kept moist, not too soggy and not too dry. I should be able to enjoy this plant all year round in our climate since we do not have any frost, and our winters are quite mild. The rain might be an issue, but the plant can be taken indoors during Winter.

Next on the list is Rosemary:

Rosemary

I placed the Rosemary in a hanging pot because it is a spot that gets the most sun. This plant should require little watering, and no fertilizer. I read that if you cut sprigs regularly it should keep growing happily without any problems. I did not manage to save my plant past a few months last year, it was however planted together with Sage. I have a feeling that here may have been some competition for resources there. Let's see how well it does in its own container this time around.

And finally, back by popular demand, Basil:

Basil

This plant should also require lots of direct sunlight and as long as the soil is kept moist there should be no problems. We did have success growing basil in full sunlight in the past, let's see how well it does in its current location where it only gets some morning sun.

So there they are the three contenders this Spring. Now for the new approach. We have decided to ignore all the instructions, and planted all of them in compost. We have placed the Mint in a shady spot where it gets bright light, but no sunlight. The basil and rosemary do get some direct sunlight in the morning, but for the rest of the day they only get bright light till evening. We can keep an eye on them, and water them only when necessary (when the soil is almost dry).

We will also take sprigs and leaves when needed. Basil is always in high demand in our household as it goes well with most Mediterranean meals. It is also easy to freeze. We usually use rosemary in Winter with a good leg of lamb or chicken. It does wonders with fish though, so I will definitely use it in Summer. Mint is not a favorite of mine, however it is also great with fish, and to make sauces and dressing, plus who can say no to a refreshing Mojito in summer?

Plumbago Resilient After Heavy Pruning

2013-05-08T18:03:00.003+02:00

This morning I got a great surprise, the Plumbago survives to see another Spring! A couple of weeks ago the Plumbago seemed like a gonner, it was all dried up with no leaves at all, and hardly any good branches left. Usually by this time of year I would be enjoying some lovely purple flowers, but this year it was not to be.

I cut all the dried branches all the way to the bottom of the pot. Where I saw that the inside was the branch was still yellow and supple, not dry and dark brown, I stopped cutting. I watered it regularly, but did not give it any fertilizer, for no particular reason. Perhaps I thought it was no use, and it would not survive the heavy pruning.

Plumbago after pruning

As you can see from the image above the inside of the branches where I stopped cutting look like they have some life in them still, and there were a few green leaves.

The green leaves have now dried up, but this morning I saw new branches, and leaves sprouting out of the branches.

Plumbago taking life again

New Baby Sprouts

They are small signs of life, but life none the less. This gives me hope that even though I pruned it right in the middle of Spring, it will still recover. Since it rained yesterday I have not watered it, and have not given it any fertilizer yet, but I will next time I water it. Who knows I might still get a few flowers for Summer after all.

One thing's for sure, this plant is as resilient as I read it is and it seems like no matter how much you prune it, it will keep coming back. :)

Here's an update just three weeks later!

Plumbago Foliage

The Leaves Seems Bigger!

Schefflera Yellow Leaves and Sticky Leaves!

2013-02-08T15:59:00.000+01:00

Image Source

The Schefflera hasn't been doing so well lately. I have been noticing that it is looking rather depressed, hardly requiring any water, the leaves are turning yellow and dropping occasionally, and no new growth is showing. I used to think this plant was very hardy, and required very little maintenance, but I guess this is only true when the right conditions are met.

When I moved my plant indoors in September of last year I placed right next to a big window, so it could get as much light as possible. About one month later I noticed that the leaves were turning yellow, and at first I attributed this to the fact that I wasn't giving it enough water. Scheffleras, however, give out opposite signals when it comes to water requirements, if the leaves turn yellow or have yellow spots it means too much water, whereas leaves that turn blackish in color means that it is not getting enough.

Another thing I noticed was that the leaves at the bottom started falling off. This was definitely a sign of over watering, so I stopped watering the plant altogether. This had little effect, and over time more leaves started going yellow. I was now beginning to panic. This plant was huge and healthy, the only thing I ever did to it was give it a good pruning, and I was starting to fear that I may have over done it.

If this wasn't enough, I then noticed that the green leaves had this shiny coat on them, and were sticky to the touch. Upon further investigation, the floor area around the pot was also sticky. I had noticed this almost immediately, but I didn't think it was the plant that was producing sap.

I did some research, and I found out that the sap could actually be a scale insect infestation. These insects suck the juices from the plant, and then secrete a form of sap on the leaves. Scale insects are brown stubs, like small buttons, that attach themselves to the stems of the plant. Their bodies are quite hard and they can be seen easily with the naked eye. As far as I can tell, my plant is clear. Aphids also produce a sticky substance called honeydew, but I found none on the plant.

Eventually I decided that the best course of action was to take it back outside. I had this plant outside for three years, and it was quite healthy. The moment I took it inside it started growing weaker. A couple of weeks went by and the plant started showing signs of recovery. It dropped the leaves that were too far gone, but those that remained started turning green again. I did not water it at all during this time.

A few weeks later I started seeing new leaves starting to grow, and by now the plant was full of green leaves, and all the sticky substance was gone. It rained a few times, and water seems to have given new life to the Schefflera. I never saw any insects or brown spots that made me suspect that the plant was infested.

I now believe that the problem with the Schefflera was lack of light, and ventilation. We hardly ever open the window where I placed it, and even though it was right next to a big window, the curtains, which are sheers, were still blocking too much light. I'm glad that's all it was, I got a good scare with the results returned online, but you never can be too careful.

A Walk In The Country - Mtahleb

2012-11-18T16:12:00.000+01:00

This morning we decided to go for a walk along the cliffs in Mtahleb. Mtahleb is situated on the west of the island and is mainly garrigue with some grassland. The five kilometer walk took us on the edge of the cliffs from a place called Migra Ferha where we parked our car to Ras id-Dawwara, seen below:

Trail thanks to Google Maps

Migra Ferha

As you can see the weather was pretty overcast. Thunderstorms were forecast today, but not a drop of rain has fallen so far. We have been having a warm November with temperatures around 22 degrees Celsius.

Walking along the cliff side

As we got along the cliff side, the trail was pretty much like this for about half an hour. As we went round the hill you can see in the picture above, we had grassland on one side and the sea on the other.

Ras id-Dawwara

As we went round the hill we could see our destination in the distance. We stopped here for a spot of lunch to enjoy the view. It was quite windy so the sea was a bit rough, and there is nothing more relaxing than to listen to the waves crashing against the rocks.

Cave in the cliff side

As we went around the bend we surprised with this cave in the cliff side. These caves are very common on this side of the island, and have taken years to form due to water erosion. In the distance right above the cliff a group of young people were fishing. I can't imagine how heavy a fish is to lift all that way to the top, they did catch a couple though. Sunday lunch smells like barbecued fish mmm.

Rock Layers

The picture above shows most of the five layers that make up Malta's geology. On top there is the corraline limestone, very hard rock and quite rough to walk on, shown on top of course. Following that is sand and clay which is what we were walking on most of the time. It can get very slippery when wet so in a way it's a good thing it didn't rain. The next layer is the globigerina limestone which is the yellowish rock that most buildings are made of here, you can see it as the bottom layer in the picture. The last layer, not shown here is more corraline limestone which makes up the base of the island if you will.

Ras id-Dawwara

So here we are on top of Ras id-Dawwara. All you can see is burnt outcrops and some grassland. We have not had any rain so far this year except for a big storm in September, and some rain last week. With the warm temperatures the plants are not going to sleep, and we are seeing trees and vines producing buds again!

I will leave you with this now as I put my feet up on the sofa for some much needed rest. I wanted to give you a glimpse of the Maltese countryside, hopefully there will be more to come now as the weather gets colder.

Kalanchoe Marmorata Stem Rot And What To Do About It!

2012-08-18T14:27:00.000+02:00

Lately I had been keeping an eye on an ominous brown spot that appeared in the beginning of July on my Kalanchoe Marmorata. It looked vaguely familiar, but since we are in the middle of Summer, I didn't really think much of it at first. The main stem had a lovely green color, and looked healthy enough.

The First Sign Of Trouble

Yesterday as I picked up the pot from its shelf to water the plant, my fears came true. As I picked up the plant the main stem broke off completely, the end bit was completely rotten. My Kalanchoe Marmorata has stem rot!

Broken Stem With Rotting Base

Kalanchoe Stem That Broke Off

This must be the fourth plant that I lost to stem rot in the last three years, and this time I was determined I was going to try and save it. The stem had not yet gone yellow or brown, meaning that the fungus had not yet started to creep up. I decided to cut off the rotting part, and check out the inside of the stem. When cutting a rotting stem, I try to cut right under a bud or leaf, as it encourages new growth.

Cutting Off The Rotting Part

A Cross Section of The Stem

I cut off some leaves at the base to increase the length of the stem, and placed in a new pot with some potting mix. I put it in a small pot, because I didn't have a larger one, and because I was not going to water it much anyway. Just a bit of water to encourage the stem to take roots.

Newly Potted Kalanchoe

Since the original plant had two stems I decided to do the same with the other stem. I cut it off at the base, removed the rotting stem and root ball, and repotted the stem in its old pot. This may not be a good idea, as the potting mix would be full of bacteria, and disease from the fungus, but I decided to risk it.

I removed all the soil from the rotting stem and roots to see what's going on there. I wanted to see what stem rot was really about. Here's what I found:

Rotten Stem and Root Ball

Excuse The Dirty Fingernails !!

The top part appears brown and rotting. It was soft to the touch and kind of squishy. The rest of the stem and roots however appear to be fine. The other stem was not rotten, which leads me to believe that I may as well have left the other stem of the plant intact. The roots also appear to be just fine.

Another solution could have been to remove the plant from the soil, gently removing all the soil from the roots, and cutting off just the roots, or stem that appear rotten. If I had caught it earlier, I could have left the plant intact, and just cut off some rotting roots. In any case I think I made the right decision to try to save the plant. I did sacrifice the little bud that you can see in the picture above, but I now have three pots of Kalanchoes, and that's more than enough.

Here is what I think happened. The Kalanchoe is a cutting from another plant I have in my container garden. I placed it in a big pot, and soaked it with water. The cutting was quite large, but the roots were still short. Placing the plant in a big pot was not really an issue, the problem was my soaking the entire pot with water. The roots could never have absorbed that much water. Since we are in summer, the topsoil was getting dry as the sun evaporated the moisture, but that didn't mean that the Kalanchoe needed water. I hope to do better with these two now.

Orange Blooms For My Kalanchoe

2012-08-09T20:18:00.003+02:00

My Kalanchoe is finally blooming. I was so curious to see what flowers will emerge, and Donna they are orange flowers too! Here are some pictures I took this morning.

The light is playing tricks on me here, the flowers look pink but they are in fact orange...

I had to support the plant with a bamboo stick because it grew too long and it sort of coiled in on itself. I was afraid the main stem was going to give way. but as it turns out, the main stem is just as thick as the rest so it just bent, and let gravity take over. Now it look much prettier.

It took a lot of juggling to take these last three pictures, so I didn't care much about the light, as long as the plant didn't move I was snapping away.

For some reason when flowers bloom I always feel excited, its like receiving presents on your birthday or Christmas, you just have to smile :)

Here they are in full bloom now:

Kalanchoe Flowers In Full Bloom