Home Gardening could save the planet! Home Gardening is about loving the planet. Green Thumbs speaks to Deputy Provincial Director of Agriculture Office Ratmalana, District Agriculture Instructor K.N.K. Jayathilake on structures in home Gardening.
The plastic bottles you use are unhealthy for the environment because of the inability of plastic to biodegrade. Plastic waste ends up in landfills (also known as rubbish dumps or garbage dumps) or waterways. It has a devastating impact on sea life. Over 1 trillion plastic bags are used every year worldwide and a single plastic bag can take up to 1,000 years to degrade.
Every square mile of ocean has about 46,000 pieces of plastic floating in it. Researchers have discovered that plastic waste deceives fish by giving off an odor similar to that of their food. And that is what is killing them. And in turn we eat those same fish. A lot of people eat seafood and those fish have eaten plastic. It is also estimated that people who eat shellfish can consume up to 11,000 pieces of micro-plastic a year. The toxic chemicals are highly dangerous to our health and the health of sea life.
The dengue threat is also there in plastic. In these rubbish dumps the water that accumulates can be host to the dengue mosquito’s eggs. Plastic waste helps dengue mosquito breed.
The number of households in Sri Lanka in 2021 is forecasted to reach approximately 5.1 million, compared to five million in 2016. Just imagine if those households could use those plastic bottles without discarding them? It would make a huge difference in the world! It would help protect sea life and it would help with the dengue epidemics.
This is where home gardening comes into the equation. Plastic bottles can be used for planting in home gardens. They are called Cultivation bottles. Here’s how –Make several inverted ‘T’ shaped cuts in the bottle. Fill the bottle with the soil mixture and make a small water seepage hole in the bottom of the bottle. This is one method. Another method is to keep the bottle in the horizontal axis, remove a section from its body, make seepage holes in the bottom side and fill the bottle with the soil mixture.
“In the plastic bottles, suitable crops for cultivation are leafy vegetables such as Mukunuwenna, Kan- Kun and Gotukola. Also flowering plants such as Japanese Rose and Petunia can be grown in cultivation bottles. It is easy to maintain these cultivation bottles. Water is required and quick growth can be expected. The bottles must be positioned in spaces with adequate sunlight,” said Jayathilake
These Cultivation bottles can be easily bought from the supermarkets and used as structures. If at least a million households in Sri Lanka can use these plastic bottles in their home gardens this could change this country. Who knows? Maybe the entire world can be inspired by our little island. The entire world could learn a lesson from us.
“Cultivation Tat is another structure that can help in Home Gardening. It is particularly suitable for urban dwellers residing in apartments. The materials you need are PVC gutters and end caps, Nylon String, soil mixture (top soil, compost and coir dust) and rooted healthy seedlings.
The method is – Prepare around three PVC gutters and cover the ends using end caps. Then you need to make two seepage holes in the bottom of every piece of gutter and hang those gutters vertically with the Nylon strings. Then just fill the gutters with the soil mixture.
When you take the Cultivation Tat, the suitable crops for cultivation would include leafy vegetables such as lettuce, Gotukola, Kan-Kun and Mukunuwenna. Like the plastic bottles this two is relatively easy to maintain. It must be cultivated in a space of abundant sunlight and water is needed. There is no need to administer any pesticide. The Cultivation Tat is excellent for vertical spaces making maximum use of the spaces in and around the house,” explained Jayathilake
Both Cultivation Tat and Bottle are very manageable. You just need to pick up the bottle and take it where you want to take it to, and hang the cultivation tat wherever it pleases you. You will be able to enjoy your abode in numerous ways.
Cultivation pots/ containers maybe a little heavier than the Cultivation Bottle and Tat but nevertheless ideal to grow some vegetables. They might be a little more expensive to buy than the bottle but you will find it very useful. It too is portable and easy in maintaining.
“Containers suitable for cultivation are plastic containers, cement containers, polythene and poly sack containers, plastic barrels and discarded containers. When using plastic or cement containers for vegetable cultivation one must be conscious of its dimensions, depth and diameter. In order to cultivate crops such as Chili, tomato, cabbage, radish and leafy vegetables, choose containers of around 25cm in depth. When planting species such as eggplant, choose larger containers of around 45cm in depth. The reason behind this is the large spread of the root system of the species,” added Jayathilake.
Apartment dwellers tend to cultivate fruit crops such as star fruit, orange, lime and mandarin in containers. For this it’s more suitable to use plastic barrels 1 ½ feet in diameter and 1 ½ feet deep for such plants.
“If you take polythene or poly-sack containers they are most suitable for the cultivation of vegetable and leafy vegetable species. The dimensions of the container may differ according to the species planted in it. Generally a 1 foot tall container with a 1 foot diameter are used. Poly-sack containers of 5kg, 10kg and 25kg are also ideal as cultivation containers,” he said.
As with Cultivation bottles and Cultivation Tat, sunlight is the key element. Also it needs to be watered every day. Again one can use plastic bottles to water the containers.
“Fill the plastic bottle with water and close the lid. Then make a hole in the lid and bury a portion of the bottle, lid downwards in the container. This ensures a water supply for the plant for a few days,” he said.
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