CHENNAI: Plants need light, warmth, and nutrients from air and water viz., Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen. The key ingredient that plants need from the soil is called NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium). The mix of soil and the various ingredients (detailed below) is commonly referred to as “potting mix”.
Red Soil
You can source red soil from any good nursery; the nearer the better. An average, a normal cement bag of soil costs around `30 to `50.
Cocopeat
This is made from coconut husks and with absolutely no nutrition in it, but has excellent water retention capacity. It is added so that the potting mix retains more moisture and it reduces the weight on your balcony/terrace. Cocopeat is generally available as 1 or 5 kg compressed block, which needs to be broken down in to a powdery substance with water. A 5 kg block is usually available in the range of `100-250/-. It is also available in loose uncompressed ready to use powder form.
Compost
This is one of the most important items, that makes your garden organic. This is a broken down and decomposed mix of household kitchen waste, dried leaves, etc. The process of decomposition takes about 6 to 8 weeks. Natural ‘accelerators’ like sour butter milk help in speeding up the decomposing process. On an average, compost costs approximately `5 to `25 a kilo. Composting is a vast topic and like gardening, one will learn only when one takes a leap into composting. This will be covered in detail in the near future.
Animal based dung
Cow, horse, sheep and goat manure are great natural fertilizers for a garden. Make sure that they are aged by storing them in a dry shaded location for a month before use. This will reduce the heat in them and does not harm the tender root structure. Some people find it difficult to source these products, and so will have to venture out a little bit and ask people around.
Mixing it all up
Proportions of each of these components depends on the plant you are growing, experience and availability. An average mix is 1:1:1 of red soil : compost : cocopeat, plus a handful of neem seed powder and sand. As you may be aware that neem is considered as a very sacred tree in India and each part of the tree has a lot of medicinal values.
Neem seed powder help to keep away root based infections. Sand is used to avoid clumping up of the potting mix. Mix up all these ingredients without any lumps and move this mixture into a container.
Use a good pair of gloves at your own discretion when handling the potting mix and animal based manure. Fill the pot till about 4/5th of its depth, so that you can add more compost and nutrients in the future. It is important that there is no water stagnation, so ensure that the container has drainage at the bottom. Once the container is filled, pour in water lightly and slowly till all the potting media gets wet completely and water starts to seep out of the drainage holes. And voila! Your container is ready.