CHENNAI: Her rose plant withered, a bitter-gourd which was growing well died after a stake fell on it! Despite such little disappointments, RJ Ophelia’s gardening experience in the last two years has lifted her spirits.
Through her busy schedule, which includes anchoring festival-special celebrity shows and interviews for Lyca’s new YouTube channel, she finds time for the plants.
“I live in an apartment; so I don’t have much space for gardening. I grow areca palm, nithyakalyani, skyblue clustervine, few crotons and, of course the ubiquitous money plant in my pots,” says Ophelia.
When she is busy, her neighbour, their maid, her cook, and her in-laws take turns to water plants. But she takes out at least 10 minutes every day for her plants. “I talk to my plants like ‘nallaa valaruppa seekkiram’ (grow well soon). I also caress the leaves but I don’t sing to them. My neighbours will find it weird,” she laughs.
She began gardening with a potato seed. “It’s nice to have some greenery around. Plus they always makes me happy. It’s a greater satisfaction when they bloom or bear fruits.”
We asked her about her first learning experience. It was on how to break soil and mix it with manure.
"I learnt it from my mom, and also my periyamma. They are happy gardeners. Whenever they spot any plant on the roadside worth growing at home, they pick it up! Once they picked up blue bells from Yercaud and successfully grew them in our sultry, hot city. My mom grows a whole variety of flowers, greens and vegetables!” she says.
When she tried growing potatoes in the beginning, only the leaves grew. “Start with an easy plant and then move on to plants that require a lot of maintenance.” Now, the bitter-gourd plant is close to her heart. She got the seeds from Tamil Nadu Horticulture Department and the manure is bought from nurseries.
With the rains around the corner, Ophelia is not worried. All her plants can thrive in the rainy season. The only thing that she has to worry about is the water-logging of pots. Her one last piece of advice: “Like my mom often says… loosen the soil once a week to get more oxygen to the root system and add manure once in a while.”