MANGALURU: Gyan Shetty, a resident of Bikarnakatte in Mangaluru, had been fascinated with plants since childhood. Today, he tends to exotic mulberries and mangoes, tomatoes and pomegranates in his nursery. His rooftop garden is a burst of colour, with foliage, succulents, captors, lilies, medicinal herbs, ornamental and air plants.
Gyan (28) has managed to turn his passion into business. From engineering to design to gardening, it's been an odd journey, and began when as a child, he would help water the plants which his mother tended to. He initially started off with terrace gardening as there was insufficient space for plants. "We had only small plants in pots, but I wanted to grow many varieties. I planted some fruit trees, like mango, mulberry and pomegranate on the terrace, and many people told me they wouldn't grow, but they did." The Covid-19 pandemic and social media helped him scale up his terrace garden.
"During the pandemic, when I was working from home for a company, I used to post pictures of my plants on social media. People would pass comments, saying it's a girl thing, and why I was into gardening. I was confused about which profession I wanted to pursue, but in gardening I found peace, and I didn't know this could be my business too. Initially, I purchased some plants, then a lot of plants were exchanged with friends and family," he said.
Gardening was Gyan's hobby, especially as his mother Shobha Shetty was a nifty green thumb. "My mother would do the gardening, and I would observe the plants and their changes. I was curious to know what happens till blooming, and how a seed helped grow another plant. I started studying nature. In our Science syllabus in school, we had lessons on how vegetables and crops are grown. The first plant I grew was potatoes. This encouraged me," he told The New Sunday Express.
Slowly, he got deeply involved with plants and learnt to use organic waste. "Kitchen waste is very important for gardening -- 60 per cent of kitchen waste is wet and can be composted. It is black gold. So far, I have used only kitchen waste compost, so everything is organic. I use neem oil as spray. After I set up the nursery, I use chemical pesticide and not chemical fertiliser," he says.
Gyan started a nursery next to his house in February this year, and moved his plants from the terrace. The first job of the day for Gyan and his mother is to clean the nursery and compost the fallen leaves. "Leaf compost is very good for foliage plants since it has a high amount of carbon. We water sun-loving plants daily and air loving plants they don't require regular water because it doesn't evaporate," says Gyan.
His nursery draws many visitors on a daily basis, and sales have picked up. While Gyan and Shobha manage the nursery, his father Balakrishna Shetty helps with transportation of plants. The nursery was started this February and soon after started having sales.
It's been a change of gear for the youngster, who initially took up engineering in information science, but quit the course after two years due to personal reasons. He was interested in interior design and pursued a three-year diploma in civil engineering. Quite suddenly, he developed health complications and was hospitalised for a long time. After recovering, he worked as a designer in Mangaluru and for a few years in Bengaluru.
AFFORDABLE PRICE
Gyan’s plants are priced from `30 to `650, which is lower than local nurseries. Even before starting the nursery, he had orders coming in as he kept posting about plants on social media. He started getting orders from Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, and would ship plants. His plants were recently exhibited in Mangaluru. Gloria, a customer, said the prices were reasonable, and she thought “Gyan wasn’t interested in doing business”. To this, Gyan says other nurseries charge unreasonable prices but he doesn’t want to fleece customers.
Message for all
People get attached to plants because they have life. When you get a plant, you should know what the plant needs. There’s no point getting a plant and killing it. If I sell a plant, it should grow well in their homes. People keep all kinds of indoor plants, but all indoor plants cannot be kept indoors all the time. Some can be kept because they need less light. Watering is the main thing, plants die because of overwatering as roots rot.
It is very unfortunate to see Mangaluru lose its trees. In the name of development, 100-year-old trees are chopped, especially in Valencia, Mangaladevi. It is so burning hot you can’t walk on that road. This is not development. We should preserve what we have and stop chopping trees, which provide shade to people, animals and birds. – Gyan Shetty