Help with Balcony Garden

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by NewbieFarmer, Jul 9, 2016.

  1. NewbieFarmer

    NewbieFarmer New Member

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    Hello All,

    Wonderful forum here!!

    I am Rohan from Mumbai, India. I recently decided to utilize my small terrace Balcony to grow some microgreens and Veggies. Since this is my first attempt at growing things in pots and small trays, I decided to use Coco peat and some vermicompost as a growing medium. I used Coco Peat:Vermicompost in 1:1 ratio.My first try was with Alfalfa which sprouted really well in 2 trays. After about 5 days when they were about and inch & half tall they started to wither and die. It happened over night and there were no visible signs of any distress to the sprouts the previous night. The next morning they were all flat on their sides and dead.

    My second try was with cucumber and lettuce in pots. Both of them sprouted very well but met with the same fate in about a week. They just fell flat on the side and died. Same happened to tomato seedlings. I was really not sure why everything was dying in a week's time. My local nursery guy suggested I add some soil. I dug up everything and added some soil. I gave everything a try again but alas!!. yet another time Alfalfa, cucumber, tomatoes and lettuce died in a week.

    I have no clue why & what is happening although I suspect that there is something wrong with the vermicompost i bought. When i dig up the soil mixture, I can see quite a few very tiny worms wriggling around. While I know that some kinds of microbes, bacteria, worms are good for the soil, I do not know what to make of these tiny white worms. I also suspect that the vermicompost may not have been fully cured i.e the composting process is still on and the ongoing reaction in the soil is what is responsible for the death of my seedlings.

    If any of you have any clue as to what else could be wrong (including the ones where I may be wrong) I would be very happy to hear. if indeed the problem is with the compost, then is there any way I can fix it. I bought a lot of pots and trays and i do not want to throw them all out. Happy to hear any bright suggestions.

    Cheers!
     
  2. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

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    Greetings Rohan and welcome,
    Congratulations on your balcony garden!
    Ongoing composting action won't harm your plants. I've had many potato and tomato plants grow to maturity right in the compost pile and we regularly get sprouted trees from seeds/pits right in the vermicompost beds!
    It may be that your tiny white worms are "pot worms". You can read a bit about them here:
    https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/composting/basics/pot-worms-in-compost.htm
    https://www.compostjunkie.com/white-worms.html
    Most likely not the cause of your plants deaths, but the conditions they grow in may be a contributor; too moist, low pH. Be careful with your watering regime and you might add some alkaline amendments such as crushed-to-dust eggshells or calcium carbonate or lime to bring the pH up a bit.
    Don't give up ... you can solve this and have a successful balcony garden! Let us know what you find.
     
  3. IssiumPanda

    IssiumPanda New Member

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    Hi!

    Reason why your seedlings die might be coco peat if it's not properly flushed.
    Coco can contain excess salts that burn the seedlings.
    Years ago when I used coco peat, at first I got very similar results.
    Then I started flushing it well before using and as problem was solved.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco_peat

    Hope everything turns out nice and green, full of life. :)
     
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  4. NewbieFarmer

    NewbieFarmer New Member

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    9anda1f,

    Thank you very much for your time and guidance.
    Low ph may be a cause but I do not have any tools at the moment to check soil acidity. However, I will add some lime as per your suggestion and monitor for a few days.
    Here is a link from where I learnt about maturity of compost. https://www.compost.org/pdf/sheet_4.PDF.
    I have lots to learn. Will keep posting my progress/failures on this forum. Thanks again!!
     
  5. NewbieFarmer

    NewbieFarmer New Member

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    IssiumPanda,

    Thank you very much for your feedback.
    It never crossed my mind that cocopeat could be the problem. Infact, I didn't even know that it could contain certain salts.
    I will try to flush some of my pots although its all mixed up with compost etc. So basically pour a couple of buckets of water into the pot and drain the water out? How many time do you suggest flushing the cocopeat?
     
  6. IssiumPanda

    IssiumPanda New Member

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    Hi Rohan,

    Sorry about delay in answering.
    It is difficult to flush when you have it all mixed together.
    When I have flushed oco, I have done it after it has been soaked and with lot of water to be sure that salts are gone.
    One method that I have been using is simply start seedlings in light soil and let them grow little sturdier at first before transplanting in coco. Bigger seedlings can handle even unflushed coco much better. One method is fill the pot with mix like you have and then put plain soil in center where you put seed. Like bucket inside a bucket without bucket inside, :D just soil in center like 2 desiliter or so. Then seedling can grow without coco touching stem or harming seedling other way at the beginning.

    You are on a journey to have great balcony, don't worry too much, you get the hang of it,
    wish you all the best!
     
  7. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

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  8. Brian Knight

    Brian Knight Junior Member

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    Hi Rohan, great that you are tapping into your patio potential. I agree with Bill and Issium and would keep researching growing in containers. I'm still a newbie, but in the past couple years, I've increased my success by 300% by better understanding root growth in container mediums. Reading container soils water movement and retention (and other posts by that author) has been the main source of information that has turned my container growing skills around.

    Growing in containers is much different than the ground and most container soils are too "dense" for good root growth. Try experimenting with more drainable ingredients. My current recipe for vegetables is 3-5 parts bark fines, 1 part perlite and 1 part compost. The compost makes for a small percentage of the container soil and even with that low level, I sometimes get symptoms of the container soil holding too much water and not enough air.

    That link and forum has advice that contradicts the sustainability of permaculture but I think the science is sound and has room for healthier or more locally available substitutions. The main thing is to recognize that container growing usually benefits from ingredients with larger particle sizes.
     
  9. Dwarakanath Ekkirala

    Dwarakanath Ekkirala New Member

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    Hey Rohan! Incase it helps, do check out my youtube channel on rooftop/container gardening. It is "the great indian rooftop garden" channel. Cheers!
     

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