Back From Easter Trip.

We were away on Philip Island for our church's Australia-wide Oceania Convention during the Easter holidays. It was a refreshing time, though there were moments I missed my garden and wondered if the two dogs had destroyed it.

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Fortunately, they did not. And thank God I had discovered the caterpillar eggs under the radish leaves just one day before I left and was able to take measures. Or I would have come back to be heart-broken. The pot of nasturtiums showed great growth after dressing with vermicompost from my worms. And it was peace of mind for me now that they are under the safety of the net. The whole of nasturtiums can be used in salads and I can see why they are easy prey of caterpillars.

The three oriental radish seeds I have sown on 9 April to replace the three uprooted have germinated when I returned on 13 April. Very fast!

My cayenne peppers are fat and long! Wondering if I should harvest them for pickled green chillies.

The tiny calamondin limes are growing steadily. Haha at times they looked like they are going to drop off.

Congratulations to me! The chilli padi seeds have finally germinated and so many are sprouting. They did take a long time to do so, observing only two on 2 April and now about eight on 16 April.

The pot of mint which I have propagated from the original black pot from Kmart has been planted at the vege patch. I have treated it for mildew twice and hope it will do well. So far so good!

One of the two lots of new buk choy seedlings have sprouted when I came back.

Also sown on 9 April to replace the three which were uprooted due to caterpillar attacks. Will thin them once they are bigger.

One of the three existing oriental radishes. Note the little weeds around. Have to do weeding regularly.

Three out of four sweet pea seedlings. As soon as they are big enough, I have to train them around the sunflower stalks behind.

My two wonderful capsicum plants are producing three or four capsicums. Again, great peace of mind with them caged from possible possums' burglary.

The capsicum plant in the pot is not losing the race either, producing three fruits. Somehow the fruits are not as big and do not have a regular shape as those in the vege patch.

Signs of life after the re-potting. Aloe vera seems to grow rather slow in this weather but steadily producing new pups. It has been the mini greenhouse most times to keep it warm.

Vermicompost from my worms works wonder! My curry plant looks very healthy and flourishing after the castings were added.

Same goes for my thyme! Even the stems look thicker.

My divided lemon grass in two pots did not look too good after I potted on last week. Perhaps scorched by the sun while I was away. I have since fed another round of seasol. Not sure of its fate.

The original pot which I bought from Flower Power.

The potted on mint is growing gloriously - potted on successfully! Large leaves and strong. Now I truly believe in Premium potting mixes as Kevin Hendreck mentioned in his book 'Gardening Down-under' - the best gardening book I have ever read so far. It is certainly better to start plants with a good potting mix.

One of the two smaller pots which I have to pot on soon. I have given away the other small pot to my life group mate for her dish.

This is the pot of common mint which I bought from Kmart for $2.50 and since then, I have propagated 5 pots of mints from it. Quite a sense of achievement to me, having failed once from the pot I bought from Ikea when I started out gardening.

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Easter Sunday is not about Easter Bunny or Easter Eggs. It is about Jesus Christ rising from the dead and conquering death so that we are free to connect with God.

Botanic Gardens, Potting On

Autumn has arrived. This week has been quite cool, some days a little too cold for my comfort. I wish I had many waterproof cloches of various sizes to house some of the plants that love warm sunshine. Yesterday, our family had a wonderful time at the Royal Melbourne Botanic Gardens, before taking our little one to his surprise Motor Show. Weather was marvellous - warm sunshine and not too windy. I also visited the Herb Garden with Samuel while Hubby lay on his picnic mat doing nothing. Here are a few pictures which I have taken :

Thai basil flowering. Thyme

Common basil

Capsicum

Oregano

Evening gardening work : The curry plant has overcrowded its little pot and I have potted it on using a 30cm pot. I used premium potting mix + 1 spade coarse sand + 5g slow release fertiliser all mixed in. After potting, I watered the pot thoroughly to give it a good soak of seasol.

Tip : Water soil where existing plant is in, thoroughly at least 2 hours, before potting on or re-potting, to soften the soil so that the plant is easily removed from its pot.

Curry plant after potting on.

I bought a netting which covers part of the peach tree. Fruits are getting larger but at a snail pace. I did not get to eat a single pear on the tree...all eaten by birds but do hope to taste the peaches.

The vietnamese mints in the 30cm pot which grew from two cuttings (http://organic-is-better.blogspot.com/2008/12/summer-warming-up.html) have becoming trailing and spilling over the edge of the pot. Recently their leaves did not look as green and healthy. I left the pot without watering for a while, fearing that I have waterlogged the potting mix. Their leaves were not as limp after several days. Today I decided to turn it out of its pot to check after deliberately watering the mix.

Growth spilling over the edge (above).

The roots are not potbound yet I think, but there are a lot of roots at the base (above). So, I potted it on into a 40cm pot, just with normal potting mix and 20g of slow release fertiliser. Also trimmed off the roots right at the base. Watered the mix to moisten it and I shall add some seasol tomorrow.

This tomato sucker (below) which I had rooted from the parent Mighty Red tomato is sprouting new growth in the vege patch. Of course it is really a little late experimenting this as it is already beginning of autumn. I am really trying to compare growth in either soil or potting mixes (in pots). So far two similar suckers which were potted into potting mixes did not grow. I am still trying to work out the reason.

The vietnamese mint cutting which I have planted in the vege patch is also showing new growth.

Buk choy is growing fine except that white butterflies love to lay eggs on it. Probably a wonderful food for its caterpillars.

Look at how the caterpillars have munched away edges below. I have to check this pot every day :

Budding Lavendar

My Lavendar Bee Pretty has put on new buds! For now, I am not going to fuss around this plant and will leave it as it is. I think the more I fuss about lavendar, the more it suffers. :P

I bought this small pot of common mint from a nursery. Just could not resist the smell of mint and I love putting some of its leaves into teas. The pot has been standing at the kitchen window ledge. I have prepared 3 cuttings out of the larger ones and waiting for them to root, one is already doing so after 5 days in water. Just needs to do a plastic cloche to house it once I re-pot it as mint is very susceptible to white flies and caterpillar attack (the previous pot I got from IKEA not only had white flies and caterpillars but also rust). This time I am more prepared about this subject on transplanting.

The Purple King has indeed survived the burning heat (http://organic-is-better.blogspot.com/2009/02/damage-in-heat-wave.html ) is producing new leaves and shoots! I am looking forward to collecting some beans. Hopefully by mid-autumn, it will produce some. At the moment, I am just giving it lots of tender loving care. :)

Remember the cayenne pepper which had leaves like the above? Yellowing spots along the veins...(http://organic-is-better.blogspot.com/2009/02/long-long-entry.html). Well, I have worked out that it was not over-fertilising. It is some kind of nutrient deficiency. I gave it some quick soluble plant food 'Aquasol' on 10 Feb and it seems to be getting better. Aquasol contains trace elements and probably the cayenne pepper is lacking in one or two of them. Lack of several elements can cause yellowing like this, though there may be different specific yellowing patterns for each lacking element. The yellow spotting is going off and the plant is putting on new shoots at the side of the main stem. Leaves are also greener now. :) See below :

The tomato bush is almost reaching its end. Remaining tomatoes are ripening constantly and I harvest on a daily basis. Up to date, I have harvested about 40 tomatoes :

A new chilli which I bought...really spicy one...gives some kick to the food we eat :) Will be potting it on once it is ready.

Finally! I lay my hands on this pot of curry plant from Bunnings. A new addition much coveted. Smells like curry definitely and I thought a little like a bitter chinese herb called Tung Kway too. Looks a little like Lavendar but has silvery felty leaves. This little pot needs potting-on soon.