Monday, May 9, 2011

Rooftop vegetable gardening: chili centil

There is no turning back with Tanah Merah rooftop gardening. They have fixed the date of transplanting, and expected first day for harvest. The rule of thumb with chili centil is, sow the seeds today, transplanting will be a month from now. So the date of transplanting at the rooftop will be 19th of May 2011.  History in the making I would say,  not about growing chili, but the willingness to stretch the dream far and  take calculated risk.

The seedlings are growing well at our front porch...., my new make shift germination laboratory. I need to adjust thinking beyond my normal adventure, enough for household consumption. One thousand seedlings is something else....... and the gap between a part time gardener and full time farmer is getting closer.

chili seedlings in smaller tray (photo1)

chili seedlings (photo 2)

chili seedlings (photo 3)

chili seedlings, the sheer number (photo 4)

chili seedlings (photo 5)

chili seedlings, lower shelve (photo 6)

chili seedlings lower shelve (photo 7)

chili seelings, lower shelve (photo 8)


chili seedlings, lower shelve ( photo 9 )


chili seedlings( photo 10)

germination laboratory (photo 11)

This rooftop gardening entrepreneurial endeavor augers well with the 23 new initiatives on economic transformation program announced by our Prime Minister recently.

I would love to hear comments from you readers, ..., 
what you think of rooftop vegetable gardening with chili, 
opinions and advice 
you can think of about the whole idea, 
and lastly which photo you like best.

bangchik and kakdah, gardening advisory.

16 comments:

  1. little garden?? This garden looks not that little... :). I like the pics from this little life growing up. lg Tina

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  2. Wow, that is quite an impressive production you have! It will be interesting to follow the chili seedlings on their journey from the front porch to up on the rooftop!

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  3. Tina
    Our garden is still little. That 1000 chili is for a rooftop project somewhere else. I am learning how to germinate seeds, large scale.

    Aerie-el
    It's not easy to keep so many. The potting soil, peat dry up fast on hot days. Now the seedlings are a lot bigger, they drink so much, and the soil dry up quicker. Sweet of Kakdah to keep spraying water....

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  4. I would agree the gap between gardener and farmer is very tight. I can't believe how many chili plants you have growing! Incredible.

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  5. Bangchik, I went through all that just a few months ago. With the hot weather, the tiny pots dry up fast. The roots are getting longer and the pots may not accommodate anymore.

    All the best to you.

    I like Photo 6.

    Congrats! Your caption has been selected and there is a link to your blog. :)

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  6. ~Janet, The Queen of Seaford
    A gardener will do the same things as the farmer, except the scale is different.

    ~One
    Water is always not enough as the seedlings get bigger... Having a special place, cooler and yet enough sunlight would be the solution... I will work it out later.

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  7. congrate bangchik! U did a superb job... the KPI for stage 1 is considered full color. Now, i think u should consider to have a proper Risk Management Plan for Stage 2 (to ensure the survival of yr 1k chili on the rooftop in the chaos kelantan weather environment). I think u should consider fertigation & rainwater harvesting technique. Stage 3 (harvesting) is also quite challenging. I think to harvest 1k chili on a rooftop is quite a daunting task. Anyway, im beleive in yr premiership.

    btw, i love all the pics above xcept no 10 & 11

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  8. ~faudzi
    I appreciate the cautions and recommendations. The team had been exposed well in fertigation and chili growing. A diehard chili grower Izmar (and Mordin too) from Kuantan who is currently working on 15,000 chili had been invited to share his experiences last month. Mentally and technically the team is alright.
    A member of the team had his hand in 2,000 chili around his house. So he is the anchor of the team.
    The current rate is RM2 per kilo for chili picking.., many like to come in it seems.
    We wont forget to handle risk management well...., at every level and every activity.
    For now, Tanah Merah District Officer is so excited about the whole thing and he said "Oh, we had enough of this bird's nest ~burung walit rooftop project". He is tired of complaints on health hazard, and noice. So chili growing is somewhat a savior..

    Sorry about my poor workmanship in pics 10 and 11. But at least I answered the national call for "recycling"!!.. haha.

    ~bangchik

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  9. Good luck.
    Hope when its harvest time, its raining chilli!

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  10. James Missier
    It should be fun by then..., not only raining chili.., sweating chili too!!

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  11. ~pekebun kecil
    Berkat doa semua....

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  12. wooooo... this is nice, do you sell it?

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  13. Amir
    ~ I was just helping the group germinating 1000 chili centil. Tak jual pun.... Di masa depan mungkin.

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  14. Jualan CoCo peat:
    Kami ada stock coco peat untuk di jual Harga RM 6 satu katul 5 kg.
    Discount diberi untuk pesanan lebih 2000 ketul,
    1 ketul boleh dapat lebilh dari 5 poly bag selepas rendam air.
    gudang dekat port klang.
    urusan hantar boleh di buat.
    Fauzi Nooska(mobile) 0193560188
    chandra (mobile) 0123795729

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  15. Do visit our my website to learn about fertigasi, hydrophonics etc. and my training center in bukit freaser.

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