Tanaman dalam pasu: sekali imbas

(First time I put the whole piece in Malay language. Its about growing plants in pots / containers)

Bila orang mahu bergiat dengan tanaman, selesanya jika mula dengan pasu. Disitu kita berjinak, memahami ragam pokok, tanah, air, baja, sinaran matahari, serangga perosak dan cuaca. Kemudian bertambahlah koleksi pokok dan pasu.


Kebanyakan pasu yang kami gunakan adalah jenis plastik sebab ringan dan murah. Pasu seramik pula boleh dibeli dalam pelbagai bentuk, saiz dan warna. Koleksi pasu seramik Kakdah tidak banyak, tidaklah sampai beratus. Namun ada pasu seramik Kakdah yang sangat besar, hingga tak terangkat.



Kami menanam sayur ditanah dan dalam pasu. Pasu tetap menarik, sebab boleh dialih-alih mengikut cuaca dan citarasa.

 pak choy
Pokok ini menarik sebab cepat cambah dan tumbuh. Target awalnya hanyalah untuk peroleh 10 pokok sahaja. Waktu semai, dilebihkan biji benih dalam pasu semaian.., sekitar 5,6 biji dalam satu pasu semaian kecil. Kesemuanya bercambah, dan tidak sampai hati untuk buang anak pak choy yang lebih itu. Tidak mengapa, kami boleh makan pak choy hari-hari, pagi dan petang! Kakdah tidak pula merungut bila kesemua 55 pasu disusun atas railing verandah kiri dan kanan.

(foto dua hari lalu)

pak choy,  dalam pasu 4 inci.  semuanya 55 pasu.

(foto hari ini, gambar jam 5.30ptg.

 hari ini Kakdah selang selikan pasu, 
katanya kerana daun dah memanjang,
bersentuhan antara satu sama lain. 
Itulah fleksibiliti tanam sayur dalam pasu.

Stevia

Asalnya ada tiga pokok sahaja yang dibeli dari sebuah nurseri di Kelantan, RM5.00 satu.  Kami berterusan melakukan percambahan. Kini ada hampir 100 anak stevia. Target masih tidak berubah, iaitu 1000 anak stevia dalam tempuh setahun.

Salah satu pokok stevia hasil percambahan, dauntenya manis macam gula.

tomato

Ini cubaan pertama di Tanah Merah, dengan tomato cherry. Benih diambil dari lebihan tomato yang Kakdah guna untuk masakan.  Semainya banyak, yang nak ditanam cuma dua sahaja, jadi selebihnya letak dalam polybag hitam. Setakat ini yang dalam polybag pula lebih subur dari dalam pasu.

anak tomato dalam pasu seramik besar

anak tomato yang lebih, ada 5 semuanya. sebagai spare.

daun sup

daun sup

Ada banyak lagi sayur dan pokok dalam pasu, Antaranya sambung nyawa, mulberry, kucai, kangkong, kunyit, halia, bawang putih, bawang merah, pudina, oregano, basil, dan macam-macam lagi. Saja wujudkan hijau di sekitar rumah, untuk sedikit keselesaan dalam hutan konkrit, dan untuk segarkan nostalgia pernah hidup dalam kehijauan suatu masa dulu.

                  bangchik dan kakdah,  tanah merah, kelantan.                                    

Learning to deal with Parsley / Daun Sup

 The bigger parsley

 young parsley at third leaf

baby parsley

Sowing parsley / daun sup seeds with other quick seeds could be disheartening. Spinach, ulam raja, sweetpeas, roselle and raddish will germinate in no time. Chili will take a bit longer. Brinjal will take its own sweet time. But Parsley will invariably be forgotten, then after 4 weeks, it will start showing some activity. Then it will take another week to show  its delicate first pair of leaves.


I have three plants in pots. The first two was brought here from Putrajaya. The  small one was sown here...Once growing, they will remain healthy as long as enough water and nutrient is given.


I tried to dig for some information about parsley. It is parsley in English, it is daun sup in Bahasa Malaysia, and for those with botanical inclination, it is   Petroselinum crispum.    Parsley types broadly divide into two: flat-leaf (variously styled single, plain, Italian, Dark Green Plain Leaf, Catalogno, or Flat Leaf) and curly. I guess, I am growing the flat-leaf type. (info:  Parsley)

Kakdah will only take a stalk at a time for her soup.....

 bangchik and kakdah

belajar tanam parsley / daun sup

Tanah Merah, Kelantan

coming to terms with Parsley

Germinating parsley is quite a challenge. I expect them to emerge after 3 or 4 weeks as mentioned in most guides including this  (How to grow Parsley). The seeds from Maryland are quite impatient and curious lots, They pop out of the  hard seed coat after 12 days. Within a week, the true third leaf is beginning to show what a parsley really is. I have to admit, this is our first success at germinating parsley. I am not going to elaborate the series of failures that we had gone through.

At the end, coming to terms with parsley is all it needs. The seeds need to be soaked for a night, then put them in potting soil. Now what I am going to do with so many seedlings?

the third leaf,
showing parsely in form and spirit. 
The seed coat still attached at the end of the leaf. 

parsley seedling

an assembly of parsley seedlings

 the whole assembly of ten seedlings

bangchik

An approach in container gardening.

Container gardening is versatile

on parsley

I have been trying to grow parsley from seeds without any success. I have grown parsley with those bought from the store before. Recently Kakdah bought parsley. She cut off the stalks and leaves except for the shoots and keep them in refrigerator. I place the remaining stumps in a container.

parsley

on serai or lemon grass

This is not the way lemon grass is normally grown. Kakdah cut off the usable part leaving a small portion at the base. The top parts are used for her masak lemak tempoyak ikan patin. The remaining portions are placed into a container with the hope that they will sprout little babies.

freshly cut serai or lemon grass

serai or lemon grass

old and new

on chili

Kakdah did an overhaul work at the front porch. She cleans up the place and does some minor adjustment. She took out pots with young chili in and place them under the bushes of marigold. After a while, the pots are forgotten. A month later, I saw these little chili struggling for breath and space to grow. I did total pruning on the bigger one, and leave the smaller one untouched.  Within a week, the pruned chili gear up all its energy to sprout new and fresh looking leaves.

small chili

the new branches and shoots, after a total pruning.

chili

the bottom half

chili

total pruning and undisturbed

on Kale
this is not about kale, but the container itself. I am accidentally into recycling...

cooking oil plastic container recycled with kale

on pennywort

pegaga or pennywort

the container will slowly be filled with water.

a little pond.

bangchik