City dwellers have little chance to make a flower garden; the roof, balcony and stairwell are all they have. So they can plant a few flowers in pots. Not every flowering plant does well in a pot, though, so here are the ones that suit pot growing.

Long-lived, tree-like flowering plants are best not planted in pots. Seasonal flowers are the best choice. Whatever you plant, make sure it gets sun. With a little planning, pots can give some flowers all year round.

• Summer: gandharaj (gardenia), rajanigandha (tuberose), sunflower, zinnia, petunia, cockscomb, balsam (dopati), monikuntala, bichitra and others.
• Monsoon: hydrangea, beli, jui, chanpa, patralekha, tusharmoti, balsam, zinnia, small sunflowers, sthalpadma, malatilata and others.
• Winter: marigold, rose, nasturtium, pansy, petunia, verbena, camellia, dahlia, chrysanthemum, carnation, salvia, gerbera, azalea and others.
• All year: white kanchan, jaba (hibiscus), kamini, karabi, alokananda, joyti, hajarputia, noyontara (periwinkle), sandhyamalati or sandhyamoni and others.
• Long-lasting: beli, jui, bougainvillea, rose, jaba, karabi, gandharaj, kanchan, kunda, chanpa, mussaenda, kamini, allamanda, sthalpadma, portlandia, brunfelsia, camellia, tagar, shiuli and poinsettia are notable.

If you want plants that do not die easily, or that flower even with a little less care, you can choose noyontara, sandhyamoni, dolonchanpa, kolaboti, allamanda, marigold, beli, night queen, hasnahena, rangan, mussaenda, kunjalata, time flower and others. You can also plant various flowering cacti, which do not die easily.

First collect a pot of a size that suits the plant. A big pot for a small plant does no harm, but a small pot will not do for a big plant. For each pot, mix loam soil with one-third its volume of organic fertiliser or rotted cow dung. It helps to add a handful of bone meal, two teaspoons of lime and two handfuls of ash, which keep the pot soil fertile for a long time.

For seasonal flowers, plant seedlings about a month old. For others, choose young, healthy, fresh and sturdy seedlings or cuttings. After planting, press the soil gently around the base to firm it, then water the base. Plants need support to stay upright, and this should be arranged from the seedling stage; bamboo sticks can be used. Keep newly planted seedlings in the shade for a few days to harden them, giving them sun in the morning and afternoon. Loosen the soil at the base in clods rather than breaking it to powder, to a depth of 3-10 cm, or 1 to 4 inches, once every 10 days.

When buds begin to appear, mix 50 grams of TSP (the black fertiliser), 100 grams of urea (the white fertiliser) and 25 grams of MoP (the red fertiliser) and give each plant one teaspoon every 10 days. Do not apply this chemical fertiliser more than three times in a season, and take care that it never falls on the roots. If you use tablet fertiliser, these are not needed.

If you want flowers for longer, do not let them dry on the plant; cut them off as soon as they begin to wilt, and you will get good flowers. To get more flowers for longer from marigold, aster, chrysanthemum and similar plants, pinch off some of the first buds.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.