You can enjoy the taste of winter even in city life, though it takes a little work. With little effort you can grow vegetables in pots of various sizes on your roof, balcony or ledge. Here is how to grow vegetables in pots.

Tomato, aubergine, chilli, cucumber, ridge gourd, sweet pumpkin, peas, kolmi shuti, water spinach (kolmi shak), bottle gourd, Malabar spinach (pui shak), papaya, mint, coriander leaves, thankuni, lettuce, broccoli and more.

The soil must be loose, light and able to hold water. Sieve the soil and sterilise it. The seedbed mix is made with two parts sandy loam and two parts organic fertiliser. If the soil is clayey, mix in one part sand to lighten it.

Sterilising the soil protects seedlings from disease. Usually 1 litre of 40 percent formaldehyde is mixed in 40 litres of water, and 25 litres of this solution is soaked into each cubic metre of soil in several instalments. The soil is then covered with jute sacking for two days; when the sacking is removed, the soil is sterile.

Make the soil light and loose and level the top of the pot. Scatter the seed lightly, then cover it with organic fertiliser.

Water regularly with a fine-holed watering can, so the splash does not wash the organic fertiliser off the seed. Watering from above can push small seeds together and disturb germination, so it is better to water all the pots from below rather than from the top.

Applying the right amount of Heptachlor 40 protects the crop from ants and spiders. To save the crop from birds, cover the pot with wire or nylon netting. Weeds may come up in the pot soil before sowing, so dig them out with a weeding tool, taking care not to hurt the base of the seedlings. Pots must be kept in a place with light and air, and can be moved temporarily to a safe spot to protect them from storms, heavy rain, strong sun and heat.

For help, contact Fish Expert Limited on 01712742217.

It is best to pick vegetables while they are still tender rather than leaving them long on the plant. Do not tear vegetables from the plant; cut them off gently so the plant is not harmed.

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