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Inspiration for urban gardeners - Alia Wasim

• Bratati

Her gate is inviting everyone with greens and vibrant colourfull flowers. Hanging plants to Container plants, Flowers to folliages - she created heaven in the name of garden. Every plant lovers dream is her home neatly aligned plants, well hanged, well arranged - Alia Wasim from Noida, India - always inspiring others for organic gardening.

She is indeed a gardener and plant lover who believes in natural ways to grow plants. Born and brought up in Kodaikanal,she is an ardent plant mom and enthusiast.Her house is a garden of foliage plants,flowers,fruits - prepares her own organic compost,pesticides,bio enzymes,liquid decomposer and fertilizers.

A nature enthusiast - her sole aim is to spread awareness about organic gardening and help other fellow plantohlics.

She has an amazing garden which is everyones dream as urban gardener. Having close to 1000 plants and different planters sh eis always busy pruning them, cleaning them and sharing her experience at Plantohlics- Gardening Ideas and More (India) 

There are more than 3000 plants at her urban garden. Isn’t it amazing ?

The Entrance 

A cement house becomes a home where nature spreads positivity all around, starting from the gate. she has used hanging plants like wandering jew, fern, pothos. Few plants are kept like companion gardening, all huddling plants spearding joy all around. Deep green and light greens inviting everyone to take a deep breath and feel life. 


 

Bouganvillieas

Her favourite plant which are adding riot of colours are delight indeed. She has 12 varieties of bouganvilleas. What are her tips ? She says, add homemade compost or vermicompost to your soil and provide good root aeration.Add mustard cake liquid fertilizer once a month for good flowering  and bright shade of blooms.


Monstera

Monsteras are lovely plants with its lush, glossy leaves and intricate patterns. Its exotic allure has won the hearts of gardeners of India as it adds charm to any garden or indoor space. With its low maintenance requirements and stunning aesthetics, the Monstera plant is a delightful addition for enthusiasts seeking natural beauty. Alia Wasim says she uses organic soil which promotes lush growth.

She uses vermicompost for them. According to her, low light can lead to leggy growth. A little support to the plant and watering on the aerial roots encourages growth.

Moneyplants, Pothos and  More

With little creativity and care one can make the most common money plant to a visual delight. Best thing of moeny plants are they grow without much care and need some support (trellis). she has given shape to money plants, hanged them from top to bottom, used multiple moneyplant varieties together which are in different shades of green, kept them with other plants to create the green background.

Het tips for money plants and pothos - direct sunlight can burn the leaves, while too little can turn the leaves yellow or wilt.

For perfect humidity the gardener should mist plants at least twice a week in summers.

Fertilizer: Feed your plant a balanced fertilizer like compost every 2-3 months. Lack of nutrients slow the growth of your plant.

Watering: Too little watering can stunt the growth and the overall health of the plant can suffer. This can trigger disease and pest outbreak. Too soggy soil can rot and can cause damage to the roots.

She adds that we muct make sure to water thoroughly until it drains out from the bottom drainage holes.

Pruning: Helps stimulate healthier growth. Clipping the ends of your pothos helps side growth and make the plant look bushier and heavier.

Hanging plants 
When you wish to cover it with green you can not leave the vertical place. She has used ferns, wandering jews, purple heart, spider plants - all as hanging plants in different coir planters, plastic hanging planters and bamboo cane planters too. This is not made in one day one time effort. 

If we make a list of hanging plants which grows good in India, she has perfected them and adding more and more hanging plants. 

Indoor plants


She prefers outdoor gardening as all green prefers sunlight or at least bright light. She often shares indoor garden tips with fellow gardeners and how organic and bio enzymes help green grow naturally without toxicity. From Areca palm , table palm, fish tail palm, jade palnt, syngonium, snake plants - name a plant and she is having that. She also loves collecting  various gardening pots from different markets and local shops. 

Gardening is a learning process. Consistantly learning and trying with positive vibes is the mantra for her. According to her ‘After 3 years my lime plant in a planter is loaded with numerous flowers and many turning into tiny fruits.Previously flowers bloomed but never developed into fruits. Lime plants are heavy feeders.Compost,mustard cake and bone meal has been beneficial.Spraying citrus bio enzymes on the fruits and flowers help shoo off pests and pruning the plant is important too.’

She has multiple plants of Ixora and hanging flowering plants.For healthy and maximum blooms use an organic liquid fertilizer.Mustard cake liquid fertilizer diluted in the ratio of 1:20 is given every 20 days.

In her own words “A completely organic garden,which I’m very proud of.Right from preparing my own organic compost from kitchen waste to bioenzymes, pesticides, liquid decomposer,fertilizers etc.” She makes different kinds of fertilizers and bio-enzymes. She's also set up a compost pit for her kitchen leftovers and occasionally collects waste from nearby fruit and egg sellers.

Gardening is not another name of hurry, it is about passion and love, it is a journey where we keep learning just like a mom raises her kid and in process learns. Every plantmom like Alia Ji is like that observing, following natural instinct makes us successful.