Where to begin...

Over thirty years of planting this and that, but with very little success, yet not an inch of giving up this passionate therapeutic hobby...

Gardening is very close to my heart and soul. I love the trees, the streams, the hills, mountains, forest and all that living in it. I adore mother nature, and love the smell of earth mixed with rotting bark and leaves. It is the most fresh earthy scent one can find I think; the colour, the texture, the moist mixture, as one holds it in ones own palms. It has always fascinated me, how a tiny seed can grow so enormously into a beautiful tree over a lifetime once the "right" earth covers it. The same tree that gives shade, bears flowers and edible fruits, medicinal leaves and roots and at the same time provide safe haven for creatures to make a home for themselves. That tiny seed that never failed to mirror its predecessors and lives for decades or centuries noting terrestrial history, when most human beings are just a passer by on this earth.

Maybe it is an innate interest I was born with that kept me close to nature although my profession is one that totally works polluting it! I should have been a botanist, but that would have been a different story...

I have tried growing plants from seeds since I was probably eight years old and I am in my early forties now. I had always wanted to grow apple trees, grape vines, strawberries, oranges etc from seeds. I loved the scent of Granny Smith Apples my dad used to buy when he gets his salary every month. It comes in a carton, wrapped with other groceries. Well, apples were not everyday fruit for most people many decades back unless one comes from wealthy family. The grapes used to be so juicy and hard to get. Maybe this were the driving factors for my passion to grow these plants. Perhaps the greatest thing most gardeners want are some plants that they cannot grow naturally but still insist and persist to grow and compete with nature against the odds! I fall in this category, and I am still trying to find that euphoric moment. Well, success is still far from sight but I think I would eventually taste it, if I live long enough.

Many of my apple seedlings died off (almost every other years I tried), due to high humidity and heat. Most succumbed to root rot and damping off. My strawberries from seeds did not survive after two sets of true leaves. I still have a few growing (will post pictures later). I may change my strategies eventually, once I get a better control of the micro-climate. I keep learning but not consistent with my technical observations.

Grape vine cutting (grafted) from Thailand - Perished!

None of the grape seeds germinated, so eventually I bought grafted grape vine after I started my working life. I had also gained more knowledge about certain seeds and their limitations. Getting paid via other means helps to complement gardening passion. To each, the Universe (and perhaps the One) gives his/her own needed experiences ... Due to lack of "surveillance" the vines died from powdery fungal attack (surely not mildew) after growing more than five feet high. Lovely vines which gave lots of heartache upon their demise instead of sweet succulent grapes! Recently I bought another grape vine, after many years from the last heart-aching experience. Planted it in a 10" terracotta, and keeping a close eye on it. Already killed more than one mealybugs! I know it will take at least a year to bear berries, since this one comes with a 2" mature stick. The nursery owner mentioned that it bears purple berries. If it does not, at least I will have a vine that gives shade!


Nevertheless, my mandarin orange (or a tangerine?) had borne sweet succulent juicy oranges in the last three years. It was sold as a lemon tree but turned out as a sweet surprise. The miniature tree has been in a 10" pot for the last three years. I bought it as a small plant from a green fair in Penang. I adore the small tree and

Orange blossom

really didn't mind even if it does not bear any fruits. However it started flowering as soon as I transferred it into a 6" terracotta pot. For some reason, the fruit takes about 6-8 months to ripe from the moment it flowers. It has one fruit on the tree at the moment. Most of the flowers dropped off due to heavy rain during the flowering month. Sometimes, friends and family do laugh at me, because I wait for eight months for one or two mandarin oranges, while one can buy kilos of the fruit from stores. Well, no one really understands a gardener's heart and his thoughts.

Fruit setting: Stage 1

Almost Ripe Mandarin Orange (3.5" OD)

Recently I bought a lemon tree (key lime!!), which I potted immediately into a 10" terracotta pot. It grew in height by about 6" within a month. The miniature tree is about 4ft high now. There is one lemon (post-scribe: lime actually) on the tree, and it supposed to ripe into yellow oval lemon (strangely it looks round!). The tree is about four feet tall. I am waiting to see the lemon ripe (lime again!!) eventually, but not sure when. Excited as usual. 

Mulberries

My mulberry potted trees had borne several "bunches" of berries. Red and dark purple berries that taste a bit like blueberries. The only problem with these trees are that they get infested easily with mealybugs and the bugs infest the fruits too. I am the only one who eats the fruits, since everyone else finds it a bit "unusual" in its appearance. The clustered berries look like some hairy caterpillars! But they are delicious when fully ripe. However, the red berries are sour in taste.The tree fruits every time I trim it, so I kind of know how to get more fruits. Like any living organism, after procreating, one needs a resting period. Nature keeps it simple. No matter what, the tree needs to rest after fruiting, so don't overkill... what goes (energy) in comes out (energy)!

Mulberry plant and berries