leaf pots gardening
DESCRIPTION
Leaf Pots GardeningTRANSCRIPT
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What are
There are variousmethods to raise manydifferent species ofplant. Often, certainspecies cannot be trans-planted as small seed-lings, and they need tobe sown direct in thegarden or fields. Whenthese species are sown,such as beans, pump-kins, gourds and cu-cumbers, lack of carefor the small plantsmean that many die dueto pests, weeds, lack ofwater, etc., and are wasted. But by sowing in a Leaf Pot nurs-ery, the plants can get the necessary care and attention whenyoung, and be planted out when they are strong and healthy.This saves many seeds and plants from going to waste.
This method of using large leaves to make into pots,filling them with fertile soil and growing seedlings is called aLeaf Pot Nursery.
Leaf Pots ?Leaf Pots ?
Watering leaf pots in a nursery
The Farmers' Handbook, "Near The House - 2" Chapter 9 - Leaf Pots
HowHowmakeLeaf Pots ?
to makeLeaf Pots ?
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• For growing seedlings which can't be transplanted frombeds, such as some vegetables, fast growing trees or greenmanure seed plants, leaf pots can be used.
• Vegetables such as beans, pumpkin, cucumber, gourds, etc.cannot be transplanted bare-root, so these can be sown inleaf pots.
• Trees and green manure species, such as velvet bean,Sesbania, Crotalaria (such as sunhemp), lab lab bean, etc.,which are to be used for seed production and so need morecare and attention, can be started in leaf pots.
• When seedlings are growing in a leaf pot nursery, they canbe given better care. This helps them to grow well, andalso stops seed and seedlings being wasted.
Choose big, whole, unbroken leaves of the appropriatespecies. These leaves are rolled into a cone and stitched withbamboo pins. This will hold the soil well. After filling withfertile soil, the cones are sown with seed and covered withsoil the same as if using polypots.
WhyWhy
Materials Needed to make Leaf Pots
largeleaves
bamboostrips or rope seed
sticks
bambooposts
crowbarThis Booklet's Author :Chris Evans, advisor,Himalayan Permaculture Group, Nepalwww.designedvisions.com
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The Farmers' Handbook, "Near The House - 2" Chapter 9 - Leaf Pots4 5
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Making a Standfor the Leaf Pots
1 metre
1 metre
Dig in 2 up-right stakes
Split the bam-boo and attachhorizontallybetween the 2uprights, tomake a gapwhich the leafpots can fit into.
Filled leaf potsare placed in arack made like
this
Making the Leaf Pots
twist
twist
Use leaves to fit the size of seed-ling grown. Big leaves will
make big pots for big seedlings,and small leaves for small pots
with small seedlings
Take both endsof the leaf andstart to twist
Twist the leafinto a cone
shape with oneend closed
bamboopin
Pin the leaf into acone shape as shown
here
twist
twist
The Farmers' Handbook, "Near The House - 2" Chapter 9 - Leaf Pots6 7
Let's SeeLet's See
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bamboopin
leaves formaking pots
2 potsready to fill
with soil
Put the rack for holding the leaf potsin the shade. Fill the pots with fertile
soil and place them in the rack
Leaf pot filled withfertile soil ready for
planting seed
Two seedsplanted in the
middle of the pot
how to makeLeaf Pots
how to makeLeaf Pots
The Farmers' Handbook, "Near The House - 2" Chapter 9 - Leaf Pots
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How tomaintainLeaf Pots
MaintenanceMaintenanceSeed is sown in the potsand covered with a finger
width of soil
Add watercarefully
A seedstartingto grow
These plants needwatering daily
Keeping the pots while seedlings growAfter sowing seed in the leaf pots, they need to be put in
a safe place. The pots can be half buried in a nursery bed, orin a hot bed, as necessary. Another method for keeping leafpots can be called a vertical nursery. This can only be usedfor cone-shaped leaf pots. A vertical nursery doesn't use upany land and can bemade next to thehouse or on the edgeof the courtyard.Seedlings will alsobe safe from chick-ens. See p. 4 for howto build the verticalnursery.
High outputfrom a small
area. Leafpots under anair nursery,
with a pit forliquid manure
at groundlevel.
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The Farmers' Handbook, "Near The House - 2" Chapter 9 - Leaf Pots10
Because they are in the air, leaf pots in a vertical nurserycan dry out quickly so need small amounts of water once ortwice a day. If placed in the shade, they will need less water.
Planting the Leaf PotWhen the seedling has grown to the 4 leaf stage it can be
planted out. At the place where it is to be planted, dig a smallhole and fill with compost. Without taking the seedling out ofthe pot, plant both to-gether in the hole. Bydoing this the roots of theseedling aren't disturbed.The leaf pot should becompletely buried. Afterplanting, add mulch andwater well.
Seedlings beingplanted with
their leaf pots
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From Nepal, Surkhet dis-trict, Gumi - 3, Ratadadavillage, and a member of"Hariyali" women's group,Mrs Vishnumaya Shris hasmade her own leaf pots. Nowlet's hear what she says.
Farmers'ExperienceFarmers'Experience
Mrs VishnumayaShris
Mrs Vishnumaya Shris
If we plant various typesof seed direct onto the landmany can die, or not growwell. So we make leaf pots,filling them with soil andsowing them with seeds suchas pumpkin, cucumber, beans, cow pea, bitter gourd, bottlegourd, etc., especially the climbing vegetables. We keep thepots in a vertical rack made from bamboo. We tie split bam-boo in between 2 upright posts which leaves a gap perfect forholding the leaf pots. The pots need watering every day.Seedlings grow faster than if sown direct in the field, and areready to plant out 2-3 weeks after sowing. We found thatthese plants suffer less from insect pests than others, perhapsbecause they're stronger. We share these skills in the group. Iteach to some, and learn from others.
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Read On !Subjects Related to Leaf Pots
This book provides enough information to be able tomake and grow plants in your own leaf pots. However, thisinformation is also linked to other methods. For extra benefitslet's read, learn and practice from other related chapters.
Mixed VegetableGardening
chapter
Kitchen Gardenchapter
Leaf pots arevery useful insuccessful veg-etable gardening.Information aboutthis and othereasy methods forhome-producinghealthy vegetablesat low cost isgiven in thischapter
With less weed-ing, watering andother work, andharvesting vari-ous types ofvegetables from3 weeks afterplanting, lastingup to 6 months.Information onthis easy tech-nique is given inthis chapter
Hot Bedchapter
This chapterdescibes howto use leaf potseedlings alongwith othervarieties in ahot bed togrow off sea-son vegetables
Leaf Pot chapter
Read On !