Growing Cucumber on terrace

A Cucumber with its diverse variety is one among those healthy vegetables. In my blog there are articles on cucumber plantation and images. Since I never expected a very healthy and moderately large size cucumber can be grown on roof top I am sharing this in this post.
Cucumbers are scientifically known as Cucumis sativus and belong to the same botanical family as melons (including watermelon and cantaloupe) and squashes (including summer squash, winter squash, zucchini and pumpkin). Commercial production of cucumbers is usually divided into two types.

I was surprised how this could grow in bigger size as compared to my experiments did before.

I could find that the floor of the roof had some mud and algae, hope which supported the plants' root at each node and probably that might have helped the cucumber to grow in bigger size.


Generally in a cucumber plant, at each node, there is a leaf, a flower, a fruit, a tendril and root.

Organic vegetable Garden on Terrace

Fertile soil preparation

Homemade Compost

Pest Control

Experiment with Drip irrigation on terrace

Plantation on raised Bed

Honey Bee/ Beekeeping

Mushroom on closed rooms

Spinach or Palak Plantation

Spinach is one of the most vitamin-rich plants. Spinach does best when growing in moist, nitrogen-rich soil. Brought to India by Arab traders.

Harvest

Thanks to Monsoon in Kerala. Fresh Indian Spinach was harvested from 25 pots.

Plant was transplanted from another pot. Plant grew in size to harvest in a months time. This plant require moderate sunlight and the soil should be moisturized in stipulated time periods. 

Seed

Spinach plants form a deep taproot; for best growth, loosen the soil at least 1 foot deep before planting.

Seedlings

Seeds were sown in a clay pot and then after 14 days this was transplanted to smaller pots and bags.

Organic vegetable Garden on Terrace

Fertile soil preparation

Homemade Compost

Pest Control

Experiment with Drip irrigation on terrace

Plantation on raised Bed

Honey Bee/ Beekeeping

Mushroom on closed rooms

Nutritious Value of Indian Spinach 

• Spinach is a rich source of vitamin A and reduces the risk of eye diseases.
• Consuming this in a regular diet brings the blood pressure down to normal levels.
• Can be used to prevent and treat many cardiovascular diseases like hyperlipidemia, heart failure, hypertension and coronary heart diseases as it strengthens the heart muscles, allowing the blood to be pumped to all parts of the body.
• Spinach is rich in minerals like manganese, copper, magnesium, zinc and phosphorus which help in building strong bones and lowering the chances of osteoporosis.
• Studies show that spinach lowers the cancer risk by 34%.
• It is advisable for pregnant women to include spinach in their regular diet as folate found in it is needed by the growing fetus for development of a new nervous system.
•  Helps in loosing weight.
• Improves the quality of the sperm.
• Can help cure constipation.

Organic Terrace Vegetable gardening

Planted four tomato saplings, this one being a different category/breed, that grew in heights, so had to provide some support to hold the Plant with its fruit.

Organic vegetable Garden on Terrace

Fertile soil preparation

Homemade Compost

Pest Control

Experiment with Drip irrigation on terrace

Plantation on raised Bed

Honey Bee/ Beekeeping

Mushroom on closed rooms

Brinjal or an egg plant with seven fruits at a time in a single Plant.

Long beans plant could produce 20 beans in a single plant in a span of 30 days

 Planted Long green eggplant, however the fruit that showed up was a cross-breed of a long and a round eggplant. Believe it might be the result of a cross-pollination, since there was a violet round eggplant very next to this one.