Giloy - a gift

My parents always bring plants and seeds for us when they visit or give them when we visit them. Most of them do not survive the heat of Ahmedabad. But one did. And this one taught me the importance of growing native plants, that suit Indian conditions. 

This plant is called Giloy (गिलोई). It has several ayurvedic benefits, the most important one being to keep recurring fever in check. This makes it very useful for curing dengue. In recent years, the demand for it has increased as people have realised it's effectiveness for dengue. Aptly, it flourishes in the monsoon and grows everywhere. 

Mom gave me a stem cutting from her collection the day I was leaving after a visit. I kept it in my bag. And then promptly forgot about it when I got back home! I only remembered 4 days later. I wasnt sure whether it would still survive, but it did strike. Within a week of planting, it produced two leaves. 

And when the monsoon came in full swing, it grew really quickly and climbed the drip irrigation pipe.

Fruit tree on the terrace!

We wanted a tree, any tree. It had to be a large one, evergreen and preferably with flowers. We went to our favourite nursery again this weekend to look for one. We had our heart set on Champa (Frangipani), but it quite toxic to dogs. Even so, we thought of the dwarf one for the balcony. Turns out that it was close to ₹7000! No, thank you. Back to the drawing board for the tree then.

Both of us had certain criteria that we did not want to compromise on. We wanted a tree with a defined stem, hence an Areca palm was out. We wanted one with lots of branches, rather than a tiered appearance. And for sure we wanted one with flowers.

It wasn't looking good, we couldn't find anything suitable. Until he showed us a Chikoo tree. It suited our purpose completely and had the added bonus of bearing fruit!

It arrived with much difficulty as it really was very tall! Once it settles in, we can give it a prune. For now, it looks lovely from our bedroom window.

Tall Chikoo tree

Placement of the Chikoo tree

Watering system for the terrace

As summer advanced into Ahmedabad (later than last year), it brought on 40+ temperatures. In addition, Ahmedabad is very very dry, with hot winds. Our plants started dying left, right and centre. Some of the casualties were - Marigold (yet again), a chilli plant (who could not be photographed), Jasmine, Zamia, Rose (again, could not be photographed) and the indoor succulent (no photo of this either). 

A self watering project had been on the cards for a long time, but it involved many steps. First, I identified a Syntex tank to store the water. Then we searched for a plumber on Fix91 and UrbanClap. We found a good one on UrbanClap who knew what he was talking about. He had previously setup a hydroponic kit for someone. He was supremely excited with our project, as were we!

He decided that the white pipe (used for the RO waste water) would be ideal. It is sturdy and does well in the sun. He bought the various joints like T-joint, elbow-joint etc. He also bought the drips for the irrigation, which was our preference. 

Finally, this weekend he set it up. He brought someone over to build a stand for the tank, so that it is at a height. He made a hole at the top, so that vaccum is not created when the water is extracted. He made a hole near the bottom for the pipe connection. This pipe is connected to a valve, with an on and off position. After the valve, the white pipe network has been connected. 

Water storage

Valve connection

He has made one connection to the pots under our window. Another branch runs along the other wall to water the wall. From here, one branch goes down to one end of the balcony. Another branch also goes down to the balcony, along the railing. 

Branch 1

Branch 2

We tested it out today and it works like a breeze! We turn it on in the morning for about 10 mins and the plants get enough water to last the day. The lawn was taking up the most water because it did not have a drip. Now we have put a drip and water the lawn with the AC water instead. 

The first time we filled the tank with tap water using the garden hose. After that, we put in any waste water that we can manage to. For instance, everytime we clean the aquarium, we get about 2 buckets of water. This is best put in the tank. The water is rich in nutrients and can be used to water plants to get better foliage as it contains Nitrogen and Phosphorus. We also put the RO water and AC reject water in when possible, else we use that directly in the lawn or the indoor plants.