December 30, 2021: A sudden noise just heard at our fence which is kinda disturbing and worried what was that. We got up and checked and saw some of my plants under that fence was fallen. I rushed towards it and confirm that it my mustard seedlings had fallen.
Good thing I water them out awhile ago that's why the soil was moist and still the mustard roots are still intacked. These seedlings didn't reached yet it's perfect growth for transplanting but I have to decide early this morning to immediately rescue and transfer them into their permanent pot.
These are my prepared recycled plastic bottles which I cut the upper portion using a cutter. See photos below for step by step guide and materials:
1.5 liter plastic bottle
scissor
long and thin steel wire
candle
ASSEMBLING
Gather mixed soil and put some inside the bottle (carbonized rice hull,garden soil and compost). Fill the bottle entirely but not full. Just leave an allowance so that you can fill it again with additional soil and compost later on.
Get a fishing rod like string. Tie and knot it on both sides of the bottle. Make sure to tie the edge securely to prevent it from future fall. Cut the excess string and repeat the process for all remaining bottles.
TRANSPLANTING
Once you filled all the bottle with soil. Take out some seedlings and poke a whole into the soil. Every bottle can fit 2-3 seedling but I preffered just only 2 slot so mustard leaves can grow freely.
The soil must be fully wet and drained also. I used a small plastic bottle with few hole on it's tip. It is like a shower head and just right to be a watering tool.
MY PERSONAL TIPS FOR PLANTING AND TRANSPLANTING
1.Choose a good mix of soil
2.Don't over crowd your permanent pot
3.Drainage is important to prevent your plants to drowned or over wet plus the roots of your plants will not be rotten and eventually die.
4.Sunlight is so important to grow and have a healthy and beautiful fruits and leaves.
5.Be extra carefull on transplanting especially to the roots and stem. It is more prone on breakage and roots needed to have a long and well grown too.
6.The best time to do transplanting is around late afternoon.
7.Soak your seedling in water first before transplanting. Based on farmer and urban gardeners, this method will surely help the seedlings to reduce the stress after the transplanting.
8.Best time to have a good quality sunlight was from 6 am till 10 am. If you have a leafy vegetables like lettuce it is important to put some shade when the time was around 11 am till 3 pm were the sun was too hot.
9.Make your own compost at home using egg shells, vegetables and fruits peels, dried leaves and branches. Highly recommended are malunggay leaf, banana peels and high in nitrogen component.
10.Best water for plants are rain water and wash water from rice. If rain water was not available, you can use your tap water but let it sit for all night so chlorine content may evaporate.
I will share how it was going to be after several days. I am hoping that I will be able to rescue and successfully grown my own mustard just using these recycle plastic bottles. I knew in my own little way, I reduce and reuse plastic waste and definitely saves me some money from buying a plastic pot. I also collect love to collect rain water when it rains and saved it for my babies. Thanks for dropping by and have a happy planting day ahead.