You Don’t Need To Be A Farmer To Grow Food At Home

                     “Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.”

We people depend on plants to get food. Most of the things we eat like rice, wheat, vegetables and fruits come from trees and plants. Apart from these blessings all our luxuries like chocolate, nuts, spices and herbs wouldn’t be available to us without plants and trees. Growing trees and plants is not that much tricky as we think. There is no rocket science involved. All of us can grow plants and trees at our home. Growing healthy and edible plants at home not only give us the fresh and healthy food but also an attractive landscape and a refreshing air. Though it’s not tricky to grow plants at home but there are some tips that we have to know to get the best.

Helpful plant growing tips for indoor plants:

Sunny window is a must: 

All you need is to have a sunny window in your kitchen or living room and some extra time for plantation, and then you will be able to grow your own food right at your home. Here are some other tips to grow healthy plants indoor.

Plants need well-draining soil: 

Almost all types of edible plants need a well-draining soil. So make sure that the pot or window box you are using has holes in the bottom. Another way is to make a layer of stones at the bottom of your pot under the soil. Use some kind of container to place under the pot for drainage, if you are using a pot with holes. 

Sunlight is very much important for indoor plants: 

Sunlight is another important factor. Choose the area that receives lot of sunlight and remain warm all the day. For this purpose, the sunny windows are the best option. But, if you don’t have a sunny window, you can use grow lights. Grow lights are a better option for indoor plants to provide them optimum light and temperature.

Potting mix can be a better option for plants:

Potting mix can be a better option for healthy houseplants. If you don’t have a fertile soil available in your area, you can use potting mix in pots of you indoor plants. Potting mix contains peat, bark, sand, per lite and small amount of fertilizers which are essential to grow healthy indoor plants. Moreover, water the plants and prune the shoots regularly to keep your plants healthy. Soil should remain moist but not mushy.Grow your own food at your home, contribute in reducing the environmental pollution, have a healthy life style.

 

Importance of Tree Plantation

Plantation has a lot of meanings in many aspects, but to me, the plantation is simply growing plants and trees. Apart from all other benefits of growing plants, one of the important components is that growing plants just give you an insight to feel nature. Watching to the green plants and the beautiful flowers gives a soothing effect to your eyes and mind. Most of the people plant trees to decorate their land and to provide the shed. But there is a lot more than this.

Health Beneficiary Landscape: 

From environmental impact to economics to health, to beautify the landscape and even to psychology, there are lots of benefits of a plantation.  Due to the fast-growing technology and industrial development, the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) is increasing rapidly in our atmosphere. This increase is changing our climate and mounting the pollution. This increase in carbon dioxide in our environment is very dangerous for earth’s life. If we say that trees and plants are the life saviors, it wouldn’t be wrong. They absorb the CO2 and release the oxygen.

Absorbents of Different Pollutants:

With advancements in everything, pollution is also increasing day by day, which is the biggest cause of spreading dangerous diseases. Trees and plants are the absorbents of different pollutants and dangerous gases. They filter out the odors and toxins from air to reduce pollution.

Global Warming, Earth’s Temperature:

Due to one of the biggest issues of our time, global warming, the earth’s temperature is rising very quickly. Plants and trees cool the homes and streets by providing shed, purifying air and releasing water vapors in the atmosphere. So, do plantation to save your planet from pollution, heat, diseases and many other bad effects produced by pollution.

Reduce the Exposure of Unhealthy Gasses:

Ultraviolet rays are the biggest cause of skin cancer. Most of the working people and the children at school or in playgrounds are highly affected by these rays. Plants and trees provide a shelter from ultraviolet rays. They reduce the exposure of these gases to about 50%, thus providing a great protection from the dangerous rays coming from the sun.

Providing Fruits and Vegetables:

There are a lot more benefits like providing fruits and vegetables, wood, home to the wildlife, prevent soil decay and many more. World planting day is also celebrated on 21st March. The purpose of the day is to give people knowledge of the importance of plantation. This plantation is of very much importance to save us, to save our planet.

By: Tarbia Iftikhar, BS Engineering(Punjab University, Lahore. Pakistan ) MS Engineering University of Lahore, Pakistan