My Failures and Successes on the Tiny Roof Top Garden

My failures are many but only a few success.

1. My attempt at raring Cherry Tomatoes is a total failure.

The nature works on standard principles.

Only one (1%) per cent of seeds germinate.

To make it 10% one needs enormous inputs and perseverance.

I will come to that later.

This tomato has a lovely smell.

I have succeeded in getting one plant but it is growing very slowly.

No flowers.

The one which managed to germinate in the train outside our house is big and has a few flowers.

It had no support and I did some work for it and trapped it with two AkkaPana plants for its support.

Mind you I put lot of seeds on this drain and only one plant come out successful.

2. The coriander is a big failure only two one small lasted few weeks and the other wilted away in three months.

3. The chillies after many attempts and lot of seeds but only one plant in the same pot came mid way after the coriander seed had germinated.

No flowers yet but with flowers it will wilt away if not supplemented by chemical inputs.

4. Bread Fruit or avocados no result.

This time a failure but I have few more seeds left.

It is a seasonal germinater I believe.

5. A big wild seed brought on by birds germinated on the ground.
Transferred it to a pot total failure.
I found three seeds on top of the fish tank in the open.

May have been brought on by birds who quench their thirst from the fish tank.

The magpie devour my fish daily.

6. Jam Pera only one plant after a few hundreds of seeds had fallen on the ground.

I think one pass through a bird's alimentary system is mandatory.

7. Potatoes a total failure.

8. Japanese Tomatoes a total failure.

9. Mangoes on pots a total failure.
No fruits.

10. Partial success of paddy seeds one cared for the other left to wilderness.

The one left to wilderness had three seeds in one plant and nothing on the other three.

The well cared bucket had seven plants with seeds out of many seeds.

The manure is from fish urine.

I feed the guppy with high protein diet.

They produce year round urea in ample stock.

The other variety I got by post from a veteran paddy cultivator who is 80% blind (I think the chemicals he used in his farming career has done it).

By the way his kidneys are good.

I put them to germinate few months after the first batch and four of them are coming good.

I got a batch of seed pods from a farmer who comes from Amparai to sell his ornamental wall hanging made of paddy pods saying it is a blessing to hang them on the wall.

I bought two for 500.

I tried all his seeds nothing germinated.

I expected one to grow on ground with lot of water.

There was one variety in out garden as a kid, called GodaWee.

I am looking for one for two decades now with no success.

The first batch is from a guy who is a fish vendor but a good farmer all the same.

He is a long time friend of mine due to my pet fish keeping habit not fish mongering the politicians do in this country.

The bottom line is that paddy cultivation needs not only lot of water but lot of inputs (liquid manure and sold manure) and is not economically viable in this country until we invest on high quality low yield varieties for export.

We had over 2000 varieties and only 50 is left at the moment.

Thank God by luck I became a medical man and not an agricultural man.

If I did agriculture by fate, I would have been under aristocratic  Panakokke or Ellawala clans who were involved in commercial enterprises.

These aristocratic clans were involved in Elephant trade, too and Molamure and Pana Murre Eth Raja comes to my mind instantly.

The commercial enterprises kill our agriculture.

That is why we are in Manioc Economics now.

My successes are on lilly plants and a few varieties of wild water plants (foreign from seeds) which grow like a carpet on top.

The Soursop plant was a success with a tiny fruit.

The water mellon was a success with a tiny fruit.

Pineapple was a success and only two beautiful flowers in15 years.

One is one growing well and am sure it will bloom.

It lives hundred years given to nature and there is no hurry at all.

Havari Nuga a total success with two broods of twitters in 15 years.

I do not try any new ornamental plants now.
The.most expensive one never lasted two seasons.

Do not buy them in sales.

They are highly cared before sale exhibition to lure ladies with passion but they do not last even a season.

I do not use artificial manure at all but only leaves that fall and the tea leaves I keep (no milk-will lead to plant rot) for the palm trees.

Regular hand washing with siso.and water and never with detergents.

They kill plants, insects, butterflies and fish.

If you do that butterflies will come in search of you if not dragon flies.

It is nice to see few butterflies but will eat some leaves that stimulate plant chemicals for growth.

The birds will control the excess caterpillars.

No sugar and drinking Mesnar Tea without sugar is invigorating.