Plants Versus Pets: The Challenges of Urban Gardening

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Pahamak yung pusa namin! Nabali yung pinaka main branch ng ampalaya eh ang haba na. Sayang!

Mukhang gugulayin ko na lang yung mga dahon bukas. Munggong may ampalaya leaves?

Ganoon talaga! Ganyan ang buhay parang life. Back to start uli. Magpatubo uli bukas.

Ano naman kayang luto gagawin ko sa pusa? Lol!

Nawiwili akong magtanim ...lahat ng seeds from kitchen scraps like veggies like bell peppers, ampalaya, tomatoes, sometimes iniisip ko pati na rin fruits kaso karamihan puno kaya malabo for a condo type residential unit. No space and soil big enough to grow trees, and the association would not allow it, just as they refused to have us install satellite dishes as they would make the building look ugly.

Halos lahat ng kamatis seeds na itinapon ko sa mga paso ay tumubo kaya siksikan tuloy sila everywhere

Pero yung mga sili from all kinds ay wala yatang nagparamdam.

I joined a Facebook group called Manila Grows Food, which inspired me more to pursue this interest. Then I also joined other groups like Philippine Urban Gardening, the Hydroponics Philippines when I got curious of this alternative way to plant.

I started with Kratky method of hydroponics usings styroboxes as planters containing liquid nutrient solutions instead of soil. There are other types of hydroponics using pumps to circulate water through pipes, then others like aerophonics and aquaphonics, and similar stuff.

Growing veggies using nutrient solution in refurbished styrobox ng grapes would be the cheaper and less hassle method

I started with pechay and mustasa, planning to follow with lettuce, but I guess rainy season is already here. There won't enough sun, and the rain will dilute the nutrient solution, and though the system can be moved inside and use grow lights as a replacement to sunlight, I don't have the space and the investment may not be worth it if the cost of the lighting system would not be justified by the harvest.

Add the fact that our cats will continue to be a threat to our garden. I can't guard the veggies all day and night, and the limited space prevents me to setup barricades to protect the small garden.

Now I got this comment when I posted the styrobox setup:

"for the amount of space your styro box is taking up, you could have 30 normal plants growing in dirt with the same amount of water usage...wasted space...those plants grow upward, consider growing something that goes downward...like carrots"

True, the challenge is soil is not easily
accessible unless we buy, quite heavy to bring up to our floor, and still you have to keep it fertilized and pest-free. On another part of our place are pots with veggies growing on soil. Just experimenting on this setup which uses the liquid nutrient solution, which is tidier, and less work. Though, I'm just doing this to keep busy and learn something new while I let this quarantine pass. Those posts on the urban gardening and hydroponics groups are inspiring.

I also planted some veggies at our other home but this quarantine kept us in just one location. Now I'm wondering if they survived by just getting water from the rain alone.

The other house's fence was padlocked so we couldn't ask the neighbors to water our plants. We'll try to go there one of these days now that they've shifted the Rizal province to General Community Quarantine, but just for a short visit.

The other house does not have any pets so it's safer for veggies.

Stray cats frequent our place in Pasig because we feed them our food scrap. We provided a food bowl outside where we put all our edible food waste that they could eat. Now I'm thinking of stopping so they would no longer come. Am I bad for thinking that?

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