Wazzup Pilipinas!
Because of this pandemic, most of us became an
- instant chef
- instant Plantito/Plantita
- instant online seller
- instant Tiktoker
- instant vlogger
Kahit anong instant pa yan, let's have a healthy and supportive environment. Walang basagan ng trip. However, remember that this supposedly pandemic stress relievers should never tempt you to spend so much that it becomes more than addicting.
The most prominent among the mentioned is being a plantito/plantita which even caused the rise of cost of plants, soils, pots, and gardening tools and supplies. It even increased the views refarding plant-related topics on social.media and websites...and lately even celebrities got into the trend.
In an ideal plantito/plantita world, we spend less in acquiring plants (because there's harbat with the neighbor) and spend more on pots. But I'm surprised to find out that there are people who buy expensive plants just to add to their collection and display at their home, indoors or at outdoors as part of their garden.
Personalities like Jinkee Pacquiao with her photo showing her precious plants at the background.
Ina Raymundo with her Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree versus Jinkee Pacquiao's Variegated Alocasia Elephant Ear was something to look at in amazement.
There are other celebrities like Valeen Montenegro, Kiray Celis, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Alice Dixson, Lyn Ching, Yeng Constantino, Kathryn Bernardo and Solenn Heussaff...and most probably more.... that showcased their gardening hobbies but there were no specific mentions of the plants they have and how much it costed them.
Anybody else running for the "Plantita of the Year"?
Whoa!
Aubrey Miles has plants that cost a whopping 100k, 150k to the most expensive so far at 300k for a Variegated Billietiae?
"Plantita of the year" contender na ba to Ina Raymundo and Jinkee Pacquiao?
There should be another trending term that we should support and that is "vegetito / vegetita" to represent those whose interest is more on planting vegetables. Growing their own food source could be the more rewarding because you get to harvest produce than just nurturing plants that serves only as decors at home.
Marvin Agustin has posted some of his vegetables and herbs on his Instagram account.
He is a certified Vegetito working on his urban vegetable garden composed of ampalaya, okra, talong, basil, etc. But he has a spacious backyard beside his pool for a bigger and better trellis made from bamboo.
What he is holding here is a spray container containing organic pesticide but all he said was it contains "sili" , garlic and "tubig" mixture. He was using it to treat his veggies from pests specifically when he discovered his ampalaya fruits were infected by "wasps"? ...maybe he meant fruit flies. ...and he also covered the ampalaya fruits with plastic as an added protection.
During wet season, aphids, fruit fly, leaf footed bug and leaf folder are destructive. During the dry season additional pests such as leafhoppers, thrips, white flies and leaf worms are equally destructive.
I'm not sure about "wasps."
He said he researched from the Internet.
So he has a videographer too. Bongga!
Now, I could relate to him as my interest in planting vegetables had also made me a "Vegetito"
I've also learned that you can grow seedlings or seeds directly from a simple hydroponics setup.
I've tried styroboxes, containers, and PVC pipes as my "pots" to grow mostly leafy veggies like pechay, mustasa, lettuce, kangkong and kamote (just to harvest the leaves for "talbos") etc., and now experimenting on bell peppers and tomatoes.
Instead of soil, you use water mixed with anutrient solution (nutsol) as the growing medium. May nabibiling mga ready-made nutsol commercially, pwede ring make your own para you can also make it organic. I'm still experimenting on my own nutsol before I write about it in full.
The beauty of this setup is you can literally leave it alone if you are able to provide the needed amount of nutsol and water it needs.....or less maintenance because you just need to refill if it's not enough until harvest time.
Pwede rin siya indoors if you use the appropriate lights to replicate sunshine.
Admittedly, as what our 2015 Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach has said "being stuck at home has led us to explore new hobbies. A lot of us have turned to making our spaces greener by taking care of plant babies. Aside from being a plantita/plantito, we have to remember to take care of the environment in our own little ways."
Sadly, there have been several news of "plant poachers" that has endangered our mountains flora and fauna because of this trend...or should we call.it a craze.
There are people who plant cuttings that they either snatch from someone's garden or plant little uprooted saplings you ask from a plantito/plantita. Basically, plants you get for free. Lol.
While some would appreciate more planting from seeds and nurturing them until they are ready for harvest.
Remember that the Earth is needy, so don't be greedy. It's time to be greeny.
Take a break and be grateful for our one and only Mother Earth. Celebrate World Environment Day by caring for Her like a plantito/plantita.
Nurture nature today for a better future.
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
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