Having a beautiful rose garden is everyone’s dream, but sometimes due to a lack of space and knowledge, these dreams cannot come true. However, with a little effort and some knowledge, you can create a lovely roof garden in very little space, where you can grow organic vegetables, fruits, flowering, and decorative plants. Some fruits and vegetables can be easily grown in containers, requiring less space and care. I have created my roof garden, where I grow several flowering plants, fruits, and seasonal vegetables throughout the year. Now, let’s see what I did to start roof gardening.
Pot/Container Selection
First of all, let’s talk about pots or containers. You can use plastic containers, cement pots, or clay pots. Clay pots are the best for growing plants. Rectangular pots are ideal for growing flowering plants. You can place the pots on plastic trays, but make sure not to let water stand in the trays. Pots of 8 to 12 inches are best for growing leafy vegetables like brinjal, chilies, and tomatoes. If you want to grow vegetable vines like bottle gourd, sponge gourd, lima beans, bitter gourd, or long beans, you will need larger containers.
I grew vegetables in half-drum plastic containers and fruit crates that I collected from the local nursery store. If you don’t have plastic containers or pots, you can use plastic grow bags or oil jars cut horizontally. Make some holes at the bottom for drainage, and you can also use old clay tubs or even empty paint buckets.
Soil Preparation
Plants can be grown in soil, but for the best results in pots, you need nutrient-rich and well-drained potting soil. To prepare the best potting soil, mix 50% garden soil, 30% vermicompost or kitchen compost, and 20% coco peat. You can also mix in two handfuls of neem cake powder or Neem khol, which acts as a natural fungicide, for the soil in a 12-inch pot.
One problem with containers filled with soil is that they are heavy and require additional soil on the roof. In urban areas, it can be hard to get garden soil, but you can make lightweight soil, which is much lighter than garden soil.
To prepare lightweight soil, mix 50% cocopeat, 20% garden soil, 20% vermicompost, and 10% perlite. Add two handfuls of neem cake powder or Neem khol as a natural fungicide for the soil in a 12-inch pot. Cocopeat, made from dried coconut husks, comes in the form of dry bricks that expand 4 to 5 times in volume when water is added. Perlite, a volcanic glass, is very light and can absorb moisture and nutrients, making the soil lighter. You can easily get all these materials from any agriculture shop.
How to Fill Pots/Containers
Before filling the container with soil, I ensured it had a few drainage holes at the bottom. If there are no holes, you need to make some. Many potted plants die due to excess moisture caused by poor drainage.
I placed a 1-inch layer of gravel or fine stones at the bottom of the containers/pots. This bottom layer prevents soil from draining out with the water. I then filled the container with soil and watered it thoroughly 2 to 3 times to remove air pockets. I left 2 to 3 inches of space at the top of the pot to avoid soil and compost spilling over while watering. To distribute weight evenly, I placed the big and heavy containers in the corners of the roof and over the columns.
Important Tools for Roof Gardening
Several tools are really helpful in roof gardening, such as watering cans, hand gloves, and hand trowels. You’ll also need sticks for supporting plants, a sharp blade, pruning shears, a branch cutter for cutting branches, a big tub for mixing soil, buckets, string to support vines, and spray bottles.
Seed Selection and Germination
You should buy good quality hybrid seeds for the best results. Instead of sowing seeds directly into the soil, I sowed seeds in a germination tray. To make a germination mix, I used 60% cocopeat and 40% vermicompost. I made the mixture moist and filled it in the tray.
For first germination, you should soak big hard-shelled seeds like bottle gourd, sponge gourd, and bitter gourd in water overnight. Then, sow the seeds to a depth just double the thickness of a seed. Avoid sowing them too deep, as this makes germination difficult. I kept them in a bright, shady place and maintained moisture in the seedling mix until germination, being careful not to overwater, as seeds may rot. When 3 to 4 true leaves had grown after seedlings, I transferred them to a larger pot/container.
I grow only one plant in 8 to 12-inch medium-sized pots or containers, but you can grow 2 to 3 plants at a distance of 10 inches apart in a pot. If you grow many plants in a single pot, they will compete for nutrients and none of them will grow well.
What to Grow, When to Grow Vegetables
Different vegetables are grown in different seasons. I selected vegetables according to their season from summer to the rainy season. You can start with easy vegetables in a small pot like fenugreek (methi), spinach, beetroot, turnips, and radish. You can sow seeds directly into the container at some distance, and all these vegetables can be harvested after 30 to 60 days in medium-sized containers.
In the same season, I grew cabbage, which was ready to harvest in 4 months. Brinjal was harvested in 4 months, ladies’ fingers were harvested after 2 months, and tomatoes took 3 months to ripen. Chilli pepper was ready for harvest in 2 to 3 months, and I started harvesting coriander leaves after 1 month. I also grew bell pepper (capsicum), which was ready to harvest after 3 months. All these vegetables are best for new roof gardeners to grow.
How to Grow Easy Fruits and Vegetables
When I understood how to grow easy fruits and vegetables, I learned the techniques of gardening and was able to grow different vegetables. In the summer season, you can grow bottle gourd in big containers. After 10 days of seeding, transfer the seedlings into a 24-inch-sized container. After 50 days, the bottle gourd will start fruiting, and after 70 days, it will be ready to harvest. In the summer season, you can grow sponge gourd, which starts flowering in 3 months and fruiting after 70 days. Lima beans start flowering in 2 months, and after 70 days, the vine will be full of beans. You can also grow cucumbers. After 40 days of seeding, transplant the cucumber seedlings. Flowering will start in 40 days, and you can start harvesting in 65 days. You can also grow long beans, which can be harvested after 60 days.
All the creeper vines need the support of a trellis to climb and spread. Firmly fix 6-7 thick bamboo poles to make a frame and tie jute ropes like a net to create such a structure. In all vegetable vines, you can get four times the fruiting by doing 3G cutting. When the vines become 5 feet tall, do 3G cutting. New branches will grow after these cuttings, which will bear mostly female flowers that turn into fruits.
One very important issue is that sometimes small fruits fall off their gourd vines. Because of over-watering, small fruits become black or yellow and fall off. To avoid fruit falling, when flowering starts, water only when the soil feels dry to the touch.
Potted Fruit Plants
Not only vegetables, but you can also grow many fruits in your roof garden, such as strawberries, jujube, guava, grapes, mango, pomegranate, dragon fruit, and lemon. In nurseries, you can find dwarf varieties of these fruit plants that are small in size but produce a lot of fruits.
Strawberry plants are available in most local nurseries. After 3 months of transplanting, you will have a lot of red strawberries ready to pick. Jujube plants will produce fruits within a year and also produce fruit twice a year. My grafted pomegranate plant, which is just 2 and a half years old, is growing in a 15-liter oil jar and doing amazing fruiting. My lemon plant is 1 year old and filled with lots of lemons.
I grew all these fruit plants in containers. You should grow fruit plants in containers larger than 24 inches because these plants need a lot of soil and space to thrive. Always buy grafted fruit plants because seed-grown plants take many years to start fruiting, but grafted plants start fruiting soon.
Flowering Plants
Different varieties of flowering plants can be grown in different seasons in pots. Ever-flowering plants like Bougainvillea, hibiscus, and peace lilies thrive year-round. For seasonal blooms, you can grow Red Roses, Calendula, Night Jasmine, Marigold, Petunia, Dahlia, and Pansy between winter and spring.
Medicine Plants
Several medicinal plants can be grown in pots and are very beneficial for health, such as Neem, Tulsi (Holy Basil), Aloe Vera, and Mint.
Pest Control and Management
Dealing with pests and diseases in plants is a common challenge for all gardeners. The most common pests include black and white bugs, mealybugs, aphids, and spider mites. To combat these pests, you can create a homemade organic pesticide by mixing 5ml of neem oil in 1 liter of water and spraying it every 15 days. Additionally, you can make another organic pesticide using chili, garlic, and neem easily at home.
Watering
Watering potted plants requires careful attention to avoid issues like fungal diseases, root rot, and plant dehydration. It’s crucial to water only when the soil feels dry to the touch. Here are some guidelines for watering according to the seasons:
Summer: Water once or twice daily, early in the morning and late in the evening, to combat the heat.
Winter: Water 2 or 3 times a week, adjusting for cooler temperatures and reduced evaporation.
Rainy Season: Water only when the soil begins to dry out, as excessive moisture can lead to problems.
Always water in the early morning or evening to minimize water loss from evaporation and to ensure the plants have time to absorb water before any hot afternoon sun.
If a plant starts to deteriorate soon after bringing it home from the nursery, it may be experiencing transplant shock. Providing it with proper care, including appropriate watering, can help it recover and thrive in its new environment.
Fertilizing
It’s essential to provide plants with appropriate fertilization throughout their growth stages. For potted plants, using well-rotted cow dung compost is beneficial. Here’s a general guideline for application:
Medium-sized pots: Apply 2 handfuls of well-rotted cow dung compost.
Large containers: Apply 4 handfuls of well-rotted cow dung compost.
Mix the compost into the soil gently to ensure its evenly distributed and then water thoroughly. Homemade compost, made from kitchen waste and dried leaves, is a fantastic source of micronutrients and organic matter. It enriches the soil, promoting healthy growth and maximizing fruit production in container gardens.
Avoiding chemical fertilizers and pesticides aligns with organic gardening practices, which can enhance soil health and support biodiversity. If interested, you can find more detailed instructions on making compost from kitchen waste on my site.
Some Important Garden Care Tips
It sounds like you’ve compiled a comprehensive set of tips for successful gardening on a roof or in containers! Here’s a brief of your key points:
Sunlight Requirements: Different plants have varying sunlight needs. Ensure you place them where they receive adequate sunlight, especially flowering, fruiting, and vegetable plants that require maximum sunlight.
Weed Control: Regularly remove unwanted weeds as they consume nutrients from your plants. Consider covering your plants with a green shade net to protect them from excessive heat during summer.
Maintaining Moisture: Mulching with materials like dry leaves, cocopeat, or moss helps retain moisture in the soil, which is crucial for plant health.
Protection from Rain: To shield plants from heavy rain, consider constructing a plastic shade over your roof garden. This can be removed after the rain subsides.
Tilling: Tilling the soil at least once a month keeps it loose, prevents waterlogging, and ensures good root aeration, promoting healthy plant growth.
These tips cover essential aspects of maintaining a thriving garden in containers or on a rooftop, providing a great starting point for new gardeners.
