Gardening in the Philippines

[sonjack2847]

We have been here 2 1/2 months now and we have been doing some gardening. We had to buy some topsoil which cost 50 peso per big bag and 100 to deliver it gave us an extra 120-150mm  topsoil allover the area we have which is about 6 sq meters. We have Tomatoes,Cauliflower,Broccoli,green onions,Lettuce and Strawberries all growing from seeds. I don`t know yet how successful these plants will be but I am hopping they will turn out ok. We have quite a few pot plants as well and they all seem to be doing fine.  One thing I am very pleased with is that I planted some cactus seeds I bought in Robinsons and they are also growing and seem to be doing very well. I am getting some Parsnip and sprout seeds sent over from the Uk and I am hopping they will  take. I have not had parsnips for years now and I would really like some with my roast dinner.

[David B]

I look forward to hearing how this is going. Please update as needed. We intend to do the same type of gardening and your experience will be helpful. 

[sonjack2847]

2 hours ago, David B said:

I look forward to hearing how this is going. Please update as needed. We intend to do the same type of gardening and your experience will be helpful. 

Well I will say this that the seeds are not a very good standard as some of them just don`t germinate even when you follow the instruction on the packet. The 2 which are doing well are the cauliflower and broccoli.The cactus are doing ok with 6 seeds germinating out of 20 I will just have to wait and see.

[Queenie O.]

5 hours ago, sonjack2847 said:

Well I will say this that the seeds are not a very good standard as some of them just don`t germinate even when you follow the instruction on the packet. The 2 which are doing well are the cauliflower and broccoli.The cactus are doing ok with 6 seeds germinating out of 20 I will just have to wait and see.

Sonjack I have had that problem with seeds recently sent to me from the States. I requested some sunflower seeds from my sister, and she sent me several new packs, including the sunflowers.  For fun I planted 12 good sized seeds in a flat. After a while only one plant out of all those even came up. I blamed the many birds in the garden, but it seemed strange. The plant medium was good and not disturbed. I'll try another set after the weather cools off a little. Planting seeds and gardening here is trial and error, but sometimes it can be satisfying.

I recently planted two lemon seeds in a pot from a fruit I had on hand, and those are now up and have become good sized plants, as well as an avocado sapling that I had sprouted in the kitchen from the pit of a local avocado. 

Queenie