[Nightwalker]

Hello Folks,

Chanced upon this forum while I was surfing for info on vegetables to plant.
My wife and I are planning to plant our own vegetables in those rectangular pots as a hobby.

Can anyone offer us your advise on which vegetables will be awash for newbies like us to start off with? And where can we get the seeds, soil, fertilizer and pots at a good price since we are staying put in Tampines.

Thank you all :)/>

PS: please pardon me if I had posted in the wrong section. Still new to GCS.

This post has been edited by Nightwalker: 10 April 2012 - 11:51 AM

[AhSeng]

Nightwalker, on 18 March 2012 - 10:48 PM, said:

Hello Folks,

Chanced upon this forum while I was surfing for info on vegetables to plant.
My wife and reads planning to plant our own vegetables in those rectangular pots as a hobby.

Can anyone offer us your advise on which vegetables will be awash for newbies like us to start off with? And where can we get the seeds, soil, fertilizer and pots at a good price since we are staying put in Tampines.

Thank you all :)/>

PS: please pardon me if I had posted in the wrong section. Still new to GCS.

I think the nearest place to get seeds is Giant supermarket at tampines. and Riviera LRT nearby, there are some nurseries that are fairly new. I see some ornamental plants but I don't know if they are selling seeds.Generally most big nurseries/florists and some supermarkets have some seeds available. There are nursery near Tanah Merah MRT too.
Sinflora has recently moved to somewhere in tampines.
I do not know which shop is cheaper or more expensive though, generally about the same.

This post has been edited by AhSeng: 19 March 2012 - 09:10 AM

[Nightwalker]

AhSeng, on 19 March 2012 - 09:03 AM, said:

I think the nearest place to get seeds is Giant supermarket at tampines. and Riviera LRT nearby, there are some nurseries that are fairly new. I see some ornamental plants but I don't know if they are selling seeds.Generally most big nurseries/florists and some supermarkets have some seeds available. There are nursery near Tanah Merah MRT too.
Sinflora has recently moved to somewhere in tampines.
I do not know which shop is cheaper or more expensive though, generally about the same.

Thank You Ah Seng.
Do you have any recommendations for vegetable for a newbie like me to start off with? Thinking of starting a small potted nursery outside my home unit along the corridor.

[fluffymutt]

Hello Nightwalker,

Welcome to GCS!

First of all, you need to think about what kind of conditions you have at your place. Importantly, most veggies like to have lots of sun. Some can tahan not that much sun, some die die must have full sun. So you may like to research which kind of veggies match your area's conditions so that you get good results. :)/>

Ban Lee Huat's (veggie specialist) seeds are well known to have very good germination rates, whereas I have encountered some of those China brands sold in nurseries/Cold Storage where not a single seed germinated, so you may want to consider that also.

Hope this helps!

[AhSeng]

Nightwalker, on 19 March 2012 - 09:25 AM, said:

Thank You Ah Seng.
Do you have any recommendations for vegetable for a newbie like me to start off with? Thinking of starting a small potted nursery outside my home unit along the corridor.

I grow before bell pepper only. The pandan and some herbs are not really vegetables. Spring onions are usually easy to grow, although it can fail. Just take the onion and put onto soil.
You can try Xiao Bai Chai or Kai lan, but grow them to just half the max size, then you harvest them as small Xiao bai chai.
There are many vegetables seeds available, but yes, some do not grow well due to lack of sunlight.
Anyone growing any interesting vegetable?, and any recommendations ?

[Nightwalker]

Thank You Fluffymutt and Ah Seng :)/>

[fluffymutt]

so far kangkong is my favourite veggie to grow. the rest keep getting eaten by pests or hard to make it to maturity. but to be honest, i don't really take care one lah. at most, once in a while, i throw large quantities of chicken poo into the container. the kangkong leaf bought from market is normally about finger-size, but the home-grown ones are so big my family doubted that it was really kangkong. they also claimed that it tastes better than market hehe.

can try spinach also, this is another one that i had success with. :)/> I managed to grow spinach on a covered balcony with morning sun. also big and tasty. no chemical fertilizer or pesticide.

good luck!

[Nightwalker]

fluffymutt, on 21 March 2012 - 11:09 PM, said:

so far kangkong is my favourite veggie to grow. the rest keep getting eaten by pests or hard to make it to maturity. but to be honest, i don't really take care one lah. at most, once in a while, i throw large quantities of chicken poo into the container. the kangkong leaf bought from market is normally about finger-size, but the home-grown ones are so big my family doubted that it was really kangkong. they also claimed that it tastes better than market hehe.

can try spinach also, this is another one that i had success with. :)/> I managed to grow spinach on a covered balcony with morning sun. also big and tasty. no chemical fertilizer or pesticide.

good luck!

Thanks fluffymutt.
I planted some kangkong seeds into my little 90cm x 25cm rectangular pot last week :)/> Was also planning to plant kai lan in another similar pot as the staff where I bought these stuffs was recommending these 2 veges as well. Hope i can have beginner's luck for my first attempt :)/>

[Nightwalker]

Any advise on how long will it normally take for germination to happen for kailan and kangkong when planted in a soil pot?

[greennature]

If you like radish, you can grow some in a deep pot. The pests usually don't bother to attack radish cos it is too bitter.

[fluffymutt]

Veggie seeds don't usually take too long to germinate - anything between a few days to 2 weeks? For some reason anything at my place takes a long time to germinate/grow so better to ask other people hehe. :hitmyself:/>

By the way, now seems to be caterpillar season so if you live on the lower floors this is not a good time to plant veggies hor.

This post has been edited by fluffymutt: 28 March 2012 - 03:30 PM

[Ben Naden]

My experience from veggies purchased from local supermarkets vary as follows, I focus on the veg fruits less the leafy greens:

1. Chilli and Chlli padi - very easy, I sow the seeds off the fruit and they germinate within a week. They like lots of water.
2. Tomatoes - must be careful here. Need to choose the ones from the local or Malaysian farms, mostly the light orange to green ones. They too like water and germinate within 7-10 days.
3. The big red angmo tomato - totally cannot make it. Bloody seeds never germinate at all. Fail. :(/>
4. Okra - Mine germinates after like 2-3 weeks and only a few seeds germinate. Not sure what's wrong but glad to have the seedlings growing now.
5. Curry leaves - I got some and they can actually grow from an existing stem. Left a few leaves standing and it grows new branches and established itself. I'm amazed.

Hope this helps.

[Nightwalker]

Thank you all for the advise :)/>
The kangkong and kailan seeds I had planted still have yet to germinate after one week....still waiting anxiously. :(/>

Hi Fluffymutt,
Thank God I am staying on the high floor so keeping my fingers crossed ;)/>

[heartlandtaitai]

Nightwalker, on 30 March 2012 - 12:04 AM, said:

Thank you all for the advise :)/>
The kangkong and kailan seeds I had planted still have yet to germinate after one week....still waiting anxiously. :(/>

Hi Fluffymutt,
Thank God I am staying on the high floor so keeping my fingers crossed ;)/>

Dear Nightwalker,

Kangkong seeds do not take that long to germinate. I have some spare okra and snap beans seeds to spare, if you are keen. They are easy to grow, with plenty of sun. Mine is from the pods fresh from my vegetable garden. Just pm me, we shall decide how to pass them to you.

[Nightwalker]

heartlandtaitai, on 03 April 2012 - 09:14 AM, said:

Dear Nightwalker,

Kangkong seeds do not take that long to germinate. I have some spare okra and snap beans seeds to spare, if you are keen. They are easy to grow, with plenty of sun. Mine is from the pods fresh from my vegetable garden. Just pm me, we shall decide how to pass them to you.

Hi Heartlandtaitai,

Cool nick there :)/> haha. Thanks for the offer and would love to get the seeds from you.
Perhaps I can contact you on next weekend to arrange on how to pick it up from you.
Will drop you a PM.

Cheers

[mj70]

Nightwalker, on 08 April 2012 - 10:36 AM, said:

Hi Heartlandtaitai,

Cool nick there :)/> haha. Thanks for the offer and would love to get the seeds from you.
Perhaps I can contact you on next weekend to arrange on how to pick it up from you.
Will drop you a PM.

Cheers

Hi! I am a newbie too and I also stay near tampines. There are 2 plants specialty 'farms' (I don't really know what it should be called.) along Tampines street 83. I bought my Mexican Heather there, although it's dying and I am thinking of planting other stuff....:P/>

[Nightwalker]

mj70, on 08 April 2012 - 11:37 PM, said:

Hi! I am a newbie too and I also stay near tampines. There are 2 plants specialty 'farms' (I don't really know what it should be called.) along Tampines street 83. I bought my Mexican Heather there, although it's dying and I am thinking of planting other stuff....:P/>

Hi mj70 :)/> Good to know a Tampines resident here. These 2 farms that you had mentioned, are they near to an archery range along the same road where this road also leads to the Caltex station?

[mj70]

Nightwalker, on 09 April 2012 - 02:17 PM, said:

Hi mj70 :)/> Good to know a Tampines resident here. These 2 farms that you had mentioned, are they near to an archery range along the same road where this road also leads to the Caltex station?

Yup, that's the one. Pretty nice place to walk around looking for plants although I have absolutely zero knowledge, :)/>

[Nightwalker]

mj70, on 09 April 2012 - 07:19 PM, said:

Yup, that's the one. Pretty nice place to walk around looking for plants although I have absolutely zero knowledge, :)/>

Yup. Not a bad place to go for a walk :)/> But i do find their range of plants pretty limited.

[fluffymutt]

ooh i didn't know there were nurseries in tampines. specialty nurseries meaning got a lot of unusual plants?