Mango season is done for this year. That’s a narrow way of looking at it though. It’s always Mango season because the tree continues to grow. Just because I don’t have fresh fruit to nibble on, doesn’t mean that all the mangoes have disappeared!
When I used to live with my parents, I was always trying to plant seeds of all the fruits I ate. And my Mom was very particular about the family consuming all kinds of fresh fruits. We lived in a lot of Army accommodation and many of them had fruit trees growing in their vegetable patches. A tree someone planted many years ago. Someone who would probably never get to eat the fruit of that tree. But we would. I always wondered at the generosity of such people. I hoped I could be one of them some day.
Bharat and I love dogs. We want to adopt one. But there is no time. We both travel so much that it would be absolutely unfair to the dog. At least that’s what we tell ourselves. We have no plans for producing progeny with our DNA. So. The closest substitute? In an apartment on the 3rd floor? Flower pots. Plants in pots.
It’s grown from a n00b attempt at indoor air-purifying plants – three to begin with. Two of which promptly died. Were replaced. One died again. Was replaced by another. And so on, till I was able to keep three alive for more than six months. Now, the tiny indoor garden next to my work desk has grown to six. One is a Neem plant that a brand sent to Akanksha – I promptly laid claim because I wanted to try my hand at a Bonsai ( yeah, let’s see how that goes ). Two are from the original air-purifying plant set : one “Money plant’ or Epipremnum Aureum or “Devil’s Ivy” and one Peace Lily or Spathiphyllum. One is a Curry Leaf plant that refuses to grow. It usually has three new leaf segments and that’s it. My research shows that the plant likes loose and dry soil and should not be watered very often – but of course because everyone’s pot size and plant-keeping locations are different, no one can really specify what is “often” and “too much”. I water it a bit every 3-4 days and sometimes I don’t water for a week and worry that it’s probably drying and that’s when a new leaf segment sprouts. I dunno what’s up with this one. I’m just glad it’s not dead. The final one is the one this post is about – a mango sprout!
Initially, I’d taken the seed of a mango I’d eaten and thrown it into a bowl of water. This had promptly attracted spores of fungi and the whole thing turned completely black in three days. I dumped that into old dry soil I’d had for months in an empty pot and started watering it. Honestly, I didn’t think anything would grow out of it but I thought it would be good nutrition for the soil. Then about two weeks ago, I ate the final mango in the refrigerator and basically stuffed the seed into this half-full plant pot. I wasn’t expecting anything, again. But I continued to water it.
And then yesterday! Voila! At first I thought it was a strange looking insect because it was mostly pink. And then I realize it was the seed sprouting. I have no idea what variety of Mango this is – was from a friend’s home orchard. But it was sweet. And I have a sixth plant! So I don’t really care. I’ve added some vermicompost to all the pots today. ( I order off of Amazon and add it to the plants every six months or so. ) Five of the plant pots are coir – also ordered off of Amazon.
I can leave the plants at home for upto 7 days when I’m traveling. Anything more and I need to figure out a drip system – which I rigged up with a bucket and shoe laces last time – but I couldn’t control the rate of the drip so I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Someone suggested a drip similar to the ones used in hospitals but I haven’t gone there yet. If you manage plants at home – indoor – tell me what you do please?
OMG I HAZ MANGO PLANT!
