As someone who loves vegetables, I am currently trying my best to produce organic vegetables in my garden in my yard. I utilize the terrace and also the space on the side of the house for gardening.
There are vegetables that I plant in raised beds, there are vegetables that I plant in containers, and now I am starting to plant using used water gallons.
Why Used Gallons?
Indonesia is different from most countries in terms of the quality of clean water. So, in Indonesia, we cannot drink water directly from the tap.
Because of that, I often buy drinking water using large gallons like that. Only sometimes, when I don't have time to boil drinking water because it takes several times to boil the water to be ready to drink. Buying water with a certain brand really helps me save time, especially for people who have poor water quality from wells directly.
I have several used water gallons that I don't throw away. So, now I am using them to plant long beans.
The type of long bean that I planted is red long beans. I bought red long bean seeds through an online shop. Actually, this is my first time planting red long beans.
It takes 45-50 days to start harvesting red long beans. I will share the method from the beginning steps to harvest.
Seed Sowing
I did not use a seedling tray. I directly planted the red long bean seeds in the used gallons. For the planting medium, I used a mixture of soil, rice husks, and manure, with a ratio of 2:1:1.
I made a planting area on both sides of the gallon. Also, don't forget to make holes in the bottom and the right and left sides of the gallon for good water circulation.
Put in two red long bean seeds per side. If later some don't grow, we can add more red long bean seeds.
Five days after planting, the red long beans started to grow bigger. Here, I also started making plant supports from bamboo and white thread.
Caring for Red Long Beans Organically
I do not use any chemical pesticides or chemical fertilizers at all for caring for red long beans. To prevent pests, you can use onion skin-soaking water.
At the age of 20 days, the red long bean plants start to grow thick. Don't forget to direct the tips of the plant shoots to the plant supports so that the plants become neater.
First Fertilization
At the age of 30 days after planting, I started to fertilize the red long bean plants organically.
I use compost to fertilize the plants. If you want it to be better, you can use manure.
At the age of 40 days, the red long bean plants have started to produce flowers. And at the age of 50 days, there are red long beans ready to be harvested! Yeay!
Harvest Time
We can harvest red long beans every two to three days since the first harvest. This is because the red long beans on each plant have different sizes and lengths.
I am so happy! Planting in used water gallons can be this much fun! Look at the harvest!
Video Instruction
I have also uploaded a long video on YouTube channel for how to grow red long beans from start to harvest. You can click on the subtitles with several language options on the text.
I hope you enjoy my gardening activities this time. See you around!
Best Regards,
Anggrek Lestari
Anggrek Lestari is an Indonesian fiction writer who has published two major books. Now She is a full-time content creator. She has a goal to share life, poem, and food content that makes others happy and can get inspiration.
Contact Person: authoranggreklestari@gmail.com
Discord: anggreklestari#3009
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