My moment of revelation

Innovation is the driving force of nature and, as immortalised in Jurassic Park, ‘life will find a way’. Plants in the wild don’t grow in a particular place. They just grow haphazardly in every nook and cranny. While on a trek up north, I was walking through some dense forests when I happened to have a sort of ‘eureka’ moment… plants in jungles adapted to their environment, thriving in the limited space they could find that hadn’t already been claimed by some other form of vegetation.

When I got back to work, I found myself with a client whose penchant for cleanliness appeared to be at odds with her desire for indoor gardening! Her stipulation that there should be no pots on her floor or mud in her house might seem obsessive, but was justifiably so, as her daughter was allergic to dust. This posed quite a challenge, but we found a solution—inverted gardening!

Upside-down gardening

Inverted gardening is the art of growing plants upside down, with the roots to the sky and shoots to the ground. Using the Japanese art form called Kokedama [gardening without using a pot] we made these beautiful upside down planters using peat moss, perlite, laterite and coco peat. What we discovered during the process blew our minds!

The perks of inverted gardening

If pests and blight are wrecking your plants, it might be time to turn your garden on its head. When dealing with overhead plantations there is a reduced risk of rotting or attacks from pests. No longer will you have to cage, stake or weed your plants or battle cutworms and other ruinous critters to put fresh tomatoes on the table. And, there are other advantages to growing plants upside down:

1. You don’t have to till the soil
2. There is no need to support or to stake plants
3. You can grow a wide variety of vegetables
4. Watering is much easier, and the plants are more vigorous
5. What’s most enticing is that there’s no weeding at all!

What you need to do to get started

You can buy pricey containers that are meant specifically for the inverted growing technique, but if you don’t want to dig too deep into your pocket, you can use a simple method we figured out at the nursery—the trick is to get the rootball right. Make a cricket ball-sized rootball with perlite and coco peat; tie a string tightly around the root and then use a moss sheet to encase the rootball of your plant. Tie it together and place the rootball very carefully in a pot. Pull the string through the base of the pot and you can now suspend it in a nice sunny spot in your balcony. Over the years, I worked with several plants and I found that some plants adapted better than others. Here is what I learned:

Plants best suited to inverted gardening

Tomato

Heirloom, Beefsteak or Cherry, the tomato is a popular plant because it is easy to grow. Cherry tomatoes are a good choice and flourish in this type of container because of their small size.

Beans

Pole and bush beans thrive in upside-down containers. However ensure that you
water them adequately and place them in a sunny area.

Peppers

Bell peppers and hot peppers are good choices for an inverted garden. Hang them in a sunny spot and keep them well watered.

Cucumbers

Choose smaller pickling cucumbers as they are easier to grow upside-down. Bush cucumbers are not a good choice and don’t do well in inverted containers.

Eggplant

The small varieties of eggplant grow nicely and are easy to manage in an inverted pot.

Sweet potatoes

These tubers grow fantastically and the size of the tubers are considerably larger than that of the ones grown on the ground.

Herbs

Home grown herbs aren’t just fashionable, but they’re coveted by most health enthusiasts and culinary experts. There are numerous herbs like basil, parsley, rosemary, oregano and mint among others that thrive with this method of gardening.

Non-edible ornamental plants

There are loads of ornamental plants that make quite a statement when used with the inverted gardening technique. A few favourites include:

Phalaenopsis orchids

Commonly known as the Moth orchid, these are excellent ornamental plants that can perk up any space. Keep in mind that over-watering can kill them.

Pony tail palms

These grow well in a temperate climate, but cannot withstand the cold and should be placed indoors. When repotting the plant, ensure that it keeps all its roots. To maintain its original shape, do not snip the ends of the leaves.

Bilbergias

These are evergreen perennials and they have rosette-forming, brilliantly-coloured flowers. They are epiphytes, which means they absorb moisture and nutrients from the air.

Syngonium

This is a commonly cultivated houseplant. It needs to be repotted every second spring. Pruning will keep the leaves more arrow-shaped and make the plant bushy in appearance.

Moss roses

In India it is called the Nau Bajiya or the 9 o’clock flower since it is in full bloom at nine in the morning. It is a small plant that requires almost no attention to help it grow. It has vibrant flowers that can brighten up any room.

The pitcher plant

Pitcher plants are intriguing plants to grow and make great conversation starters. They need ample sunlight and moisture. Most pitcher plants are carnivorous and will help you keep pesky insects away.

Agave

The agave is most commonly confused with the cacti or aloe family; though it looks similar to each of these plants, it belongs to neither family. Agave is a desert plant, so it doesn’t require constant watering. However, some species of agave have sap that can irritate the skin and most agave have thorns that can cause injury.

Caring for your inverted plants

Hang your upside-down plants in a sunny location and water them well, making sure that water reaches the bottom of the root ball. The water should in fact run out of the bottom. Watering requirements for your upside-down garden will usually vary depending on the plant species and local climate. In most places, especially during periods of hot, dry weather, your upside-garden will require watering on a daily basis, if not more frequently. Make sure you take out the dry leaves and prune any shoots growing out of shape at least once a month. Liquid fertilisers such as vermiwash are useful, but should only be used annually. Make it a point to redo the root balls once every two years for the ideal growth of your inverted plants.

Who is this for

As your plants grow, you may notice them reaching upward towards the sunlight. This is completely normal and will eventually cease as the plants get larger or begin bearing fruit. While the entire process may seem a bit whacky and outside of normal methods, but upside-down gardening is a great way to enjoy beautiful flowers and tasty vegetables, without the inconveniences of traditional gardening. What’s more, it doesn’t take up a whole lot of space, making this the perfect alternative for urban gardeners and others having little ground space. Upside-down gardening also provides the additional benefit of having your plants at eye level, eliminating the need for bending or stooping, whether you’re watering or harvesting.

These inverted pieces add great aesthetic value to your surroundings, making them perfect as centre pieces or displays at exhibitions. Businesses often use them to give the workplace an earthy and yet modern décor, while doctors often display such inverted pieces in their waiting rooms to create a soothing environment. No matter how inverted pieces are used, they lend both practical and aesthetic value to your habitat.

This was first published in the December 2014 issue of Complete Wellbeing.

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Plants do much more than just make an office look pretty. They increase the oxygen levels in your office, thus making your employees feel more energised throughout the day and the fragrance that emanates from fresh flowers acts as a natural deodorant. Plants bring the outdoors in and create a sense of tranquillity in the area.

New carpets, paints, upholstery, computers and plastics are among the many products used in offices that release toxins into the environment. One of the many researches on toxins in office spaces found that just one potted plant per 100 square feet of floor space can help clean the air.

Here’s a low-down of which plants are good to keep in an office environment

Pretty and practical

Areca palm is a fairly popular plant known to remove ammonia and formaldehyde [found in many cleaning products] from the air. It cleanses the air by releasing moisture into it. There are other plants that look good as well as keep the environment toxin-free, like the Peace Lily, which removes acetone. The Rubber Plant, the Ficus Benjamina [weeping fig] and the Dracaena are known to eliminate mould-causing asthma. Boston ferns absorb benzene ammonia apart from other gases. Philodendrons look stunning and are excellent at removing even high levels of formaldehyde. Devil’s Ivy or Golden Pothos is a superb air-cleansing plant because it absorbs carbon-dioxide from the air. Its decorative marbled leaves and easy maintenance make it a popular indoor plant.

Natural insect-repellents

In my need to experiment with plants, I’ve found several plants that work well in air conditioned surroundings and that manage to keep pests like rats, lizards, mosquitoes, flies, mites and roaches at bay. Geraniums can be used to keep flies and mosquitoes away. Pencil euphorbia is known to keep rats at bay, while Rue works well to keep lizards and mites out of the workspace. These plants can even be kept in closed, dark spaces like cloakrooms, restrooms and service passages.

Over the years, I have realised that they are an effective way to keep the office insect-free without the use of highly toxic chemicals that have devastating side-effects on the health of your employees.

Fitting into the new landscape

Many people are afraid of incorporating plants and landscape in the office as they feel that will be out of sync with the structure.

But if you arrange your plants, terrarium, landscapes and bonsais properly, they can give the office the clean professional look that blends seamlessly with your corporate environment. Plants like Anthurium, Phalaenopsis and Orchids are visually very appealing and though they cost a little more than commonly-found flowers, they compensate with their aesthetics.

Creating your own terrarium is another way to bring some fun into your workspace. A terrarium is a collection of plants that are grown in an enclosed or partially enclosed clear container. Since they share the same environment, it is best if you fill it with plants that are compatible to each other. A terrarium filled with ferns and other small plants is an ideal way to create your own miniature landscape. Also they are low maintenance plants and hence ideal for people who want to have plants but are too busy to take care of them.

Table top landscapes are small indoor ceramic trays that are decorative in form with plants arranged to make it look like a landscape.

Bonsais are another way to bring a miniature garden into your cubicle. Bonsai is the Japanese art form of pruning trees so that they remain small. They are miniature trees that can be grown in containers… it’s not as hard as it sounds and if done well it can completely change the look of the place.

Basic maintenance practices

You need to remember that since the plants are in an office, anything that you need to do to take care of the plant must be swift and precise, so that you don’t disturb your co-workers or create a mess. Based on the frequency, maintenance work can be divided into three categories:-

Daily

• Removal of yellow leaves
• Cleaning/wiping of planters
• Watering [depending on the type of plant]
• Emptying coasters of excess water.

Weekly

• Trimming/pruning of the bonsai and cleaning of the terrarium
• Shifting of plants that are in dark spots to places with more light and vice-versa
• Setting of decorative ornaments like marble chips, stones and water features.

Monthly

• Tiding moss sticks
• If you have orchids, take them out of the premises and do the feeding [addition of liquid fertilisers]
• Addition of mud manure in plants needs to be done outside the office premises
• Trimming of landscape tray.

Following these steps will help you to keep your plants healthy, which will in turn ensure that you are healthy.

Scratchy things

Crushed eggshells, sandpaper, cinders and wood chips work well as a barrier to keep insects out. Though they might be a bit messy, they are an effective form of pest-control. The crushed egg shell method might smell but it keeps lizards away.

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