Q. I have an ongoing issue with seed sprouting. The seedlings are so tall from day one that, most of the time, they don’t survive. I use three parts coco peat, one-part organic compost and some perlite as a seed-growing medium. I live in Islamabad.

A. It sounds very much like you are sowing seeds far too close together. Each individual seed needs space to develop and grow, without having to compete with neighbours. When seeds are sown too close, resultant seedlings immediately attempt to outgrow the competition for nutrients, light and water, getting ever taller and ever weaker in the process. And, as you have already noticed, they rarely survive.

It is a simple enough matter to space out large seeds when sowing them but some seeds are so tiny that spacing them out can be difficult. To make this easier, mix tiny seeds with a little atta before sowing them. The atta helps divide up the seeds. Plus, it acts as a marker to show exactly where seeds have been sown, thus helping you space them out. It may also help you to use seed plug trays. These are designed for the individual sowing of a single seed per plug/compartment. Your seed-growing medium isn’t balanced. Coco peat contains no nutrients; it is merely a bulky, water retentive material. A more balanced seed-sowing mixture would be just one-part coco peat, one-part organic compost, one-part sweet earth and one-part river (not sea) sand. You can also add perlite if you wish, but it isn’t really necessary.

Q. How can we effectively grow vegetables in our home garden in Abbottabad?

A. The first step is to decide where and how big your vegetable beds are going to be and then to prepare the soil for planting. A column entirely devoted to this subject will appear very soon. Please be patient and take guidance from it once it appears in print here.

All your gardening queries are answered here

Q. Can you provide any detailed information about saving heirloom seeds? And do you know anyone who is doing this in Pakistan? Is there an heirloom seed-saving network?

A. Growing heirloom fruit and vegetables and then saving seed for future crops is an eminently sensible, wonderful thing to do. As far as I am aware — although this may need to be verified — this is being done by an increasing number of private gardeners who may exchange seeds amongst themselves. I strongly suspect that the best way to make contact with them would be joining as many Pakistani social media gardening pages as you can, and requesting contacts on there. I am not aware of an established seed-saving network, but there is certainly room for one if not more. Your question is a timely one. A column on seed-saving is scheduled to appear soon.

Q. Last year, I planted two chinaberries, one lemon and one Ashoka tree into the rocky soil of my garden in Lahore. All plants are green but their upward growth is very slow. Do you think they will eventually deepen their roots past the rocky crust and become grown-up trees?

A. Trees generally take time to get established and one year is no time at all in the life of a tree. The fact that they are all alive and green is a major achievement, given the growing conditions you describe. Don’t expect them to reach full size overnight; they are currently putting lots of energy into developing their root systems, and will concentrate on growing taller once this is done. Trees are incredibly determined and, if they can get through/around any rocks in the soil, they will, but this will take time. Patience is the key here.

Q. Which kind of trees, especially trees with edible fruits or nuts, are suitable and easy to cultivate on Ganju Takar mountain range of Hyderabad? Ganju Takar mountains predominantly consist of limestone and gypsum rocks. The rocks are too tough to break with just ordinary tools.

A. I admit defeat on this one. I suggest that you visit Rani Bagh Botanical Gardens in Hyderabad, and/or your local forest department/agricultural department and ask the experts there. Best of luck!

Q. Nearly eight years ago, I planted some banana trees in my garden in DHA Phase 6, Karachi. They remain just three feet high and have never fruited. The maali waters them daily. Could you please give guidance on how to encourage them to grow and to fruit?

A. The highly saline, nutrient-poor soil in DHA Phase 6 is not really suitable for growing bananas. Banana plants need very rich, non-saline soil with a pH between 5.5 and 7 at the very most. Quite frankly, I am surprised the plants have managed to survive for so long. If you want to try again, you would need to have a special planting area prepared — a raised bed filled with brought-in sweet earth/compost/manure being the best — and try growing bananas in this. Such an exercise though, is liable to prove rather costly. It may be more feasible to consider growing something else instead.

Please continue sending your gardening queries to zahrahnasir@hotmail.com. Remember to include your location. The writer does not respond directly by email. Emails with attachments will not be opened

Published in Dawn, EOS, May 16th, 2021