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How To Make A Shabby Chic Wicker Basket Planter

Basket Planter 1Goodmorning and a good day. How have you been holding up? If you are into gardening and live in a small apartment- which means if you are interested in shabby chic apartment gardening- there is a how-to-make-a-basket-planter in the house: It’s all old wicker baskets and some beach white love and some roses planted for winter. There is also some plant fertilizer dope, do’s and don’ts. Interested?

basket planter 3I got these wicker baskets for a throwaway price in one of the flea-markets, here in Mumbai and since then it has been on my list to turn them into a planter. Its not always that I buy something with such clear goal for the buy. Believe me, I don’t. I buy impulsively and turn one thing into another and re-turn it into something else if I don’t like the result. But this: I knew it from day 1 that they becoming planters. Worst part is for the longest time I did not have a home to myself or even a balcony! There were roomies and dirt and squafle over a pot of milk and which half of the fridge is it supposed to be in because the other half belongs to someone else: Oh My God! Those were the doom days.

So I let it sit in my storage/balcony forever (count 4 years) until today when I could actually get around to turn them into planters, and when i actually HAVE a home to myself and a balcony too. No good people, no good I tell you is your life without a balcony.

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Anyway! Moving on, making a basket planter for you home is as easy as a pie. Well, the procedure is similar too! It requires you to do just 3 things:

1. Take a large polythene that sits in the basket and also have an inch or two to spare at the sides.

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2. Poke holes in the polythene and add some soil to make it sit before you transfer your plants in

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3. Transfer your plants in and pack soil. Before you pack in soil, mix a tablespoon of a good neem-based compost fertilizer to the soil. This will promote good health of the roots and stem.

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You would also want a water soluble NPK fertilizer to spray every 1 day/week. For blooming season: 1 tbsp to 1 liter water. N-P-K stands for Nitrogen Phosphorus and Potassium. These 3 elements are responsible for better growth of the plant. I am pasting an excerpt from a website I closely follow:

Nitrogen helps plants make the proteins they need to produce new tissues. In nature, nitrogen is often in short supply so plants have evolved to take up as much nitrogen as possible, even if it means not taking up other necessary elements. If too much nitrogen is available, the plant may grow abundant foliage but not produce fruit or flowers. Growth may actually be stunted because the plant isn’t absorbing enough of the other elements it needs.

Phosphorous stimulates root growth, helps the plant set buds and flowers, improves vitality and increases seed size. It does this by helping transfer energy from one part of the plant to another. To absorb phosphorous, most plants require a soil pH of 6.5 to 6.8. Organic matter and the activity of soil organisms also increase the availability of phosphorus.

Potassium improves overall vigor of the plant. It helps the plants make carbohydrates and provides disease resistance. It also helps regulate metabolic activities.”

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Once your plants are fed and happy, they will produce beautiful blooms in your apartment garden: All you need to do then is sit back and relax and have a cup of tea.

Easy right?

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