Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Macau 2014

I wanted to share with you all some of my pictures taken during my holiday in Macau. I believe you might heard about the majestic hotels and about the crazy casino life but there are more beautiful places than that.

 I grew among these gardens and places way back in my childhood and revisiting them has brought me wonderful memories.

Lou Lim Iok Garden. One of my favorite gardens and peaceful places to go.


Dragon bridge


Entrance of the garden


Garden friends

Temple Kun Iam Tong. Dated way back to the 13th Century. Buddhist temple dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy. 



Wishes at the A-ma Temple

A-ma Temple

St. Paul Ruins


Tuesday, May 20, 2014

First flower buds...

Horray! My cherry tomato plant has finally produced Its first tiny flower buds!


I'm happy how my tomato plant have come so far despite all the drama with pests and fungi that nearly killed it. 
Sometimes, I envy how florists and other gardeners do to maintain such beautiful flowers and vegetables with no problem. They seem so healthy and strong and sometimes they describe some seeds as "easy plants to grow for beginners" How do you describe "easy"? .... Well, I don't find it easy at all to grow plants, specially flowers. 
Everything is just so confusing with all the internet information and with so much contradictions. Everyone has their own opinion of how to grow seeds, so I guess It's just going with your own instincts, learning from your own failures and successes and keep track of what you do.    

I sowed these seeds yesterday afternoon.



I planted various seeds which previously did not germinate such as Phlox and Dahlia Redskin. I made a new batch of Cosmos and sowed Cactus seeds, Curled Parsley and Sweet Marjoram for the first time. It's a sit and wait game from now on as I'm using a new type of soil that was recommended by staff from the local nursery shop which is a type of a volcanic potting mix with peat and coco peat base that has good drainage.
How true or good it is, I don't know so lets wait what the seeds will say...











Monday, May 19, 2014

Chili and Cherry Tomato plant update

Remember when we last saw my chili and tomato plant?

Chili plant

Cherry Tomato plant
Can't believe how tall it grew! I had little hopes for these plants to survive as they were being attacked by an uncontrollable spread of mealy bugs but I guess my husband did a very good job maintaining their weekly pesticide application. I'm not really sure how old are my chilies but a few flowers have already bloomed but faded very quickly and fell off. It sure grew a lot since the last time I saw it though!
 My tomato plant is about 3 months old by now, about 1.20 m tall and was transplanted to a bigger vase. As per the backside of its seed packet It should have reached It's maturity age. Now, whether I'm correct, I'm not so sure but I'll monitor more closely for those first flowers to bloom and hopefully pollination can occur.



Hands back on work!

Hi guys! It's good to be back from a wonderful vacation from Macau and Hong Kong. It's been a one month holiday and I enjoyed it so much as I got to see old friends and family members :)
I missed home so badly, specially my plants as couldn't stop thinking about my little seedlings under the care of my husband lol! So I got bad news and good news. The bad news is that my Dahlia and Cosmos plants have died as well as other seeds that did not germinated :( I have no idea how it happened... maybe It was too much water, fertilizer, not enough sun, too much pesticide, it didn't get used to outdoor environment, etc.
 So much questions yet to be answered but the good news is that my only young plant survivor is the Zinnia Lilliput. Most of it have died so it left with 2 strong little plants which grew taller and with new leaves.


Zinnia Lilliput young plant

These are my Zinnias on their 54th day of life. Seems pretty small and young but I have no idea how they are supposed to look like by now so I'll just keep my fingers crossed that they'll stay strong and survive. In 2 to 4 weeks ( approx. mid June) is the estimated flowering period for this little plants but i'm so doubtful as their stems are still so thin. Anyone to share experiences?

As many of my seeds unsuccessfully did not germinated, I will sow them once again in these coming days and monitor it more carefully. 

Till next drama episode!