Recent Comment

Howdy,

Welcome to my Dubai based container vegetable gardening blog.  I recently recieved a comment on one of my blogs I posted last year.  I thought I would share it as others may be in the same situation.  Here is the comment from Divya:

divyaFeb 1, 2012 12:45 AM

hey , im new to gardening and this blog is exactly what i was looking for. i just wanted to know from where did u get the tamater seeds? which shop exactly did you get the tamater plant from? there are many many shops at satwa plant street, do you happen to remember which shop its from? please guide me.

thanks , and keeping up the great posting:)

My reply was:

Hi Divya,

Thanks for checking out the blog.  My son in the States sent me the cherry tamater seeds a couple of years back as most of the tamater seeds available here were mostly regular type tamaters. At that time I was only interested in Cherry Tamater.  You can find seeds for most vegetables in Dubai at several plant/garden shops and supermarkets (Hyper Panda & Carrefour). The plant/garden shop I use in Satwa is Al Madina Garden.  It is closer to the Iranian Hospital than Satwa Bus Terminal ... ask for Rafi and mention "Bubba" sent you ... hopefully it will be more helpful raher than just as a walk-in. I was there picking up a couple of bags of potting soil lately and he has some tamaters plants (Dhs. 2.00) but not many so hurry down there. They looked a bit lanky so remove the bottom leaves and plant them deep. I would not suggest planting seeds now as it is cool and it can take around 65-75 days before you can pick any tamaters. Good Luck! Bubba

As an after thought I would like to add more.

• Seeds:  There are many places to buy both vegetables & flower seeds in Dubai but you will soon realize that there are only a few brands available.  Some larger gardening shops have there own seed suppliers that they sell only in their store.  Some are not in english so you might have to guess what to do and when to plant.  Some are multi-lingual with a chart on when to plant.  But, I guess the best thing to do is to buy your seeds from your home country so that you know what you are buying and can understand their direction. Granted some of them may not be suitable for here but the winter climate here is similiar to summer weather in some northern hemishpere countries ... so they might work!  You will also find that many people here have already bought up all the seeds that you want ... another reason to buy them when you make a trip back home. Or they may not have the seeds here of a vegetable that may be particluar to your diet or country.  Another point ... when to plant the seeds.  For some vegetables, like tamaters & peppers, temperature plays a big part in the setting of fruit as I talked about in this blog.  If you plant the seeds to early (August/Early September) not only will the seedlings suffer the heat but it may be still too warm from them to set fruit when they flower ... unless you pinch off the flowers for a while to give the plant proper time to mature.  The same can happen if you plant seeds in Dec./Jan. but in the opposite way... the cooler temps slows things down.  If you plant seeds in Feb./Mar. the warmer weather in April when the plants could be flowering or fruiting will be  a problem again.  Research the vegetable you want to grow so that you will know the best time to plant the seeds so that when it come time to flower and/or set fruit ... you will get fruit. Another point I would like to mention is where did the seeds come from?  If you save seeds from a hybrid tamater you will not get the same tamater again ... this will only work with heirloom tamaters.  I do not know about peppers ... something I need to check into as I bought a couple of colored bell peppers last night for dinner but plan to save the seeds.
• Plants:  Let's face it, if you only speak english here in Dubai buying vegetable plants is based on luck.  My past experiences with buying vegetable plants has been hit and miss.  The tamater plants are tamater plants but what kind - determinate or indeterminate, are they the regular or cherry type or are they hybrid or heirloom?  The lack of communication on my part is the problem.  A BIG problem for me when trying to buy pepper plants in town.  Most plants are chili peppers ... careful if you are looking for bell peppers.  Also, be careful about those plants with the cute little tamaters already covering the plants - I believe they are just an ornamental plant.  If you buy a plant that is small but already has flowers ... it is best to pinch off the flowers for a couple of weeks to give the plant time to make roots and mature so that it will make more flowers & fruit later.
• Shops:  There are many garden centers in Dubai such as The Garden Centre, and ACE and many other along Al Wasel Rd. and Jumeriah Beach Rd.  There are of course cheaper alternatives in places like Satwa (just down the road from the Iranian Hospital) but again communication with the shop keeper can be a problem.  The other loaction for plants, mostly flowers & shrubs but some vegeatables, is out of the city of Dubai.  Another cheaper alternative is in the Warsan area called Al Aweer Nurseries - a collection of many outdoor shops.  You take the road to Al Awir/Hatta past Dargon Mart to the round-a-bout and turn right, go to the next round-a-bout and turn left, next round-a-bout turn left again and you will see it on your right... again communication for some may be a problem.

Well, that was a bit long winded!!  I hope this was helpful for new people in town ... sorry if I bored others that have been here for awhile and already know these things.

Came across a funny video I wanted to share.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Bubba