Moringa Planting in a cold environment: A test for its possibility

Moringa planting is one of my projects in this lockdown season. Though pandemic almost shutdown our outside life, it teaches us to be dependent on nature. That after advanced technology and development, only nature can save us in many different ways like food supplies and medicine.

Being a cancer patient, I need an abundant supply of vegetables. Not just ordinary vegetables but organic vegetables. It should be free from harmful fertilizer and grown naturally. To be sure that my family are enjoying true organic produce, it is better to plant our own food and vegetable especially malunggay.

Moringa Planting(Malunggay)

One of the healthiest vegetables that needed by a cancer patient is the moringa or malunggay plant.

Marked as a “miracle vegetable” it helps cancer patient to recover fast from the side effects of chemotherapy. From the leaves to roots, the benefits of this plant is uncountable. So, I decided to add this miracle tree in my hanging garden.

Moringa is a hardy plant. And a resilient tree. It can survive in dry soil and drought periods of weather and even in substandard soil. It is one of the fast-growing plants that can be grown in a container with proper sunlight.

Why Moringa or Malunggay is a must in our backyard?

By planting Moringa, you have an abundant supply of potassium three times than banana, four times Vitamin A from carrots, and seven times Vitamin C that can be found in an orange.

These vitamins are necessary for a cancer patient that undergone chemotherapy to recover fast from devastating medicine. Malunggay is rich in minerals, essential vitamins, amino acids, phytochemicals, vegetable proteins. It is antioxidant, has anti-inflammatory agents, and rich in carbohydrates.

If you want to buy different malunggay products, click here

Moringa planting in the cold place, Is it possible?

Moringa loses its leaves in a colder climate. But it is possible to grow with some precautions. One thing you can do is to plant malunggay in a big pot and keep them outside in the spring and summer season. Bring them inside when it gets cold especially those who have true wintertime.

 I was leaving in a place where the temperature is cold and humid. Moringa is not merely available here. You can avail of moringa in the market but it came from low land provinces. So, meaning it is not that fresh. You may seldom see moringa trees in the neighborhood so I decided to try planting moringa for our family’s supply. It may be a big challenge for me knowing that I was leaving in an Apartment, where the backyard is not available. So to be able to plant, I need to grow it in a big container or pot and hang it outside of my veranda. I called it “hanging garden”

Want to read more about cooking natural food? click here

How I started Moringa Planting?

1. Looking for a supplier online.

I started planting malunggay by looking for a supplier of its mature branch. I browsed an online shopping store to look for a supplier with good feedback. I found someone selling a Moringa plant at a very cheap price. I browse the feedback, and it convinced me to order 2 sets of malunggay cuttings. One set is 20 pesos only includes 2 mature cuttings. So I ordered 2 sets. I have 4 pcs of cuttings to wait for.

It takes a week before a seller shipped my order. Maybe he’s waiting for a tree to recover from previous cuttings.

From the day of shipment, It arrived after 6 days. I worried that it may turn dry and die. But the seller gave me a good cutting. As I requested to send me a matured and thick branch of malunggay. I’m very satisfied with what he sent, Kudos to this seller

2. Looking for a big Pot

After searching for moringa cuttings, the next thing to do is to prepare the pot. Since planting in this pandemic is in-demand. The cost of pots and plants increased as well. So I decided to buy 10 liters of mineral water. It cost 70 pesos for 10 liters of water. I can use the container and also the water. It makes sense.

3. The Garden soil

I bought the garden soil from a local supplier. It cost 9 pesos per kilo of black soil.  I ordered 20 kilos so I have enough soil to use.

4. Carbonized Rice Hull for 20 pesos per kilo.

I bought 5 kilos of it and found it very light. This is too much for what I need.  I decided to keep it for future need and put some for my other plants. Carbonized Rice Hull can also be used as part of making natural fertilizer.

5. Dried eggshells from my kitchen.

I saved all the eggshells from my cooking so I can use it for future use. I mixed the eggshell for additional calcium for plants and act as soil extender. And there you have it.

Moringa planting in a pot. Hope it goes well. I’m so excited to see the result of my planting. I put it outside of my veranda, where there is direct sunlight coming in.

I will update this soon once it shows progress.

Till next time!