Wherever she goes, Lakshmi Potluri ensures she has plants around her.
Most children tend to have this natural tendency of mud, but Lakshmi Potluri, CEO of DCF Ventures, was a little different and a curious child, as she wanted to explore more.
"I have enjoyed gardening and the love for nature form early childhood. Having grown up in Chennai, we had a garden in our backyard and I enjoyed helping my mother, keenly watching her pay attention to spinach, papaya, bottle gourd plants and the eternal mango tree. Wherever I have been, I make sure I have plants around me. Holy basil is a must – be it for the benefits it provides and scientific reasons. So gardening and love for nature is ingrained in me and surely not just a hobby developed, but a love for it developed much before the lockdown," she says.
Stress free Gardening is a passion, and hence not about just distressing for Potluri. Stress is something one chooses to take, and there are other methods to insulate oneself from it.
"I also am fond of pets, and be it spending time with them or my plants or in nature, I find them a joyful activity. Generally when I watch plants wilting, I pay more attention to it. This is not just my own plants, but the one’s in my compound too. In fact when I see any plant not in a good condition my basic nature is to attend to it and water it. Like any other living being, I wouldn’t like to see them suffer," she says.
The lessons from gardening for Potluri is to take full accountability for it when it comes under your care (either as a gift or as a voluntary activity) nurturing plants and watch it grow and prosper and can sustain further is something she extends to all activities in her life.
"Each of my plants are close to me, I love ensuring that they are well-nourished, cared for, and grow. If I look at each of the plants as a business or startup and the nurturing it requires till it is stable and in a position to survive and grow more," she says.
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Lakshmi Potluri also likes to spend time with her pets. Plant please Potluri maintains a kitchen garden with plants like spinach, mint leaves and lemongrass. "I also cultivate other plants such as white lily, spider plant, snake plant, aloe vera, etc. that help purify the air around. The excitement of having a home garden is to source this organically fresh produce, rather than think of buying them from the market," she shares.
Potluri's husband runs a manufacturing business and even in his factory, she insisted he have plants that cleanse the environment like trees like neem which are long-lasting or sustainable and give back so much to the environment once they grow and can withstand high wind speeds in comparison with the other trees.
They live in Bandra, Mumbai, and space and ample sunlight is always a challenge in a city like Mumbai, especially when it comes to plants. So one has to look at a mix of indoor and outdoor plants. Most of indoor plants take up minimal space and even require less sunlight to thrive in growth.
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"I do have some bougainvillea plants that are beautiful when they flower. They need at least six to eight hours of sunlight a day to produce their beautiful colours. I do sort out the dead leaves, mix the soil, add kitchen waste like banana peels, eggshells, onions skin, and used tea leaves as an additional source of natural nourishment for the plants," she says.
Reading list The internet, specifically Facebook groups, YouTube channels have been excellent of research and knowing important things about growing plants, home gardening, and so on. "I discovered that chili pepper plants can prefer sunny, warm conditions. Chilies prefer soil that has good drainage and plenty of nutrients. By mixing a bit of sand into the soil some compost for a few weeks or months prior to planting is beneficial," she says.
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"Malabar spinach plants can be grown in part shade, that increases the leaf size, but hot, humid, and full sun exposures is preferred. Gardening is a very exciting adventure in itself, where there is adequate gratification through insights and discoveries. Maybe home gardening is the best place to start. Do it wholeheartedly," Potluri says.
Grow Herbs, Make Compost Of Kitchen Waste & Stock Essentials: Great Eco-Friendly Habits Post-Lockdown
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We’ve enjoyed the cleaner air and quieter stress as one of the silver linings during the lockdown. And with the lockdown being relaxed in some cities, it begs the question - Is there an opportunity to make a shift in our environmental habits for good? Tetra Pak India shares a few simple planet positive habits to adopt during the lock-down that you can carry well into the post-lock-down life:
We’ve enjoyed the cleaner air and quieter stress as one of the silver linings during the lockdown. And with the lockdown being relaxed in some cities, it begs the question - Is there an opportunity t..
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If you have unused kitchen items or old utensils, for example: old mugs, take-away food boxes etc. do not throw them away. You can spruce up your space by planting herbs like mint, coriander, parsley, even chillies right on your windowsill.
If you have unused kitchen items or old utensils, for example: old mugs, take-away food boxes etc. do not throw them away. You can spruce up your space by planting herbs like mint, coriander, parsley..
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In an ideal world, all kitchens would opt for zero waste cooking. But for now, you can use all the organic kitchen waste to create manure at home. Vegetable and fruit peelings, eggshells and non-greasy waste can be used to make manure by adding some wood ash, sawdust and some garden waste, after mixing them place them into your compost bin. Homemade manure ready to nourish your plants.
In an ideal world, all kitchens would opt for zero waste cooking. But for now, you can use all the organic kitchen waste to create manure at home. Vegetable and fruit peelings, eggshells and non-grea..
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Food safety and good nutrition is everyone’s primary concern. Packaged foods like milk, juices, purees etc. offer preservative free shelf-stable food, with the promise of safety and hygiene, but it is up to us to choose packaging that has the minimum environmental impact. Opt for recyclable packaging, snacks that come in paper-packaging that are biodegradable; home delivered food that comes with compostable cutlery, or no cutlery at all. Choose smart.
Food safety and good nutrition is everyone’s primary concern. Packaged foods like milk, juices, purees etc. offer preservative free shelf-stable food, with the promise of safety and hygiene, but it i..
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If you still don’t segregate your waste, today is the day to start. Segregate into as many different bins as you can. Organic wet waste for composting, dry recyclable waste like Milk/juice cartons, paper waste etc. for recycling, and hazardous waste like batteries/syringes/personal hygiene products for safe disposal. The more that gets recycled, the less is left for landfills.
If you still don’t segregate your waste, today is the day to start. Segregate into as many different bins as you can. Organic wet waste for composting, dry recyclable waste like Milk/juice cartons, p..
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Even if we weren’t stocking up because of a pandemic, it makes immense sense to stock essentials like milk, pulses, flour, spices, rice, cooking oil, juices, purees etc. to last you at least 2-months to avoid making multiple trips to the market. You’ll avoid hassle, find great deals, save fuel, and help the environment.
Even if we weren’t stocking up because of a pandemic, it makes immense sense to stock essentials like milk, pulses, flour, spices, rice, cooking oil, juices, purees etc. to last you at least 2-months..
