20120904 - Seeding - Tulsi growing step by step

Dear all,

This is the first of the posts in the serial of Tulsi growing step by step.

Today I will plant three Tulsi seeds and from then on try to give a weekly update of their look and give a overview of each duty we will be performing for them.

I would also like to encourage all of you in Australia to try doing the same at home as the spring is back and untill 17/09/2012 it is also the very auspicious month of Purushottama which makes this planting even more beneficial for your spiritual life. If you are in Australia and need the seeds I could send you some by mail or meet you over the weekend in Melbourne, as a matter of fact I could even share some of the seed raising mix which I had to buy 25 litres :) to get the one wee need for Tulsi growing.

Please read the previous posts I've written before deciding to seed Tulsi.

What is required

The first thing I did today was going to local warehouse to purchase following:
- 3 small plant pots 10cm size
- 3 small saucers (which we will need in a few weeks)
- one small greenhouse, and
- a bag of organic seed raising mix.

Please note with purchase of organic seed raising mix you need to be careful of what you will be buying as many brands have NPK manure in them and later when you buy normal potting mix to transplant them you might find that some of them might even have blood and bone in them but still be considered 'organic'.
Please avoid these mixes as we want only organic soil without these unusual ingredients. You need to be aware that Tulsi is vegetarian and would not like you feeding her blood and bones, especially not from slaughtered cows as cow is considered one of the seven mothers in Indian tradition.

Other utensils you would need in the future

In case you are planning to grow Tulsi at home for the first time you will also need to have a separate utensils for her only which means you would need to buy:
- one small sprayer bottle 0.5 litre size,
- one watering pan, and
- small and sharp sewing scissors (that will be used to cut the flowers and tips of stems at certain intervals as will be explained in later posts)

Now is time to get to the subject of seeding her:


Please wash all utensils carefully before seeding her. Same as you would wash your clothes before wearing it for the first time you need to wash the utensils from chemical residues and dirt from handling etc.

Fill pots to the top and give them a good shake, even tap them on the surface of the table or floor to get the soil mix to settle in and then add some more soil to build it up to about 0.5 cm to 1cm from the top of the pot.

I've used 10cm size pot as this can be her home for some time thus avoiding too much of disturbance to Tulsi by need to transplant her after a month or so. That is also the reason we will plant only one seed in each pot.

So take one seed on the tip of your finger as they are very small and before planting it declare your intention and ask for blessings when planting this seed.

It can be something as: Dear Krishna, I'm planting this seeds with the intention of having a beautiful service to your beloved Tulsi which will help me grow in my spiritual life. Please bestow your blessings unto me to succeed in this service.

Be creative, it is your own declaration to Krishna in what kind of service you want to offer to Tulsi.

Three pots seeded

After doing so, gently press the seeds down into the soil to about few millimeters (2-5mm) depth and gently cover them with surrounding soil and then spray over the surface with the sprayer bottle until the soil is saturated with water on top.

Please use the filtered water for watering Tulsi as the tapped water contains fluoride and other water treatment chemicals which is not good for Tulsi or us.


At the end chant the maha mantra:

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA
KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE
HARE RAMA HARE RAMA
RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

to invoke auspiciousness to this simple act of seeding Tulsi.

Mini greenhouse  placed on a well lighted place
out of direct sunlight 

Next step is to place these pots into the mini greenhouse and place them in a well lighted place out of direct sunlight and keep watering them a little bit every day using the sprayer bottle to prevent soil to dry out. 

Hopefully in about a week or so we should see seedlings coming out.

I've planted three seeds in hope at least one will come out and in case we get three we would give two of them to our friends once they grow stronger.








So, that is it, seeds are planted and you should try to chant the maha mantra HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE for at least 10 minutes in front of your Tulsi every day to encourage her to grow faster.

Good luck!