When we say a method "worked for us," that claim is only useful if you know the conditions it worked in. Gardening results depend heavily on light, climate, container size, and water — so this page documents the actual setups our articles are written from, in enough detail that you can judge how closely your own situation matches ours.
Setup 1 — North-Facing Apartment Balcony (Primary Test Space)
Location: Eastern India, humid subtropical climate
Direct sunlight: Roughly 3–4 hours of morning sun; no direct afternoon sun
Size: Approximately 4 feet × 12 feet, with railing space for hanging and rail planters
Containers in use: 12 terracotta pots (8–12 inch), 4 rectangular railing planters, 2 grow bags (15 litre)
Typical potting mix: Cocopeat, homemade compost, and garden soil, adjusted seasonally for drainage
Water source: Municipal tap water, tested at roughly neutral pH
This is the space most of our low-light vegetable results, composting trials, and container-mix comparisons come from. When an article says something "grew well in low light," this is the light level being described — not a generic "partial shade" assumption.
Setup 2 — Shared Terrace (Full-Sun Comparison Space)
Direct sunlight: 6–7 hours
Size: Around 8 feet × 10 feet of usable planting area
Containers in use: 8 grow bags (20–30 litre), 6 large terracotta pots
We use this space mainly as a comparison control. When we report that a vegetable performed poorly in low light, it is often because we grew the same variety here at the same time and saw a clearly better result — that side-by-side difference is what makes the comparison meaningful rather than a guess.
Setup 3 — Small Ground Plot
Size: Approximately 60 square feet of open soil alongside a boundary wall
Notable condition: Soil near the wall tests noticeably alkaline (around 7.8 pH), likely from lime leaching out of the concrete over the years
This plot is where our ground-soil pH observations come from, including the alkaline readings referenced in our soil pH guide.
Tools and Equipment We Actually Use
• Digital soil pH probe meter (recalibrated with pH 7 buffer solution every few months — we learned the hard way that cheap meters drift)
• pH test strip kit, kept for cross-checking the digital meter's readings
• Basic moisture check by finger, rather than a moisture meter, since we found finger-testing the top inch of soil more reliable than the cheap meters we tried
• 20-litre lidded plastic bin with drilled airflow holes, used for our main compost batches
• Hand trowel, pruning shears, 1-litre spray bottle for organic sprays
• Kitchen weighing scale, used when measuring amendment quantities for repeatability
How We Record Results
For any method we plan to write about, we keep a simple written log: what was applied, in what quantity, to which container, on what date — followed by dated observations at roughly weekly intervals. This is why our articles can state specific timelines ("harvestable in 25–30 days," "pH moved from 5.2 to 6.1 over three weeks") rather than vague ranges. Those numbers come from those logs, not from other websites.
Where a result surprised us or contradicted common advice, we note it in the article rather than quietly leaving it out — for example, our radish roots being noticeably smaller in low light, or coriander bolting faster in shade than in full sun.
Seasons Covered So Far
Our current observations span multiple growing cycles across summer, monsoon, and winter conditions in a humid subtropical Indian climate. We have not yet grown through a full cycle in arid, high-altitude, or coastal-saline conditions, and we say so in articles where those conditions would meaningfully change the outcome.
A Note on Article Images
Our written observations come from the setups above. The illustrative header images on our articles are digitally created visuals depicting the scenario an article describes — they are not presented as documentary photographs of our specific plants or results. We would rather state this plainly than let a reader assume otherwise.
Questions About Our Methods
If you want more detail on how a specific result was tested — exact quantities, dates, or container conditions — email editorial@farmerbazaar.shop and we will share what our log shows for that particular trial.