How To Pay for Traffic Violations in the Philippines

About a week ago, while I was on my way to deliver alkaline water in Cubao, a traffic policeman flagged me down.  Apparently, as I was about to turn to Aurora Blvd., I wasn't in the right most lane.  Great.  So I whined and whined but it didn't really get me anywhere.  Now I'm not the type of guy that resorts to bribery, so I didn't deliver the, "can we talk about this" line.  To his credit, he didn't bring it up either.  So now what?

Well, he told me to pay for my P150 ticket in Metrobank.  Not bad.  At least I didn't have to go to some precinct (which is what I expected).  A week later, I was in line in Metrobank and Jean filled up a slip (probably a deposit type slip).  Within minutes, it was done.  Cool, huh? 

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How to Care for Garlic

It's been a couple of weeks since I attempted to grow my garlic plant.   For a while, I was afraid it wasn't going to germinate.  But hey, now I have three little plants in my big pot.  So I did my mandatory research on how to care for my new plant.  Then again, I read about caring for lavender, but it died anyway...tsk.  It's supposed to be low maintenance!  Tsk.  Bitterness aside, here's how to care for your garlic plant:

Give it at least six hours of full sunlight.  Prepare your soil at least 10 inches deep with lots of organic matter.  As the plant matures, it will grow better with a hot and dry environment.  This is supposed to make your garlic more flavorful.  It also needs fertile soil so give it some fertilizer every two weeks.  Some compost would be great too. The soil PH should be around 6.5 - 7.0 and make sure has excellent drainage.  Harvest after about four months...wait and see.

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How to Grow Garlic

You know it was bound to happen. After talking about pesto, thyme, and rosemary, the garlic part became inevitable.  And so I did my little search on growing garlic.  Amazingly enough, you just put a clove in the ground and wait for it to grow.  No seeds.  No stem cuttings.  Hey, why not?  Plant a clove and get a bulb.  That's not a bad deal.  Except that in my experience (a week's worth), it seems that not all cloves germinate.  I planted like five of them in this pot, and so far, only one has germinated.    And if you see, the pot is almost topped with soil.  That's because garlic grows underground.  I can only hope my pot is big enough.   How do you know your garlic's good?  Well, the plant is supposed to wither and die.   Once that happens, it's your cue to harvest your garlic and dry it.  I'll tell you all about how it happens a couple of months from now.   By the way, I've been wondering why my pesto's taste had too much garlic.  I've been mixing up cloves with bulbs all this time!  Tsk.

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How to Make Chrysanthemums Bloom 2: The Results

For over a month and a half, I tried to make my mums bloom.  I've read that mums are photo periodic and will bloom as a reaction to shorter days and longer nights.  And so I experimented.  For over a month and a half, I carried my 30-pound pot (estimated when wet) to and from the shed, 30 feet away, daily.  I got tired doing it.  Maybe it'll be easier to figure out how to put a shaded blanket over my mums.  My mums look okay, but haven't shown any signs of blooming.  On to the next attempt I guess.

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How to Care and Propagate Stevia

Stevia (Stevioside) is useful because it's a herbal substitute for sugar.  It's said to be 3x as sweet without the calories and the impact on blood sugar.  How cool is that? Well I got me a little Stevia plant and I've done a little reading on its care and propagation.  It's actually quite different from other herbs.  Let me tell you why.

Stevia Care:

• Sun - Unlike most herbs (including Lavender, Thyme and Basil), Stevia should be kept in partial shade.
• Water - Most plants appreciate deep infrequent watering.  Stevia has fairly shallow roots and would benefit more from light, frequent watering.
• Soil - Most herbs like poor soil with good drainage.  Sand is usually good.  Stevia appreciates loam soil with lots of organic material as mulch (again because it has shallow roots).  Good drainage is still a must. PH of 4-5 works best (lowest I've seen for herbs!)
• Fertilizer - Low Nitrogen fertilizer works best (important to keep sweetness) 
• Pruning - Pinch of the tips to maker it bushier

Stevia Propagation 

• Best propagated via cuttings since the seeds don't germinate well.  Seed germination doesn't assure you that the new plant will be sweet.  It's kinda the same reason why mangos are better grafted than just grown from seed.
• I'm trying out cuttings in water.  I placed them outdoors but fairly hidden from the sun.  Let's see what happens in a few days.

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How to Propagate Oregano from Cuttings

I have what I think is a Cuban Oregano (different from my Oregano Thyme).   I got it from an empty yard in front of a water customer's house.  I wasn't really ready to find it so I didn't have shears with me.  I just cut of a branch by hand (very crude cut).  Then I just stuck it in the soil of my seedling bed.  Weeks later, it was still alive (stoic but alive).  Just playing around, I took a leaf and stuck it in the soil.  I checked it earlier.  It already had roots.  Absolutely no care was needed.  It's so easy that I'm starting to wonder if this really is an Oregano or just a weed.  Hmmmm....

I also took a cutting and placed it in a glass of water.  It also grew roots.  So there you have it.  For this alleged Cuban Oregano, crude cuts, leaf cuttings, stem in soil, stem in water...they all work. 

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How to Propagate Tomatoes with Cuttings 2

Just over a week ago, I wasn't able to help it.  I cut my growing upside down tomato to find out if it's easy to clone tomato cuttings in water.  Here's what has happened so far.

The Existing Upside Down Tomato - It hasn't grown a leaf since I cut it.  It still looks alive but I'm a bit worried.  Uh oh.  But here's an interesting tidbit: the stem curves upward towards the sun, right?  I saw a dead spider on the curve.  Could it have been my tomato attempting to fertilize itself? 

The Tomato Cutting in Water -Within a week, small roots have started growing out. However, the bottom part seems to be rotting.  It's still 50-50 I would guess.  I noticed though that roots grow out from all over the submerged portion and not just on the joints.  Interesting.  I'll take pictures for next time, when the roots are more convincing.

Here's the drawback of using a cut two-liter bottle. It sliced the tomato leaves.  Mental note: keep the leaves high enough above the container to prevent leaf contact against the edges.  Here's the drawback of using shredded paper as the stem holder if the container is located outside in the garden.  When it rains, it compresses the paper.  Doh!  Oh well.  As long as learned something.

So what do I do?  Maybe I'll wrap some tape around the container edges so they don't cut my plant leaves.  And I'll keep the container out of the rain.   But how do I maximize the sun?  Hmmmm...

Hey, remember when I started my tomato adventure?   If my computations are correct, I need about two more months before it starts fruiting!  I better see a growth spurt soon.

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How to Care for Roses

About a week ago, I went full circle in my gardening adventure when I got myself a white rose plant.  Naturally I did my research so I can take care of my brand new rose plant.  In general, it likes everything in generous doses.  First of all, roses like lots of direct sunlight (at least 6 hours a day).  It's just like petunias,  lavender, oregano thyme and tomatoes.   It also likes a lot of water:  it favors watering deeply fewer times than watering frequently and lightly.  Deep watering likewise promotes deep root development.  You can even water from the bottom.  But remember to water the roots and not the leaves.  Finally, it also feeds a lot.  Feed it lightly but frequently with your basic balance NPK fertilizer.  I'll just use diluted urine of course.

How to Propagate Tomatoes with Cuttings

As you may know, my tomato plants were germinated from seeds I got in the local plant nursery.  So although I've read a lot about tomato cuttings, it wasn't relevant to me yet.  But now my upside down tomatoes have grown up somewhat.  They're almost a foot long so I figured it was time to play.  I've read that you can propagate tomatoes in water so that's what I'll do.  Besides, I am leaning towards hydroponics since it's uses a lot less water than growing a plant in a soil medium.

How to Propagate Cuttings with Honey

If you read enough gardening material on the Net, you will find that a lot of plants are propagated by cuttings.  Some cuttings are easy to root like herbs.  For example, Basil and Mint cuttings will easily root in a glass of water.  Other plants are more challenging.  For example, my flowering plants (petunias, mums and hydrangeas) will supposedly need a little extra.  In most cases, I find that other gardeners dip cuttings in a rooting hormone before sticking them into little pots with sterile medium (I always see peat, perlite and vermiculite). 

But some of us don't want to spend for a rooting hormone because we're gardeners with a tight budget.  I've read that you can just boil parts of a willow tree (any variety) and that will have the same components as a rooting mix.  But then again, have you ever seen a willow tree in Manila?  So I continued searching and found that the next most frequently mentioned rooting hormone alternative is HONEY.

How to Prune Your Basil

Yesterday, I wrote about how pruning encouraged my Swiss Mint to branch out. That showed the impact of one cut.  Is there a particular science to pruning?   Is pruning good for Cinnamon Basil as well?   I try to be scientific, but not too scientific.  That means I adhere to some general principles but I don't follow the book each time.

I try to prune at the lowest possible stem, probably just a few nodes above the soil.  Why?  So that the plant branches out at that level.  Then you'll have secondary stems growing (or branching out).  When they're 4-5 nodes tall, I cut above the lowest possible node then.   So on and so forth.  But honestly, I don't follow that to the letter.  I look around for stems that look "ready" for cutting and I prune away.  If I remember right, I must have pruned my month-old (since purchase) Cinnamon Basil around nine times!  Yes, I have a certain addiction to pruning.

How to Stop a Radiator Leak with Eggs and Pepper

My Multicab radiator sprung a leak.  My friend Sua then mentioned that you can use an egg and some pepper to plug it.  Intriguing thought.  And so I Googled the topic, "fixing a radiator and with an egg and pepper" and found lots of entries.  The theory is that the pressure due to the expansion of the water would jam the pepper and the now cooked eggs into the hole and plug it.  Supposedly, the pepper would harden like a rock.  It seems the jury is mixed on this one. So I figured I'd try it.  I used half a bottle of pepper and about three eggs and tried it out for a couple of days.  You know, I figured it might take a couple of days for the eggs to cook.

How to Grow a Mango from Seed: What Works, What Doesn't

Over the past three months, I've experimented with about a dozen or so mango seeds.   I've pretty much tried every mango seed germination technique that I've read about in other sites.  I won't tell you what's right or wrong, but I'll tell you what worked for me and what didn't.

• Germination Technique # 1: Dig a hole.  Put your basic mango seed in.  Wait.   There was neither seed drying nor fibrous husk removal.  Initially I thought it didn't work.  I put in about 5-6 seeds (Carabao and Indian mango) in a big pot. Water it once in a while.  Guess what?  In about a month, to my surprise they all started sprouting.  So I had to transplant.  It's not very elegant, but it works apparently. 
• Germination Technique # 2: Dry the seeds. Put it in a zip locked bag with water and a paper towel. Leave it out in the sun.   After three weeks, nothing happened.  Useless seeds.  Tsk.
• Germination Technique # 3: Remove the seeds from the fibrous husk.  Put it in a zip locked bag with water and a paper towel. Leave it out in the sun.   After three weeks, all the seeds have roots.  The longer you leave it out, the better the chances of seed survival. 

And that's it!  Try all of it out just for fun and see what works for you. 

Petunia Propagation: How to Get Petunia Seeds

My petunias are doing okay. They bloom and grow on their own without too much effort for me.  I water heavily, leave them in medium sun, spray my soap solution and use diluted fertilizer about once a week.  The red & white one just looks a little slow because it got bumped a couple of weeks ago and I lost a couple of healthy stems.  However, my attempts to propagate my petunias by stem cuttings and by simple layering have not panned out.

Recipe: How to Make Basil Pesto Sauce

I need to entertain myself while I'm waiting for my donated sweet basil to grow.   Nothing much has changed since I planted it.  There are two small leaves in the center plant.  But funny enough, the leaf with roots stood up!  I can't imagine how that will continue to grow.  We'll see in a couple of weeks.   As for my cinnamon basil, I've cut too much in the past weeks already in the name of propagation so I have to wait for it to grow back a bit before going on a cutting and rooting spree again.   For now, I will entertain myself with a Basil Pesto recipe.   I chose one with no nuts, since nuts are high in uric acid and are bad for my gout. It's also a middle ground in terms of ingredients since the ratios vary per site that I visited.  Like everything else, just experiment and see what you'll like.

How to Grow an Upside Down Tomato: Attempt # 2

When I first heard that tomatoes can be planted upside down, I was intrigued.  And so I tried it.  To read my first upside down tomato attempt, check this. And here's how it looks now.  Apart from looking cool, why plant your tomato upside down?  You avoid weeds.  It helps with space.  You don't need to stake or support the plant.  Saves water since you get to the roots at once.

Where did I go wrong the first time?  If you checked the picture, you'd see that I used the drainage hole to plant the tomato.  By what I've read in other sites, that hole is too small since tomatoes are gigantic plants.  While you can buy expensive 5-gallon containers to hold your tomatoes, I've also read of more economical solutions, such as using a 2-liter soda container.  In my case, I used 500 ML.  Who knows, right?

How to Register a Vehicle That's Not In Your Name And Was Shipped From The Province with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) - Part 2

If you read the first part of my attempt to register my Suzuki Multicab, you'll know that I wasn't very happy.  So what are the basic things that should happen when you register a vehicle?  You need a third party liability insurance, a smoke emission testing, the engine stencil and the registration proper.  At least it's like that if the vehicle is under your name and originated in Manila.

In my case, there were a couple more steps.  That's a major understatement since I went to LTO four different times.  If you read my Philippine Passport and Driver's License entries, you'll know that I've gone two for two without bribing anyone.  Do you think the record will hold?  Read on.

How to Register a Vehicle That's Not In Your Name And Was Shipped From The Province with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) - Part 1

Was that title a mouthful or not?  Well that's my situation.  I'll tell you right off that I haven't done this successfully yet so there will certainly be a part 2.  Here are the details.  I bought a Suzuki Multicab from Don Soriano / Kevin Yao (I found them in Sulit). The first thing that happened was that they processed the deed of sale (and collected the money).  I'm not sure exactly how that works, but I did find a deed of sale form in National Book Store.  Imagine that.  It's a template.  I was advised that I just needed to carry that around in case I had some episode with police (like a traffic violation).  That was in November.  Take note of the dates. They're relevant. 

How To Renew Your Philippine Passport

I am an administrative mess.  I will be the first to tell you that.  Thus, renewals, payment of bills and all sorts of paperwork are always at the bottom of my To Do list.  In fact, I'd put it off even if I have nothing else to do.  Well my Philippine Passport expired last March.   Oops.  So how did I renew my passport?  It was actually an easy process.

I went on-line to Teleserv DFA Express Passport Delivery.  Naturally I didn't know if it was legit.  But hey, it was on top of a Google search so it had to be good.   Turns out it was.  I scanned through the requirements.  For my situation (normal renewal), I just needed a couple of passport sized photos, photocopies of the first 5 pages and last travel entries in my passport.  They'll take care of getting the old passport and delivering the new ones to you via courier (2GO).  The total fees amounted to P1300, which was a couple of hundreds more than you handling it yourself.  But hey, it's convenient.

How To Renew Your Philippine Driver's License

It's that time of the decade again.  My Philippine Driver's License will expire in just over a week.  Early this morning I went to SM (the former Super Sale Club) to have it renewed.  There are two salient points here.  You can renew your license before it expires. It's important because for a good number of years, I thought you had to renew on the expiration date.  What a way to spend your birthday, right?  The second important point is that there is an LTO in SM City.  OMG.  If you've had a chance to renew or apply for a license in LTO East Avenue, you'll understand the pleasant surprise.

Now there are lots of people there, but it's still just a fraction of the number you'll see in an LTO main office.  The first step is to fill out a form in LTO.  It's window 1 so it's pretty intuitive.  No need to prepare or bring anything.  You will only need your license.  After filling out that form, you will be instructed to go to the next room for Drug Testing.   The important point there is next room.  In the old LTO, you'll have to cross East Avenue and go through tons of squatter looking houses where about a hundred drug testing centers are to be found.  They're legit, but they all seem colorum to me.