Check out the price of organic inputs before spending your money. I say this because I found it not very easy to get Neem pesticide, which I needed to stop sap-sucking insects that have invaded my fledgling Hibiscus potted plant.
A visit to the Manjari gardening store of SPIC on Kotturpuram (just beyond the bridge towards Raj Bhavan) showed that a small quantity of Neemgold by SPIC is available, at Rs.25. I find that many other shops stock the bigger bottle that costs Rs.55.
Incidentally, Manjari has its own plants for sale, though I was disappointed with the price for some varieties like pomegranates, roses and some shade-loving decorative species. The Agri-Horticultural Society on Cathedral Road, virtually next door to the St.George's Cathedral has an equally good choice at cheaper prices, I would think.
I am trying to compile the prices from the different sources, to help make a quick comparative check. Until then, it has to be an impressionistic look at the gardening centres.
Not all OrganicThe important thing to understand is that SPIC's Manjari is not all about organic gardening. Being a chemical fertiliser company in the main, one must expect that there will be a heavy dose of such inputs on offer here.
It would be preferable to check out places like Florra and Pomes for the bulk of organic input needs: vermicompost, vermiwash, neemcake, nitrogen-fixing elements and others. The prices are reasonable and the services personalised, with some good-natured gardening advice by Raghavendra Rao, the entrepreneur thrown in.
Even the Agri-Horticultural Society is not the best place to source organic inputs, though its selection of plants is impressive. The pity is that the Society does not have an image of transparency these days, as the chronicler of Chennai, historian S.Muthiah notes in a column in The Hindu. But that is quite another matter. Many people are not so concerned whether the Society will stay intact for another generation and whether its prime property has become the target of land sharks. They just want some plants for their hobby today.