Why we grow every plant to order
When you order a plant from us, we do not pick one off a shelf. We build a fresh Nabhi bag for it at our Gudibande farm, plant it, and let it settle in before it comes to you.
That is why there is a wait. It is also why the plant that arrives at your door is ready to feed itself from day one, and why it will give its whole harvest to you.
What happens when you order
It depends on the plant. There are two paths.
Planted straight into the bag. Gourds, okra, cucumber, beans, root vegetables, leafy greens and most plants outside the nightshade family grow happily from seed where they will live. We plant them directly into your Nabhi bag, and they never need a nursery.
Transplanted from our nursery. Chillies, brinjal, tomato and capsicum, the nightshade family, do better when raised as seedlings first. We usually have them growing in our nursery already. When you order, we transplant one into a fresh Nabhi bag. If the nursery has none ready, we start it from seed, which takes longer.
| Path | Typical plants | Lead time | Age when it reaches you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planted straight into the bag | Gourds, okra, cucumber, beans, root vegetables, leafy greens | 15 days | 15 days |
| Transplanted from our nursery | Tomato | 25 days | 45 to 50 days or more |
| Transplanted from our nursery | Chillies, brinjal, capsicum | 40 days | 45 to 50 days or more |
Lead time is the number of days from your order to the day we send the plant out, and we deliver it to you that same day. Each plant's page shows its current lead time.
Whichever path it takes, every plant spends at least a week in its Nabhi bag, drinking from its olla, before it leaves us.
The week that matters most
Nurseries usually talk about hardening off: getting a young plant used to sun and wind before it goes outdoors. That matters, but in a Nabhi bag there is a deeper kind of hardening.
In its first week in the bag, the plant learns to feed through the olla. Its roots grow towards the moist clay, and the living soil around them settles in alongside. By the end of that week, plant, olla and soil are working in step: the roots draw, the clay releases, the soil life feeds.
That synchrony is the hardening a plant truly needs. It is why we never send out a plant the day it is potted. When it reaches your balcony, the hardest part of its life is already behind it.
Why we don't keep plants in stock
A plant that sits in stock keeps growing. Leave a chilli or a tomato long enough and it starts to flower and fruit for whoever is holding it. Buy it then, and part of its best season has already gone to someone else.
We would rather you had all of it. Because every plant is grown for a particular order, it reaches you just before it starts producing. Its entire fruiting life is spent on your balcony, not ours.
Timing matters for us too. A seedling has only a short window when it transplants well. Growing to order means we raise and move each plant at the right moment for it, instead of filling a nursery with plants that may be past their best by the time someone wants them.
Good to know before you order
Only plants in season are on sale. Not every plant grows well in every month. If a plant cannot be grown well at this time of year, we mark it unavailable, and we keep that list up to date. You never need to check a planting calendar; that is our job.
Ask for photos while you wait. If you would like to see your plant growing, tell us and we will send you a photo about once a week until it is delivered.
Help after it arrives. If your plant runs into pests or disease, tell us. We will help you through it, so you can manage it without chemicals.
Orders cannot be cancelled. From the moment you order, a bag is built and a plant is started or transplanted just for you. It cannot be undone or passed on to someone else, so please order only when you are sure.