Common questions about terrace gardening, our AI tools, and our services.
What vegetables can I grow on a terrace in India?
Most Indian terraces handle the same crops year-round once you match container size to root depth. Tomato, brinjal, and chilli need a 12–15 inch pot (or a 15-litre grow bag) and at least 5 hours of direct sun. Ladyfinger and beans need similar pots but fewer hours of sun. Leafy greens like palak, methi, and lal saag fit in shallow trays — 6 inches deep is enough — and grow back after each cut. Herbs (mint, coriander, basil, ajwain) sit happily in 6–8 inch pots and tolerate partial shade. Plan around the season: most fruiting vegetables go in for the kharif window (Jun–Oct) or rabi (Nov–Mar). Coriander and palak are best in winter; brinjal and chilli prefer the warmer months. Our crop guides have the right pot size, sun hours, and sowing window for each.
How does the AI first read work?
You take a clear photo of the affected leaf or plant in daylight, upload it through the diagnose tool, and our model returns the most likely problem along with a step-by-step treatment plan in a few seconds. The model is trained on common Indian crop issues — early blight, leaf curl, powdery mildew, aphid damage, nutrient deficiencies — and works best when the photo shows the symptom up close, in focus, against a plain background. Image quality matters: blurry shots or photos taken at night reduce accuracy. The first read is meant as an indicative starting point, not a final verdict. For high-value crops, recurring problems, or anything that doesn't respond to the first treatment, book an agronomist call so an expert can review the case with you. Free first reads are unlimited; the agronomist call is a paid follow-up.
Which soil mix is best for terrace gardening in India?
Start with a 1:1:1 mix by volume — one part garden soil, one part cocopeat, one part compost. Garden soil gives structure and trace minerals, cocopeat holds water without compacting, and compost feeds the plant slowly through the season. For terraces that flood in monsoon, add 10% coarse river sand or fine gravel to the mix — that's the difference between healthy roots and root rot in July. Aim for a pH between 6.0 and 7.0; most Indian municipal water and topsoil sit in that band. If you've already had crop failures in the same pots, test the soil before re-using it: a Basic Test on this site is ₹99 and tells you whether the problem is pH, salinity, or low organic carbon. The per-pot quantities for your container size are in our soil-mix calculator.
How much does it cost to set up a basic terrace garden?
A 200 sq ft starter setup with 8–10 grow bags, soil mix, and seeds for the season runs ₹4,000–₹8,000 in most cities. The lower end uses recycled containers and locally-sourced compost; the higher end is fresh fabric grow bags, branded cocopeat, and named-variety seeds. A drip irrigation timer adds ₹2,000–₹3,500 and is worth it if you travel even occasionally. On-site setup help in Lucknow or Noida — site survey, soil mix delivered, plants placed and tied — runs ₹1,500–₹3,500 depending on terrace size. Monthly running cost after that is small: ₹200–₹400 for top-up fertiliser and the occasional new seedling. You don't need to spend more than ₹8,000 to grow your family's daily greens for the year.
What's included in the Bloom Pro subscription?
Bloom Pro is ₹999 a year and unlocks the full assistant: a personalised week-by-week schedule for every plant you log, unlimited AI plant-doctor diagnoses, monthly seasonal recommendations tied to your city, and chat access to our agronomist team. The schedule adjusts automatically to your sowing date, pot size, and the season — so the same crop gets a different feeding plan in monsoon vs. winter. You also get the full crop guide library, including Pro-only recipes for compost teas and pest sprays. We run a 15-day free trial — no card details needed to start. Cancel any time before the trial ends and there's no charge. After that you can pay annually or monthly, and the plan is shared across all your devices on the same login.
Do you ship gardening supplies across India?
Yes — seeds, organic fertilisers, grow bags, tools, and most accessories ship to all 28 states and major union territories. Standard delivery is 4–7 business days through our partner couriers; metros usually get it in 3–5 days. We don't ship live plants outside the cities where we have on-ground teams, because plants take damage in long-distance transit and we'd rather not sell something that arrives stressed. Returns are accepted within 7 days for sealed seed packets and unopened tools. Soil mixes, fertilisers, and seedlings are non-returnable for hygiene reasons but we replace anything that arrives damaged — send a photo within 48 hours of delivery and we re-ship at no cost. Free shipping kicks in over ₹999. Orders ship from our Lucknow and Bengaluru warehouses.
Can I book an in-person agronomist visit?
On-site visits — where an agronomist comes to your terrace, looks at the setup, and walks you through what to fix — are currently available in Lucknow and Noida only. Visit fees start at ₹499 for a 45-minute consultation. We're adding cities slowly so each agronomist actually knows the local soil, water, and pest patterns; sending someone untrained doesn't help anyone. If you're outside those cities, a video consultation works almost as well for most problems: ₹199 for a 30-minute call where you walk us through the terrace on camera and we send a written plan after. For urgent issues — a sudden infestation, a crop ready to fail — the video call usually goes through within the same day. Book either through the agronomist help page.
What climates and seasons do your crop guides cover?
Our guides cover the four climate zones the Indian Meteorological Department uses: tropical (Kerala, coastal Karnataka, coastal Tamil Nadu), subtropical (Punjab, UP, Bihar, most of central India), temperate (Himachal, parts of Uttarakhand, the Northeast), and arid/semi-arid (Rajasthan, Gujarat, parts of Maharashtra). Each guide tells you when to sow for both kharif (Jun–Oct, rain-fed) and rabi (Nov–Mar, cooler-season) windows in your zone. The seasonal calendar tool maps your city to its zone automatically — so you see the right sowing date for tomato in Delhi (mid-October for rabi) versus Bengaluru (May or October, both work) without having to guess. The guides are updated each year before kharif and rabi to reflect monsoon arrival forecasts and any changes in seed availability.