I've been wanting to go to Mahogany Market for a few months now. We missed our chance when we went to Tagaytay last summer (got to busy eating!). We haven't gone back since Taal has been spewing SO2 (bad air quality). I want to go to Mahogany Market or at least visit nurseries in Tagaytay or Silang since they have really nice plants and have more affordable garden items (not that I need a lot).
Got to visit a garden center near our home a few days ago. I always knew that buying from physical stores are cheaper than buying online. Unfortunately, I've had to buy stuff online since we've had to limit my movement. Well, here's what I found out about where best to buy garden materials:
1. Pots - I prefer terracotta pots since it allows plants to breathe better. I still use the plastic pots I got from Singapore, but some are already disintegrating. I wept when I saw the huge price difference of buying in person. I originally bought a huge pot for PhP550 each from a shop in FB. The same pot was just PhP400 at the garden center and probably much cheaper if I buy it outside of MM.
2. Soil - bought some soil online from a shopping platform. It looked more like mud than loam soil. I still used it since the shop said it was real soil. All the plants I planted using it are dead. The that was better was from the shop on FB marketplace. They have a physical shop in the next barangay. I've been using their loam soil, but realized belatedly I should also treat the soil before using it. Buying in person is probably much, much cheaper (sorry forgot to ask when I went to the garden center).
3. Compost and fertilizer - buying a kilo of compost or chicken manure online seems inexpensive at PhP46, but they're much cheaper buying in person (of course). There are shops on shopping platforms though that offer them much cheaper, but they're usually outside of MM and shipping would be very expensive (if available).
4. Coco poles - the prices at the garden center were actually 2x more expensive than buying them online. Do look for a shop that's based outside of Manila. The secret to bringing down the shipping cost is to just buy the poles without other stuff (i.e. compost).
5. Twist ties - got mine from the supermarket. I think the prices are similar whether you buy it online or in person.
I guess this will be where I stop buying stuff online for garden stuff. I want to make this hobby more sustainable, so I've been watching tutorials on how to make my own compost and and fertilizer. I also want my plants to be healthy, so I'm limiting what I do based on what I can manage.
#BeKind #StaySafe
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