Can I use regular table salt or sendha namak when growing these plants?

No salt of any kind should go into your pots. Adding salt to soil is harmful to plants. Sendha namak is a cooking rule for Navratri fasting, entirely separate from how you care for your garden. Use regular water for watering and diluted organic fertiliser for feeding.

Terrace garden for Navratri fasting foods — what to grow in October

Navratri falls twice a year on the Hindu calendar, but the Sharad Navratri in October is the one most Indian households observe with strict fasting. For nine days, millions of people across Lucknow, Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur, Pune, and Bengaluru switch to a particular set of foods — rajgira (amaranth), kuttu (buckwheat), singhara (water chestnut), samak rice (barnyard millet), sweet potato, raw banana, and fresh green vegetables cooked without common salt.

The good news for terrace gardeners is that several of these foods are surprisingly well-suited to container growing in October. Amaranth is one of the fastest crops you can grow in a pot — sow seeds in early September and you will be harvesting fresh leaves right through Navratri week. Sweet potato runs happily in a large grow bag and produces harvestable tubers in about 90 days. Even a few pots of potatoes started earlier in the season can be ready by October.

This guide covers exactly which Navratri fasting foods are realistic on a terrace, which ones are not worth attempting in containers, and a step-by-step plan to time your growing calendar so you have fresh, homegrown produce ready for the fast — all without a single square metre of field soil.

What the Navratri thali actually requires from the garden

Before planning which pots to fill, it helps to understand the full list of Navratri-approved foods and separate them into "growable on a terrace" and "buy from the market."

Foods you can realistically grow on an Indian terrace or balcony in October:

Rajgira / amaranth — leaves and seeds. Leaves are very easy in pots. Seeds need a longer crop but container-grown is possible.
Sweet potato — large grow bags, 90-day crop.
Potato — medium containers, works well if started in July-August.
Raw banana — technically growable but a banana plant needs a 50-60 litre drum, takes 12-18 months, and produces fruit seasonally. Not a practical Navratri project.
Lauki / bottle gourd — allowed during some regional fasting traditions; grows well in large pots.
Tomatoes, cucumbers, and leafy greens like spinach — many families include these.

Foods you will buy, not grow:

Sabudana (sago / tapioca pearls) — processed from cassava root, not a practical terrace crop.
Kuttu (buckwheat) — a cool-climate grain crop that needs field scale and long maturation; container yields are negligible.
Singhara (water chestnut) — grows in standing water and needs a pond or very large tub; possible as a hobby project in a big tub but not reliable for fasting quantities.
Samak rice (barnyard millet) — a grain crop; growing enough for even a few meals requires more space than a standard terrace offers.
Rock salt / sendha namak — mined mineral, obviously not grown.

The practical focus for your October terrace fasting garden, then, is amaranth leaves, sweet potato, and a small harvest of potatoes or bottle gourd. That is more than enough to make your Navratri cooking feel genuinely homegrown.

Growing rajgira (amaranth) in containers for Navratri

Amaranth is the single best Navratri crop for a terrace. It germinates in three to five days, grows rapidly in warm weather, and you can start harvesting outer leaves as early as 25-30 days after sowing. For October Navratri, sow seeds in the first or second week of September.

Container requirements:

Pot size: minimum 8 inches wide and 8 inches deep. A 12-inch pot or a rectangular trough works even better.
Soil mix: 40% garden soil, 40% vermicompost or well-rotted cow dung compost, 20% coarse river sand. If you are buying a ready mix, the Ugaoo Pot Mix or Dehaat Kitchen Garden mix both work well with a handful of extra compost added.
Seeds: rajgira seeds are tiny. Broadcast them thinly over the surface, press lightly with your palm, and cover with just 2-3 mm of fine soil or compost. Do not bury them deep — they need light to germinate well.

Sowing and care:

Sow around September 5-10 for October 2-11 Navratri (check your regional calendar each year — dates shift). Water gently twice a day in the first week using a watering can with a rose head to avoid washing seeds away. Once seedlings are 2 inches tall, thin to one plant every 3-4 inches if you are growing the bushy variety, or leave a little denser if you want to harvest baby leaves.

Fertilise once at two weeks with a diluted liquid fertiliser — half a cap of IFFCO Sagarika seaweed liquid in one litre of water works well, or diluted cow dung liquid (jeevamrit) if you make it at home.

By day 30-35, your plants will be 12-18 inches tall with broad, tender leaves. Harvest outer leaves with scissors, leaving the central growing tip intact. The plant will keep producing new leaves for another 4-6 weeks. One 12-inch pot will give you a good handful of greens every two to three days — sow three to four pots in succession (one week apart) for a continuous supply through the nine-day fast.

What to do with amaranth leaves during Navratri:

Rajgira leaves are made into a simple stir-fry (bhaji) with sendha namak and ghee, or blended into a dough with singhara flour for flatbreads. Freshly harvested leaves from your own terrace have noticeably better flavour and texture than market leaves that have been transported and stored.

Growing sweet potato in grow bags

Sweet potato is one of those happy discoveries for terrace gardeners. The vines are ornamental, the plant is drought-tolerant, and the tubers grow reliably in a large grow bag without any complex care.

What you need:

Grow bag: minimum 25 litres. A standard 18x18 inch fabric grow bag is ideal. For a bigger harvest, go for a 35-40 litre bag. Avoid small pots — sweet potato roots spread wide before forming tubers.
Starting material: sweet potato slips (rooted cuttings) rather than seeds. You can start your own slips from an organic sweet potato bought at a vegetable market. Place the potato in a container of water with half submerged, and slips will sprout from the eyes within two weeks. Alternatively, Ugaoo and several Bengaluru and Pune-based online nurseries sell ready slips in the kharif season.

Timing for October Navratri:

Sweet potato takes 90-120 days to produce harvestable tubers. For October harvest, plant slips in late June to mid-July. This fits perfectly with the kharif growing window, when soil temperatures are warm and monsoon moisture supports early establishment.

Planting and care:

Fill the grow bag with a mix of 50% garden soil and 50% compost. Plant two slips per 25-litre bag, burying them 3-4 inches deep. Water regularly but do not waterlog — the fabric bag's drainage is one of its advantages here. The vines will spread quickly and can be trained along a railing or trellis if space is tight.

Stop watering four to five days before harvest to help tubers firm up. Harvest by gently tipping the bag over and pulling tubers by hand. A healthy 35-litre bag can yield 1-2 kg of sweet potato tubers — enough for several Navratri meals.

One thing to know: sweet potato leaves are also edible and nutritious. You can harvest a few young leaves for stir-frying throughout the growing period without reducing your tuber yield significantly.

Potatoes and bottle gourd — rounding out your fasting container garden

Potatoes are a staple of the Navratri thali across North India — aloo jeera, aloo ki sabzi, and dahi aloo are all standard fasting dishes. The good news is that potatoes grow very well in containers and are a perfect October crop if you start them in July or August.

Growing potatoes in containers:

Use a 20-litre bucket or a large grow bag. Fill it two-thirds with a mix of soil and compost. Plant seed potatoes (available from local nurseries or platforms like Dehaat) buried 4-5 inches deep, eyes pointing upward. As the plant grows and starts to flower, keep mounding more soil around the stem — this is the "earthing up" step that encourages more tubers to form.

Start in mid-July and you will have harvestable potatoes in 90-100 days, right in time for October Navratri. Wait until the plant's leaves yellow and dry — that is the signal to harvest.

Bottle gourd (lauki):

Many families include lauki in their Navratri cooking. Lauki is a vigorous climber and does well in a 20-25 litre container with a trellis or rope for support. Sow seeds in late July or August for October fruiting. The vines can run along a balcony railing beautifully and produce fruits from October onwards. Look for varieties labelled "long lauki" or "round lauki" at your local nursery — both are suitable for containers.

A note on other greens:

Spinach (palak) and fenugreek (methi) can be sown directly in September for October harvest and are generally permitted during fasting in many households. Both grow in 6-8 inch deep troughs and are ready in 25-35 days. Sow densely and harvest as cut-and-come-again crops.

Timing your September sowing calendar

The key to having fresh fasting produce ready for October Navratri is planning your sowing backward from the harvest date. Here is a simple calendar for a terrace gardener targeting Navratri in the first or second week of October.

July 10-20:

Plant sweet potato slips in grow bags (90-day crop).
Plant seed potatoes in containers (90-100 day crop).
Sow bottle gourd seeds if you want October fruits.

August 15-31:

Start a second batch of sweet potato if you missed July.
Sow bottle gourd for a secondary crop.

September 1-10:

Sow rajgira (amaranth) seeds in pots for October leaf harvest.
Sow spinach and methi in troughs for October greens.

September 10-20:

Sow a second batch of rajgira for continuous harvest.
Check sweet potato and potato containers — reduce watering slightly.

September 25 - October 1:

Harvest first amaranth leaves.
Stop watering sweet potato bags to firm tubers.
Harvest potatoes if foliage has yellowed.

October Navratri week:

Harvest amaranth leaves daily.
Harvest sweet potato and potato tubers.
Harvest lauki fruits as they reach size.

This calendar is written for North Indian cities like Lucknow, Delhi, and Jaipur where October is mild and dry. In Mumbai and Pune, October still carries some post-monsoon humidity — watch for fungal issues on amaranth leaves in those climates and ensure good air circulation between pots. In Bengaluru, October temperatures are very pleasant for all these crops.

What is not worth growing on a terrace for Navratri

This section is just as useful as the growing guide. Several popular Navratri foods are not practical for container growing, and attempting them will waste your September.

Kuttu (buckwheat): Buckwheat is a short-season grain crop, but it needs dense sowing at field scale to produce harvestable quantities of grain. A few pots will give you pretty white flowers and perhaps a tablespoon of grain — not the kilograms of kuttu flour a Navratri household needs. Buy kuttu atta from the market (Tata Rallis-sourced organic kuttu flour is available at larger supermarkets and online).

Singhara (water chestnut): Singhara grows in standing water and produces underwater corms after about five months. It is technically possible to grow in a large plastic tub or half-drum filled with water and mud, but it is a long-term project and requires full sun and a lot of patience. Unless you already have a water tub set up from the previous year, do not start this project in September for October Navratri.

Sabudana (sago): This is a processed product made from cassava root. Cassava does grow in pots but takes a full year to mature, and extracting sabudana from cassava at home is a complex multi-day process. Sabudana comes from the market.

Samak rice (barnyard millet): Like all millets, samak requires field-scale growing to yield useful quantities. A terrace pot will give you a decorative grass plant, nothing more.

Raw banana: A banana plant is a long-term terrace project. It needs a very large container (50-60 litres minimum), does not fruit for 12-18 months, and the fruiting is seasonal and not guaranteed in containers in all climates. If you already have a banana plant from a year ago, you may get raw bananas in October — but starting one now for Navratri is not realistic.

The honest approach: grow what your terrace does well (amaranth, sweet potato, potatoes, bottle gourd, spinach) and buy the processed and grain-based fasting staples from the market.

FAQ

Q: Can I grow rajgira seeds for puffed amaranth (rajgira laddoo) on my terrace?

A: Yes, but with a caveat. Rajgira grown for seed needs to reach full maturity — the plants must be 4-5 feet tall with fully formed seed heads before harvest, which takes about 90-100 days. For October Navratri, you would need to sow in late June or early July. Container-grown amaranth for seed is possible in a 15-20 litre pot, but yields will be modest — perhaps 100-200 grams of seed per large pot. It is worth doing as a fun growing project, but do not rely on it as your sole source of rajgira laddoo ingredients. For leaves, the 30-35 day September sowing is much more reliable.

Q: How many pots of amaranth do I need for a family of four during Navratri?

A: Sow at least six to eight 10-12 inch pots in staggered batches (some in the first week of September, the rest in the second week). Each pot yields a generous handful of leaves every 2-3 days once established. For nine days of Navratri, with one amaranth leaf dish per day for four people, eight pots will give you a comfortable supply with some to spare. Amaranth leaves cook down significantly, so generous pot numbers are worth it.

Q: My terrace is west-facing and gets only 4-5 hours of direct sun in October. Will these crops still grow?

A: Amaranth leaves will grow in 4-5 hours of direct sun, though they may be slightly less vigorous than in full sun. Sweet potato and potatoes ideally want 6+ hours, but will still produce in a west-facing terrace — expect yields around 30-40% lower than a south-facing terrace. Spinach and methi actually prefer the slightly reduced sun in October on a west-facing terrace in North Indian cities, where afternoons can be warm. Position your amaranth and leafy green pots where they get the most available light.

Q: Can I use regular table salt when growing these plants, or does sendha namak have any effect on plant care?

A: Sendha namak (rock salt / Himalayan pink salt) is a fasting rule for cooking, not for gardening. For watering and fertilising your plants, use regular water — no salt of any kind should go into your pots. Adding salt to soil in any form is harmful to plants. The sendha namak in Navratri cooking is entirely separate from how you care for your garden.

Q: I live in Mumbai and the post-monsoon humidity in October is high. Should I worry about fungal disease on my amaranth?

A: Yes, Mumbai and coastal Pune terrace gardeners should watch for downy mildew and leaf spot on amaranth in October, when post-monsoon humidity remains high. Space your pots at least 8-10 inches apart for air circulation, avoid wetting leaves when you water (water at the base), and remove any yellowing or spotted leaves promptly. If you see early signs of fungal damage, a light spray of diluted neem oil (5 ml neem oil + 1 ml liquid soap in one litre of water) applied in the evening is effective and safe for edible leaves. Harvest frequently — regular leaf picking also reduces fungal pressure by keeping the canopy open.

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