Rashmika Mandanna takes part in Green India Challenge; here's how to plant a sapling

Recently, actress Samantha Akkineni took to Instagram to post pictures and a video of planting saplings. Samantha seems to be participating in the Green India Challenge launched by the Rajya Sabha member J Santosh Kumar. Further, Samantha nominated the actress Rashmika Mandanna, Keerthy Suresh, and fashion designer Shilpa Reddy for the challenge. This challenge asked people to plant saplings while also posting about it on their social media handles. In addition to Rashmika, Mandana, several other celebrities like  Prabhas and Adivi Sesh also took part in the challenge.

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Sapling meaning:

Are you wondering, “What is a sapling”? Saplings are young trees that measure 1 to 5 inches in height. They can be purchased at local garden centres, online, or via a catalogue.

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Recently, home-gardening has emerged as a thriving social media trend. In times of a pandemic, it is extremely important to protect the environment. Owing to the social media trend, several have taken to home-gardening. Further, several educational institutions are also encouraging home gardening. While home-gardening is a social media trend, it also has several benefits. Here are some benefits of home-gardening:

• It helps to keep the air cool and fresh.
• Organic food items that are grown through home-gardening are a healthier option.
• It is cheaper to grow foods through home-gardening than to purchase the items from markets.
• Home-gardening helps to relieve stress.
• It is a great family activity.

How to plant saplings at home?

Before planting a sapling, you must make sure that you have the following materials at home:

• A large bucket
• Organic mulch
• Compost
• Water
• A shovel
• Pruning shears
• Scissors

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Steps to plant saplings:

1. Pick an open sunny spot. Make sure to choose a location that does not interfere with the root system in the future. Further, the sapling should be 15 feet away from any kind of obstructions such as sidewalks, driveways, power lines etc.
2. Make sure the roots of the sapling are moist. Place the roots in a large bucket of water.
3. Dig a hole that is two or three times the width of the root ball.
4. In case the roots encircle in a deep circular pattern, use pruning shears to score the bottom of the root ball with a few cuts.
5.  Trim the dry and damaged roots of the sapling.
6. Extract the excess soil from the root ball.
7. Plant the primary root slightly below the soil.
8. Make sure to get rid of any netting, tree tags, or zip ties that can disfigure trunks and branches.
9. Fill the hole with compost.
10. Add soil until all the air pockets and the soil is level with the ground.
11. Add organic mulch generously.
12. Make sure that the mulch is at least 3-4 inches deep.
13. Leave some space between the bark and the mulch for air circulation.
14. Water the sapling generously.

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Promo Image Source: Rashmika Mandanna's Instagram