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The majority of the green-fingered in Singapore might not have the benefit of having large backyards or open spaces to grow their plants.

After all, with numerous apartment units packed into one HDB block, the only viable area where one's plants can receive plenty of sunshine is the common corridor.

These constraints haven't stopped one Singaporean man though.

A Bukit Panjang resident named Steven Tan has made full use of his flat's layout to cultivate his lush "sky garden", as his daughter Wan Jun coined in a viral Facebook post.

Bountiful harvests

The 66-year-old Tan told Mothership that he has been growing this garden from the comfort of his home for many years, and cannot recall when exactly he first started it.

Initially starting off with plants that are easier to grow, over the years he has levelled up and moved on to more exotic fruits and vegetables, as well as plants that are tougher to cultivate like orchids.

Tan has grown produce like bitter gourd, lantern chili, rock melon, golden melon, grapes and apples.

Here's Tan and his bountiful harvests.

Tan's garden is not just host to fruits and vegetables, but the occasional wildlife as well.

Nifty set-up

Tan's "sky garden" set-up is a surprisingly innovative one.

He shared that the fruits and veggies are first planted in pots along the corridor outside their flat.

The plants only extend to about a metre along the corridor outside Tan's flats, and so the pots and vines don't really affect any neighbours.

As the family lives in a corner unit, the plants' growing creepers are then conveniently threaded along the ledge outside their windows, where Tan has constructed a nifty contraption of thin bamboo sticks.

The vines are then tied to the sticks, which Tan says are much lighter than the usual bamboo poles that people hang their clothes from, and cable ties are then used to secure them.

He also secures some mesh netting below the fruits to prevent them from dropping to the ground below.

Growing them in this spot outside his windows ensures that the plants can "breathe and soak in more sunshine".

As Tan says, plants need plenty of tender loving care, and this includes ensuring they get enough water and nutrients.

The elderly man sets the soil from the nursery and adds fertiliser regularly.

A water feature inside his flat, a small pond, also feeds water directly to the plants via a pipe and uses a self timer. Tan is proud to say that he constructed the pond by himself as well.

The self timer is a particularly useful component, as it ensures his plants "will never be thirsty" and are well-watered when the family took vacations pre-pandemic.

Sight for sore eyes

Tan shares that this hobby of his is partly a way to relax from his current day job in the construction industry, and the plants are a sight for sore eyes.

"Every day see sun, see rain, see concrete, see metal, come home must see some fish, some water, some plants, some fruits," he candidly states.

He adds that with living in a concrete jungle like Singapore, the greenery helps liven up his home.

Tan and his family have since been able to enjoy the fruits of his labour, literally.

However, Tan's son-in-law, Lai Wai Kit, says that such feasts are a "once in a blue moon affair".

After all, the plants do take quite some time to ripen, with some fruits taking more than six months.

Despite the impressive array of fruits and vegetables Tan has managed to grow, his favourite plant is a special orchid, which he named after his wife, Sally.

Tan might be making full use of his "sky garden" but his daughter is also applying for a plot in the community garden for him to grow "more interesting things".

You can watch this cute video of Tan showing off his garden to his grandchildren here.

Top photo from Wan Jun / FB