Cafeteria and Terrace Herb Garden in Ahmedabad

Curry leaf, lemongrass and most greens tolerate Ahmedabad's summer if a shade net cuts the midday sun over a terrace bed, but the same crops planted in open sun from March to June, when the average high sits near 43°C, bolt or scorch before the cafeteria gets a real harvest from them.

The cooler months, November to February with an average high near 30°C, are the easiest stretch for a cafeteria bed here, and most of a year's replanting is timed to start then rather than at the height of summer.

Drip, not a hose, through the dry months

Grow bags and raised beds dry out faster than open ground in a hot, dry climate, so a drip line on a timer matters more on an Ahmedabad terrace than in a wetter city, particularly through the long dry stretch between the end of one monsoon and the start of the next.

One heavy spell can outrun a small bed's drainage

Ahmedabad's roughly 800 mm of yearly rain looks modest against wetter Indian cities, but it tends to arrive in a handful of intense spells rather than as steady rain, and a raised bed with even one blocked drainage hole can waterlog in a single such spell no matter how well the rest of the season behaves.

Checking that every bed and grow bag drains freely before the monsoon breaks in mid-June avoids the larger job of digging out and replanting a waterlogged bed in July.

A cafeteria bed's shade net is also worth checking twice a year, once before the summer heat sets in around March and again before the rains arrive, since its job changes between the two seasons.