Many people think the orchid plant cannot be grown indoors. When grown in the wild, the orchid plant often forms a symbiotic relationship with other plants in order to get the nutrients that it needs. The orchid plant, like most other plants, must live in the proper conditions in order for it to bloom. The three major conditions that must be controlled in order for the orchid plant to bloom are water, light, and temperature. The orchid plant receives moisture through its roots like all other plants. Avoid planting the orchid in potting soil, because it does not like to be in standing water. The orchid thrives in bright, indirect sunlight. The orchid will continue to grow without this change, but it will not bloom. … [Read more]
Tags: orchid, orchid flowers, orchids Posted in Gardening | No Comments | 47 views
Vegetable gardening can be one of the most rewarding experiences in life. Eating your own fresh vegetables picked straight off the plant or fresh from the ground with the real taste still intact beats store brought produce every time.
I grew up in Auckland, New Zealand and gardening on the slopes of One Tree Hill, an extinct volcano, with perfect dark volcanic soil, it was merely a matter of chucking some seeds onto the ground, raking it over with soil and coming back and harvesting the bounty. With very regular rainfall there was little need to irrigate, abit of pest control to keep down the snails and abit of weeding was about it. … [Read more]
Tags: garden on hard clay soils, Gardening, vegetable gardening, vegetable gardening on hard clay Posted in Gardening | No Comments | 65 views
There are different kinds of gardens that require different kinds of garden tools. There are shops for garden tools that cater to all kinds of gardens and others specialize in a certain kind of garden. There are also stores for the best gardening tools that offer alternative tools such as natural pest control methods, organic fertilizers and ergonomic garden tools. Most of these shops offer the best gardening tools.
So in your search for the most useful tools for your gardening activities, it is important to note what kind of garden you have. … [Read more]
Tags: garden, Gardening, plants Posted in Gardening | No Comments | 51 views
Companion plantings of some kind have been practiced throughout agricultural history. Some of the earliest written documents on gardening discuss these relationships. Early settlers discovered American First Nations people were using an interplanting scheme of corn-bean-squash that balanced the requirements of each crop for light, water, and nutrients. In the 1800’s, hemp (cannabis) was often planted around a cabbage field to keep away the white cabbage butterflies in Holland. In many parts of the world today, subsistence farmers and organic gardeners grow two or more crops simultaneously in a given area to achieve a certain benefit. … [Read more]
Tags: companion planting, eco-systems, integrated pest management, organic gardening Posted in Gardening | No Comments | 61 views
Palm trees, scientifically known as Arecaceae or Palmae, are trees belonging to a family of monocot flowering plants. There are approximately 2,600 different species of palm trees, the majority of which are native to tropical or subtropical climates. Some well-known trees that belong to this group include coconut trees, rattan trees, and date palm trees.
Uses of palm trees
Palm trees have many uses. Palm tree sap is sometimes fermented in order to produce palm wine, or palm toddy. To make palm wine from the sap of palm trees, the sap is first collected by cutting between the tree kernels. A container is placed below the cut to collect the sap, a process that takes one or two days. The sap begins fermenting immediately and creates a wine within two hours. If the palm sap is allowed to sit too long, however, it turns into vinegar. … [Read more]
Tags: christmas, Environment, Gardening, lawn, outdoors, tree, Trees Posted in Gardening | No Comments | 54 views
Here are several tips for creating a wonderful hanging basket or container this summer. The first is to use an artificial soil composed mostly of peat moss. Good soils such as Fafard or Pro-Mix use perlite, peat, and other ingredients to produce a soil that will not compact over the summer. Real garden soil compacts and turns into concrete under the pressure of regular watering. And when it does, plant roots stop growing because they require good open spaces to move into and absorb nutrients. Hard, compacted soils do not grow good plants so do not use real soil in your containers. I re-use my artificial potting soil from year to year. I dump it out of the pot. Chew it up with a shovel to cut up all last year’s roots and add approximately 10 % by volume of compost. The compost increases air spaces and gives plants a boost in healthy nutrition. … [Read more]
Tags: container gardening, Gardening, gardens, landscaping Posted in Gardening | No Comments | 140 views
As you may have observed from your gardening experiences plants can be fussy things. The right location, amount of sunlight and 101 other factors influence your plant’s growing ability. One factor which is very beneficial in understanding before putting that new plant into the earth is soil pH.
What is Soil pH?
Let’s get all scientific for a moment and learn what pH is. In chemistry pH is a measure of how acidic or alkaline a solution is. Okay chemistry lesson over. Basically soil pH is a measure of how acidic or alkaline your soil is. Soil pH is measured on a scale of 1 to 14. If your soil has a pH value of less than 7 then you have acidic soil. On the other hand if your soil has a pH value of greater than 7 then you have alkaline soil. A pH value of 7 is neutral, meaning you have neither acidic or alkaline soil. … [Read more]
Tags: acidic, alkaline, flowers, garden, lawn, ph, plants, scale, soil Posted in Gardening | No Comments | 58 views
Maybe you’ve never heard the term vermiculture, if so don’t feel bad, many experienced gardeners are unfamiliar with this organic practice. I think vermiculture is fascinating; simply put it’s the process of composting kitchen waste with earthworms. We’re not talking about common night crawlers, but special varieties of worms such as red worms, and red wigglers.
Okay, I’ll admit to owning an ant farm when I was a kid, but this is so much more practical. Vermiculture, or vermicomposting as its also known is more like beekeeping; yes I’ve given that a try too. But just imagine for a second, you feed the worms your leftover garbage and kitchen scraps. The worms then quickly eat all those leftovers, sparing you the hassles of taking out the garbage. … [Read more]
Tags: composting, organic vegetable gardening, vermicomposting, vermiculture Posted in Gardening | 1 Comment | 82 views
It’s green; it’s slimy; it’s slippery. It’s growing on your lawn, your patio, your steps and walkways-even your roof and siding. If you’ve ever lived through several humid or wet days, you probably have had to deal with moss or algae.
“Dampness combined with heavy shade and poor air circulation are the ingredients that create moss and algae,” says Bayer Advanced™ Garden Expert Lance Walheim, who wrote the book “Lawn Care for Dummies” and is a regular contributor to Sunset magazine. “They make your house look dirty and on your patio, it’s easy for children or the elderly to slip and fall.” … [Read more]
Tags: get rid of moss and algae for good Posted in Gardening | No Comments | 177 views
The Calla Lilies are plants belonging to the Zantedeschia genus in the Araceae family. The genus contains seven plant species and they are all commonly referred to as Calla Lillies. Some of them have other common names as well. Zantedeschia aethiopica is also known as giant white arum lily and common arum lily. Zantedeschia albomaculata is sometimes sold as spotted arum lily, and Zantedeschia rehmannii is known as the pink arum lily. Zantedeschia elliottiana has a yellow shade and is therefore called yellow or golden arum lily. The other three species, Zantedeschia odorata, Zantedeschia jucunda and Zantedeschia pentlandii, are usually called just Calla Lilies. … [Read more]
Tags: calla lily, flower, garden Posted in Gardening | No Comments | 354 views
