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Posts Tagged ‘Plants’

Tropical Paradise. We often see commercials of Tropical Vacations and dream of better days sitting under the sun with a drink in our hands. What is it about the tropics we so enduring? What lures us to these places? In colder climates during the winter months plants have acclimated to the climate. They can take freezing temperatures and months of snow and ice. However tropical plants are not capable of surviving these climates. But we still long for that Tropical fruit we buy in the store for outrageous prices. What if we could go over to a tropical tree, select a ripe fruit and eat it right then and there, while outside a blizzard is taking place? Our own tropical paradise, right inside out own home. Many tropical plants will grow with the right care and conditions in areas that normally would not permit them. These same plants that grow in abundance in Asia, South America, Africa, can grow right in your own living room, ready to pluck the ripe, sweet fruit grown specifically by you.

Potting

There are many different types of pots available and each has its benefits and drawbacks. There is plastic with can heat up or freeze quickly, Metal, same as plastic,
Clay and wood dry quicker, ceramic that can be heavy and many others that you can buy at local garden centers. For the most part all can be used quite successfully with tropical plants. Choose one based on your own preferences.

These pots should have holes in the bottom for adequate drainage. When you buy your pot, and before you put in soil, cover these holes with a mesh of some sort to help retain the soil, it is also good to put down an inch or two of gravel to insure good drainage. With tropical plants drainage is essential to healthy plants.

Potting soil from the local garden center will suffice; however a much better solution would be 1 part Perlite or Vermiculite, 1 part course sand, and 1 part Peat. This gives good drainage as well as sufficient nutrients. Make sure your soil is not packed down heavy to allow good drainage but not excessive drainage.

Remove your plant from its original container; look carefully at the root system. It they are heavily packed in and there is more root then dirt, we want to prune these roots before we plant. Take some of these roots and loosen them up and then carefully clip the ends to stimulate the plant to root more in its new container. If pruning is not needed, then just loosen the root ball before planting.

Place the plant in the new container making sure you have filled it halve way with the new planting material. You want to make sure that when you fill the rest of the container with soil, the soil line is the same as the original plant when you pulled it out. The soil like should be about 1-4 inches below the rim of the pot when you are all finished.

Important key: Make sure your fully grown plant will be proportional to your pot. Don’t put an 8 foot tall tree in a 10 inch pot. Allow the roots to be able to grow, the larger the pot the more fruit it will bear.

Light

Tropical plants usually require lots of sunlight, anywhere you can place them to receive full sunlight is beneficial to them. Search on the internet for your species to find out their light requirements. Some tropicals do well in partial shade however most need to receive the maximum sunlight available.

Tropical plants, when you receive them are most likely used to full sunlight, when you are going to bring them indoors, or for winter times, when bringing them indoors, you must acclimate them to your indoor area. Make sure to put them near a good light source and if possible add additional light

Water

Tropical plants are used to lots of water, however they are also used to well drained soil, so their water requirements are different for potted plants. These dependencies are based on size of the pot, size of the plant, type of plant, temperature where you keep the plant, the humidity and the type of soil you have. You are usually safe to water, when the upper surface of the soil is dry before you water your plant. Slowly fill the container watching for runoff at the bottom holes. Remember that wood or clay pots dry faster, making watering more frequent, and cooler weather slows down the growth of the plant, thus reducing the need to water as much.

Temperature

This is probably the key ingredient to successful tropical plant keeping. NO FREEZING WEATHER. Tropical plants cannot take cold temperatures, so you will need to find a way to bring these indoors. Cold temperatures will lead to root damage, and leave damage. Again it depends on the species of tropical plant you have to the extent it can take cold weather. Some plants you can just cover overnight and then remove each morning, others will need to be brought indoors. If you bring them indoors make sure you keep them away from drafts from doors or windows to freeze, and out of the heating vent areas so not to dry out too fast.

Fertilizer

Too much fertilizer is very bad for tropical plants. The best type of fertilizer to use are water soluble types, any local garden center can help you pick out a good fertilizer that will meet the plants requirements. Read the directions completely. After spending good money on a beautiful tropical plant, you would hate to kill it by over fertilizing it. Usually with a tropical plant the mature foliage will show deep green indicating that you are fertilizing on the correct scale. Make sure your fertilizer has a complete balanced diet of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, and Lesser amounts of Magnesium, Iron, Manganese, Zinc, Copper, again Read the label.

Pruning

With most container tropical plants little or no pruning is needed. However if the plant becomes “leggy” due to poor light conditions then cut it back greatly to force it to bush out. If the top becomes too large for the root structure, again a large pruning spree is needed. Also when you start to get leaf shed and twig die back this is an indication that the root structure is not large enough for the top foliage and pruning is needed.
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Gardening can add more quality to the way you live and even to some extent may also add quantity to one’s life. There are many benefits of gardening, particularly organic gardening that can make one can forget about whatever is bothering him or her.

Organic gardening is the way of growing vegetables and fruits with the use of things only found in nature.

Why would one want to indulge in organic gardening?

1. Organic gardening is less boring.

One can easily make his own compost from garden and kitchen waste. Though this is a bit more time-consuming than buying prepared chemical pesticides and fertilizers, it would surely be one rewarding activity.

2. Less health harming chemicals on the food that you and your family may consume.

Pesticides contain toxins that have only one purpose kill living things. One of the best known benefits of organic gardening is the zero tolerance for pesticide use. This is the most widely know reason for the boom of organic gardening and is also the best of what we get from the benefits of organic gardening.

3. Less harm to the environment.

Organic gardening has residual effect on ground water. The Environmental Protection Agency says that 38 states have cases of contaminated ground water.

The protection of the topsoil from erosion is another concern dealt with the practice of organic gardening.

The Soil Conservation Service says that an estimated 30 – 32 billion tons of soil erodes from United States farmlands every year. Commercial farming causes this.

4. Cost savings

One does need to buy costly chemical fertilizers and pesticides with organic gardening. One example of organic fertilizer that one could make use of is as lowly as the stale coffee and coffee grounds. If one wishes to attract off aphids from vegetables, plant marigolds.

One frugal garden pest spray could be concocted through mixing 1 tablespoon of liquid dishwashing soap and 1 cup of cooking oil. Put 3 tablespoons of this mixture in 1 quart of water and spray on plants.
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Various gardening magazines are available in the market. But would you like to know which stands out from the rest? Here are some gardening magazines that feature various information for anyone in love with his or her garden.

COUNTRY GARDENS presents readers the eventful experiences of gardeners with their extraordinary gardens. It introduces wonderful new ways to enjoy garden sights and scents. It helps one to create an eye-pleasing, fragrance – filled country garden.

Country Gardens has very useful advice on setting up and caring for your garden. Every issue contains profiles of fascinating people and their gardens, inspiration for gardens and detailed garden plans. Best of all, it’s a trusted source of information that’s so easy to digest. Every season carries a vast harvest of ideas to delight, motivate and guide any gardener.

How about a gardening magazine for those who wants to become a better gardener? FINE GARDENING MAGAZINE from The Taunton Press brings you amazing design ideas, beneficial techniques, and the know-how to get the best results from your gardening endeavors.

In each issue you’ll find eye-opening bits of advice from the experts, detailed information on all types of plants, effective techniques and time-saving tips, straightforward tool reviews from editors and readers and planting suggestions for specific regions.
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You have always been envious of your neighbors’ spruced up garden by the yard. Flowers and lush shrubs abound in their tiny nook of paradise. You ask yourself why you never get to have that kind of garden. And, you usually dismiss such wondering with lines like “I don’t have a green thumb!” or “I can’t afford a gardener or a professional landscaper,” which are both lame alibis.

If you want your yard to look regal with a simple but well-maintained garden, you only need two things – determination and the know-how of such an endeavor. Psyche yourself to muster such will that would consequently urge you to look for sources of information on how to go about it.

For your own gardening happiness, here’s a rundown of tips on how to make your gardening by the yard endeavor a very rewarding one.

1. Deadheading

One good rule of the green thumb is to keep your border free from wilted flowers and dried leaves. Deadheading or removing dead flowers’ heads will promote the blooming of your plants. Some perennials such as phlox, daylily, and Lady’s Mantle get their growth jumpstarted by deadheading.

2. Prune selectively

It is a must to shorten the size of your annuals through selective pruning. This will help the plants to grow more.
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