Month: January 2019
Hydroponic gardening has spiked in popularity recently mainly because the quality and productivity of hydroponically grown plants has been unmistakable. These plants grow faster and healthier than their soil-grown counterparts. This is due to the fact that they are grown in an environment where there is a virtual limitless supply of nutrients and water at their disposal.
These hydroponically grown plants, because they are not grown in soil, do not need to fight off diseases and pests which are natural in soil. Pesticides can be decreased or even eliminated.
And because the nutrients and water are delivered in just the right proportion directly to the plant’s roots, they are better equipped to grow – faster, healthier, larger!
Hydroponically grown plants have the following benefits:
– They will provide high levels of nutrition
– They will be better tasting
– They will be rich in color.
In hydroponic gardening you will find that the crop’s water and nutritional needs are less complicated and sometimes more effective. Just a few simple measurements and it will be evident what adjustments need to be made to the nutritional balance in the water. All the guesswork is eliminated!
Although nutrient solutions are available from local hydroponic suppliers and contain the correct proportions of essential minerals, gardeners may also make their own nutrient rich solutions. This may sometimes require quite a bit of extra work however.
When it comes to the growing medium that will provide plants their nutrition, different materials have been successfully used. Materials such as sand, porous rock, gravel, pumice, perlite, and vermiculite have all proven to be good choices. Fired clay particles can also be used. These all are capable of providing a way of getting the nutrient rich water into the plant’s root system.
Also, there are various types of containers and pumping arrangements for delivering nutrient solutions to the garden and draining it back to the storage tanks for reuse.
If you’re just starting out in hydroponic gardening you may be wondering which types of plants are most suitable for hydroponic gardens. The answer to this is tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, and cucumbers. There are some types of tomatoes that will continue to produce year round.
Some plants can be started from seeds and seedlings. In this case use commercially available rock wool plugs submerged in the media. These make excellent incubators for germination and seedling growth.
And since hydroponic gardens are self-contained, they can be located just about anywhere space permits. It is not unusual to find these by windows, on rooftops, or in closets.
Are you interested in growing vegetables in your garden? Growing vegetables in the vegetable garden is much easier than you imagine.
To grow vegetables, you do not need a large site.
You can grow in containers without any need for a piece of land.
In fact, growing vegetables need a careful planning and some simple planting tips with which you can grow your own vegetables in no time!
1.For a successful growth of vegetables, a healthy soil is very important. Use a high-quality soil or improve the existing one through the addition of organic materials such as sphagnum peat moss, leaf mold, compost, and rotted manure in large quantities. For a clay type soil, add some sand to provide a clear drainage. Add these materials into the soil using till or spade.
2.Good soil with better drainage is best for growing vegetables healthily. So, get your soil tested prior to using it for vegetable plants. Also, ensure that soil has all essential nutrients required for a plant growth.
3.Location of the garden is the key to the vegetable garden planning process. As almost all vegetables needs a minimum of 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight for a healthy growth, choose a sunny spot with full of sunlightsouth, southeast or south west facing is best spot.
4.In a partially shady location where you get less sunlight, it is best to grow leaf crops like lettuce, coriander, and spinach than tomatoes or other vegetables.
5. For a vegetable garden, choose a location away from trees and shrubs as far as possible. This is because the roots of trees and shrubs, near the vegetable plants, will deprive the essential nutrients and water of the vegetable plants.
6. It is a good idea to locate the garden close to your water source. This helps you save time and energy.
7.Employ a drip irrigation system to save your water as well as to reduce watering chores. This system is most beneficial because it provides water directly to the root region of plants. In addition, it provides water automatically for the plants in the garden if you set a timer on your faucet.
8. For a vegetable garden, it is good to obtain maximum yields within a minimum space. So, do inter-planting with quick-growing vegetables (bunching onions) and slower-growing vegetables (cauliflower and broccoli).
9. It is not a good idea to do over planting. Growing several plants in a small area can damage the growth of all vegetable plants in the garden.
10. Get aware of the plant-growing season and protect the plants according to the season. To protect plants from early frosts, always use cloches, plant protectors, and row covers. Tomatoes are cold-sensitive vegetables and can be transplanted outdoors prior to its normal planting time.
11.Mulching is the best way to maintain healthy vegetable plants. So, mulch the vegetable plants in the summer time. This helps to eradicate weeds, keeps soil moisture and improves the soil structure when it gets rot. Cocoa bean hulls, straw, shredded bark, spoiled hay, and compost are the best mulch materials for vegetable plants.
There are many reports every year all over the United States about birds hitting windows on homes and buildings repeatedly. In fact, in just the United States there are an estimated 900 million birds killed from hitting windows every year. Now that sounds like a lot, but if you think about it, that’s really only an average of about 2-3 birds per house each year, with many people reporting more than 3.
The reasons behind all this window striking is mainly due to the refection birds see when it is brighter outside than inside your house. This makes it very easy for them to see everything that is outside reflected in the glass like a mirror. There are even many instances where the birds see its own reflection and will feel the need to chase that other bird they see (this happens a lot during breading season).
Therefore, this is a topic discussed numerous times every year about the best solutions to get birds to stop doing this.
So, at this point I’m sure some readers have already done some of their own research about different answers to get this stopped. Some for example are:
Sticking decals on the glass
Move bird feeders farther away from the house
Hanging things down in front of their windows
Installing screens
Even replacing windows with a ones that reflect down or bird safe glass
As a result, these techniques can help, but do not always get the job done and can get expensive after trying one thing and then another. Also, I prefer my bird feeders to be somewhat close to my house, so I don’t have to use binoculars every time I want a better look at a bird I see at our feeders. So the easiest, and in my opinion the best solution to this problem is a feeder that mounts directly on the window. And the reason this works so well is because the birds can very clearly see the feeder on the window, and will fly to the feeder to eat then away from the house when finished eating (which the flying away from feeders is the most common window hitting). This is also a cheap way to fixing the problem with window bird feeders only costing $12 to $25 on average, and are great for getting a close view of birds while eating.
I hope this was helpful and that you are able to save more birds from hitting your windows. And for your convenience there is a great new bird supply store online that has amazing organized selections of everything bird watching related with some great deals on window bird feeders as well (please see my resources for more information).
A true gardener is an artist and can plant a garden to look like a picture of beauty, and in this year of the Diamond Jubilee gardeners are planting their gardens to honour the Queen with patriotic colours.
Gardeners all over the UK will be prompted to fly the flag for Britain and plant their gardens this year in the form of red, white and blue designs in beds, borders and containers. Blue and white lobelia, the red geranium and salvias and many other bedding favourites will be the mainstay for many borders, of course it will be a challenge to get these colours in the garden in time for the jubilee celebrations in the first week of June.
The ivy geranium can be grown in baskets and come in beautiful five-petal flowers in white with lavender markings, deep pink, purple, white, red, salmon, purple and burgundy, and can easily make a wonderful patriotic display maybe with blue and white lobelia and red geraniums all planted together, there are many plants that will offer the red, white and blue of the flag, the begonia with pure white petals also makes a wonderful hanging plant the begonia leaves are pleasantly colourful on vines that grow up to 3 feet long as they cascade over the hanging basket.
Containers are another way of flying the flag plant up a variety of plants in red, white, and blue. There a lot of garden centres and nurseries that are already tuned into the event and will supply a pack of the three colours in different plants.
Hanging baskets are a popular addition to patios, and outside walls and fences, and whether or not you want to plant up especially for the royal occasion, there are many plants that look especially great in baskets, for example the trailing verbena plant a fast-growing hanging basket plant that blossoms from spring to the hard frost season, and colours including pink, purple, white, red and lavender. The Fuchsia and petunia also make wonderful hanging basket plants.
Containers is another way to plant up different plants for pleasure, lavender plants grow well in containers, although lavender has a large, spreading root system, it prefers growing in a tight space, a pot that can accommodate the root ball with a couple of inches to spare would be a great choice.
The pot should have plenty of drainage, rot root is one of the few problems experienced by lavender plants, but remember that container grown lavender will require more water than garden grown plants.
A spokesman for Blooming Direct a horticultural business located on the island of Jersey said yes we have noticed that gardeners are buying more red, white, and blue flowering plants, but we are still doing good business with the more vibrant colours such as oranges, and bright yellows, we have a huge selection of garden plants, and are on online shopping facility which delivers all orders to the UK FREE, we take great trouble to pack carefully so the customer receives all the plants in perfect condition. He went on to say, we have many offers, on plants, gardening tools, garden furniture, we also offer gift vouchers which we think makes a perfect gift for a keen gardener.
For further information visit: www.bloomingdirect.com or you can visit their Facebook page to discover more offers.
Do you long for masses of plants, but have only a small balcony or patio to work with? Fear not, garden lover, the answer is at hand with vertical gardening.
The idea of transforming a blank wall into a blaze of living colour has long been popular in Europe, where cramped conditions put outdoor space at a premium. So, if you want to get the most out of your outdoor living space, why not consider a vertical garden?
The types of vertical gardens you can create will be governed by the space available, the types of plants you wish to grow, and your imagination.
If you have a skinny garden bed along the base of a blank wall, careful planting can cover the wall from bottom to top with foliage. A trellis against a wall works especially well with containers placed at the base filled with climbers such as vines or roses.
Without a garden at the base of your wall, you are limited to stackable modules, containers or hanging baskets. You can use stackable modules that can be placed against a wall, attach a trellis to a wall, or use hanging baskets made from a breathable fabric
Plants which don’t require much soil, such as succulents, work best in small stackable trays. Trays also tend to have better irrigation than hanging pocket baskets.
The simplest and easiest vertical garden could be just a wire trellis hung on hooks attached to a wall, with plant containers placed on the ground below it. Fill the containers with climbing plants and in no time you’ll have your vertical garden.
If you are handier with tools, you can make your own stackable modules from a durable timber. Make sure you make allowance for drainage and apply a good preservative to the timber before filling with potting soil.
Vertical gardens work just as well for herb and vegetable growing and flower displays. Place your trailing herbs, such as oregano or thyme, towards the top of the wall and use the lower spaces for upright varieties, such as lettuce or tomato.
You don’t need to be an expert handyman or woman to create your own vertical garden. Even if you are more at home with a spade than a hammer or saw, there are modules that you can buy as opposed to making your own. And if everything else fails, you can always have an expert come in and create your vertical garden for you.
Now take another look at that blank wall outside and see how easy it is to change it into a glorious living vertical garden. Let your imagination run wild!