Recent Comments

Meta

You Can Grow Special Orchids

Filed Under (gardening) by Jill Luning on 28-04-2009

by Jill Luning

Orchids are very popular plants in Indonesia and easy to find in every island, you do not have to go to the jungle to see them. That is one of the reasons why Indonesia chose Phalaenopsis amabilis as one of our national flowers. Orchids are notoriously lavish blooms that can add glitz and glamour to your walk down the aisle. Simply gorgeous wedding flowers. Orchids dislike sudden change in temperature, however a difference of 10 C - 20 C between day and night temperature is beneficial. The best suitable range is 18 C to 30 C, proper ventilation is must to provide fresh air and also helps in reducing the temperature.

Orchids are found throughout the world from the tropics to the subarctic zone. However, the orchid-richest areas are the tropics and subtropics. Orchids, like tulips , have become a major market throughout the world. Buyers now bid hundreds of dollars on new hybrids or improved ones. Orchids have few insect pests or diseases if properly cared for. It is important to have a problem identified before attempting control. Orchids native to temperate and arctic regions usually grow in soil or leaf litter. They generally have tuberous or bulbous roots which store moisture and nutrients.

Orchids have very low nutrient requirements, and do not tolerate high nutrient fertilizers. The addition of a good leaf or bark compost to the soil mix is sufficient to supply necessary nutrients. Orchids are affected by many of the same pests and diseases as other houseplants. Insects such as mealybugs and aphids can be controlled with the proper insecticide. Orchids are higher level plants that brighten anybodies day!

Orchids are sensitive plants for the most part and fertilizer burn is common for overfed samples. To avoid that problem, fertilize once per month at full strength, then dilute the mixture to one-quarter strength for the other weekly feedings. Orchids like about 50% humidity. To increase the humidity you can do several things.

Orchid roots tend to form at the base of pseudobulbs, or along the rhizome (occasionally however, young plants complete with roots may form high up on the parent stem). The flower spike of sympodial orchids arise from the base of the pseudobulb, the end of the pseudobulb, some point along it, or even from a rhizome.

Epiphytes are the easiest to grow in the most common in orchid collections. Western Australia is home to mostly terrestrial orchids which are well-known for their size, bright color and strange markings. Epiphytes have thick roots (called aerial roots because they’re frequently suspended in the air). These aerial roots are covered with a silvery material called velamen, which can absorb moisture from the air like a sponge.

You can grow flowers you can’t wait to show off. Growing and caring for orchids is a very pleasurable experience for any enthusiast. There is however alternative ways to growing orchids the traditional way and that is with hydroponics.

Orchids have urban amply specialized pollination systems and therefore the odds of being pollinated are regularly scarce. Orchids can grow in just about any environment and the kinds of orchids that you pick determine the type of environment needed. The majority of the various kinds of orchids are going to grow in tropical environments and they span from the beautiful to the unusual. Orchids are also noted for their odorous offerings. Did you know that the sweet-scented smell of vanilla is actually an orchid?

About the Author:
Add this to : Digg! Digg it Bookmark! Save to Del.icio.us Subscribe to RSS Subscribe to My RSS feed

Hydroponics System: Gardening Becomes Modern

Filed Under (gardening) by Paul J. Easton on 21-04-2009

by Paul J. Easton

Hydroponics systems can effectively produce bountiful harvests of fruits and vegetables while shortening the amount of time necessary to bring about great plants. Any vegetable, flower, shrub and even trees can be healthily produced with the highest vitamin content without having to cultivate, weed and mulch. In such a system too, watering and fertilizing can be handled by automatic hydroponics system.

The amount of time saved with the hydroponics system is important because it will leave you to focus on other gardening activities like pruning and training of crops. This likewise allows you with more time to spend on other activities outside of gardening.

You will be now efficient in growing a big number of crops in just a small area. This also guarantees a better yield than the usual.

You will eventually learn that vegetables and fruit grown hydroponically have better qualities. Because the crops will not be lacking in any nutrients you will learn that they develop better at a faster rate and have better resistance to plant diseases than crops produced in the soil.

When plants are removed from a hydroponics system, the new seedlings can be replaced instantly as well. There is no delay because there is no soil to be sterilized making it possible for you to have continuous farming.

These benefits are all brought about because the quality of your soil will not anymore be a dependent factor to the growing of your crops, you have more. Hydroponics gardens can be made anywhere, without much consideration of the soil or climate.

Are you interested in hydroponic gardening? Learn more with this hydroponic system website to check out the necessary tools you need to succeed with this type of gardening. Learn more with tools like pH meter to Grow Hydroponic now and help yourself with sustainable year-round fruit harvest.

Take a look at this Homemade Hydroponic System Basics Blog for More Detailed Information on how to get started for beginners planning to have their very own Hydroponics Garden.

About the Author:
Add this to : Digg! Digg it Bookmark! Save to Del.icio.us Subscribe to RSS Subscribe to My RSS feed

The History of Hydroponics

Filed Under (gardening) by Paul J. Easton on 21-04-2009

by Paul J. Easton

History reveals that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon is a big evidence of a hydroponic garden. Moreover, the Aztec Indians in the now Mexico had a system of growing crops on rafts. These rafts are in shallow lakes that you can still see in floating gardens near Mexico City. Therefore, history shows the great significance of hydroponic system of growing plants even in ancient times.

Developments with hydroponics did not however take place in Europe until 1699 when Woodward discovered it. He found out that he can grow plants in a solution of water to which soil had been added.

On the other hand, Liebig, a German scientist, originated using nutrient solutions to study the nutritional requirements of plants in the 1850’s. It was then followed by Sachs in 1860. Knop also did some studies of nutrient elements in water solutions in 1861. They grew plants in nutrients-rich solutions with mineral salts. This does away with the soil as a main requirement for growing crops.

Many researches on the nutritional requirements of plants extended through even until the 1870’s. By 1925, practical applications of hydroponics were being introduced for the vast development in the greenhouse industry.

The next decade followed with the wide growth as scientists grown mindful of the prospective development of producing hydroponically to sustain the food supply with rapid growth in population. Developments remained and the commercial use of hydroponics opened worldwide gradually. But it was the N.F.T. method by Dr Alan Cooper in the 1970’s, along with improved nutritional formulations, that successfully made the hydroponic growing of a wide range of plants commercially possible.

Hydroponics has grown rapidly since the Aztecs and it has become an important method of producing crops in areas of the World where water is precious and land futile for growing plants. With conscious, well maintained hydroponic crops, we can be assured that farming high quality crops can be environment-friendly for tomorrow.

Are you interested in hydroponic gardening? Learn more with this hydroponic system website to check out the necessary tools you need to succeed with this type of gardening. Learn more with tools like pH meter to Grow Hydroponic now and help yourself with sustainable year-round fruit harvest.

Take a look at this Homemade Hydroponic System Basics Blog for More Detailed Information on how to get started for beginners planning to have their very own Hydroponics Garden.

About the Author:
Add this to : Digg! Digg it Bookmark! Save to Del.icio.us Subscribe to RSS Subscribe to My RSS feed

Garden Design And Decorating From The Beginning

Filed Under (gardening) by Mary Rice on 01-04-2009

by Mary Rice

Beyond the plants that you put in your garden there are lots of opportunities to bring a sense of style through decorating your garden area. The first place to start is with the design of the garden layout itself, then with the structures in the garden and then with the extra add-ons that you can place throughout the area.

Garden Design and layout form the backbone of your designs. There is a practical component of your garden layout that must come before the visual layout. The garden must be organized to group appropriate plants together and to place plants in the proper order for sunlight to reach them. You don’t want your corn blocking out all of the sunlight to the rest of your garden for example. You also need to account for access, water availability and other fixed landscaping elements.

Once you have your functional layout requirements you can move on to the visual aspects of your layout. There are many styles of garden layouts that you might choose such as a traditional English garden where the emphasis is on natural appearing “rooms” and shapes (either rectangular or curving). Adding eye-catchers is another popular design element and your garden layout can emphasize these elements with color, shapes, paths and other elements.

The garden has many aspect of architecture that can be made to enhance your overall design theme. These items range from hard to change items like fences & walls to elements that you can add and change easily like trellises. The key thing to remember here is that these elements can be made with very distinct styles to complement your design goals. An English garden shed will look very different than a Chinese Pavilion and each has its place.

Now we can move on to objects that are easy to add and change around. Small statues, gazing balls, flags, plaques and other items are easy to add and move around. You can also recycle various items into interesting accents like bowling balls, old garden tools and old kitchenware. These items can be easily over done, so think in terms of moderation.

Larger additions to your garden can create visual points of interest or even destination locations if you have a large garden area. Water features, garden benches, gazing balls, sun dials and large statues can all serve the purpose of larger anchor elements in your landscaping.

Simple additions that add style to your garden can be the best. Garden stakes that indicate what you planted are a good choice as are simple signs that can say just about anything you want. Small yard art often works well and recycled metal yard art is gaining in popularity recently.

Designing and decorating your garden can be a very enjoyable process and if you do a good job it will reward you for many years to come. Just remember to start with the fundamentals and to not go overboard on the garden gnomes and other garden statues. If your fundamentals are solid, you can easily make minor modifications to suite the changes in your design aspirations.

About the Author:
Add this to : Digg! Digg it Bookmark! Save to Del.icio.us Subscribe to RSS Subscribe to My RSS feed