Growing plants from seed and then to plant and then back to seed allows you to follow your plants through the entire life cycle. Being there for such a unique process is enough reason to give any grower a great sense of accomplishment.

When you harvest your tomatoes from your very own heirloom seeds, you will be bursting at the seams with pride and accomplishment when they are ripe on the vine.

Although all plants need some light to grow, young growing seedlings will need more intense light than adult plants. You can start your garden seeds on a sunny windowsill or shelf and achieve good results. You will have healthier plants if you can provide them with more light.

Typically, planting seedlings thrive with cycles of 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark in one twenty-four hour period. It all depends on the plants you are growing. Be sure to turn them every now and then, as they will bend towards the light.

Keep your seedlings moist, but not wet, when caring for them, as they can be very susceptible to mold. An overabundance of water can cause mold to grow. Outside, of course, spring usually comes with rain, but that doesn’t mean plants outside stay saturated, and neither should yours.

Don’t fertilize your seedlings and organic seeds unless you are using the hydroponic method. The seed and the soil you use supplies all the nutrition the plant needs. Fertilizers can kill your plants, if they are overused. They create a situation where the plant cannot get water from the soil, and without water, there is no photosynthesis.

As outdoor planting dates nears, young plants raised indoors are not used to outside weather. They need to be toughened up or as some call it, hardened off. Set your plants outside in a sheltered spot, preferably in the shade.

Set them out for a half a day to begin with, and gradually leave them out longer. You can slowly move them into windier and sunnier spots to get them used to life outside.

Follow this routine for at least a week or two before you transplant them into the garden. When they are finally outside to stay, protect them on cooler nights with a sheet or some type of covering.

By taking the time to start your seeds indoors and to nurture them into lovely little seedlings can only be described as a labor of love. The satisfaction you gain from such an activity cannot be measured!

Seed starting is a simple process that only requires a tiny portion of your time, yet will reward you with an abundance of vegetable and/or flowers.

There are lots of challenges to overcome for anyone who tries to create an organic vegetable garden. The process could take several seasons, but when you finally get results you’ll be able to enjoy homegrown veggies that are not only tasty but very healthy too. From a technological point of view, organic gardening is a return to traditions and to the old agricultural practices present in any culture worldwide.Click through here for additional info relating to garden cultivator.

The size of the organic vegetable garden is not important: it can even range from a few feet on the house roof or balcony to several acres. The first step to take in the organic gardening direction is the purchase of organic seeds that are presently scarce on the market. The problem is that in order to have a real organic vegetable garden, you have to begin with seeds that are completely free of chemicals or irradiation residues. Therefore, if you can’t find organic seeds in your neighborhood, try on the Internet.

One can think of many advantages to an organic vegetable garden. Firstly when there are no pesticides or herbicides included in the plant cultivation, the crops will not suffer because of the chemicals, the soil preserves its quality for several years and the specific fauna will contribute to the regeneration of the garden. Furthermore, the organic vegetable garden presents the advantage of covering the family needs in a very safe, cheap and easy way. Whenyou run a farm in parallel with an organic vegetable garden things get even more profitable.You can obtain extra worthwhile info relating to garden hoe here.

The manure from the animals can be used as a natural fertilizer that makes the crops even more profitable. Moreover, everything one needs for an organic vegetable garden should be available from local stores; the costs are definitely not high and the necessary items come for very decent prices. You can find all sorts of gardening tips in books on natural gardening and learn the tricks of the trade specific to tradition. Just a relevant example here: it’s practical to grow beans and corn together; you won’t need any sticks for the beans because they will climb on the corn stalks.

The seeds, the soil and the organic compost will all play an important role in the evolution of the organic vegetable garden. Do not overlook any of these aspects and your home production will be a success and a reward for all the work involved in the process.You will gain oodles of supplemental worthwhile info on garden hoe here.

If you want to plant a new fruit tree, several points need to be considered. First you need to decide on the kind of tree and the place of growing. In case you buy the young tree in a nursery think carefully about the way of transport: I know of a man who had an accident on the way home with his truck. His tree was divided into two parts.

As soon as you safely arrive at your home, you can start with the preparation. First you need to examine the clump of roots, because the hole you have to dig should be bigger and deeper in size than the roots. This sounds like a lot of work, but it is important to get all of the soil back to the hole. You do not want to have a heap of useless dirt in your yard! In a second step you need to put some compost or fertilizer in the whole, so that your tree will grow well. After these steps you can put the fruit tree into the hole spreading its roots out evenly. Only then the tree will be stable and strong.

When the tree is set in the hole you need to put the soil back into the hole and fill it up to the edge. The soil can be a little higher than the rest of your yard, it will be compressed when watered. It is important that the tree is vertical and stable, only then you should firm up the soil in a gentle way.

The trunk may be unsteady and bendy. In that case you tie the tree with a rope to a stake, but not too tightly because the trunk needs room to grow. As soon as the new tree is sturdy and can withstand windy and rainy weather, you may untie the rope. Finally you should mulch the soil around the tree and, if wild animals can access your yard, put a fence around it. This is necessary because some animals like to eat the bark especially of young trees.

If your tree is successfully planted it will bear its first fruits after three to five years. In case your tree is carrying many fruits, pick some of them off, otherwise the branches will be too heavy. The branches can even break off if the fruit gets too thick. It is also possible that your tree will not carry any fruit in some years. This is a normal reaction of a healthy tree and a kind of pause. In the following year it will probably bear fruits again.

If you have any problems with pests, watch out for decaying leaves at the base of your tree. Rake away old leaves regularly so that harmful bugs get no chance to breed and to harm your tree.

Remember to prune your tree in wintertime and spring, so that it will be healthy for a long time. During dry times, you should water the tree every two weeks. Avoid hitting the tree with your lawn mower or weed eater or anything that could disturb the process of growing. The best you can do for a great growing experience is to give your new tree plenty of water and sun.

Creating Healthy Orgainc Soil

The Wizardry of Microbes : Making Healthy Organic Soil Welcome to another issue of your favorite magazine, Maximum Yield. This time we’re going to inform you about microbes and particularly microbes in soil. So start your engines and let’s dig in to the arena of microbes.
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A single big spoon of healthy soil might contain over a billion beneficial soil microbes. Sadly , almost all of the soils in the home landscapes of America have a really low population of these valuable soil microbes.

What is the role of microbes in soil? The major role of the bacteria and fungi is to rot organic materials in the root area mix [ or soil ], including the cells of their recently dead microbial colleagues.

What do soil microbes do? There’s an enlarging awareness of the significance of soil biology amongst growers, but there’s potentially more confusion and mistrust than exact clearness. As with anything new and promising there’s always misinformation. This should not be, as there’s a cornucopia of systematic knowledge in soil biotechnology. 2 of the most microbe [ microorganism ] genera are explained here. Azospirillum spp. Takes nitrogen from the atmosphere and makes it available to plant roots [ nitrogen fixation ]. Nitrogen fixation is frequently high, but is not the sole benefit Azospirillum can give to plants.

Azotobacter spp. use and oxidize organic material to release nitrogen. They secrete plant growth-promoting hormones [ auxins, gibberellins, cytokinins ], and antifungal metabolites.
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These are just 2 of the tons of profitable organisms out there. They are available commercially in varying qualities. Additions can benefit crop performance and reduce the requirement for chemical fertilizers. They grow well in the presence of nitrogen fertilizer, but if these substances are abundant, they will not fixate atmospheric nitrogen. They should not be seen as a fast fix ; rather they should be seen as an element of a soil-improvement program. Factors such as pH, organic carbon levels, pussy ion balance, fallow management and other cultural practices can change a moderate response-potential into a superb one. Profitable Soil Bacteria Among the lots of species of profitable soil bacteria, there are groups that will pull nitrogen out of the air in soil and put it into a liquid form that is available to feed plants. Other bacteria will rot organic material and even break down pesticide residues if they’re in your soil. Soil Microbes Products There are a growing number of products on the market that will help restore many of the beneficial soil microbes short of the soil in most home landscapes. Some come in powdered form and may be used in that form or mixed with water to be applied as a foliar spray or as a drench directly into the soil around plants. Others are already in liquid form and are used as a foliar spray or as a drench. These liquids are a kind of tea made from compost, earthworm castings or microbial powders. The Bottom it is not deeply critical for you to grasp the technical facets of these soil microbial products, it’s important to appreciate what kind of magic they can create among the plants in your yard. The majority of these products perform best when applied to your plants every 2 or 3 weeks in the main growing season.
Organic Gardening

This is for my UK readers…

I’ve just heard that Unwins are offering a free packet of herb seeds with every seed order. Now is a great time to stock up on seeds as it’s just coming into planting season, particularly if you have a greenhouse. You can also start them off indoors on a windowsill.

Unwins have a great selection of seeds to choose from. Hurry over and grab your free herbs!

The poinsettia brings a cheerful touch to homes in the winter. Native to Mexico, where it blooms in the wild and in gardens at Christmas time, the poinsettia is also known as the “Christmas Star” for its star-like shape. An important symbol of Navidad, the poinsettia plays a leading role in a Mexican Christmas legend similar to “The Little Drummer Boy.”

Americans often give poinsettias as gifts and use them to decorate their own homes. In fact, poinsettias sell more than any other plant at U.S. supermarkets. While the poinsettia is native to Mexico, most of the world’s poinsettias originated from California growers. In the United States, National Poinsettia Day, December 12, honors the namesake of this pretty plant, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico who introduced them here in 1828, Joel Poinsett.

You may even be planning to purchase a few of these plants on your next trip to the nursery. Or perhaps you live in a warm, Southern California region where you are enjoying the winter blooms in your garden. If you are bringing potted poinsettias into your home for the holidays, here are some tips for their care:

• Remove any foil or plastic that is surrounding the pot. Proper drainage is vital. Instead, place the potted poinsettia in a festive container (or simply on a saucer).
• Keep your poinsettia away from cold and drafty places as well as away from heat sources such a heater vent or fireplace.
• Do place your poinsettias where they can soak up lots of sunlight.
• Water only when your plant’s soil is dry. After watering, wait about 15 minutes and then empty the saucer under the poinsettia of any water
so that the water doesn’t rot the roots.
• Check frequently for insect infestation, and if any insects are detected, spray with an organic insecticidal soap. Common poinsettia pests are spider mites, mealy bugs, aphids and whiteflies.

Since potted poinsettias are difficult to maintain, most are thrown away. If you’re not going to keep yours, add it to the compost heap. However, if you have several and want to try getting them to bloom next season, here’s what you’ll need to do.

In late March, cut the plants back. Continue watering regularly. Begin applying a balanced fertilizer (once every two weeks). When night temperatures are no longer dropping much below 55° F, the poinsettias can go outside in their containers. Don’t plant these in the ground. Prune during the summer months. Come September, when night temperatures begin to drop, bring the poinsettias indoors again.

Around the first of October when the days grow darker, use artificial lighting if needed to provide daylong light. However, the poinsettia needs its beauty sleep at night, so as soon as the sun goes down, cover each plant with a box that blocks out all light, and the uncover at dawn (we told you this wouldn’t be easy!). Finally, around the beginning of December when the bracts begin to color, get ready to enjoy the fiery red Christmas stars again!

Expand Your Garden by Propagation

Did you know that you can grow an entire garden starting with just one plant? It’s true. By buying and caring for just one small plant, over time and with the proper care, you can end up with many, many more… all at no additional cost. It’s done with techniques known as propogation, and dividing.

Many common indoor and outdoor plants can be multiplied easily using basic dividing and propogation techniques. And once you know how it’s done, you’ll wonder why you haven’t been doing this before now.

Dividing a plant simply means to break it up into smaller pieces. This is often done when a plant becomes too large for a container it’s growing in, or too large for the garden space it’s planted in. You can divide a plant almost anytime though, as long as it is healthy and not too small.

To divide a plant, you’ll need to dig it up out of your garden first, Clean the roots off a bit with water so you can see them well - you can clean the soil off the roots by simply rinsing them gently with a watering can.

Once the roots are clean, it’s usually fairly easy to tell where you should divide the plant at because often it looks like you have two or more plants all growing together to begin with. If this is the case, then simply pull the plants and their roots apart into multiple pieces.

If the plant doesn’t have an obvious place to divide it though, don’t worry, it’s still easy to do. Just use a very sharp knife, and cut the plant into pieces from the base through the roots. Be sure you’re leaving plenty of roots for each section you’re cutting off, so the plant can continue growing healthy and strong.

Once you have the plant pulled or cut into multiple smaller plants, then you just need to replant them in separate spaces. You can still have them all in the same garden bed if you’d like, just space them apart as if you’d bought multiple plants at the store, and care for them as you normally would.

Another way to get multiple plants off of one is to simply take cuttings. My mom used to do this with her houseplants actually, when a stem got broken off. She’d simply place the broken stem into a glass of water and sit it in the kitchen window. Within a few weeks new roots could be seen, and she’d plant it into a new pot of it’s own.

You can often do the same thing with outdoor plants too, and you don’t always have to wait for a stem or branch to break. Go outside and cut a branch off one of your plants. Try to cut it several inches from the tip and just below a leaf. Then pinch off at least the bottom three leaves on the branch, and place that into a glass of water. Sit it in a window which doesn’t get too hot, and refill the water in the glass every few days.

You can also just place the cutting into moist vermiculite, and you may find the new roots developing faster.

Do any number of these techniques regularly and you’ll soon find yourself overflowing with many beautiful plants.

Find out about propagation in the greenhouse

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Rose Gardening - a simple guide

Roses have gotten a bad wrap over the years for being difficult to grow and maintain. If you are thinking of rose gardening don?t let this rumor stop you. While rose gardening can prove to be challenging, once you get the hang of it, it really isn?t that bad.

When you first start rose gardening, you will have to choose what type of rose you wish to plant, and no, I?m not talking about the color. You will have to choose between bare-root, pre-packaged, and container-grown roses. Bare-root roses are sold in the winter and early spring. They should be planted as soon as frosts are over and the ground is warm and workable. Pre-packaged roses are bare-root plants that are sold in a bad or box with something around the roots to retain moisture, such as sawdust. Container-grown roses are grown; you guessed it, in containers. They will be either budding or already in bloom when they become available in the early spring.

Planting in rose gardening is not that much different than any other type of plant. The most important thing, as always, is good, healthy soil and a prime planting area. It doesn?t matter whether your roses are bare-root or container-grown, the planting methods are the same as any other shrub. Make sure the spot you choose has good drainage, gets plenty of sunlight, and will not overcrowd your roses. Before planting, any dead leaves and thin or decayed shoots need to be cut off. Any damaged or very long roots also need to be trimmed. Soak bare-root roses in water about 10-12 hours to restore moisture in the roots before planting and water the soil before planting as well. Make sure the hole you have dug is large enough for the root growth of the rose. Also it is a good idea to use compost or mulch. After all, roses like extra nutrients just like any other plant.

Roses need the same things as other plants; they are just a bit needier. One of the most important things to remember in rose gardening is that roses are heavy feeders and will need several fertilizer applications. Fertilizing should be started in early spring and discontinued in early fall. Make sure not to over-fertilize (fertilize should come with instructions) and water after each feeding. Roses require large amounts of water; a thorough watering twice a week should be enough.

Pruning is an essential part to flower gardening. It increases blooms and encourages healthy plant growth. Different varieties of roses have different instructions for pruning, so you might want to read up on your rose types and see what is suggested.

The main thing to remember in rose gardening is to water, water, and water some more. One other thing about rose gardening is the amount of fertilizer and nutrients you will need to use, and the pruning that needs to be done to keep your roses under control and healthy. Even though rose gardening takes a little more time and roses are more work, they are one of the most unique and beautiful plants, and definitely worth the extra work.

Find out more in rose gardening books.

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How to go about planting seeds

Any reliable seed house can be depended upon for good seeds; but even so, there is a great risk in seeds. A seed may to all appearances be all right and yet not have within it vitality enough, or power, to produce a hardy plant.

If you save seed from your own plants you are able to choose carefully. Suppose you are saving seed of aster plants. What blossoms shall you decide upon? Now it is not the blossom only which you must consider, but the entire plant. Why? Because a weak, straggly plant may produce one fine blossom. Looking at that one blossom so really beautiful you think of the numberless equally lovely plants you are going to have from the seeds. But just as likely as not the seeds will produce plants like the parent plant.

So in seed selection the entire plant is to be considered. Is it sturdy, strong, well shaped and symmetrical; does it have a goodly number of fine blossoms? These are questions to ask in seed selection.

If you should happen to have the opportunity to visit a seedsman’s garden, you will see here and there a blossom with a string tied around it. These are blossoms chosen for seed. If you look at the whole plant with care you will be able to see the points which the gardener held in mind when he did his work of selection.

In seed selection size is another point to hold in mind. Now we know no way of telling anything about the plants from which this special collection of seeds came. So we must give our entire thought to the seeds themselves. It is quite evident that there is some choice; some are much larger than the others; some far plumper, too. By all means choose the largest and fullest seed. The reason is this: When you break open a bean and this is very evident, too, in the peanut you see what appears to be a little plant. So it is. Under just the right conditions for development this ‘little chap’ grows into the bean plant you know so well.

This little plant must depend for its early growth on the nourishment stored up in the two halves of the bean seed. For this purpose the food is stored. Beans are not full of food and goodness for you and me to eat, but for the little baby bean plant to feed upon. And so if we choose a large seed, we have chosen a greater amount of food for the plantlet. This little plantlet feeds upon this stored food until its roots are prepared to do their work. So if the seed is small and thin, the first food supply insufficient, there is a possibility of losing the little plant.

You may care to know the name of this pantry of food. It is called a cotyledon if there is but one portion, cotyledons if two. Thus we are aided in the classification of plants. A few plants that bear cones like the pines have several cotyledons. But most plants have either one or two cotyledons.

From large seeds come the strongest plantlets. That is the reason why it is better and safer to choose the large seed. It is the same case exactly as that of weak children.

There is often another trouble in seeds that we buy. The trouble is impurity. Seeds are sometimes mixed with other seeds so like them in appearance that it is impossible to detect the fraud. Pretty poor business, is it not? The seeds may be unclean. Bits of foreign matter in with large seed are very easy to discover. One can merely pick the seed over and make it clean. By clean is meant freedom from foreign matter. But if small seed are unclean, it is very difficult, well nigh impossible, to make them clean.

The third thing to look out for in seed is viability. We know from our testings that seeds which look to the eye to be all right may not develop at all. There are reasons. Seeds may have been picked before they were ripe or mature; they may have been frozen; and they may be too old. Seeds retain their viability or germ developing power, a given number of years and are then useless. There is a viability limit in years which differs for different seeds.

From the test of seeds we find out the germination percentage of seeds. Now if this percentage is low, don’t waste time planting such seed unless it be small seed. Immediately you question that statement. Why does the size of the seed make a difference? This is the reason. When small seed is planted it is usually sown in drills. Most amateurs sprinkle the seed in very thickly. So a great quantity of seed is planted. And enough seed germinates and comes up from such close planting. So quantity makes up for quality.

But take the case of large seed, like corn for example. Corn is planted just so far apart and a few seeds in a place. With such a method of planting the matter of per cent, of germination is most important indeed.

Small seeds that germinate at fifty per cent. may be used but this is too low a per cent. for the large seed. Suppose we test beans. The percentage is seventy. If low-vitality seeds were planted, we could not be absolutely certain of the seventy per cent coming up. But if the seeds are lettuce go ahead with the planting.

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Planting and growing ornamental grass in your yard and garden is a wonderful low maintenance way to add beauty with color, texture, and interesting focal points. Ornamental grass tends to grow quite high in many cases, so this adds an extra dimension of vertical interest in your yard and garden. And while some ornamental grasses can grow as tall as 20 feet, they don’t usually need to be trimmed or cut in the same way regular yard grass or bushes do.

Planting ornamental grass in bare spots of your yard can create a brand new look in the area. The grass can be used for naturalizing multiple areas of your yard, or it can be added to flower beds and gardens too. Some types of ornamental grass can be invasive though, and some might grow tall enough to block your flowers from receiving enough sunlight. So choose the ornamental grasses you plant in flower beds wisely.

Unlike regular grass, ornamental grass has little disease or pest concerns to worry about. And again, it doesn’t need to be trimmed. In fact, trimming ornamental grass too often will actually weaken it, and you can kill it by mowing or clipping too often.

Like other types of plants and flowers, there are a wide variety of ornamental grasses which can be planted and grown too. Some will create just small clumps of color similar to the way a groundcover does, while others will create large focal points in your yard similar to the way trees and bushes do.

Some ornamental grasses produce wonderful colors to accent your yard with too. The ornamental grass commonly known as Rubra usually displays a deep, dark red color mixed with a very deep green color that can be quite striking. Red switch grass is another favorite for the fall colors it produces.

Aside from producing wonderful colors and textures in your yard, many ornamental grasses also produce unusual and beautiful seed pods too. These can be left on the plants to further enhance their beauty if you’d like, plus they’ll draw more birds to your yard too. Some can even be picked and dried for use in decorating the inside of your home too.

Also like most flowers and decorative plants, some ornamental grasses will produce flowers too. And some will grow best in shade, while others prefer sun.

Choosing which ornamental grasses to plant in your yard and gardens might be the most difficult part of the process, but you’ll find that some grow as annuals so it’s easy to experiment with those first if you’re not familiar with growing them.