Robert Pavlis

Seaweed (Kelp) Fertilizer Benefits – Are They Real?

The use of seaweed fertilizer, such as kelp, is becoming more popular, but does it really work?

It is a very dilute, expensive fertilizer so it does provide plants with some nutrients, but the claims for it go well beyond that. Seaweed also contains a number of other substances called biostimulants which are claimed to help plants grow, ward off disease and produce higher crop yields. The biostimulants in seaweed fertilizer might be more valuable than the NPK nutrients.

Given the high cost of seaweed extract, it’s important to know if these biostimulants really work.

Seaweed Fertilizer Benefits - Are They Real? — Seaweed Fertilizer Benefits – Are They Real?

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Seaweed Fertilizer – Does it Harm the Environment?

Seaweed fertilizer and seaweed extracts are becoming more popular but there are concerns that harvesting and manufacturing it harms the environment. In this post I will look at how seaweed makes it to market and determine if it is an eco-friendly process.

Seaweed Fertilizer - Does it Harm the Environment? — Seaweed Fertilizer – Does it Harm the Environment?, photo by Scripps Institute

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Fake Orchids – How to Convert Ugly White Orchids Into Blue, Orange and Even Green Ones

Orchids are one of the most beautiful flowering houseplants you can buy and yet they are just not good enough – according to some people. Commercial growers have found a way to add even more color to them so that you can enjoy blue, orange and even green orchids.

How is it done, and how long does the color last?

Blue Orchids - Are they Real or Dyed? — Blue Orchids – Are they Real or Dyed?

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Anemone blanda

Anemone blanda is a fairly common spring bulb that produces a big display of flowers. It is low growing and can be tucked under trees for a nice display, or grown with other small spring bulbs like Muscari. It is best purchased and planted in fall but you can find pots of it in spring at some nurseries.

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Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Herbstsonne’

Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Herbstsonne’ ’is a huge plant that is perfect for the back of a perennial bed. It flowers in late summer providing a great splash of yellow for a long time. Unlike your typical yellow daisy it is quite unique with its large flared-back petals.

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Why Can’t You Trust Gardening Information on the Internet – Using a Ghost Writer

Why can’t you trust gardening information on the Internet? As part of my effort to bust gardening myths, I also try to understand how the myths are created in the first place.

I decided to run a test to illustrate why gardening information on the internet can’t be trusted. I hired someone to write an article on how to flower indoor plants more. How accurate will the information be? Will it be suitable for posting on one of my blogs?

Why Are So Many Gardening Websites Wrong? — Why Can’t You Trust Gardening Information on the Internet?

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How to Get Indoor Plants to Bloom More

There is nothing like flowers in winter time but indoor plants don’t always cooperate and bloom well. Why? What can be done to make them bloom better?

In this post I’ll help you play detective and figure out how to get your houseplants to bloom more.

How to Get Indoor Plants to Bloom More — How to Get Indoor Plants to Bloom More, Streptocarpus, photo by Nzfauna

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Does Real Garlic Seed Exist?

Go to any nursery or garden center and ask for garlic seed. What you get are garlic cloves, just like the ones you get from the grocery store. Hold on a minute, you asked for seed and what you got were cloves, so you head over to racks of seed packages and look for garlic. You won’t find any. Check your favorite seed catalog and they won’t have garlic seed either.

If there is no such thing as garlic seed, where does garlic come from? How can we have so many different varieties of garlic if they don’t make seed?

Here is the true story about garlic and garlic seed.

Does Garlic Seed Exist? — Does Real Garlic Seed Exist? Photo by GARLIC ANALECTA

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Ornithogalum candican

Ornithogalum candicans, is a tall, regal summer-flowering bulb that is little known in gardens. You might recognize it as Galtonia candicans. This plant was reclassified in 2004 when all of the Galtonia species were moved into the Ornithogalum genus, which I think is a shame since some of this genus, like star-of-Bethlehem, are garden thugs. O. candicans seeds very little and only at the base of the parent. It is no thug.

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You Are Eating Poisonous Organic Fruits & Vegetables?

Fruits and vegetables are supposed to be good for you – how can they be poisonous? You are probably thinking that I am talking about vegetables sprayed with pesticides, but I’m not. Or maybe this refers to vegetables contaminated with pathogens – that’s not it either. I’ll briefly discuss both those problems, but this post is about non-GMO poisonous fruits and vegetables with no synthetic spray or pathogen contamination.

Some fruits and vegetables are poisonous, but not all of the claims are correct.

You Are Eating Poisonous Fruits & Vegetables Even If They're Organic! — You Are Eating Poisonous Fruits & Vegetables Even If They’re Organic!, photo by Harvard

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Caryopteris divaricata ‘Snow Fairy’

Caryopteris divaricata ‘Snow Fairy’: photo by Robert Pavlis

Caryopteris divaricata ‘Snow Fairy’ is an elegant plant that requires almost no maintenance, has few if any pests and looks good most of the year. It should be in every garden where it is hardy.

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Mertensia virginica

Mertensia virginica, photo by Robert Pavlis

Mertensia virginica is a delightful spring ephemeral with soft blue flowers. Easily grown in shade or part shade, and requires no effort from the gardener. Plant and forget it. You don’t even have to clean up the foliage as it just disappears under other garden stars that grow later in the year.

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