You are looking for an organic fertilizer and trying to decide between liquid organic fertilizer and granular or dry organic fertilizer. Which is best? When should you use one or the other? Is one more organic than the other? Which one builds healthier soil?
There are many organic fertilizer options out there and in this post I’ll help you understand the choices.
Nitrogen deficiency in soil is one of the most critical aspects of plant growth that a gardener can control; watering being the other one. Of all the nutrients, nitrogen is the most difficult to manage.
In this post I will discuss everything you need to know so that you can prevent nitrogen deficiency in your soil.
Is it safe to use coffee grounds in the garden? Coffee grounds are routinely recommended for the garden, but in the last couple of years, I’ve seen several articles about the possible harm coffee grounds do to plants and soil. Just because it is free organic material does not mean it is something you should be using.
In this post, I will look at several of the claims made against using coffee grounds in the garden and determine their validity.
There is concern that composting produces carbon dioxide and we all know that CO2 contributes to climate change. Does this mean that backyard composting by gardeners is contributing to climate change? Is this a practice we should stop in an effort to control rising temperatures?
It is a real dilemma for gardeners and especially organic gardeners. Just when you thought you were doing something good for the planet you find out that you may be causing harm.
Does composting contribute to climate change, and is there something gardeners should do different?
To soak or not to soak, that is the question Hamlet would have asked if he liked growing peas. Lots of people recommend soaking peas before planting, but does it do any good? Will soaking peas speed up germination? Will it produce fruits sooner?
Dry pea seed is extremely wrinkled and soaking in water plumps them right up. It is also known that seeds need to absorb water before the germination process can start. Soaking peas before planting makes perfect sense but what happens in the garden. Is there really a benefit to soaking?
Sun mapping your garden will help you buy the right plant and place it in the right location. Plants grow best if you give them the right amount of sun, and the only way to do this is to know how much sun each of your garden spaces gets. In this post, I will show you a very easy way to get this information and develop your personalized sun map.
What is the best rooting hormone for plant cuttings? Numerous homemade remedies are claimed to work for rooting cuttings, including cinnamon, honey, willow extracts, aspirin, peroxide, coconut water, vitamin C, and aloe vera. Which of these works best?
How do they compare to commercial products? In this post, I will review various options promoted on social media and recommend the best ones.
Willow water rooting hormone is a simple DIY way to get some cheap rooting hormone. Lots of people use it for all kinds of cuttings, and many claim that it works. In this post, I will have a close look at the realities of willow water for rooting.
If you are not familiar with rooting hormones, have a look at this: Rooting Hormones – What Are They
Barnardia japonica is a lovely bulb that flowers in late summer, early fall, when most other rock garden plants are slowing down. The pink-mauve flower spikes are quite tall for such a small bulb, reaching about a foot. The flowers are very dainty, but are produced in numbers large enough to give a good display. As the flowers open, the flower scape elongates.
Aspirin rooting hormone is recommended as one of the best rooting hormones for plant cuttings. Dissolve an aspirin tablet in water and soak cuttings in it for an hour. It increases the chance of rooting – or so it is claimed on many DIY sites – but does it work?
Houseplants are becoming more popular and there are many health benefits ascribed to them. Unfortunately most of these claims are not true.
In this post I will review our current understanding of the health benefits of houseplants.
Sunflower seeds are good for feeding birds. They are relatively cheap, easy to handle, and birds love them. There is only one problem – the hulls. By spring, the ground under bird feeders is covered with sunflower seed hulls.
Very little seems to grow under a feeder, and many have heard that the sunflower hulls are allelopathic and that the allelochemicals prevent other plants from growing. There are even lists of plants on the internet that are affected by these chemicals.
There is also a concern about disposing of sunflower seed hulls. Is it safe to compost them? Should they be put into the garbage? Can they be used as mulch? In this post, I’ll answer these questions by looking at the science.
