Robert Pavlis

Compost Tea

Compost Tea has become a very popular topic. The following is a quote from Fine Gardening (ref 2):

Gardeners all know compost is terrific stuff. But there’s something even better than plain old compost, and that’s compost tea. As the name implies, compost tea is made by steeping compost in water. It’s used as either a foliar spray or a soil drench, depending on where your plant has problems.

Why go to the extra trouble of brewing, straining, and spraying a tea rather than just working compost into the soil? There are several reasons. First, compost tea makes the benefits of compost go farther. What’s more, when sprayed on the leaves, compost tea helps suppress foliar diseases, increases the amount of nutrients available to the plant, and speeds the breakdown of toxins. Using compost tea has even been shown to increase the nutritional quality and improve the flavor of vegetables. If you’ve been applying compost to your soil only in the traditional way, you’re missing out on a whole host of benefits.

Let’s look at the facts.

Compost Tea — Aerated Compost Tea

If you like this post, please share .......

Deep Root Fertilization for Trees

Deep root fertilization is a recommended procedure by many arborists. Does it work? Is it the best way to fertilize trees? Do trees need to be fertilized?

deep root fertilization for trees — Deep root fertilization for trees

Read More

If you like this post, please share .......

Clematis Roots Don’t Need To Be Kept Cool

Just about every book and website tells you keep Clematis roots cool. Planting them so that the roots are shaded is a gardening myth! Clematis roots don’t need to be any cooler than any of your other perennials.

keep Clematis roots cool — Keep Clematis roots cool

If you like this post, please share .......

Trees Reduce Noise Pollution

With houses being built closer and closer together, people are more concerned about noise pollution than ever before. There is much talk about planting trees and shrubs between the homes to reduce noise levels, both people noise and traffic noise. How effective are trees in reducing noise?

Trees will reduce noise pollution levels, but only if planted correctly.

trees reduce noise pollution — trees reduce noise pollution, source: Mrs. Gregerson’s Biology Class Blog

Read More

If you like this post, please share .......

Should Trees be Wrapped in Winter?

Why do we wrap trees and shrubs in winter? It seems to be a northern tradition. Every fall we go out and wrap plants in burlap to keep them protected from winter weather. All the books and all the web sites tell us to do this, so it must be right? Let’s have a closer look.

Trees wrapped in winter — Should trees be wrapped in winter?

If you like this post, please share .......

How to Protect Plants from Frost

It is that time of year again – cold and frost are coming to the north (I live in zone 5). Think about your poor plants – they will get cold – you must do something about this immediately – right?? Common advice all over the net is to wrap your trees and shrubs in burlap to protect them from frost and to keep them warm. Plants in containers on your porch and balcony need to be wrapped in bubble wrap to keep them warm. Let’s have a closer look at this common myth and try to understand the issues.

How to Protect Plants from Frost — Protecting plants from frost

If you like this post, please share .......

Do Forests Remove CO2?

Part of our pollution problem is the production of too much CO2. Burning fossil fuels, driving cars and manufacturing all contribute to the problem. Trees and other plants absorb CO2 and convert it to oxygen and carbon. The carbon is converted into plant parts such as wood, leaves and roots. A solution to the CO2 problem seems fairly simple – maintain and expand our forests. It seems natural to ask the question – do forests remove CO2 from the air? The answer will surprise you.

Do forests remove CO2

Read More

If you like this post, please share .......

Soil Amendments – Don’t Amend Before Planting

Almost every book, and most web site tells you that you should amend your soil before planting a new plant. This seems to make a lot of sense. Few of us have perfect soil and we don’t want to put our new expensive plant into poor soil. If we amend it, the plant should grow better? That’s a common garden myth.

amending soil — Person Tree – don’t amend soil before planting

If you like this post, please share .......

Worlds Largest, Smelliest Flower – Titan Arum

The titan arum (Amorphophalus titanum) is reported to be the worlds largest flower but this is not strictly true. It is however one of the most interesting plants.

Amorphophallus titanum - titan arum — Amorphophallus titanum – titan arum: by Robert Pavlis

If you like this post, please share .......

Growing Garlic – Hardneck or Softneck?

I have grown garlic for years and consider it the easiest vegetable crop to grow. I have always been taught that, given our northern zone 5 climate, we could only grow hardneck garlic. Turns out that this is a myth.

Both the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Filaree Farms (keepers of the largest privately held collection of garlic in North America) agree that both hardneck and softneck can be grown in colder climates.

Growing garlic - hardneck or softneck — Growing garlic – hardneck

If you like this post, please share .......

Natural Pesticides

In a previous post, What does Organic Mean, I provided some definitions of the term Organic. Most people think of Organic food as being pesticide free. The lack of pesticides is one of the main reasons for paying higher prices.

People also think Organic food tastes better and is higher in nutrition, but both of these claims have been completely disproved. Today I’d like to discuss the issue of lower pesticide levels in organic foods.

natural Pesticides ingested daily — Natural pesticides ingested daily

If you like this post, please share .......

Fear of Chemicals

Chemicals are those nasty man-made synthetic products that are destroying the environment and harming ourselves. This is how the general public and organic zealots in particular view chemicals. Nothing can be further from the truth – this is a common garden myth.

Nicotiana tabacum, a natural product nicotine — Nicotiana tabacum, produces natural product nicotine

If you like this post, please share .......