You work very hard to grow the very best seedlings you can. So start them off right and give them best seedling mix you can. I have grown over 2,000 varieties of plants from seed and wrote the book Soil Science for Gardeners. In this post I review the best commercial and DIY seed starting mixes and give you my opinion on starting your babies off right.
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Composting cat litter can help keep it out of your garbage while turning the waste into something beneficial for your garden. Composting litter though is not as simple as composting food scraps and there are special risks you need to understand. However, done right it is easy and safe to compost cat litter.
The number of dogs and cats in North America has skyrocketed and pet waste is becoming a huge problem. Can you compost dog poop?
In an urban area, leaving it where the animal dropped it is not a good idea. Collecting it and putting it in the trash bin has its own problems as you will see below. That only leaves composting, but there are also warnings about composting pet waste. Is composting really a problem? Is there a safe way to compost it? As a gardener it seems like a real waste not to use dog poop in the garden.
The idea that the Moon affects plant growth is an old one that is believed for many moons. It can be found in the folklore of ancient societies ranging from the Celts in Britain to the Maoris in New Zealand. Roman historian, Pliny the Elder, in his History of Nature, Book 18, gives much advice on planting by the moon phases. Today, it is still a rural tradition and in most countries you can buy moon gardening calendars.
The lunar experts suggest that you pick fruit at the full moon for the market as it will weigh more and pick at the new moon for personal consumption because the fruit stores better. Seeds also germinate faster when planted under the right phase of the moon.
A picture was posted recently in a Facebook Group showing a Planting by the Moon calendar on sale. I made a comment about being surprised people still believe in such things. That was a big mistake. Dozens of people jumped on me for not being a believer. How dare I say anything derogatory about what granny believed. Not one person came to my defense. The belief in planting by moon phases is still very common.
Commercial weed killers have been banned in a number of Countries including Ontario, Canada and people are now looking for natural weed killers. Does vinegar kill weeds? Is it a natural weed killer? Let’s have a closer look at this common garden myth.
LED Grow lights have come a long way in the last 5 years and there are some great new designs and changes that make these lights even more attractive to home gardeners. In this review I will have a look at some very important innovations and price changes that make LED grow lights an even better choice.
There is no doubt that mycorrhizae fungi play an important role in plant growth. They help aggregate the soil which in turn provides plant roots with better access to water and oxygen. Their symbiotic relationship with plants helps them access water and nutrients. It is only natural that companies want to sell these fungi to you. Don’t fall for it.
Some people won’t use synthetic fertilizer because it contains “salts”. For years I was told not to use mushroom compost because it contains “too many salts”. Salt is also recommended to kill weeds and just today I saw a post which suggested pink Himalayan salt makes plants grow better. You can buy commercial sea salt to fertilize your plants. This doesn’t make sense. Salt is a weed killer and it’s a good fertilizer?
As a gardener it is crucial that you understand which salt is being discussed so you don’t use the wrong one and harm your plants. This blog will help you through the maze of salt crystals.
A while ago I wrote about Milk As Fertilizer and concluded that although milk would add organic matter to a garden, it was no ‘magic bullet’. Since that report I have spent more time looking at the subject of milk fertilizer and tracked down how this myth was born. It a thriller full of deception and lies. Today I will dig deep into this myth and uncover some surprising facts. Then I will review the latest research on the subject.
Vermicomposting is a popular way of getting rid of kitchen scraps and proponents of this form of composting make all kinds of claims. Do worm casts really work? Does it produce a superior compost when compared to traditional bin composting or Bokashi? What do the worms actually produce and how does it compare to traditional compost?
This post will have a close look at vermicomposting and compare it to bin composting.
Miyawaki mini-forests are becoming more popular and even my own town has put one in. Is this another environmental fad or does this type of reforestation work? Let’s have a look at the process and the science to see if the Miyawaki method is a better way to build forests.
