You have probably heard that chlorine in tap water is harmful to plants. Some cities have switched to using chloramine in tap water and that is also a concern for plants because it is much harder to remove before watering indoor plants.
What is the difference between chlorine and chloramine? Will they harm your plants? How can you remove them from tap water? These are all good questions gardeners should be able to answer and in this post, I will help you do just that.
A common quote on the internet is, “It’s best to use strongly scented plants for companion planting because they confuse pests looking for their host plant.” This is a commonly voiced opinion, and it usually follows with a list of fragrant plants that make good companion plants, such as marigolds, onions, mint, chives, lavender, wormwood, and many other herbs.
This seems to make perfect sense. Insects looking to lay eggs on a cabbage might be confused when they smell a marigold and leave the area thinking there are no cabbages.
Read any of the thousands of websites and books about companion planting and they all agree; that strongly scented plants are your best option. The only problem is that none of these suggestions are based on science. ………. The facts are going to surprise you.
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.
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.
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?
How do you winterize pond plants? Pond plants seem to be segregated into their own little class of plants, but they are not all that different from regular plants. Non-hardy garden plants need protection in winter and so do non-hardy pond plants. The hardy ones in both groups can be mostly left alone.
This is the first of a two part post that will provide detailed information on how to winterize pond plants. This post will provide general information that applies to all pond plants. Part II will provide more detailed information on some specific plants.
Seedling Heat Mats are used by quite a few people and many web sites suggest that they are required for germination. But other people never use them; so are they really necessary? What, if any advantage do they offer? Can you grow better plants if you use a seedling heating mat to germinate seeds?
In this post I will look at the truth about seedling heat mats.
How often should I water? This is one of the most common questions new gardeners ask. It sounds like a good question, and on social media, lots of people will supply an answer.
They are all wrong.
Everybody tells you that plants need to be fed. Thousands of gardening books and blogs confirm the fact. Fertilizer companies certainly continue to make you feel as if you are letting your plants down if you don’t fertilize. And most nurseries try to push their products at checkout.
I have good news for you. In most garden situations, you do NOT need to fertilize.
The idea that ornamental gardens need fertilizer is a big myth.
Mushroom compost is used a lot for gardens, but it comes with a warning: don’t use too much because it contains a lot of salt. I have been aware of this for a long time, and I have even cautioned people about using too much. Salt can harm plants, and it only makes sense not to use a product loaded with salt.
I always wondered why mushrooms would be grown with high levels of sodium. Are the fungi that different from plants? Do they need high sodium levels? A little online research started to make things clear. It turns out to be a good example of the confusion caused between salt and salt—something every gardener should understand.
Growing food in plastic containers is on the rise, but is this a safe practice? What about the chemicals that leach out of plastic – are they absorbed by the soil or the food? Do they cause a health risk?
There is a great movement towards organic gardening to grow healthy food locally, and for smaller back yards and balconies it’s attractive to grow food in small containers. I’ve even seen pictures of people grow vegetables right in the bag that contained the soil they bought. This is all so simple but is it a healthy way to produce food? Is it still organic if you grow in plastic?
