Plants Archives - Page 11 of 11

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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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