Plant Gardens 101

The rumor of the LED light

There has been a lot of press and buzz lately about the new LED grow lights available from a number of manufacturers all over the world and Internet dealers. They have been marketed as the next generation of lighting for indoor hydroponics application. And maybe one day they will be, but today is not that day. NASA is currently developing LED lights to be used on the space station. Because they use very little electricity they can be run off of batteries for long periods of time, so that food can be grown in space. Disney is using hydroponics with traditional lighting to grow fresh produce for use in their Florida theme parks. So development of hydroponic systems and LED applications is definitely on the way, however they just don’t have the penetration power of a traditional lighting system. We’ll explore and contrast the differences between traditional HID lights and LED lights throughout this article.

There are many advantages and disadvantages of using a LED grow lights. First we’ll talk about the advantages of using LED grow lights. To begin with LED grow lights can last on average from 8 to 10 years. A traditional high pressure sodium or metal halide lamp will need to be replaced about once every year to once every year and a half. However in contrast LED lights can often last for up to 8 to 10 years with heavy use. LED lights use of very little electricity and generate very little heat. (more…)

There are around 33,000 known species and over 200,000 hybrids of orchids on this planet. Named after the Greek word ‘orchis’, orchids originated in the tropical and the semi-tropical regions of Asia, South and Central America and the U.K. These beautiful flowers can easily last up to 2 or 3 weeks cut, and well over a month on the plant, making it one of the most preferred plants for decoration and therefore grown across the globe.

Not all orchids are breathtakingly beautiful. Some are strange in shape and size, and some are even ugly. The seeds from this plant are the smallest among all flowering plants, yet there are some species of orchids which can grow up to 20 meters long. This amazing flower is grown both at home and at large scale for commercial use. Even though these come in all shapes and sizes, blue orchids are conspicuous by their absence. (more…)

A narrow valley.

Bean family
Leguminosae
A’ra-kis. A genus of about a dozen species in South America, of which the peanut is of wide economic importance.

Description
Leaves alternate, compound; leaflets oblong, without marginal teeth. Flowers yellow.

How to Grow   (more…)

When exactly did people come up with the idea that weeds were bad? When did a weed become a weed? How it was that one day the world was simple, a Garden of Eden, full of plants, and the next, those plants had been slotted and reduced into a hierarchy of good and evil? Some plants are good. Some plants are just plain evil.

Ralph Waldo Emerson suggested that a weed is simply “a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.” A more prosaic dictionary definition describes a weed as a wild plant growing vigorously where it is not wanted; it is an awfully broad concept. One could easily lump valuable native plants with invaders that choke out anything in their path.

Even if you buy the idea that some wild plants are inherently and indistinctly more valuable than others, the lines soon get muddled. Are violets weeds? Jack in the pulpits? Asters? Buttercups? Columbines? Wintergreen? If beauty is in the eye of the beholder then chicory, goldenrod and Queen Anne’s lace cannot possibly be weeds. In most cases, as you well know, you know a weed when you see it. Thistles, ragweed, dandelions, plantain, pigweed, burdock . (more…)