Hydroponics is the practice of growing plants in a solution of nutrient enriched water. Since hydroponic plants have access to unlimited nutrition and water, they are able to grow up to ten times faster and healthier than soil grown plants. The rapid growth and incredible quality of hydroponically grown plants and produce is resulting in many commercial growers to use hydroponic systems in their indoor gardens and greenhouses. Plants grown in soil-free gardens have the perfect balance of nutrients and water delivered directly to their roots. Crops are not forced to expand their limited energy searching for water and food. They are able to grow faster, larger, and healthier and able to deliver the highest level of vitamin content, flavor, yield, and color possible.
Hydroponic crops do not have to fight the fungi, diseases, and pests typically found in soil and plants mature unhampered by competing organisms. Healthy plants are also less prone to insect infestation, so the use of toxic pesticides can be decreased or even eliminated. The crop’s water and nutrient needs are simpler and more effective which helps allow greater control over the crop’s life cycle. Instead of the need to guess what the plants need, it will be evident. Without the unnecessary complexity of working in soil, a few simple measurements will quickly determine the plants water and nutrient requirements. (more…)
Daisy family
Compositae
Fe-liss’i-a. A large genus of chiefly South African subshrubs (rarely annuals).
Description
Leaves alternate or opposite, or sometimes in rosettes. Flowerheads showy, usually blue, and radiating.
How to Grow (more…)
By September my greenhouse is starting to look a bit tired, well not so much the greenhouse, more the plants inside. I often think that the plants I’ve chosen to grow inside the confines of my wonderful glasshouse are almost forced into productivity, a little bit like battery hens, cooped into a small space to lay egg after egg. The difference is that my plants have plenty of space, the very best diet and very little in the way of pest control. And of course I don’t chuck them into the pot as soon as they have an off day.
Every year I look at what’s done well in the greenhouse and what didn’t really work and each year I come to a different conclusion. Last year by accident I grew runner beans in the greenhouse, it was such a success that I did it deliberately this year. Strangely although I got a reasonable crop, it didn’t compare to last year’s. My tomatoes this year have been better, but now they have succumbed to the dreaded tomato blight and that’s the beginning of the end of them. New gardeners are often put off by crop failures and poor results, but it happens to all gardeners regardless of their experience. Just because something hasn’t grown well this year, it isn’t a reflection on things to come. It may be that the weather has had an adverse effect on things, you could have just been unlucky or it may have been a pest or problem that has affected everyone’s crops. Don’t give up. Try again, but try something new too. That’s how we all learn and progress in gardening and it’s a great way of keeping things interesting. (more…)
Solar lights are really easy to install in your garden. All you have to do is to decide on the site you want to lit and stick the fixture in the ground. Best of all they don’t need electricity. Some will come with a small built in solar panel on the top; other will have a removable panel that you can place at a sunny and convenient location.
During the day the solar panel linked to an electronic circuit, charges the batteries. When night begins to falls a photocell detects the changes in luminosity and switch on the light. At sunrise the light switches off and the charging cycle starts again.
Assuming the batteries are fully charged, good quality solar lights will provide illumination all night long without any problem. NiCad (Nickel Cadmium) or NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) Batteries are often used in solar lighting applications. They will last 2 or 3 years and are easily replaceable (more…)
