Plant Gardens 101

If you follow these 5 tips for successful container gardening you will not only save time, but money, frustration and possibly embarrassment. As this is an increasingly popular venue for gardening, container gardening is making a fashion statement. Container gardens are already very popular for entries, patios and decks. Maybe you’ve thought about incorporating them into your office or home, but haven’t. If by chance you feel a little overwhelmed on the basics, here are 5 tips for successful container gardening, even if it’s your first.

Before you run off in all directions as if you had 2 hours to create a masterpiece, pause to do some planning. First think about what type of feeling you want to have, when you look at your container. For me, I want to feel like I’ve walked into my own “secret garden” and have a sense of calm. I think about how it will smell, and feel among other things. Is it going to be a focal point in a room, or mixed in as part of a theme? Will it be the centerpiece on a table, or placed in a semi-lit hallway? (more…)

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You may have been impressed with someone’s garden or yard because of the type of planter pot or plants that they use. It’s easy to be impressed with others who know how to create such a beautiful setup however learning how to do it can be rather challenging. One of the easiest ways to enhance the look of your house both indoors and outdoors is by your style of planter pot.

Since a planter pot can come in many different shapes, sizes, colors, and materials you will have to make several choices before you actually buy a planter pot.

Your planter pot should be able to blend into its surroundings. Although this is easier said than actually done it’s the key to having a beautiful setup. When you are trying to select a planter pot that you can blend into its surroundings you can use these tips to help you. (more…)

Repotting orchids should be done at least every two years. If you fail to do so, your plant may die or at least produce few flowers. You can easily tell when it’s time to do so. If your growing medium has broken down or if new growths extend over the edge of the pot, it’s time for you to repot the plant. Although it can seem difficult your first time around, it’s not such a hard task. This article will give you a few tips to help you.

Timing
One of the first things you need to consider is when to repot. If you wait longer than two years, then the potting medium will break down. This will prevent air circulation from reaching the roots. Also, the medium will start retaining too much moisture, which will increase the risk of root rot. You should repot the plant in early summer before new growth starts to appear. (more…)

Light weight, cost efficiency for many years of use, and bright clean light is what the UFO LED grow light will bring to your indoor gardening setup. The UFO LED utilizes special light emitting diode technology to bring you the ultimate grow light on the market today.

The first benefit you will get when you make the switch to a UFO LED light is the quality of light this small unit can produce. A UFO LED uses the power of LED to produce more light than would be given by a four-hundred watt high high pressure sodium, or HPS, grow light. It does this while using only eighty watts of energy, making it very cost efficient in terms of the lumens of light produced compared to the watts of energy needed to produce the light.
UFO LED grow lights cover nine square feet of space with wonderful light. The light produced is exceptionally well suited to plants, because each one-watt LED used in the UFO LED light is selected as part of the light spectrum that the plant can use for all-important photosynthesis. Your plants, regardless of what stage of growth they are at, will not be able to utilize green light to aid their photosynthesis. Young plants need blue spectrum light for good growth, while mature plants need red and orange spectrum light to promote fruit and flower formation. Green spectrum light is wasted energy for most plants that you end up paying for if a grow light produces light in this spectrum, yet most grow lights typically do, another advantage that comes from using an UFO LED light.

The LEDs used in the UFO LED are also wide angle, directional light bulbs. This is important, because they are placed in the UFO LED grow light so that the full impact of all the light produced is directed exactly on your plants, and is not diffused out to the side of the unit, which is wasted light for your plants. Because they are specifically directed, you will also be able to save money because you will not need to use any reflectors with this type of amazing UFO LED grow light.

Because the UFO LED grow light uses light emitting diodes, it runs much cooler than a traditional HID, HPS, or MH lighting system. These traditional lights needs ballasts, as well as air conditioning and ducting in order to keep the lights from overheating. They also can burn the leaves of plants if placed too closely to the plant foliage. Both of these issues are eliminated with UFO LED grow lights.

In addition to cost effectiveness and production value, the UFO led light does not require any complicated setup, and can be used with a regular outlet. The UFO LED is also long lived, and can run for eighty thousand hours or more. Try a UFO today!

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Vegetable container gardening is a fun activity. Although it eliminates the thrill of traditional vegetable gardening, growing vegetables in containers make the activity more challenging. However, with so many available materials to read, a novice gardener can get overwhelmed by all the tips or pointers that are presented by these materials. But the good news, gardening is actually easy as 123. If you are like me, you don’t want to reinvent the wheel, or spin your wheels. Right. You see, the methods of garden preparation and maintenance are thoroughly discussed in detail and in so many versions, but the basic knowledge that is applied in gardening is actually the same. Here are some ace in the hole points that you can use in starting up and ensuring the success of your vegetable container garden.

• On soil type selection. Since you are gardening in containers, choosing the best type solid for your garden will be convenient. All you need to do is step out and reach the nearest garden shop. The lack of yard space is sometimes an advantage; it eliminates the trouble of soil testing and preparations prior to gardening. Ask for the most experienced shop keeper’s advice on container vegetable gardening. Allow him to help you select the type of soil that you need. Also, be guided by the soil type recommendations that are placed at the back of the label of vegetable seed packets. (more…)

Do you enjoy cooking or gardening? If so, an indoor herb garden may be a perfect choice for you. They are fun, useful, and easy to maintain.

If you live in a colder climate, you know how hard it can be to grow things. With an indoor herb garden, you can have all the fun of gardening year round. They also add a special something to a kitchen windowsill. The different shapes and colors of the herbs make a fantastic decoration as they fill your kitchen with a wonderful aroma.

But enough of those reasons! The real benefit of an herb garden is having delicious, fresh herbs at your fingertips. No more running to the supermarket to pick up an overpriced bundle of herbs that you’ll have to throw out in a week! Instead you can simply clip off what you need and toss it right into your recipe. All the while knowing that it wasn’t grown with nasty pesticides and fertilizers. (more…)

Growing a breathtakingly beautiful orchid can be a very rewarding experience as well as a challenging one. There are many enthusiasts out there trying to grow the perfect orchid, however, many an enthusiast has been let frustrated in trying to achieve such an objective.

If you haven’t already bought your orchid, the best place to do so is at a nursery which specialises in orchids. You will find that the staff at these specialist nurseries will have many year’s of experience and plenty of enthusiasm. They will be able to point you in the right direction of where you need to start. If you do find a knowledgeable member of staff be sure to remember their name so you can get some advice if you need it in the future.

Orchid care is much more an art than a science so there are no strict rules that you should follow. There is, however, advice that you can use to assist you until you become more experienced.

Positioning
The best site to place the orchid is in a well lit position as good levels of light are required. Avoiding direct sunlight is also necessary as too much light can lead to leaf scorch. If the leaves begin to go a reddish color then this is a sign of too much light and you should try and introduce some shade to bring the leaf temperature down.

Temperature
Orchids generally like a warm position with temperatures of more than 50°F. For orchids sold in general garden centers, temperatures usually range from 50°F to 60°F. If you are feeling a bit more adventurous then do some research and grow an orchid which requires temperatures of 65°F throughout the year.

Watering
The correct amount of watering required is hard to judge. As there is a tendency to provide too much light for your orchid, it is also common for the orchid to be over watered. Orchids require much less water than most people imagine. You will be required to water more in the summer than you need to in the winter. You should use rainwater where possible as this is more desirable than tap water. Consider introducing a rainharvesting system into your garden so that you always have a sufficient supply of rainwater. If you aren’t sure whether your plant requires watering it is probably best if you hold off and wait as orchids can survive mild drought like conditions.

Nigel owns OrchidCareExpert, a website which contains lots of useful information if you wish to know more about orchid care

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All indoor gardens that use artificial light should use a reflective film to increase growth.
Your plants mature faster and it will make your plants bigger and stronger much quicker.

This is very easy to achieve by hanging sheets of reflective film around your garden. Make sure you keep them at least 6in away from your plants.

Hanging them to close will only block your lighting from reflecting light back and forth to each sheet around your garden.

You want the light to reflect around and around and around.

Even cover the floor and the ceiling to reflect your light up and down. (more…)

Container gardening is the answer would love to grow some vegetables but I have no room to grow anything”.

By utilizing containers, both large and small, it is possible to grow almost anything that you can grow directly in the ground. Patios, balconies, steps, and window sills are good locations as long as there is sufficient sunlight (about 6 to 8 hours worth), the only limit being the size and the weight of your containers.

Containers come in a variety of shapes, sizes and materials and in fact, can be just about any thing that will hold soil, even old shoes and sneakers can be pressed into service as flower pots with admirable results. Materials can be wood, plastic, terra cotta, clay or metal. All containers do need drainage, so it is good advice to add one inch of coarse gravel on the bottom and have drain holes ideally one half inch from the bottom. Drainage can be severely hampered by placing the pot directly on a hard surface such as concrete so elevate the container an inch or two to insure proper water flow. (more…)

When it comes to great summer flowers, just about anybody can go to the store and buy some that are ready to be displayed in their house, but there’s a certain satisfaction that comes from planting and raising your own flowers for the summer season. Here are a handful of tips to keep in mind when planting your own summer flowers this season.

Prepare the Soil

Take the time well ahead of when you plan to plant the seeds to really prepare the soil you’re going to use. Make sure to dig about six inches deep and give the soil a good turning over, and then be sure to add fertilizer, mulch, or compost to really get the nutrients into the soil that your flowers are going to want.

Doing this ahead of time ensures that when you are ready to plant you don’t have to worry about the soil not being ready, or having to spend extra hours preparing it and then planting your flowers. A little preparation can save you a huge amount of time later. (more…)

With the inability to plant directly into the earth, planters and pots offer an alternative growing medium. In cases such as an upstairs patio or a small outdoor space, the use of decorative pots, combined with wood planters, allows for both functionality and décor. By choosing your plants carefully you will be able to create a long-lasting show of greenery and create needed elements such as screening unwanted views or softening a corner.

Plants for Screening
It is very common to use plants on the patio or deck for the intention of screening. Screening can be something as basic as hiding an unattractive waste receptacle or adding privacy from a too-close neighboring home.

In these instances, you will want to consider the needed screening, height and width, and then choose evergreen trees and shrubs appropriate to your local microclimate. I recommend doing a simple site survey to note factors such as: prevailing wind and sun exposure.

What to use? The use of evergreen trees can be especially useful if planted in large pots (over 20” diameter) and planted closely to create a hedgerow effect. Shrubs with small leaves like boxwood or myrtle can be useful for creating low privacy screens: to maintain their height, a nicely sharpened pair of hedge clippers is useful.

An alternative to creating low shrub screening is to use plants like ornamental grasses. A particularly useful low growing Miscanthus ‘Adagio” growing to about 2.5 to 3 feet tall can be very attractive. However, this grass is not evergreen and will need to be cut back hard once a year (spring or fall) to re-grow fresh leaf blades.

Pots and Planters for Screening
The consideration here is pot size. If you are using rectangular planters to plant trees, make sure that your width is around 20 to 21 inches for adequate root development. By planting a 15gallon tree in this, available at your local nursery, this width planter should fit well. You can also use round or square pots with rustic, glazed or terra cotta finish. Again, make sure that the pot diameter is at least as large as mentioned. For shrubs, I like to use a minimum of 18” diameter and height around the same.

Nicole Martins is a garden designer and horticulturist, publishing informative landscape design articles on Arbors Plus. Read more about planter boxes and garden arbors or visit this site at: http://www.arbors-plus.com

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It is especially important for beginning gardeners to know what to look for when buying orchids. You have to examine the plant closely to make sure it’s in good health before you take it home. There are a few things you need to pay special attention to. This article will give you a few tips to make sure you pick the best plant.

Age
One of the first things you need to ask about is the age of the plant. Beginners should try to choose a plant that is relatively mature. Younger plants are much less durable than their older counterparts. Therefore, they will be much less forgiving of any mistakes that you make when caring for them. (more…)

Every phenomenon has certain phases of its development. Collecting cacti is by no means an exception. Here’s the list of typical phases, which every cactus admirer inevitably goes through. I’m pretty sure that while looking through this you will probably recognized yourself.

Phase 1: first meeting with a cactus. A man is amazed like a conqueror of the New World.

Phase 2: a man begins to collect cacti. Most of all he likes tall saguaros and spreading prickly pears. He looks for fast-growing cactus species and is determined to collect at least one species of each genus. (more…)