Start a Window Box Garden by MATTHEW BUQUOI
Gardening is a concept that grows each year, especially as the organic food and whole foods concepts are in full rage. Many people have turned to starting their own garden to go one step further with this concept. Starting your own garden can be time consuming and filled with mistakes. Window box gardening is a good way to learn some basic gardening skills and save a ton of time and money. Additionally, you will be able to enjoy the benefits of gardening from a window inside your home.
Gardening is a pleasure for both the gardener and the chef who will prepare the fresh fruits and vegetables. Whether you're a beginner or a pro, a window box is a simple and convenient way to maintain a miniature garden. Depending on the season, different plants and techniques are recommended to best optimize your garden. With summer winding down, your garden will need a little special care in order to produce a banner crop.
The first consideration is to plant things that do not need a lot of room. A window box will be somewhat confining and depending on the size of your window box there may be a few limits as to what you can grow in your garden. A window box should be at least 6 inches tall and deep to grow most vegetables, flowers, and plants. Getting a window box large enough for plants and flowers will give you more options year round to use them for other than gardening. Also, consider a no rot window box, which will last up to 30 years without needing to be replaced.
Now is the time to plant additional vegetable seeds for the fall harvest. Peas, spinach, lettuce, endive, beans, carrots, turnips, swiss chard, and beets are all excellent late summer plantings. These vegetables thrive in cool and humid temperatures.
Continue harvesting vegetables when they are young and tender and cook them as soon as possible. This will increase your yields and extend your harvest. Be on the lookout for insects and treat without pesticides if possible. Any plant that is heavily infested should be removed from your garden and destroyed.
With the rainfalls we have received this summer, you will need to give your garden an extra boost of fertilizer. Rainfall leaches the nutrients from the soil and robs the plants of vital nutrition needed to produce. Now is a perfect time to side dress the plants with granular fertilizer or to water with liquid plant food.
Afterwards, what happens to all the vegetables that you've planted and then harvested? Freezing and canning are the answer. You will have vegetables in your freezer or on your shelf to enjoy long after frost ends the season. Almost everything you plant can be frozen or canned. Blanching or steaming is very important in freezing all vegetables. Vegetables should be heated and steamed then immediately cooled before freezing. This process eliminates any unwanted bacteria.
And of course, even a window box needs weed prevention and care to make sure you are maximizing your efforts. The weeds are robbing your plants of moisture and nutrients and are encouraging insects and diseases in your garden. After the garden is weeded and side-dressed with granular fertilizer, water thoroughly and apply Preen or Concern to prevent weeds from returning. These weed killers should keep you "weed-free" through the end of the growing season.
Gardening from a window box is fun and most importantly simple. It's a great way to start a garden and learn the basics in a way that is convenient and time saving. This also gives you ideas of what window boxes can be used for in the hot and colder seasons when spring flower blooms begin to disappear.
Start a Window Box Garden by MATTHEW BUQUOI
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Organic Hydroponics for Beginners
This article impressed me, because many people around the world are suffering from shortages of Top Soil to growing any type of plant.
Organic Hydroponics for Beginners by LING TONG
Articles Written: 228 - MORE ARTICLES FROM THIS AUTHOR
Organic Hydroponics for Beginners
Hydroponics is the practice of growing vegetables and plants using mineral nutrient solutions rather than soil. The only difference between regular hydroponics and organic hydroponics is what you decide to feed your plants. Much of the work involved in this type of gardening is learning about it, getting it set up and learning how to make adjustments when they are needed. The food is in the water, which is the key element in hydroponics. The three main things you have to focus on are:
- how you can get the food and water to the plants
- how to know how much water to give the plants so that they won't drown
- how to avoid any serious problems
There are many ways of making sure your plants get the food that they need to survive and grow.
1. Watering by Hand. This is an easy method of feeding the plants. You mix vermiculite, perlite and coconut coir together in water. Since none of these contain any nutrients, you will have to add a plant food supplement to the mixture. Coconut coir and vermiculite do retain a lot of the water, so these minerals will help the containers stay moist for a few days. You can also use sphagnum peat, which is the basis for potting soil, in the containers as well and this retains water.
2. Reservoir. The reservoir feeding method is perhaps the easiest way of feeding the plants. Place a layer of about two inches of nutrient solution in a large container and place the containers with the plants in them down into this. You can have small holes in the bottoms of the containers to make sure that the roots grow out into the nutrient solution. Use an aquarium pump to provide constant bubbles in the solution. This will keep the plants from drowning. It is important that you do not allow any light to reach this solution because if it does, algae will develop and this will kill the plants.
3. Flood and Drain. This method has also been called the Ebb and Flow Method in which the plants sit in their own container away from the nutrient solution. From time to time, a pump will kick in and will flood the containers with the nutrient solution and then drain it back out again.
4. Drip System. In the drip system, the plants are separate from the nutrient solution as well. A pump pushes the solution through several tubes, which drips onto the plants from the top. This is the hardest method to use because it is difficult to control the drip rate.
Any of these methods will work with organic gardening. The best feeding solution to use is a teaspoon of Maxsea 3-20-20 dissolved in a gallon of water for the first ten days that the plants have roots. After that, you don't have to worry about a high nitrogen content damaging the plants so you can increase it to a solution of 600 ppm of Maxsea16-16-16. You can finish off with two teaspoons of 800 ppm of Maxsea 3-20-20. Flush the crop with plain water before you harvest to improve the taste. For more information on organic gardening,organic hydropoincs and how to have your own organic garden visit http://www.Organic-Garden.net
Organic Hydroponics for Beginners by LING TONG
Articles Written: 228 - MORE ARTICLES FROM THIS AUTHOR
Organic Hydroponics for Beginners
Hydroponics is the practice of growing vegetables and plants using mineral nutrient solutions rather than soil. The only difference between regular hydroponics and organic hydroponics is what you decide to feed your plants. Much of the work involved in this type of gardening is learning about it, getting it set up and learning how to make adjustments when they are needed. The food is in the water, which is the key element in hydroponics. The three main things you have to focus on are:
- how you can get the food and water to the plants
- how to know how much water to give the plants so that they won't drown
- how to avoid any serious problems
There are many ways of making sure your plants get the food that they need to survive and grow.
1. Watering by Hand. This is an easy method of feeding the plants. You mix vermiculite, perlite and coconut coir together in water. Since none of these contain any nutrients, you will have to add a plant food supplement to the mixture. Coconut coir and vermiculite do retain a lot of the water, so these minerals will help the containers stay moist for a few days. You can also use sphagnum peat, which is the basis for potting soil, in the containers as well and this retains water.
2. Reservoir. The reservoir feeding method is perhaps the easiest way of feeding the plants. Place a layer of about two inches of nutrient solution in a large container and place the containers with the plants in them down into this. You can have small holes in the bottoms of the containers to make sure that the roots grow out into the nutrient solution. Use an aquarium pump to provide constant bubbles in the solution. This will keep the plants from drowning. It is important that you do not allow any light to reach this solution because if it does, algae will develop and this will kill the plants.
3. Flood and Drain. This method has also been called the Ebb and Flow Method in which the plants sit in their own container away from the nutrient solution. From time to time, a pump will kick in and will flood the containers with the nutrient solution and then drain it back out again.
4. Drip System. In the drip system, the plants are separate from the nutrient solution as well. A pump pushes the solution through several tubes, which drips onto the plants from the top. This is the hardest method to use because it is difficult to control the drip rate.
Any of these methods will work with organic gardening. The best feeding solution to use is a teaspoon of Maxsea 3-20-20 dissolved in a gallon of water for the first ten days that the plants have roots. After that, you don't have to worry about a high nitrogen content damaging the plants so you can increase it to a solution of 600 ppm of Maxsea16-16-16. You can finish off with two teaspoons of 800 ppm of Maxsea 3-20-20. Flush the crop with plain water before you harvest to improve the taste. For more information on organic gardening,organic hydropoincs and how to have your own organic garden visit http://www.Organic-Garden.net
Organic window Box
Start a Window Box Garden by MATTHEW BUQUOI
Start a Window Box Garden
Gardening is a concept that grows each year, especially as the organic food and whole foods concepts are in full rage. Many people have turned to starting their own garden to go one step further with this concept. Starting your own garden can be time consuming and filled with mistakes. Window box gardening is a good way to learn some basic gardening skills and save a ton of time and money. Additionally, you will be able to enjoy the benefits of gardening from a window inside your home.
Gardening is a pleasure for both the gardener and the chef who will prepare the fresh fruits and vegetables. Whether you're a beginner or a pro, a window box is a simple and convenient way to maintain a miniature garden. Depending on the season, different plants and techniques are recommended to best optimize your garden. With summer winding down, your garden will need a little special care in order to produce a banner crop.
The first consideration is to plant things that do not need a lot of room. A window box will be somewhat confining and depending on the size of your window box there may be a few limits as to what you can grow in your garden. A window box should be at least 6 inches tall and deep to grow most vegetables, flowers, and plants. Getting a window box large enough for plants and flowers will give you more options year round to use them for other than gardening. Also, consider a no rot window box, which will last up to 30 years without needing to be replaced.
Now is the time to plant additional vegetable seeds for the fall harvest. Peas, spinach, lettuce, endive, beans, carrots, turnips, swiss chard, and beets are all excellent late summer plantings. These vegetables thrive in cool and humid temperatures.
Continue harvesting vegetables when they are young and tender and cook them as soon as possible. This will increase your yields and extend your harvest. Be on the lookout for insects and treat without pesticides if possible. Any plant that is heavily infested should be removed from your garden and destroyed.
With the rainfalls we have received this summer, you will need to give your garden an extra boost of fertilizer. Rainfall leaches the nutrients from the soil and robs the plants of vital nutrition needed to produce. Now is a perfect time to side dress the plants with granular fertilizer or to water with liquid plant food.
Afterwards, what happens to all the vegetables that you've planted and then harvested? Freezing and canning are the answer. You will have vegetables in your freezer or on your shelf to enjoy long after frost ends the season. Almost everything you plant can be frozen or canned. Blanching or steaming is very important in freezing all vegetables. Vegetables should be heated and steamed then immediately cooled before freezing. This process eliminates any unwanted bacteria.
And of course, even a window box needs weed prevention and care to make sure you are maximizing your efforts. The weeds are robbing your plants of moisture and nutrients and are encouraging insects and diseases in your garden. After the garden is weeded and side-dressed with granular fertilizer, water thoroughly and apply Preen or Concern to prevent weeds from returning. These weed killers should keep you "weed-free" through the end of the growing season.
Gardening from a window box is fun and most importantly simple. It's a great way to start a garden and learn the basics in a way that is convenient and time saving. This also gives you ideas of what window boxes can be used for in the hot and colder seasons when spring flower blooms begin to disappear.
Start a Window Box Garden
Gardening is a concept that grows each year, especially as the organic food and whole foods concepts are in full rage. Many people have turned to starting their own garden to go one step further with this concept. Starting your own garden can be time consuming and filled with mistakes. Window box gardening is a good way to learn some basic gardening skills and save a ton of time and money. Additionally, you will be able to enjoy the benefits of gardening from a window inside your home.
Gardening is a pleasure for both the gardener and the chef who will prepare the fresh fruits and vegetables. Whether you're a beginner or a pro, a window box is a simple and convenient way to maintain a miniature garden. Depending on the season, different plants and techniques are recommended to best optimize your garden. With summer winding down, your garden will need a little special care in order to produce a banner crop.
The first consideration is to plant things that do not need a lot of room. A window box will be somewhat confining and depending on the size of your window box there may be a few limits as to what you can grow in your garden. A window box should be at least 6 inches tall and deep to grow most vegetables, flowers, and plants. Getting a window box large enough for plants and flowers will give you more options year round to use them for other than gardening. Also, consider a no rot window box, which will last up to 30 years without needing to be replaced.
Now is the time to plant additional vegetable seeds for the fall harvest. Peas, spinach, lettuce, endive, beans, carrots, turnips, swiss chard, and beets are all excellent late summer plantings. These vegetables thrive in cool and humid temperatures.
Continue harvesting vegetables when they are young and tender and cook them as soon as possible. This will increase your yields and extend your harvest. Be on the lookout for insects and treat without pesticides if possible. Any plant that is heavily infested should be removed from your garden and destroyed.
With the rainfalls we have received this summer, you will need to give your garden an extra boost of fertilizer. Rainfall leaches the nutrients from the soil and robs the plants of vital nutrition needed to produce. Now is a perfect time to side dress the plants with granular fertilizer or to water with liquid plant food.
Afterwards, what happens to all the vegetables that you've planted and then harvested? Freezing and canning are the answer. You will have vegetables in your freezer or on your shelf to enjoy long after frost ends the season. Almost everything you plant can be frozen or canned. Blanching or steaming is very important in freezing all vegetables. Vegetables should be heated and steamed then immediately cooled before freezing. This process eliminates any unwanted bacteria.
And of course, even a window box needs weed prevention and care to make sure you are maximizing your efforts. The weeds are robbing your plants of moisture and nutrients and are encouraging insects and diseases in your garden. After the garden is weeded and side-dressed with granular fertilizer, water thoroughly and apply Preen or Concern to prevent weeds from returning. These weed killers should keep you "weed-free" through the end of the growing season.
Gardening from a window box is fun and most importantly simple. It's a great way to start a garden and learn the basics in a way that is convenient and time saving. This also gives you ideas of what window boxes can be used for in the hot and colder seasons when spring flower blooms begin to disappear.
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