Gardening Tips Welcome Guest | Login or Register

Orchids, like all plants, have natural enemies in the form of insects and other small creatures. The possible threats are many, but the main ones are red spiders, thrips, cockroaches and ants.

To grow orchids successfully, you must take measures to defeat these pests before they can damage your plants. Each pest type has at least one and sometimes several specific ways to deal with it. Attention to cleanliness will do the most toward defending your plants from pests.

All efforts of agriculture controls notwithstanding, some imported plants will bring pests with them.On the other hand, even orchids from the best nurseries can have pests on them, too.

You should take the time to inspect every new plant that you are planning to bring into your home. The first thing you should do is to destroy any pests that you can spot. If you don. The flowers also will be ravaged by these invaders, a frustrating outcome when you’ve lavised care and money on a plant.

Newly arriving orchids should be treated with a certain measure of suspicion. This is especially true if you have other orchids around. You can isolate it in a “probationary” room or shed for several days. If you find insects anywhere on it, don’t rest until you have completely got rid of them.

Washing all leaves, roots and bulbs on an orchid will leave little opportunity for any pests to escape destruction. Cleaning the plant’s bulbs and leaves is the best procedure. Shake the plant out of the pot, cut away all decayed roots, wash the sound roots in clean water and then re-pot in clean containers using new material.

Done conscientiously, this is a virtually guaranteed way to eradicate pests, many of which the novice grower would be hard pressed to spot. Some pests might show up in the form of tiny eggs. Others appear as insects but are so tiny they cannot be seen without a magnifying glass. Cleaning plants as outlined above will rid them of all pests, including the ones you can’t visibly spot.

A good guide to orchid growing will have many more tips and suggestions for making sure that a pest doesn’t put an end to your prized plants. The most complete guide to expert orchid growing, many agree, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which is available to be downloaded from the Internet. Howard’s well-written guide is a complete education all to itself. And, it’s suitable for novices as well as more seasoned orchid cultivators. Also, check out the Orchid Secrets web site, which has an ever-growing library of articles on many aspects of orchid cultivation.

Of the incredible variety of flowering plants on our earth, orchids easily exert the greatest fascination. Not only are they aesthetically pleasing, but their life stories often have a bit of mystery and wonder clinging to them. Although widely distributed, many can only be found in isolated, nearly inaccessible places–volcanic mountainsides, misty jungles, boggy swamps, etc.

Beginning in earnest in the nineteenth century, orchid fanciers have devoted years and lifetimes to discovering as well as cultivating new varieties of these flowering delights. Although most orchids are obtained these days from nurseries that specialize in cultivating these plants, many of them being produced through hybridization, it is helpful to know something of their natural origins.

Orchids are herbacious plants of which tens of thousands of species are known, with more still being discovered.  They exhibit a startling range of color and form, which has contributed greatly to public interest. Master gardeners often delight in growing a wide range of orchids to demonstrate their mastery of the arts of cultivation.

Orchids have spread throughout the world, excep for the polar and desert zones. Some 85% of all orchid species originate in the tropics or subtropics, but this still leaves a large number that come from colder regions. In some parts of the Himalayas orchids constitute the most abundantly represented family of plants in terms of sheer number of species.

By far the greatest number of orchids occur in three large tropical belts:

• Tropical Africa (including islands to the east in the Indian Ocean). These largely belong to the genera (families) Angnecum, Bulbophyllum and Disa. Orchids from here have not been as widely cultivated as ones originating from the other tropical zones, but Africa nevertheless boats many species of interest.
• Tropical Asia. This region, which covers Indonesia and other islands, along with mainland Southeast Asia, is particularly rich in orchid genera. Typical of the region are the large genera Dendrobium, Eria and Bulbophyllum and many smaller ones as well.
• Tropical America. The region is made up of Mexico, the Central American nations, and the tropical part of South America. Isolated from other parts of the world for eons, this region has an especially large number of endemic genera of orchids, many of which include hundreds of species. Among the large indigenous genera are Epidendrum, Pleurothallis and Oncidium; many smaller genera found here also contribute more than their share to orchids that have found favor among cultivators the world over.

The temperate zones of the southern hemisphere also furnish many orchids, though not nearly so abundantly as do the tropics. In southern Africa the Disa and Calanthe genera furnish a few species judged valuable to cultivation. Australia contains many genera in common with the tropical Asia. Southernmost South America boasts many temperate-zone orchids, but they are unfortunately overshadowed by those
from the vaster tropical-zone part of the continent.

in the norhern hemisphere’s temperate areas, we should take note of the United States, particularly the New England/norhteastern region, as well as Canada. There you will find some 20 native genera, whose members grow particularly in swamps and other moist grounds. The most famous of these are the Cypripediuins or Lady Slippers.

Europe also has many native orchids, but undoubtedly the most famous and showy is the Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera). The Bee Orchid may be found thriving on dry or semi-dry turf in open areas near or within woodlands. Bee Orchids are common near the Mediterranean coast of Europe, and grows (albeit less abundantly) as far north as Germany and the UK.

Orchids differ greatly from one another as far as ease of cultivating, but most of them are not the difficult plants that common wisdom would have it. The most up-to-date guide to modern orchid care, in my opinion, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which is available to be downloaded from the Internet. Mr. Howard’s guide is a full course in itself, suitable for novices as well as those more experienced. Also, check out the Orchid Secrets web site, which has a growing database of information on many topics of orchid cultivation.

Many people “know” that orchids are entirely tropical or subtropical in nature. But in truth, orchids can be found in almost every part of the globe except for the deserts and the polar regions.

About 85% of orchid types will inded be found in the tropics and subtropics, but that leaves a large number to the more temperate zones. Among other things, this means that you will not be out of luck if you live in a coolish area and want to grow orchids, but do not have a greenhouse or other such area in which do so so.

The number of orchid species known to botanists is in the tens of thousands. You might be surprised to find out that there could be naturally occurring orchids thriving in your own neighborhood, even if you dwell in one of our more northerly regions. Take the relatively common Lady Slipper.

Lady Slippers (also written Lady’s Slippers and Ladyslippers) is the name given to a large subfamily of orchids, the Cypripedioidea, with many species that grow in cool climates across North America and Europe. If you live in the New England states of the U.S., or the Appalachian mountain region, or even in Canada, you might find Lady Slippers of one variety or another growing in the woods near your home.

A species of Lady Slipper is the state flower of Minnesota. Another is the official state wildflower of New Hampshire. The Canadian province of Prince Edward Island has a Lady Slipper as its official flower.

If you’re considering growing orchids, especially in an outdoor garden, you would do well to consider a native species. It will already be adapted to your particular climate, and–if you live in a place that sees low temperatures in the winter–you might not even need to bring it inside when cold weather arrives.

In North America, one of the most striking native orchids is the Yellow Lady Slipper. It is also among the easiest orchids to grow in a garden. On the other hand, the Pink Lady Slipper is extremely difficult to grow.These are both gorgeous plants, but if you don’t yet have a lot of experience under your belt, go with the Yellow Lady Slipper.

Nurseries that specialize in orchid plants tend to run out of stock from time to time. Nevertheless, Lady Slippers are generally some of the easiest orchids to obtain. They are furthermore less expensive, generally, than orchid plants that come from far away. They are a great orchid for getting your thumb green, so to speak, before you take on the challenge of rarer or more “foreign” species.

All of the rules governing successful orchid growing apply to the Lady Slippers and similar plants. You need accurate information before you begin trying to grow these or other orchids, and  the best, most thorough guide to modern orchid growing, without a doubt, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which can be downloaded from the web. Howard’s wonderful guide will provide a complete immersion in the subject. Also, be sure to visit the Orchid Secrets web site, which has a growing library of articles on many aspects of orchid cultivation.

Commonly found in homes across the world, plants are one of the small pleasures people seek out for their homes or office. With an endless supply of types available on the market, there is a variety for everyone. Unlike many things, adding the living touch of a plant to your home or office can be very inexpensive, with little to no cost to keep. As water, fertilizer and the sun are the only requirements for a plant’s survival, it comes as no surprise that many people have attempted to grow plants.

Its a fact that lots of people are taking home plants to another level and growing their own with home hydroponics.

Hydroponic growing is the hobby of growing plants indoors without the need for soil and is now a very popular hobby.

Because so many have killed purchased house plants that they have tried to tend, most people are convinced they have black thumbs. Without proper dirt, your plant cannot thrive. By fertilizing the dirt, you can make sure the roots of your plant has access to all things required to make sure your plant alive and well.

There may be other factors at play if your plants are still dying. Things like bottled water may be the cause of plant death, as some variants strip the water of all nutrients, which your plants need to survive. Another common cause of plant fatality is the presence of pets or children. Pets and children can damage the leaves, which can result in plant death.

Even if you have always thought you have a black thumb, it is not impossible to learn how to keep plants alive. You might even try growing your own with home hydroponics one day!

A favorite vegetable for gardenering, are the many varieties of the bean plant and by becoming aware of the grow zones and seasons you can reap the full benefits. Beans, snap peas and soy beans are a healthy addition to a persons daily dietary needs. High in protein, the bean is one of the base ingredients in a vegetarian’s diet, as well as an excellent side dish for those with a preference for meat.

For gardeners, the first stage of bean plant growth is important and you will need to be sure to purchase good seed products before planting. High quality seeds have a much higher chance of the plant taking root, which will result in a higher yield in your garden. While these seeds may be slightly more expensive, the overall increase of bean plant growth is worth the investment, especially if you intend on having a larger garden.

The best plant growth conditions for beans range in temperature from no lower than 61 degrees Fahrenheit or 16 degrees Celsius. Temperatures below these levels will endanger the growth for the plant and in fact may even cause it to die.

Germination can take several weeks to be accomplished and can range anywhere from three days to an entire month, however, most bean plants begin to break ground around two weeks after planting. A seedling is a very young plant that has just begun to break the surface of the soil. This phase of the bean plant growth cycle is vital, as a healthy seedling will mature into a robust plant. If your seedlings are dehydrated or over watered, as well as planted too early, your crops will suffer and the amount of beans gathered later in the cycle will be diminished.

From the point that your plant has become a seedling, it takes an average of at least fifty days for your plant to produce pods and be ready for harvest. For most gardeners, the full cycle of bean growth can only be accomplish once per season. Planting of beans should occur no earlier than March to ensure that your plants have had adequate time to grow during the season before fall frosts strike. Frost can cause serious damage to bean plants and should be avoided in order for the plants survival. In colder climates, this can be tricky, therefore a greenhouse alternative can be used to help grow the plants.

The bean plant is an annual plant, which means that it can renew itself for at least three growing seasons. Seeds should be placed about two inches apart during planting a garden and when the plants have started growing, it is recommended to remove any weaker plants, so each plant has about 4 inches of space on each side. The soil should be fully cultivated to help prevent the garden from being overtaken by weeds.

For the gardening enthusiasts, their gardens are more than just a hobby. They constantly try to make their gardens better by planting, weeding, and acquiring new outdoor garden décor items to make the garden more attractive. There are thousands of gardening buffs in the country on the look out for the best places to find outdoor garden décors, and fortunately manufacturers have responded by making these items more accessible than ever. There are a number of different places to go to obtain quality outdoor décor items and chances are, there is certainly one near your place.

Nursery Stores

Just about all of the stores described as nurseries have an extensive selection of outdoor garden décor items to be found within their store. Nursery stores try to present a one stop shopping center for all your gardening needs and this includes having some décor items on hand that can be used to enhance the look of your outdoor garden. There is a wide range of products available in nursery stores, from the larger types of outdoor garden décor items such as fountains and pedestals, along with many smaller items designed to complement the flourishing plants in the garden area.

Nursery stores usually have competent employees that are more than willing to give advises on outdoor garden décor items that could be helpful in improving the looks of certain types of plants in the garden. For example, some decorative trellises are great for plants like climbing roses and ivy, allowing the plants to accomplish their instinctive climb towards sunlight while providing a picturesque structure. Having a salesperson that is knowledgeable about plants is definitely a great help in choosing outdoor garden décor items since he/she will steer you away from items that may harm specific types of plants that are in your garden and will guide you towards outdoor garden décor items that could improve the overall health of your garden.

Mass Merchandisers

Many stores that are known to be mass merchandisers would certainly have a home and garden section where outdoor garden décor items can be found. These stores will generally have a limited supply of décor items because of the wide variety of items, and the items that they do stock will be the ones that are most popular to the majority of consumers, meaning that the décor items that they carry will not be exclusive or unique garden decor. Many people like to purchase items for their gardens from these stores because they provide the customer with the option of doing the rest of their shopping in the one store.

There used to be a time when literally everyone had their own garden. Of course, the grocery store changed all of that, and now the trend is that most people don’t have any garden at all. This is a sad statistic because home vegetable gardening can save you hundreds of dollars a year, as millions of people still appreciate each year. As if that weren’t persuasion enough, you can also grow one hundred percent organic food with no extra chemicals which can have harmful side effects. Home vegetable gardening is more widely practiced in countries like France where it seems like literally everyone has a garden, but it is still fairly popular over in the United States.

Self-Sufficient

Home vegetable gardening is a great way to supplement what you purchase at the grocery store. There is absolutely no reason why you can’t grow enough corn, carrots, beets, and other veggies to last the entire year for your family, and those are hundreds of your own dollars that you won’t need to spend. Not only that, but you can go completely organic for a fraction of the price of organic food in stores while getting the same benefits. Organic foods tend to be tastier and more nutritional, but they can be pretty expensive if you go to a health foods store.

However, you can also grow food in the winter time by practicing what is known as winter vegetable gardening. The selection of plants that can grow during the winter is somewhat limited, but you can still grow vegetables like beets, cauliflower, and carrots for an early spring harvest after the ground completely thaws. You’ll need to practice some different methods of home vegetable gardening, but being able to pick those vegetables in the spring can be well worth the effort. Be warned that you might need to spend a little extra on supplies like greenhouses and raised gardening beds, but even these supplies won’t set you back too much.

It’s a wonder that more people don’t practice home vegetable gardening. It is incredibly simple to pick up, even if you are a novice, and you don’t need that many tools to do it. In fact, it is pretty difficult for a garden to turn out a failure, although lack of maintenance can harm the vitality of your plants (i.e. forgetting to mix plant food, compost, or manure into the soil before planting seeds or not watering them enough). Home vegetable gardening is a great hobby that will save you money and give you some very delicious food in the process.

For more about gardening please visit www.organicgardeningzone.com

When you think of gardening, chances are that you probably don’t consider winter the best time to do it. After all, very few plants can survive in the harsh, cold environment. Why else do the trees lose their leaves and such? However, there are a number of sturdy, rough plants that you can choose to grow for harvest in the springtime. Winter vegetable gardening does not really include actually growing these plants during the winter. Rather, most of the growing takes place in the fall before winter time, and the plants are merely sturdy enough to survive the cold better than other plants.

Sturdy Plants

Which kinds of plants can cling to life when the temperature dips to zero? There are still enough that you can undertake winter vegetable gardening. You have such varieties as carrots, cauliflower, and beets to grow over the winter. While surely not as numerable as plants designed for growth during the normal gardening season, these vegetable gardening seeds will grow during some of the harshest winters that we experience as far north as states like Oregon and Pennsylvania, which tend to be temperate in the summer and can experience some very cold winters.

However, winter vegetable gardening also incorporates some other tools to help you grow during the off-season. Consider building walls or windbreaks to help keep the temperature around ten degrees warmer on the coldest days, and exterior greenhouses can help keep the plants in temperate weather even when there is ice on the ground. On same days, you may even need to ventilate greenhouses to prevent an excessive amount of heat from harming your plants. Considering that the ground can freeze up to half a foot deep depending on the temperature, you should take every precaution available to give your plants a fighting chance. By following these tips, winter vegetable gardening should never be a problem.

As previously stated, winter vegetable gardening doesn’t really involve growing plants in the winter, when they will grow very slowly, if at all. Instead, it simply helps these plants to survive so that you can pick them in the spring for delicious vegetables like beets, carrots, and cauliflower. It does take a little more work and is slightly more expensive than traditional gardening, but there is no reason why a season should stop you from practicing one of your favorite hobbies. It can be a challenge at times, surely, but winter vegetable gardening is an incredibly rewarding experience.

For more about gardening please visit www.organicgardeningzone.com

If you’re planning on vegetable gardening, then you will obviously need to purchase seeds to be able to grow any plants at all. Many seeds, like bulbs, can be harvested to be reused in a fashion from year to year, but other seeds will need to be purchased on a regular basis. Fortunately, seeds tend to cost very little money at all, so you should never spend more than one hundred dollars or so (in that range) a year on seeds. Considering the vast amount of food that you'll receive as a result, vegetable gardening seeds are a real bargain, ending up costing you a fraction of the price that the full grown veggies would in the grocery store.

To involve your entire family, let your kids pick out some of the vegetable gardening seeds. You can even give them their own areas of the garden to tend to after teaching them the tricks of the trade. Such a hobby will also teach them about the values of hard work and dedication. Vegetable gardening for kids is a perfect family activity: it costs next to nothing, provides many hours of entertainment, and is extremely rewarding in the end. Also, your kids can pick up some useful skills along the way, such as how to create and maintain a compost pile and how to cultivate a garden.

Online and in Stores

You can pick up vegetable gardening seeds many places, from home improvement stores like Home Depot to gardening centers like Agway. Conversely, you can purchase all of the vegetable gardening seeds that you need online, often for some great discounts (although some of the savings will be lost through shipping and handling). Also, online stores tend to have larger selections of seeds to choose from, although you won't receive the seeds for a few days or even weeks. Of course, you might find the wait well worth it if you can pick up some of the more exotic plants around for your own garden.

Vegetable gardening seeds are as integral to your garden as the soil which you'll plant them in. Prepare the soil before planting the seeds by feeding it with mulch, compost, manure, or any combination of the three, and aerate it to allow oxygen to flow freely. Feeding your soil also helps plants to trap water when it rains, especially helpful during dry times. Gardening overall isn't that expensive, and that purchasing seeds is probably the most expensive thing you'll do with gardening says a lot about the hobby itself. With any luck, your vegetable gardening seeds will grow up into delicious veggies.

For more about gardening please visit www.organicgardeningzone.com

Gardening soil is the foundation on which the garden is built, so building nutritious soil is the first thing that a gardener should focus on when implementing a new garden, or improving on a garden that is already in the works.There are many people, due to recent problems with fertilizers carrying dangerous viruses, who are moving toward organic gardening so that those issues are not a problem anymore in their food supply.

Gardening soil can be improved through the use of compost, where grass clippings and kitchen remains are piled together and allowed to decompose for a few weeks, all the while adding more clippings, leaves and other organic material to the pile.  After that time, there is a warm, rich soil that is made of the decaying matter, which is nutritious for all plants in the garden.

Signs of Malnutrition

If a garden is lacking in nutrition, such as if strong mulch is not used from the beginning or even used at all, then the plants will reflect the lack of good gardening soil.Sometimes, it is difficult to tell whether it is a nutrient deficiency or if it has something to do with insects or some other problem in the garden.However, there are some tell-tale signs of malnutrition in most plants.

When plants are not getting what they need from the gardening soil, then there is often discoloration to the foliage of the plant.  In addition, the plant will all of a sudden stop growing the way it was, so that there is little to no new growth on the plant.Also, the plant will seem to be more sensitive to the amount of water it is getting, as well as increased sensitivity to heat and cold.If a plant is getting too much fertilizer, then sometimes the leaves will look scorched, although this is not a problem when using natural mulch from a compost pile.

There are specific gardening soil deficiencies that have specific symptoms, which if diagnosed, can allow the gardeners to rectify the problem and bring back their healthy plants once again.If the plants have a calcium deficiency, then the leaves of the plant will look hook shaped and the tips of new growth might die without any seeming cause.  To fix this problem, mulch needs to be added that is calcium specific and the plants will soon be back to normal again.  Another deficiency that has noticeable attributes is magnesium, which usually turns the leaves of the plant a yellow color.Using Epson Salts will usually rectify this issue.

For more about gardening please visit www.organicgardeningzone.com