Posts Tagged ‘plants’

How to transplant plants from garden to pot?

Question by star b: How to transplant plants from garden to pot?
I would like to know if it is possible for my plants to survive a transplant from garden to pot. I am forced to downsize from house to apt and love my plants I had planted a few months ago and would like to take them with me. I have lavender and tomato plants. Is this possible? I’m new at gardening so all your help is appreciated.

Thanks

Best answer:

Answer by IMIchthus
What do you have to lose? Give it a try! Just get BIG pots and take as big a root ball as you can.

BTW, I do all my gardening in pots. We plant tomatoes and peppers, as well as herbs!

What do you think? Answer below!

Related Blogs

• How to Start Tomato Plants from Cuttings « Surviving the Middle Class Crash
• Tomato Time…here now, gone tomorrow « Growing Indian Veggies in Northwest
• Tomato Week: Easy Tomato Recipes & Tomato Plant Harvesting Tips | Maria’s Farm Country Kitchen
• Etsy Find: Lavender Lime Collection – Hand Painted Drawer Knobs – Child Mode
• How do I get rid of Psyllids that are messing with my potato/tomato plants? | Tomato Plants

Where do you buy herb plants and seeds in metro Atlanta?

Question by Tiger Goddess: Where do you buy herb plants and seeds in metro Atlanta?
I want to start an herb garden for culinary uses and I would like to find a good source for some unusual herbs. Any ideas? If not Atlanta, are there reputable online sellers?
Thanks.

Best answer:

Answer by craig
Try sandmountainherbs.com I have used them 3 or 4 times and have been completely satisfied. They have every culinary herb you can think of and you get growing and care instructions.

Give your answer to this question below!

Related Blogs

• A Mini Herb Garden Could be the Best Solution for Your Plot | Time To Grow
• Community Servings Herb Garden Call for Volunteers » The Garden Club of the Back Bay
• Acupuncture Atlanta Georgia » Blog Archive » Acupuncture Atlanta – Metro Atlanta Acupuncture – Chinese Medicine
• Discoveries In My Home Herb Garden And Talkin Dirt On Chives Herb Plants | DIY Home Trends | Do it yourself Advice
• Herb garden box-hedge trimming « Tsubo-en Zen-garden diary

Container Gardening – Provide A Larger Home For Plants Via Container Gardening!

by madsit

Container Gardening – Provide A Larger Home For Plants Via Container Gardening!

A person blessed with a ‘green thumb’ considers it a terrible punishment to be restricted by space when he/she is actually hankering for a beautiful and large garden! The only way to ‘expand’ this garden is to grow plants in containers; in short, indulge in container gardening!

According to expert gardeners, plants growing directly from the earth tend to ‘spread their branches’ in an uncontrolled manner. Container gardening can help to bring in some sort of control over growing plants. Additionally, complementing species have many uses such as behaving like an insect repellent and adding flavor to vegetables. To be more specific, if you should decide to add oregano to containers containing bean plants, the flavor of the vegetable is enhanced! Similarly, oregano added to broccoli keeps away insects.

Since these containers take the place of natural earth in the concept of container gardening, each plant has to be given the appropriate home for its survival and comfort. Plan out where you are going to place the containers, the type of plants you wish to grow in them, and most important of all, whether the outside garden and container garden blend to create an aesthetically pleasant picture.

Now for the containers themselves! To prevent rotting, solid wood is a good choice, much better than terra cotta. Also, there is better insulation for plants placed in wooden containers. People living in cold regions go in for terra cotta. These containers do give plants the freedom to breathe and ensure healthier roots, but at the same time allow the soil inside to harden and freeze. Thus, the container could break.

If you crave a natural atmosphere, go for cement or stone containers. Of course, these are too heavy to keep moving around, so they get permanent places to stay. In contrast, plastic containers are much lighter and easy to maneuver anywhere. The disadvantage is that plants may not receive sufficient oxygen to ensure healthy growth.

But wait! Container gardening does give you the choice of moving the containers at will. This is an advantage when changing weather conditions pose a challenge to the plants contained within them. You may also wish to play around with various permutations and combinations to create a visual vista for all to see. Make it easy on yourself by placing the containers on wheeled platforms.

Flowers in any garden present a riot of colors! Fortunately, all sorts of flowering plants, including perennials and annuals, can be adapted for container gardening. Ensure that these plants get enough sunlight, fertilizer and water. Surround the plants with mulch to get excellent results! Remove the dead or dying blossoms from the plants, so that new buds can be formed.

Putting aside flowering and ornamental plants, container gardening is the best way to grow your own herbs! You can even grow two or more herbs in the same container; they are very adaptable. All that is required to start them off is seeds!

So make a study of your environment and enhance its beauty with container gardening! The final result should prove to be a very rewarding experience for one and all!

More Container Gardens Articles

Related Blogs

• lvye88.com » Here’s How to Garden With Containers
• Pyrex 6021224 Storage 10-Piece Set, Clear with Blue Lids | America Online Shop
• Rustic Canisters » Blog Archive » 3 Tips For Using Crystal Clear Plastic Containers in the Kitchen
• How To Treat Your Clothing With Insect Repellent | Introduction To Boating
• Mosquito nets: From Mosquito repellent creator So Romantic Atmosphere | Resources for Your Home Improvement Design

Gardening Calendar: August’s To-Do List | Cool off plants; water once a day

Gardening Calendar: August’s To-Do List | Cool off plants; water once a day
When the weather’s hot and humid, make sure you get out in the garden in the coolest part of the day. And don’t overdo it.
Read more on Louisville Courier-Journal

Garden Q&A: It’s too hot now to fertilize plants
Many of my plants are just not performing this year. I know it’s hot, but would a little fertilizer help? In the end, we are all at the mercy of nature. We cannot control the weather, though we can usually go inside and escape it. Weather as hot and dry as we’ve had lately is very debilitating for our plants. The frequent breezes aren’t helping. While they are cooling for us, they also cause …
Read more on The Florida Times-Union

Library reading program fosters a lifelong love of learning
The Sump Memorial Library is gearing up for some summer fun with its three summer reading programs for children, teens and adults, all with a common theme … water.
Read more on Papillion Times

Related Blogs

• Thoroughbred Racing » Trainer David Carroll fined $1000 for hitting filly Derby week – Louisville Courier-Journal
• Nebraska Library Commission gaming audit, one librarian’s response » The Travelin' Librarian
• On “Research” and Summer Reading Programs « Annoyed Librarian
• Bath volunteer honored by Supreme Court – McGurk brings you the very best in news & events
• Summer Reading Program  | The Oxford Eagle

Tips and Techniques For Watering Your Container Garden Plants

by Gardening in a Minute

Tips and Techniques For Watering Your Container Garden Plants

The importance of proper watering cannot be stressed enough for your container garden plants. Container Gardens are exposed to wind and sun so they dry out quicker than plants in the ground. There are no exact rules about watering your container garden plants. You have to become acquainted with the needs of various garden plants. The best tip is to examine them daily and water the plant when the surface of the soil begins to look dry. Feeling the soil will also help you determine the moisture needs of your container garden. Or, take the easy way and invest in a water meter if you are not sure.

How much and when to water will depend on the kind of plant and soil, the type and size of container, and the amount of exposure to sun and wind. Climate and the weather also play their part. During hot spells most plants in your container garden need daily water, except those in small clay pots, which may require it twice. Some plants, like fuchsias and tuberous begonias, wilt when dry, but geraniums and succulents are not so sensitive to neglect. On the other hand, it is good to let soil dry out a little between watering. This prevents the soil from depleting its nutrients.

Since unglazed containers dry out quickest, watch them more closely. Wooden tubs, window boxes, and planters dry out more slowly; metal is the slowest of all. Groups of plants in large containers keep moist longer than single specimens. A good technique to avoid excess dryness is to have groupings of plants, arranged close together. This allows the container plants to shade one another to keep cool and stop moisture evaporation.

There are several methods of watering the plants. If you have many containers in your container garden, depend on the hose, allowing water to flow through slowly and gently. Water small pots with a watering can that has a long spout or buy one of the self watering containers now available. When plants are grouped closely in a container garden, set up a sprinkler or hose with a fine spray nearby, allowing it to run for a long while, until the soil is soaked. In many states where the climate is dry, an automatic sprinkler system is a must to keep your whole garden hydrated. Remember this tip with geraniums and petunias, avoid sprinklers which spot blossoms.

One thing is certain; you must not depend on rain to keep your container garden plants hydrated. Even heavy showers deposit a surprisingly small amount of moisture, and unless rains are frequent and lengthy, you must do your own watering. Remember those window boxes and other containers near houses or under trees can stay dry in spite of an all-day downpour.

Though it is essential to give enough water to your container garden, it is equally important not to over water and so cause root rot. Over-watering also prevents aeration of the soil, and will cause the plant to drown.

One good method is to set your container garden, if the containers are not too large, in a basin or pail of water for several hours, or until the surface of the soil feels moist (this is the theory behind self watering containers). Or immerse the pot in a tub or large barrel of water and leave it there until air is eliminated and the bubbling stops.

The best general rule is to soak soil thoroughly when you water and then allow it to go just a bit dry before you water your container garden again. Best of all, keep a small spiral notebook and paste the care of each plant into it so that you will always have the needs of each individual plant at your fingertips.

If you go away for long periods during the summer, give the container garden serious thought before making it a project. On the other hand, you can enjoy both holidays and plants if you are absent for only short periods. The best safeguard is to entrust your container garden to a responsible friend. Or if you are going away for a vacation at your second home, or one that you have rented, take the container garden with you as a little bit of home.

Several techniques can be practiced. One is to arrange smaller containers in boxes of peat moss, sawdust, or soil, which has been well soaked. Then there is the pot-in-pot method, whereby small pots are set in larger ones, with moist peat moss inserted between.

As mentioned above, in many of the garden centers self watering containers are offered for sale. These are ideal for your container garden when you are traveling or taking a vacation.

Happy Container Gardening!

Copyright © 2006 Mary Hanna All Rights Reserved.

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.

Related Container Gardens Articles

Related Blogs

• Technology Wikipedia: Ceramic tile on infiltration methods and techniques of screen printing | Newsreel Network .com
• Clay Pot Crafts | Watthamai Crafts
• Self-Watering Container Bargains: DIY Roundup | tulipsinthewoods.com
• Container Gardens – Where To Start
• Review China City: Great Cantonese Home Cooking Slow Food Kitchen

The Best Herb Garden Plants For Inside Your Home

by inkognitoh

The Best Herb Garden Plants For Inside Your Home

Many people want to know which herb garden plants will grow best inside your home. Well the answer is simple. Nearly all herb garden plants can be grown inside. However, before you go move your entire container garden inside there are some things to consider. Individual herb garden plants will require different environments in order to grow well.

Growing herb garden plants in your home is not only a great way to add tons of great flavor to food, but it’s also a great way to add beauty to your home. Many herb garden plants are quite beautiful, in addition to being useful. Take, for example, Lavender. Lavender has small, pretty, light purple flowers and is not only beautiful to look at, it is also edible. Lavender is popular in some European cuisines and it is also popular in health and beauty products. Instead of paying a fortune for Lavender infused oil, you can simply make your own and have complete control over the result.

When you grow herb garden plants in your home, it’s important to consider where the plants will be placed. Some herb garden plants such as Basil, Oregano, Thyme or Sage prefer full sun, whereas herbs like Chervil and Mint prefer partial sun. Often those who are trying to grow herb garden plants indoors find that it is helpful to use artificial light sources. Fluorescent light bulbs are an affordable way to provide light to your plants in the right spectrum to help them grow. There are other forms of grow light bulbs as well, but fluorescent bulbs are the most affordable and widely available option.

Another important consideration to be made when growing herb garden plants in your home is water. Some plants, such as varieties of Mint, like a lot of water whereas plants like Thyme and Sage do not. Water is something easy to control in an indoor garden. Just be sure that you make a note of which plants need to be watered frequently so that you don’t end up over watering your drought resistant plants.

Growing an herb garden indoors is a great way to begin gardening. Herbs are easy to grow in comparison to other plants like roses or citrus trees. Several different types of herbs can be started from the cuttings of healthy plants, although most are started from seed. Most seed packages will tell you what type of environment that your plants need. Since you won’t be planting them outdoors, you won’t have to worry about frosts and freezes in regards to when you plant.

One last thing to keep in mind when planting an indoor herb garden is the container you plant your herbs in. You will want to be sure that you plant your herbs in containers that are attractive, but also that those containers are adequate for the herbs you put in them. Some plants, such as Mint, like very moist soil, so you would put it in a pot that allowed it to stay moist.

Indoor herb gardens are beautiful, practical and easy to grow. With little effort, you can enjoy fresh herbs all year long.

Related Blogs

• Use the right light bulbs in your kitchen | ytlsf blog
• White Artificial | Wedding Organizing
• How Can I Plant an Herb Garden in Your Kitchen | Love and Beauty
• The mythical meaning of flowers,roman god apollo | GOD 108
• the fxphd deans blog » Blog Archive » New Term: Red Giant University

Discoveries In My Home Herb Garden And Talkin Dirt On Chives Herb Plants

by dithie

Discoveries In My Home Herb Garden And Talkin Dirt On Chives Herb Plants

You can dive into growing a home herb garden in sublime blissful ignorance.  Especially if you choose chives plants as your path to grow herb garden plantings. I speak from earthy experience. Despite many missteps and blunders, somehow my chives plants were flourishing and bountiful.
 
I admit a happy chance landed those chives plants into my life some years ago. Yes, I stumbled into beginning my own home herb garden by planting chives plants aplenty! Usually people are led into planting an herb garden by their love of cooking with herbs. Nope. Not me. While an avid novice gardener, herbs were totally lacking in my cooking. But, an encounter with chives plants in my herb home garden changed all that. The entire experience drew me to introduce you to chives as an herb plant for your garden and share my tips and discoveries gardening with chives herbs taught me.

Typically people think of chives as these dried up little green pieces that look like cuttings from your lawn. Sadly little taste survives in this dried version. Most of us are introduced to using chives as an herb simply as a condiment for a baked potato…sour cream with chives. Due to its past classification as a common household herb, the fascinating features of chives as a plant and herb have been much maligned. Here’s what I unearthed as a beginner planting my own home herb garden when I somehow mistakenly ordered 9 chives plants, but intended to get only 1.

The Basics Of Chives Plants For The Home Herb Garden

Chives are part of the onion family but the flavor is much milder and more subtle. Until you’ve tasted fresh chives you won’t believe the difference in taste from those dried up commercial counterparts sold at the store! Chives grow in clumps, which is why they’re always referred to as plural. The upright green shoots growing from the clumps are really called the leaves of the plant.

Growing chives is a dream for beginners gardening herbs at home. I’m prime proof of how easy it is. In fact, for ease of growing I put them in the category of daylilies because they’re so indestructible no matter the amount of rain or scorching heat. I was clueless how to plant my chives plants (or any herb) in the garden when they arrived. Somehow they’ve survived in the clay soil of hot Kentucky summers for almost a decade now. You can even dig up their roots (actually little onion-like bulbs), divide them, and replant them just like daylilies! Although chives plants are best planted in a healthy mixture of soil, peat, sand and compost, my ignorance proves chives plants do well as long as they have plenty of sun and some water now and then.

In my accidental adventure growing herbs in my home garden, I discovered chives plants are perennial! That means, the plant dies back through the winter and sprouts new leaves in the spring. Perennials make a gardener’s life far easier simply because they DO automatically emerge every year without my help.

Also in the spring, the chives plant produces a bounty of beautiful purple “pom-pom” flowers that sprout up on tall stems. Who knew growing chives produced beautiful flowers as well? The flowers, similar in shape to the flowers in clover but bigger, can be used in dried ornamental bouquets, too. The bees happen to love those flowers. Just by growing my chives plants, there’s this added benefit of attracting the bees for pollinating some of my other garden plantings. The flowers are edible, but frankly I haven’t given that a try.

Another side benefit for my outdoor home garden is the chives plants actually protect my other plants and flowers from unwanted insects–like aphids. Insects apparently find chives to be repulsive. You can also use the juice of the leaves as a repellant. The juice is equally repugnant to pests. The chives plants themselves are very hardy and don’t seem to be prone to diseases (or pests).

Home Herb Garden Basics – Chives Culinary Side

Chives are chock full of vitamin A and C, plus calcium and iron. A great choice to flavor foods, cut chives are fat free and combine well with more than sour cream and cream cheese. I found them a winning alternative to salt seasoning. Harvesting chives is a simple task. Simply snip some of those leaves (the soft green shoots) down to the base. The chives plants will continue replenishing itself by regrowing the leaves continuously during its growing season.

Chop the leaves into smaller pieces and use them fresh. The oils of the plants are its seasoning source. By chopping the leaves, the oils are released to flavor your food along with an arresting aroma. Store what you don’t use in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for about a week. Postpone washing the chives until you use them. The extra moisture will make them wilt and decay rapidly.

Add them for flavoring to perk up your soups, sandwiches, fish, vegetable dishes, sauces, and salads. The vast variety of culinary uses can ignite those creative juices and rock your recipes.

 For instance, I have a friend whose family loves to enjoy ‘chives sandwiches’ every spring. Avoid the mistake of growing chives as a basic garden herb simply for a garnish…it’s so much more versatile. Try using them to make an herb vinegar. A low cost gift exhibiting your new talents in growing herbs in your home garden without revealing you’re a beginner!

Related Growing Herb Garden Articles

Related Blogs

• Vegetable Gardening For Dummies Books | The Books Stores
• This Week in Beer » To Snob or to Love?
• Why Mini Greenhouses Make Life Easier — The Innovation Diaries
• Planting a garden in June…? | Herb and Herbal Matters
• Easiest Herbs For Novice Gardeners | Download Info Products

Q&A: What plants are good to grow in a Patio Garden?

Question by Timothy L: What plants are good to grow in a Patio Garden?
I am starting a Patio garden. I’m really excited about it. I have laid everything out and all i need are the flowers. I really want to plant veggies but i think i am going to wait till next spring so, I want to plant some flowers.

Any suggestions on what type of flowers to plant?

Best answer:

Answer by Darby
My grandson’s mom has a real nice deck garden. It has sunshine most of the day. She’s got everything–lillies, petunias, wild flowers, herbs, hibiscus (that she takes inside for the winter). She also has a patio tomato plant and strawberries. The strawberries are doing real well. Some on the flowers she has I can’t name. I’d say any annual. They take a lot of watering, so you have to be diligent about tending to them.

Add your own answer in the comments!

Related Blogs

• Developing Outstanding Heirloom Tomato Plants
• Wedding UK » Blog Archive » Wedding Flower Centerpieces
• Tundra Wildflowers «
• Importance of Wedding & Reception Flowers & Choosing a Bridal …
• How to Create a Great Ground Level Deck | Tallahassee Home and Garden

good plants for deep shade patio container gardening?

Question by peony: good plants for deep shade patio container gardening?
-need to be hardy; I’m not too diligent about watering, etc.
-perennials?
-hanging baskets

Best answer:

Answer by TomCruise
Check out a plant called purple heart, it doesnt need alot of sun at all, in fact its completly shaded. And it doesnt die over the winter

Give your answer to this question below!

Related Blogs

• Decatur Metro » New Hanging Baskets Add Pops of Color Downtown
• Patio Container Gardening | Home Interior
• Time for Summer with L’Occitane’s Peony Collection! | My Fashion Life
• Plants for Hanging Baskets: Wave Petunias | Hanging Basket Brackets
• Save On Wire 3-Tier Hanging Basket – Chrome Now At Amazon!

Are raspberry plants suitable for organic container gardening?

What size container would I need? Any tips? I’m in L.A. (zone 10).

Related Blogs

• Fresh Cucumber » Container Gardening For Vegetables | Home And Garden Improvement
• Cereal Nutrition Facts Labels | Health and Nutrition
• Container Gardening For Vegetables | Home And Garden Improvement
• From Container to Kitchen: Growing Fruits and Vegetables in Pots | Phytonutrients