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Take a 2 litre plastic bottle. Remove any labels or stickers on it.
Make markings at the base of the bottle. Mark a cross at the base to divide it into 4 equal flaps. Carefully cut it out with a saw blade or hot knife. You should get 4 equal flaps. Then make holes on each flap. Make holes near the bottle neck exactly in line with the bottom flap holes. This is important for equal opening of flaps for fruit picking.
Now take some nylon strings like these. Fix one end of the string to the flap hole by tying a knot and take out of the bottle mouth through this other hole. Do this for the remaining three flaps. Tie all four strings together. Check the movement of the flaps as you pull the string knot. Adjust accordingly if any issue.
Optionally you can paint and decorate the bottle as per your wish. Now take two pvc pipes. One is a 3/4th inch diameter pipe – the length depends on the height of the trees. Another pipe about 1 foot long and 1 inch diameter. The smaller diameter pipe must slide easily into the larger pipe. Now tie another large string to this junction and bring it out through both the pipes. Fix the pipe to the bottle opening with screws.
At the lower end of the pipe put a bottle cap with the string out through a hole in the cap. Tie a knot to prevent string slipping out.
Your fruit picker is ready to use. Just slide the bottom pipe outwards to open the flaps and pick fruits.
Take a 2 litre plastic bottle
Remove any labels or stickers on it.
Mark a circle with a diameter of about
3 to 5 inches depending on the fruit you wish to pick.
Mark a beak on the circle towards the bottom of the plastic bottle.
Cut this out carefully to create a hole of this shape.
Fix the bottle to a pole or a pvc pipe of your desired length. Your simple fruit picker model 1 is ready to pick fruits.
Air pruning means when root tips are exposed to air, the root tips are effectively “burned” off, causing the plant to constantly produce new and healthy branching roots. promoting more branching of roots. If roots are not exposed to air, they continue to grow around the container in a constricted pattern making them root bound. Hence air pruning promotes better growth of plant within a limited space.
To build an air pruning pot you need a larger plastic bottle like atleast a 5 litre can. Remove any labels or stickers. You also need a pvc pipe of about 1 inch diameter and 1 foot height. Mark a circle on the bottle cap and cut it out. This is to insert the pipe through it. Make multiple tiny holes on the pipe. Any number of holes, the more the better. Put a cap at the bottom of this pipe. Take another smaller plastic bottle. Mark and and cut out a funnel. Fix this funnel to the upper end of this pipe. Screw it tightly.
Now cut a small window of any shape on the bottle. Then make multiple holes to insert your cuttings over the bottle below the level of this open window. Insert the pipe into the bottle and cap it. Add potting mix into the container. Make sure it contains atleast 30 to 40 percent compost. Your air pruning pot is ready. Now you can insert some mint cuttings into these holes. You can water every alternate day through the top funnel. You should see nice and fast mint leaves growing in about 2 weeks using the principle of air pruning.
You can root your cuttings faster using this simple plant Cloner. Take any plastic bottle. Remove any labels and stickers. Punch multiple holes around the bottle, large enough to insert cuttings easily. Take some of your plant cuttings. Make sure you make a cut at an angle of about 45 degrees for faster rooting. Insert the cuttings into the holes. You can tape the cuttings to hold in place or tie a string around the bottle to hold the cuttings. Pour water into the bottle. Add a little bit of rooting hormone powder if you have. You can also add about half a tablet of Aspirin 350 mg dispersible tablet to induce faster rooting. If you want to further accelerate the rooting process, place air stones into the water and connect to an aquarium pump. Switch it on for few minutes for atleast twice daily. This oxygenation helps promote rooting faster. We have made similar advanced Cloners earlier using the principles of hydroponics. You can check HERE.
Simplest method of slow drip irrigation is using one bottle per container. Just make a tiny hole into the cap. Full the bottle and insert into the pot for vacation watering of already 7 days. Make sure you make a small hole at the top of the inverted bottle for drip to flow through.
Another alternative is to use these little bottle attachments with a drip control knob to adjust the number of drops per minute. Just fix it to the bottle and insert it and adjust the drip knob.
Model 1: this nozzle can is recommended for your expensive succulent plants for careful watering without wetting the leaves and thus avoid fungal rot. Take any plastic bottle. Make a hole in the cap and fix a pipe into this hole and glue it from the inner side.
Model 2: this is just a simple shower bottle. Make multiple tiny holes in the bottle cap. That’s it. This is especially useful to water your seeds and seedlings and avoid heavy pressure of your garden hose damaging the seeds or the little seedlings.
Model 1: take any plastic bottle and fix this type of simple hand pressure trigger nozzles to spray pesticides or foliar feeds on your indoor or outdoor plants.
Model 2: you can also attach an adjustable pressure nozzle or pump type of nozzle easily available online at amazon.
Cut out few rings like these from plastic bottles. Use these around seeds and seedlings to prevent Slugs and Snails crossing over and eating your little plants.
Cut the tops off the plastic bottles. Remove the caps and cover these over seeds. This creates a mini greenhouse effect with nice humidity to germinate seeds faster.
Cut the tops off the plastic bottles as done in the previous hack. This is an easy funnel to transfer either seeds into a container or potting mix or even watering, mixing pesticides and so on.
You need one large plastic bottle. Make the markings and cut it through. You get two pieces. The bottom one is the water reservoir and the upper part is the actual pot to grow plants or seeds. Optinally you can paint this for good looks. Now take a piece of cotton rope. Make two holes in the bottle cap and insert the cotton wick through it. The lower end of the wick should be placed in the water reservoir.
You have two cotton wicks now. Now fill with some potting mix to about half and bury one wick. Then add more potting mix and then bury the other wick. You can plant seeds or small plants into this. Whenever the soil gets dry it will suck the water through the string and keep the soil moist.
12. Plant Labels:
Just cut some strips off the plastic bottle and use them to label your seeds or plants.
Plastic bottles are excellent for storing your left-over seeds. Just pour the seeds in a bottle and close the cap. Make sure you place a small sachet of a silicon desiccant for any moisture absorption to prevent fungus.
Take a plastic plate or a small tray. Fix the bottle cork to the center of this tray. Bolting this is a good idea to make it sturdy. Also try to prevent any leaks by sealing with glue. Make holes like this near the bottle mouth. Fill the bottle and cork the tray to the bottle and invert this set up. You can hang this simple DIY water feeder for birds in your garden using some strings and attract beautiful birds to your garden.
Model 1: For growing Greens. Take a large bottle and cut out horizontally. You get a wider container for growing your greens. Fix a cap at the bottom with the help of some screws. Optionally Paint it or decorate it as per your wish. Make few drainage holes at the bottom. Fill it with potting mix and plant your seeds.
Model 2: Cut a bottle near its base like about 5 to 6 inches from the bottom. Optionally pain it or decorate it as per your wish. Make some drainage holes. Fill it with potting mix and grow seeds or some small plants.
]]>In Today’s post, let us look into 15 household items and their miraculous uses for plants and garden.
15. Soap: Bar soap apart from cleaning purpose, there are some really powerful uses in gardening. You can scrape your nails into a bar soap before handling a potting mix and stuff like that. The dirt won’t enter your nail beds and this hack allows you to clean your hands easily after the job.
Liquid soap or even shampoo is used as a simple pesticide if you do not have any pesticide. Just add 10 to 20 drops or 1 or 2 teaspoons of liquid soap to 1 litre of water and spray on the affected plant. This will clear pests like mealybugs, whiteflies and aphids which are the most common pests in garden. Dish washing liquid soap is actually more potent than handwash liquid soap.
14. Chalk Sticks: Chalk is chemically Calcium Carbonate. You can take white chalk sticks and bury them into the soil while planting your veggies. That’s in initial stages. This really works wonders for plants like Tomatoes, Peppers, squashes, egg plants and almost any vegetable plant. You can bury two chalk sticks per container for these vegetable plants safely if you soil PH is around 6.0. For other plants to provide slow release calcium source, you can bury one chalk stick per container.
13. Turmeric: Turmeric powder has many effective uses in garden like: It repels ants when sprinkled around the plants. You can get rid of soil pests particularly fungal root rot and fungus gnats in the soil by mixing turmeric in soil. You can mix about 1 tablespoon per gallon of soil while making potting mix or 1 tablespoon of turmeric in 1 gallon of water or 1 teaspoon per liter of water and thoroughly water your affected plant with this solution. Its also helpful in healing tree wounds and in grafting as it prevents fungal rot. Another common use of turmeric is in rose die-back disease.
12. Vinegar: You can use vinegar to clean your rusty garden tools and pots. To make your soil more acidic for acid loving plants like hydrangeas, rose, hibiscus and so on and increase flowering in these plants. To do this, Mix one table spoon of white vinegar to one litre of water and water you acid loving plants with this solution once every 15 days to reduce the soil PH. Vinegar is also a strong pesticide. Its almost 100% effective in clearing powdery mildew fungus. To make this spray add One cup of White Vinegar to 1 litre of water and shake well and spray it on the affected leaves. It is also effective against white files and mealy bugs. It is also an animal repellent. Just soak some pieces of cloth and stuff them at entrances or behind pots to deter animals that can spoil your garden.
11. Baking Soda: Apart from cleaning your dirty garden tools and stuff with baking soda, you can also use it for other purpose like sprinkle to drive away Foul Smell from your Compost Pile or compost bin. To kill cabbage worms – Sprinkle Baking soda + flour like wheat flour in 1:1 ratio on the cabbage or broccoli leaves. The worms munch on this and die within 1 or 2 days. Baking soda also encourages flower blooming. Make a solution of 1 teaspoon baking soda in 1 litre of water and spray on your plants with flower buds or unopened flowers.
10. Asafoetida or Hing: The most effective use of asafetida is to treat leaf curl disease in plants. Add 5 gms of asafetida powder to one liter of sour butter milk. Mix well, leave for an hour, then sieve the solution and load your spray bottle. Spray over your affected plant. Repeat this every 3 days for 3 – 4 times. Leaf curl disease which is common in pepper and tomato plants will be completely cured by this treatment. Asafoetida can also be used to repel animals in your garden. Just hang some pieces of it in your garden entrances. Animals hate the pungent odor of asafetida. It also repels other insects and termites.
9. Charcoal: Hard wood charcoal has lots of amazing uses in garden like filling your pot bottom with charcoal pieces reduces pot weight. It can be used for mulching and garden décor. Mixing charcoal in soil can act as a good fungicide and prevent root rot, especially for expensive succulent plants. It also increases soil PH, when your soil is too acidic. It also works as a soil conditioner making the soil well draining. It also hold the fertilizers added for a longer duration and make them act like slow release fertilizers. Sprinkled charcoal powder helps deter many insects like the voracious beetles which can create havoc in your garden or on your crops.
8. Alum: Alum or Potash Alum can help to boost flowering. It makes the soil acidic for acid loving plants like hydrangeas, rose, hibiscus and so on. Just 5 gms alum powder per litre of water and water your plants once in a month. Alum is also a good pesticide in higher concentrations, like 100 grams per litre of water and spray on the plants to kill many pests including cabbage worms, cutworms, slugs and snails, etc. It is well known for mostquito control as a larvicide when sprinkled over the stagnant waters.
7. Banana Peels: Banana peel is one of the highest organic sources of potassium. It helps strengthen the plant and increases flowering and fruiting. You can make banana peel tea or banana peel fertilizer powder if you intend to store it. To make banana peel tea, soak pieces of banana peels in water for about 3 to 5 days. Use this banana tea in 1:5 dilution to water your plants once in a month. To make banana peel fertilizer powder, sun dry pieces of banana peels for 2 to 3 days till they are crispy enough to make a powder. Add one tablespoon of this powder once in a month and see the effect.
6. Aloevera: Aloevera has numerous benefits not only to the human body, but also to plants, like: It helps in faster rooting. Just insert a cutting into a piece of aloe vera and plant into soil. Rooting is faster and success rate is higher. Diluted aloe vera gel sprayed or watered to your seeds helps in faster and healthier germination. High levels of certain compounds found in aloe vera confer immunity or resistance against many plant diseases. Aloevera can also be used as a potent pesticide if mixed with other agents like neem oil, especially for pests resistant against certain pesticides.
5. Onions Peels: contain many useful substances like sulphur, quercetin, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and so on. So, do not throw away the onion peels. The simplest use of these peels is to use them for mulching. If you have time you can make a fertilizer out of these onion peels. Just soak the peels in water for 1 to 2 days and water the solution to your plants once in a month to notice the benefits.
4. Tea and Coffee Waste: Do not throw this away. It can certainly boost flowering in your plants. It contains tannic acid which helps plants like Rose and hibiscus to increase flowering. You can wash the waste for any sugars and directly add to your plants or collect this and sun dry this powder and use it for your plants. You can also add this waste directly into your compost bin for making a rich compost.
3. Cinnamon: Cinnamon powder from your kitchen is well known for its wonderful uses in gardening. It can be used as a rooting agent to increase the chances for rooting cuttings. Just dip the cutting into cinnamon powder and plant it. It also deters ants when sprinkled around your plants. Its antifungal properties also fight fungal attacks to your seedlings. Just sprinkle fine cinnamon powder over your seedling and prevent dampening off.
2. Eggshells: Though eggshells are a great source of calcium, do not add crushed egg shells directly to your plants. It takes many years to decompose and release that calcium into the soil. You need to instantly release this calcium from eggshells by using Vinegar. Make eggshell powder first and then add a cup of vinegar to it. Stir it well and leave for an hour. The acetic acid breaks the eggshell compound and release free calcium into this solution. You can then dilute this solution to 1: 10 or 1:20 and then water your plants to treat or prevent acute calcium deficiency problems like tomato blossom end rot disease and other problems like bud or flower or fruit drop off and increase your flowering and fruiting. You can also add egg shells to compost bin for a calcium rich compost.
1. Aspirin: Aspirin is acetyl salicylic acid. Salicylic acid is a plant auxin and a rooting hormone which is proven to accelerate rooting and also it confers immunity against many plant diseases. You can use a dispersible 350 mg Aspirin tablet. Just a little of it will do the trick. A quarter or half a tablet is sufficient. You can read all detailed articles on these individual stuff by searching our website for that particular stuff.
]]>Bonsai is an increasingly popular art of growing miniature live trees. Many people would love to own and grow a bonsai tree themselves. But You will need the right tools and right techniques to accomplish this. You will find that, most bonsai tools like scissors, shears, rakes, hooks, etc are quite expensive, may be because they are made in Japan or may be the demand and supply issues.
Let’s begin!
Happy Gardening and Happy Bonsai Making. Watch Full Bonsai Hacks Video below:
]]>Well, This can be a very nice high school project for kids, to grow two similar plants, one in a transparent container and one in an opaque container and then compare these two. As you can see nothing happens to the plant grown in transparent containers. The actual concern is, root exposure to AIR and even the heat from sunlight that can cause drying and can damage your plant. But still you are advised to keep the roots in the dark. This is because of algae growth due to light and your roots are not getting enough oxygen because the algae is stealing the oxygen and nutrients for itself. So light as such does not hurt the roots, but air, heat and algae hurt the roots and kill the plant.
There are many studies and researches conducted on this topic. Basically, Plants lack a nervous system – that is a brain and other neurological structures like nerves and pain receptors, so they should not feel pain, unlike in humans and animals where we have specialised pain receptors.
But according to some researches, “Plant can know of themselves being eaten” because studies have shown that plants release defence chemicals in response to caterpillars munching on them.
Other points include: Plants fight for territory, seek out food, evade predators and interestingly trap prey like what your see in carnivorous plants like the venus fly trap. They are as alive like any animal, and – like animals – they exhibit behaviour.
This is False! Many people recommend you to provide support to these young slender plants due to the risk of wind blowing them and things like that. Unless it’s a strong wind, tying a sapling or young plant to a support stick or any kind of support will actually do more harm than good. Research has shown that trees without support, over a period of time will develop thicker trunks, more supportive roots and more resistance to breakages.
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There are many signs to know whether your plant can still survive. If your plant is looking dry and has shed its leaves, most of us think its dead. But actually, it may be alive or can be revived. Please watch my detailed episode on this topic demonstrating how to save a dying plant. I have linked that video in description below.
Yes! Some, but not all plants can be propagated from just a leaf or a section of a leaf. Leaf cuttings of most plants will not generate a new plant; they usually produce only a few roots or just decay. There are many ways you can grow leaves into a new plant, like 1. from a leaf petiole, 2. by dividing a leaf into multiple pieces for example fleshy succulent plants like sanseviera or the snake plant and other succulents. Other methods of propagation like cane or stub cuttings, root cuttings, leaf bud cuttings and so on.
Water proofing the terrace is not always necessarily, unless you plan to build raised bed terrace garden. If you grow in container, you only need to check whether the water draining out of the pots is easily flowing out of the terrace and not stagnant.
Aloe vera is sometimes known as “the plant of immortality” – because of its properties to heal, soothe, and refresh. This is because Aloe vera is rich in nutrients, enzymes, and antioxidants that offer numerous benefits to the human body. So, what if I told you that aloe vera can provide many of those same benefits to plants too? Yes! It’s true! Let’s list out the top 6 benefits of Aloe vera for plants and your garden.
6. Seed Germination: Aloe vera is not only a rooting agent, but also promotes healthy seed germination and strong seedlings. Watering your seeds and seedling once in a week will improve the overall growth and yield. Mix 1 teaspoon of aloe vera gel per litre of water or 1 table spoon per gallon. Spray this over the seedlings or water them once weekly.
5. Plant Immunity: Aloe vera gel is fully loaded with over 75 beneficial useful nutrients and enzymes like amino acids, antioxidants, calcium, magnesium, zinc, salicylic acid and so on. High levels of acemannan and saponin found in aloe vera both provide antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties. This helps to protect plants and confers resistance or immunity against certain harmful microbes, fungi, yeast, mold, blight and so on. Just water the plant once in a while – like once in a month with aloe vera solution and see the difference. It not only gives resistance against diseases but also boosts overall growth and health of the plant. Add 1 table spoon of aloe vera gel per litre of water or a quarter cup per gallon of water, mix it well and water your plant. If you start this in early growth stage of a plant, it’s actually much beneficial in the long run.
4. Transplant Shock: Certain high levels of antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral compounds found in aloe vera help plant recover from transplant shock. A plant goes into Transplant shock when you repot it or transplant it from one place to another. The plant looks wilted and unhealthy after transplant. To help recover from this shock, you can water your plant with aloe vera solution at least once after repotting. Repeat after 3 – 4 days if necessary. Add 1 table spoon of aloe vera gel per litre of water or a quarter cup per gallon of water, mix it well and water your plant.
3. Fertilizer: You can either make a soil drench or a foliar spray. To make a soil drench, take some fresh aloe vera leaves and cut them into pieces and throw them into the blender and add some water. You don’t need to peel them. Add half a cup of this gel to one gallon of water or 2 table spoons per litre of water and water your plants with this solution once 15 days. Make sure you drench this within half an hour of making, because if exposed to air, fresh aloe vera quickly ferments and begins to degrade.
The second preparation is a foliar spray or foliar feeding your plants to help them absorb these beneficial nutrients directly through the leaf stomata. You need to make a fresh aloe vera solution like one table spoon per litre of water or quarter cup per gallon. You can sieve this to prevent your sprayer getting clogged. Mix it well before spraying. Spray more on the underside of the leaves because leaf stomata or openings are more concentrated on the underside. Spray this in the evenings to avoid quick evaporation in the presence of sunlight.
2. Natural Rooting Agent: The salicylic acid and other anti-bacterial and anti-fungal compounds help promote rooting faster. There are many methods to use aloe vera for rooting: Let’s look at them one by one:
a. Dipping the cuttings into fresh aloe vera gel and inserting into soil. I recommend you soak the cutting for few hours into aloe vera gel and then plant the cuttings into soil. This will not only promote faster root development but also the success rate of rooting cuttings is high because aloe vera fights fungal rot.
b. Second method is just inserting the cutting into a small piece of aloe vera leaf and plant the whole thing into the soil to achieve the same results.
c. A piece of aloe vera can be used for Air Layering to multiply your favourite plants with great success rate. Just wrap a piece of aloe vera leaf and wrap around soil or toilet paper and tie the ends.
1. Pesticide: Aloe vera alone may not act as a potent pesticide to fight all pests and diseases. You need to other natural agents to make it a powerful organic pesticide that fights common garden pests like aphids, mealybugs, whiteflies and so on. Let’s quickly learn how to make this organic pesticide using Aloe vera leaves plus 5 more ingredients from your kitchen.
– Take Fresh Aloe vera leaves and cut into small pieces and drop approx one bowl into your blender.
– Drop four to five green chilies.
– Add 1 large onion.
– Add 1 full garlic.
– Add one bowl of Neem leaves if you have.
– Add 2- 3 teaspoons of Turmeric powder or fresh turmeric rhizomes if you have.
– Add a cup of water and blend into a fine paste.
– Sieve this solution and collect the extract.
– Mix 100 ml of this to one litre of water or 300-400 ml of it per gallon and spray it on the affected plants. Repeat this after 4 to 5 days.
Sunlight, water, nutrients—these are the basic requirements for plants to thrive. But did you know that your garden soil has another crucial requirement that can determine whether your plants thrive or struggle to grow? It’s a soil property called pH, and an ideal range of soil PH is indispensable for proper nutrient absorption by the roots. Most plants need a PH between 6 to 6.5 for best growth, though some acid loving plants need a lower PH.
Now, Let me demonstrate 3 easy ways to test your soil PH at home.
The First Method is using Litmus Paper. This is simple school chemistry. Also this is not expensive. You can buy this simple litmus paper kit at any stationary store or even online. This is just litmus paper with color chart showing a PH value for each color that matches with your test result. PH of 7 is Neutral, PH below 7 is acidic and above 7 is alkaline. The most important thing is to use distilled water for all these tests you conduct, because the PH of distilled water is neutral.
So, How to Test Soil Using Litmus Paper Method
Pros of this method: It’s Easy to use and inexpensive
Cons of this method: It’s sometimes difficult to read or match colors, so, loss of precision.
The Second Method is a rough and easy DIY method you can try at home to know whether your soil is acidic or alkaline.
The Third Method is using Soil PH Testers – Which one to Choose, these manual types or digital soil PH testers. These are easy to use portable gadgets with probes to insert into the soil. These give instant readings. But these manual type of probe testers are not so reliable but they are inexpensive and handy. The digital testers are more accurate but expensive.
This soil testing is fun and you can share this with your kids to teach them simple science or chemistry.
]]>2. Wick Supply: Here is another easy fix for watering all your plants while you are away. Take some cotton rope and soak it in water. Place one end of the rope in an elevated water source and the other end around the plant or bury it on the top soil. The tiny fibres in the cotton rope serve as capillaries and siphon water to the plants by capillary suction. This is helpful to supply water to your plants for a longer duration when you are on a vacation. Whenever the soil dries, it sucks up the required water by capillary action. In this method, the duration of the supply can be controlled by choosing an appropriate size of the water source.
3. Wick Planter: Try this easy DIY wick planter method for small plants and succulents. All you need is an empty soda or water bottle and a small piece of cotton rope to act as a wick. Cut the bottle along the half-length, flip the top part upside down. Cut the rope to the length of the planter and insert it through the top. Pour some potting mix in the top and fill the bottom part with water. Ensure the wick is fully covered in water. There you go, you have your self-watering wick planter ready. This is best suited for small desk and indoor plants and with this method, you plants only need to be watered once every 2 weeks.
4. Water Bath Method: A one-step arrangement to make sure your plants do not feel the heat. Place some water in a wide dish and place the pot in the water bath. Make sure that your pot has lot of drainage holes at the bottom. As water is required by the plant, the tiny air spaces in the soil act as capillaries and transport water upwards to the root system. This is a very frugal arrangement so best suited for plants that do not need much water and the duration of watering in this method, can be varied with the size of the water bath. It is important to note that the water level should not be more than 2 inches from the bottom of the pot and there are sufficient drainage holes at the bottom of the pot.
5. Siphon Method: This is a super easy way of watering your plants. All you need is a small pipe, a stone/small rock as dead weight and a water source – like this air stone used as bubblers in aquariums. Place the water source at an elevated spot. Dip the pipe completely in the water source till it’s filled with water. Without removing the pipe from the water, close one end of the pipe with your finger and move it to the pot. The water will start siphoning from the source to the plant. You can adjust the speed of siphon by varying the height of the open end of the pipe. This is best suited for plants that need a lot of watering and the duration of watering in this methods can easily be varied by choosing the size of the water source.
6. The bottle flip Method: This is a most simple yet very effective way of watering your plants.
All you need an empty plastic bottle. Use a push pin to make some tiny holes in the cap and then place the bottle inverted with the cap side into the soil about 1-2 inches deep. Make sure to place it away from the root system to prevent damage to the roots. This way is most effective for small to medium plants and lasts for up to a week depending on the size of the bottle and size of the holes. This method is Best suited for pots kept in indirect sunlight.
7. A Bonus Build: This can be a great fun activity for your kids and encourage them to take interest in gardening this vacation. This is built using some waste recycled plastic materials. All you need is
– a cleaned up plastic can (make sure to remove traces of whatever was in it),
– a small piece of PVC pipe and
– an old soda bottle.
Take a base of the soda bottle and place it around one end of the pipe. Heat it up with a lighter. It should shrink and clamp around the open edge. No glue needed. use a pin and poke some holes in the bottle base. This will be our spout. Next, cut the edge of the pipe at an angle using a saw blade. Place the inclined cut at the base of our can and mark the outline. Make sure to make a snug cut on the marking. Next insert the pipe into the inlet and use some hot glue to hold it in place. Optionally, color it to get that beautiful look. You are done with your DIY watering recycling your old plastic waste.
Baking Soda is pure sodium bicarbonate used mainly for cooking purpose. It should not be confused with either Baking powder or Washing soda. Washing soda is sodium carbonate and baking powder contains only about 30% baking soda plus other ingredients.
Now let’s list out the baking soda hacks and benefits:
10. Encourage Flower Blooming: Prepare a spray or solution by adding 1 teaspoon baking soda in 1 litre of water. Mix it well and now spray this on your plants with buds or unopened flowers. This will not only encourage blooming but also take care of any fungal spores on the plant.
9. Baking Soda Pesticide & Fungicide: Let’s prepare our most powerful and universal pesticide and fungicide solution to treat almost all types of pests in your garden like the aphids, mealybugs, thrips, mites, whiteflies, worms, caterpillars, soil fungus, plant fungi like powdery mildew, black spot rose disease, leaf rust, leaf miners and many more.
– Take 1 litre of water in a container or in a spray bottle.
– Add 2 Teaspoons of Baking Soda into this. You can add 3 teaspoons if you feel the pest attack is too severe.
– Add 1 teaspoon of Neem oil to this. If you do not have neem oil, you can add any vegetable oil like olive oil into this. But Neem Oil is the best to make it a universal pesticide. You can also add Clove oil or Eucalyptus oil to make it more potent.
– Now Add some 10 drops of liquid soap into this. You can use your dish washing liquid soap or even hand wash liquid or any organic liquid soap if you are 100% organic gardener.
– Mix it thoroughly well and also always give it a good shake before spraying.
– Before you spray on your entire plant, please perform a patch test on a leaf and leave it for 1 – 2 hours to see the potency. If the leaf wilts, you will need to dilute it further.
8. Cleaning Plant Foliage: Removing the dust and dirt on the leaves encourages better photosynthesis and helps in better growth and health of your plants. To prepare this solution, add half a teaspoon of baking soda in 1 litre of water in a spray bottle and mix it well. Spray on the leaves and use a soft cloth to mop the leaves.
7. To Kill Cabbage Worms: Take Baking soda + Any flour like wheat flour in 1:1 ratio and mix it well. Sprinkle this powder on the cabbage or broccoli leaves. The worms munch on this and die within 1 or 2 days.
6. To Eliminate Slugs and Snails: There are two ways to use baking soda for this purpose. Firstly Sprinkle baking soda directly on slugs and snails to kill them; this might look cruel for some people though. The second method is to draw a boundary around the plant container to prevent slugs or snails from crawling over your plant.
5. Drive away Foul Smell from your Compost Pile: Just sprinkle baking soda on the top of your compost pile to get rid of any foul smell.
4. Weed Killer: Sprinkle baking soda directly on the weeds, specially in cracks and crevices. It will gradually burn the foliage and weeds should disappear in a few days. It will not only kill the weeds but also prevent new weeds from growing for a longer duration of time. But Be careful not to sprinkle it on your favourite plants.
3. Cleaning Your Garden Stuff: Prepare a solution by mixing 2 teaspoons of baking soda and 2 teaspoons of liquid soap per litre of water to clean your garden tools, dirty pots and even garden furniture with this solution.
2. Keep Cut Flowers Fresh for a Longer Time: Just add half a teaspoon of baking soda into the vase water. If your vase is larger, you can add 1 teaspoon.
1: HACK FOR SOIL PH TESTING: If you do not have any soil ph testing gadget, you can roughly check whether your soil ph is alkaline or acidic. You will need baking soda and Vinegar to perform this test.
Collect samples of your garden soil in small containers from different areas or containers in your garden, and take a half-cup of vinegar and a half-cup of baking soda. This is simple school chemistry – Acid and Base reaction. Acidic PH is below 7, alkaline is above 7 and 7 is neutral PH.
So when you Pour the vinegar into one of the soil samples and If the soil begins to bubble, it is alkaline, meaning the pH level is above 7.
Now you mix half a cup of water and baking soda and mix well. If the soil bubbles, it means the pH level is below 7, and it is acidic soil.
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Well, This can be a very nice high school project for kids, to grow two similar plants, one in a transparent container and compare with that grown in an opaque container. As you can see nothing happens to the plant grown in transparent containers. The actual concern is, root exposure to AIR and even the heat from sunlight that can cause drying and can damage your plant. But still you are supposed to keep the roots in the dark because of algae growth due to light and your roots are not getting enough oxygen because the algae is stealing the oxygen and nutrients for itself. So light as such doesn’t hurt the roots, but air, heat and algae hurt the roots and the plant.
There are many studies and researches conducted on this topic. Plants lack a nervous system – that is a brain and other neurological structures like nerves and pain receptors, so they should not feel pain, unlike in humans and animals where we have specialised pain receptors.
But according to some researches, “Plant can know of themselves being eaten” because studies have shown plants release defence chemicals in response to caterpillars munching on them.
Other points include: Plants fight for territory, seek out food, evade predators and trap prey like what your see in carnivorous plants like the venus fly trap. They are as alive like any animal, and – like animals – they exhibit behaviour.
This is False! Many people recommend you to provide support to these young slender plants due to the risk of wind blowing them and things like that. Unless it’s a strong wind, tying a sapling or young plant to a support stick or any kind of support will actually do more harm than good. Research has shown that trees without support, over a period of time will develop thicker trunks, more supportive roots and more resistance to breakages.
Firstly, let’s look at the difference between grey water and black water. Grey water or sullage water is the waste water coming out from kitchens, laundries and even bathroom showers. Black water is nothing but sewage water. So can we use these for our plants? Well, this depends on the country you live in. Many countries ban the use of these untreated waters and also sewage farming. This is because they contain lot of chemicals, toxins, heavy metals and bacteria which are harmful for plants and also for humans consuming the yields produced by such plants.
It’s a fact! Garlic deters pests, including fungus gnats, moths, spider mites, beetles and even ants. The pungent flavor of garlic is due to sulfur compounds which are natural fungicides. So companion gardening with garlic planting is certainly beneficial to your garden.
Well, Bone meal is a byproduct of animal rendering, made from finely-crushed bones. Bone meal is a slow-release organic fertilizer. It is high in phosphorus with an NPK ratio of 4-12-0.
The closest alternative to bone meal is Soya Bean Meal. This has NPK ratio is 7-2-1 and hence you might have to use it double the quantity while using this soy bean meal.
There are many signs to know whether your plant can still survive. If your plant is looking dry and has shed its leaves, most of us think its dead. But actually, it may be alive or can be revived. Please watch my detailed episode on this topic demonstrating how to save a dying plant.
Yes! Some, but not all plants can be propagated from just a leaf or a section of a leaf. Leaf cuttings of most plants will not generate a new plant; they usually produce only a few roots or just decay. There are many ways you can grow leaves into a new plant, like 1. from a leaf petiole, 2. by dividing a leaf into multiple pieces for example fleshy succulent plants like sanseviera or the snake plant and other succulents. Other methods of propagation like cane or stub cuttings, root cuttings, leaf bud cuttings and so on. I will try to prepare a detailed post on this topic when I get a chance.
Some might think of installing a burglar alarm or fencing it well or locking their gardens. But I suggest one simple remedy to this problem. First of all, interact with them and make friends with them even if you do not like them. Talk about exchanging your plants, seeds or cuttings. You take the first step and present them some of your good plants or cuttings. That is all!
This is infact a vast topic. We have discuss this in detail on the benefits of this and making or installing simple DIY bird feeders in this article.
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