- Fruit Picker – Model 1 :
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.
- Fruit Picker Model 2:
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 Pot:
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.
- Easy Plant Cloner:
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.
- Easy Plant Watering Systems.
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.
- Easy Spray Bottle:
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.
- Ring Guard:
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.
- Mini Greenhouse:
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.
- Easy Funnel:
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.
- Self-Watering Pot:
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.
- Seed Storage:
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.
- Bird Water Feeder:
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.
- Easy Planters:
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.
In today’s article, we will quickly debunk 20 interesting and unbelievable gardening myths and reveal some extremely useful scientific facts and tips related to Gardening.
- Fresh Cow Dung or Horse Dung is very Good for Plants?
This is absolutely false! Fresh Cow poop should never be applied for your plants, because it not only stinks but contains high levels of ammonia and salts which can burn your plants. It also contains harmful microorganisms like e-coli which are harmful to plants as well as humans. Plus, it also contains weed seeds which can produce a lot of weeds or unwanted plants in your garden. So always use decomposed cow-dung or horse dung for your plants. You can watch a detailed video on 5 hacks to quickly decompose cow dung from a link in description below or from end-screen link at the end of this video. Let’s move on..
- Is it Dangerous to Expose Roots to Light?
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.
- Do Plants feel Pain?
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.
- Talking to You Plants will help them Grow?
People who really love plants and gardening will often tell you that talking to plants or even music has a beneficial impact on their overall health and growth. Despite many different scientific studies on this theory, there’s still no conclusive evidence that talking to plants helps them grow. One theory says that since plants take up carbon dioxide, and hence talking to plants releases carbon dioxide when we exhale. So, that explains it all.
- Plants can Die of Old age or aging. The oldest known tree in the world is the Great Basin bristlecone pine in the White Mountains of California which is over 5000 years old. Actually Trees grow indeterminately, meaning that with the right conditions, they can grow and grow and grow. But the only problem that limits them from reaching up to the sky is the food and water transport through xylem and phloem to the growing end from the roots. The taller the tree the more difficult it is to transport water from roots to the foliage near the top. But here what happens is instead of growing taller they increase in width and also branch out more, as you might have noticed some old trees with huge girth of their stems.
- Animal or Human Urine can be used as a Fertilizer. Yes, this is a Fact!For example, cow urine contains loads of NPK – that’s nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium which are the most essential plant nutrients for agricultural use. But it has to be applied in dilution of at least 1:20 in water.
- Is it Dangerous to go near Trees during Night Time? Well, In day time under the presence of sunlight – that’s photosynthesis, plants take up Carbon dioxide and release Oxygen. But during night they take in Oxygen and release CO2 and hence the air near trees will have lesser concentration of Oxygen and higher concentration of CO2. But, this impact will be negligible for small plants and at home gardens and only be noticeable near very large trees or in thick vegetation.
- Naphthalene balls or Moth Balls contain Naphthalene Acetic Acid and can be used as a rooting agent. It’s a Myth. NAA – Naphthalene Acetic Acid and IBA – Indole Butyric Acid are plant auxins or hormones which are entirely different compounds and used for rooting your plant cuttings. These two are entirely different from moth balls which are used to keep insects at bay.
- Watering plants on a hot sunny day will magnify the sunlight through the droplets acting as convex lenses and burn the leaves badly! No doubt, watering plants early in the morning or late in the evening is great! Because less water will evaporate during this time. But This theory that water droplets on leaves can act like mini magnifying lenses, focusing the sun’s rays and causing leaf burn has been completely disproved by physicists.
- Planting by the Moon affects plant growth and yield?
The idea that the Moon affects plant growth is an old one that is believed by many people. This is a myth! No study has proven the effect of moon on plant growth. And the only plants that use moon light for photosynthesis are certain types of phytoplanktons which are not normally found in gardens. - Crushed egg shells are a good source of Calcium to treat calcium deficiency? This is False! Even Powdered Egg shells take a long time to decompose and release that calcium into the soil and make them available for uptake by plants. You can make a water soluble calcium using egg shells by mixing it with distilled Vinegar to make this happen. You can find this detailed video from a link in description or from a link at top right corner of this screen.
- Saplings or seedlings need to be supported to protect them? True or False?
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.
- Do Magnets affect Plant growth?
This is a fact. Magnetism affects plant growth and seed germination positively. Studies have shown that when plants are exposed to a magnetic field with south pole facing towards the roots, Seeds germinate faster and plant grow faster and stronger in the presence of magnetic field in the soil. You can check a detailed video on this experiment from a link in description or from a link at top right corner of this video. - Can Harvested or Collected seeds be stored in a Refrigerator or Freezer?
This is not correct! Most seeds that are stored in a seed banks are first dried up so that the moisture content is reduced to about 10 percent and then these can be stored for several years. But if you freeze freshly collected seeds, the moisture content in these seeds will form ice crystals within and can destroy the seed viability. - Growing Fruit Trees in Containers is not possible due to limited space?
This is not true. You can grow them but you need little larger containers or fabric bags like more than 18 or 24 inch. You can watch a detailed episode on the top ten terrace gardening myths and facts from a link in description.
- Does Potting Mix Cause Legionnaires’ Pneumonia in Gardeners? True or False?
Do not worry! This is not True. Legionnaires’ Pneumonia is a severe form of pneumonia or lung infection mostly cause by inhaling the bacteria. Though these legionella bacteria survive in outdoor soil, it rarely causes infections. But still, prevention is better than cure. Better wear a mask while handling potting mix, specially people with weaker immune systems.
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- How do I know my plant is still alive and how to save a dying plant?
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.
- Can we grow plants from leaves?
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.
- Gardening on Terrace is Bad for the Building. This is not completely true unless your building is too old with a poor construction. Otherwise if wisely planned, a garden on terrace will not be a problem, like placing the heavy containers along the walls on your terrace which are weight bearing or main walls of the building and things like that.
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.
- Does Electric Current affect Plant Growth? Well, there is a separate science called electro-culture farming which utilizes this effect. I have conducted a simple experiment on this topic to study the effect of electric current on plant growth. You can watch that episode from an end-screen link or from garden tips channel.
- Rooting Hack: For faster and guaranteed rooting of stem or branch cuttings, take a small piece of fresh aloe vera leaf and insert the cutting into it and then plant into the soil. Roots grow as early as 10 days depending on the plant you choose.
- Candle Hack: Seal the upper cut end of your plant stem or branch cutting using few drops of candle wax. This helps prevent moisture evaporation and result in faster rooting.
- No Browns for Composting? Use a paper shredder and use the shredded paper and card board to add into your compost bin for faster and smell free composting.
- Easy Tomato Stakes: Tomato plants require support to avoid awkward bends and also to get the best yield. String Support your Tomato plants using a small piece of GI metal wire. Make it into a U-shaped loop and insert it near the roots. Tie one end of a string to this and the other end to some support at the top.
- Banana Peel Fertilizer for Flowering: To make banana peel tea, soak pieces of banana peels in water for 2 to 3 days. Dilute this liquid with water in 1:5 ratio and water your plants to provide potassium to your plants which increases flowering in plants and also makes the flower size bigger.
- Anti-Gravity Plant Support: While growing climber veggies, do not take them to a height above 6 feet, but instead support in a slope like fashion, like take it to a height and then slope the growing ends downwards to assist in long-distance transport of water and nutrients for healthy growth. The arch like trellis is the ideal support fence for growing climber or creeper veggies.
- Hairs to Roots: Insert tomato seedlings as deep as possible to increase the density of roots formed from tiny hairy projections from tomato stems and this makes the plant stronger to produce the best yield.
- Big Leaves: To get large sized leaves in your money plant, use a moss stick or coir stick to anchor the aerial roots to it. Wet the moss stick whenever you water the money plant.
- Onion + Aloe Vera Rooting Agent: Making a paste using onion and aloe vera gel and dipping the cuttings into it for few minutes before planting in soil will help in faster and guaranteed rooting.
- Spoon Transplant: To transplant your seedlings, use a spoon, dig out as much soil with it including the roots of the plant and hold the leaves of the plant and not the STEM to pull out, because this can squeeze and damage the water and food conducting tubes – xylem and phloem and the little plant may die.
- Grow From Junk: Never throw away a pine apple crown, just remove the bottom leaves and keep the bottom inserted into a glass of water for a week and then transfer to a container. It will bear fruits within a year.
- Eggshell Water: One eggshell contains about 2gms of calcium. When you boil eggs, a small percentage of this calcium and phosphorous is released into the water. Do not throw away this water, but use it to water your plants that require a lot of calcium – like tomatoes and peppers as well as flowering plants.
- Cello Tape Pest Trap: Wrap the cello tape in reverse on your fingers and use the sticky part to touch on leaves infested with pests like aphids, whiteflies and mealybugs.
- Clay Soil Hack: Remove Clayey or sticky soil from roots using this simple Hack: When you bring your plant from a nursery and start repotting, most often you find they have stuffed the plant in a clay-rich sticky soil. You can remove this soil without damaging the roots by soaking the root ball in water for few minutes till this soil dissolves. Then you can repot this plant in a well-draining potting mix.
- Root Teasing: Always Loosen up or tease your roots before repotting into a new container.
- Toilet Paper Cloning Hack: Use Aloe vera and Toilet paper to produce roots faster during air layering your favourite plant.
- Aspirin Hack: During conventional air layering to produce faster and better roots, use one tablet of aspirin 350mg per litre of water and add this water you’re the potting mix and then wrap it around the injured stem for faster and dense root formation.
- Hydroponic Cloner: For faster rooting, make your own hydroponic plant cloner using a plastic bucket and an aquarium pump. Healthy Roots develop within 8 days.
- Free Calcium: Egg shells easily dissolve in vinegar and release free calcium to your plants. Make egg shell powder and the add about a cup of vinegar to a cup of egg shell powder and stir nicely and leave it for any hour. Then dilute this to 1:100 or more to water your plants and treat acute calcium deficiencies which can produce blossom end rot disease in your fruits and veggies.
- Simplest Plant Cloner: Use any container and place a couple of aquarium air stones to pump oxygen into the water. This helps in faster and guaranteed rooting of any plant cuttings in water.
- Wheel-Barrow: No Wheelbarrow to move garden stuff? Do not worry, the cheapest alternative is a large cloth or an old bed sheet. Just load on the heavy objects and drag it along.
- Aspirin for Rooting: When you propagate cuttings in water, do not forget to add a small piece of Aspirin tablet into it for faster and stronger root development.
- Seed Split Trick: Split the Cilatro or Corinader seeds before planting them the sand paper paper method and apply gentle scraping pressure to split the seeds and do not crush or damage them using a heavy objects like these. This helps to grow enormous cilantro harvest.
- Scrape and Sow: Use sand paper to scrape the hard seed cover of certain seeds like apple, chickoo and those with hard seed over for faster seed germination.
- Treat Leaf Curl Virus using Asafoetida: Take 500ml of sour butter milk. Add one teaspoon or about 5 gms of Asafoetida powder to it and mix well. Let it stay for 1 or 2 hours. Sieve this solution and Spray thoroughly over the affected plant including the underside of the leaves. Repeat this, every 3 days for 3 – 4 times to completely cure the leaf curl disease.
- Egg Shell Planter: You can use egg shells to sow seeds. To make drainage holes, scrape with a sand paper and use a thin drill bit to make a hole without breaking the shell.
- Egg Trays: Card board Egg trays can be used as seed germination trays. You can directly transplant the seedling along with the card board into the soil, as this is bio-degradable.
- Chalk Sticks: Chalk is chemically Calcium Carbonate. You can bury a chalk stick into the soil while planting your veggies. This really works wonders for plants like Tomatoes, Peppers, squashes, egg plants and almost any vegetable plant.
- Strong Roots: Strong Roots means a healthier plant with a better yield. In its early growth phase, adding a source of phosphorous like bone meal powder or organic rock phosphate powder will produce stronger roots and produce a better harvest.
- Seed Viability Check: An Easy method to check viability of your larger seeds is to pour them into a bowl of water. If the seeds are floating, this means they are dry and not viable. Discard them and use only those seeds that sink to the bottom.
- No Garden Gloves? Scrape your nails into a soap before working with your garden soil or potting mix. This helps in cleaning your hands easily later on and also the dirt won’t enter into your nail beds.
- Repel Animals: A simplest way to repel Some animals like cats, dogs and rabbits – is to soak a some pieces of cloth with vinegar and stuff them in some areas of your garden. These animals cannot withstand the smell of vinegar and may not return if you repeat this process for few days. Similarly using Asafoetida wrapped in a piece of cloth will deter these animals and certain insects.
- Magnifying Lens: Use a Magnifying Glass to closely examine and diagnose your plant pests and insects to identify them and follow the treatment accordingly.
- Tea Fertilizer: You can also use tea waste or coffee grounds on flowering plants as an organic fertilizer to boost blooms.
- Tea waste compost: Add used tea waste or coffee grounds into your compost bin for faster composting because earth worms digest them very fast.
- Seed Spacing: You can do perfect seeds spacing for Tiny seeds like spreading them apart in a row on toilet paper – for better visibility and even spacing and sowing. You can make a seed tapes either in a row or a square or round seed board specially for carrot seeds for even spacing and better growth and ease of harvesting.
- Over-Ripe: Garden vegetables and fruits that become over-ripe are an easy target for pests. Remove them as soon as possible to avoid pest growth.
- Faster Germination: A simple hack for faster germination and healthy seedlings is to soak seeds in Epsom salt solution for a couple of hours before planting – like half a teaspoon of Epsom salt in 100 ml of water. You can also spray Epsom salt solution on your seeds and seedlings for healthy outcome.
- Pick Small: You can Pick small seeds for sowing with a stick or tooth pick dipped in water.
- Acidify Soil: For Acid loving plants like Rose, Hibiscus or Hydrangeas, use 5gms of Alum powder in 1 litre of water once every 15 days and this will boost flowering.
- Soil PH Test Using Litmus Paper: Mix Water and Soil in 1:1 ratio. Dip the litmus paper and match the color with your color coding chart that came along with your litmus paper kit.
- A Rough Soil PH Test Method: Take a soil sample and pour some vinegar. If it fizzes and bubbles you have an alkaline soil. What if the soil is acidic? Add baking soda one or two teaspoons and mix it with soil. Then wet the soil baking soda mix with distilled water. If it fizzes and bubbles your soil is acidic, because the acidic content in soil reacts with a base or alkaline stuff like baking soda.
- Free Bio Seed Pots: Never throw away the toilet paper card board roll. But use it to make seedling cups which are bio degradable and can be directly planted into soil without disturbing roots.
- Paper pots: You can also make seed pots by rolling newspaper and even this is bio degradable and similarly you can directly transplant with the pot into the soil or into a larger container.
- Mosquito Repelling Plants: Growing plants like Lemon grass, Citronella, catnip, basil, marigolds, eucalyptus and many other plants helps deter mosquitoes.
- Turmeric Treatment: You can use turmeric powder from your kitchen treat and prevent rose-dieback disease after pruning your rose bush.
- Silica Gel Packets: Never throw away these tiny sachets, use them in your seed storage container as desiccants which increases your seed life and protects them from fungus.You can also use these to preserve and protect powdered gardening stuff like bone meal, fungicide powder, rooting hormone, etc. Just tape the sachet to the underside of the container lid and that’s it.
- DIY Watering Can: Take the base of a soda bottle and place it around one end of a pvc 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. Next, cut the edge of the pipe at an angle using a saw blade. Next insert the pipe into the inlet and use some hot glue to hold it in place. Optionally, colour it to get that beautiful look.
- Mini Green House: Use plastic bins or containers as mini green houses or poly houses for faster seed germinations.
- Do Not Kill: Avoid spraying a pesticide on the flowers. This is to avoid any harm to beneficial Pollinator insects like butterflies and honey bees which are essential for pollination and fruit formation.
1. Mini Green House Method: A simple yet effective way of keeping your beloved plants hydrated and healthy. Water your plant as usual. Then all you need is some wooden stakes or aluminium pipes and a transparent or semi-transparent plastic bag. Insert the stakes around the plant leaving some space around it. Then place the bag over and around the plant. It is very important that the plastic cover is transparent or non-coloured to prevent the plant from dying due to heat absorption. This works on a simple concept of evaporation of water. When the temperature is high, the water starts to evaporate and it accumulates by condensing on the inner side of the plastic bag and then it returns back to the soil. This is best suited for medium to large plants and is proven to be effective for up to 1 week when placed in indirect sunlight, but may last lesser when placed in direct sun. And in fact not wise to keep in direct sunlight as it can burn your plant foliage due to excessive heat.
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.
Let’s begin!
- It is Dangerous to Expose Roots to Light?
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.
- Naphthalene balls or Moth Balls contain Naphthalene Acetic Acid and can be used as a rooting agents. It’s a Myth. NAA – Naphthalene Acetic Acid and IBA – Indole Butyric Acid are plant auxins or hormones which are entirely different compounds and used for rooting your plant cuttings. These two are entirely different from moth balls which are used to keep insects at bay.
- Is it Dangerous to go near Trees during Night Time? Well, In day time under the presence of sunlight – that’s photosynthesis, plants take up Carbondioxide and release Oxygen. But during night they take in Oxygen and release CO2 and hence the air near trees will have lesser concentration of Oxygen and higher concentration of CO2. But, this impact will be negligible for small plants and at home gardens and only be noticeable near very large trees or in thick vegetation.
- Animal or Human Urine can be used as a Fertilizer. Yes This is a Fact!For example cow urine contains loads of NPK- thats nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium which are the most essential plant nutrients for agricultural use. But it has to be applied in dilution of atleast 1:20 in water.
- Gardening on Terrace is Bad for the Building. This is not completely true unless your building is too old with a poor construction. Otherwise if wisely planned, a garden on terrace will not be a problem, like placing the heavy containers along the walls on your terrace which are weight bearing or main walls of the building and things like that.
- Water proofing the terrace is a Must for a Terrace Garden. Not 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.
- Plants can Die of Old age or aging. The oldest known tree in the world is the Great Basin bristlecone pine in the White Mountains of California which is over 5000 years old. Actually Trees grow indeterminately, meaning that with the right conditions, they can grow and grow and grow. But the only problem that limits them from reaching up to the sky is the food and water transport through xylem and phloem to the growing end from the roots. The taller the tree the more difficult it is to transport water from roots to the foliage near the top. But here what happens is instead of growing taller they increase in width and also branch out more, as you might have noticed some old trees with huge girth of their stems.
- Do Plants feel Pain?
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.
- Watering plants on a hot sunny day will magnify the sunlight through the droplets acting as convex lenses and burn the leaves badly! No doubt, watering plants early in the morning or late in the evening is great! Because less water will evaporate during this time. But This theory that water droplets on leaves can act like mini magnifying lenses, focusing the sun’s rays and causing leaf burn has been completely disproved by physicists.
- Talking
to You Plants will help them Grow? People who really love plants and gardening
will often tell you that talking to
plants or even music has a beneficial impact on their overall health and
growth. Despite many different scientific studies on this theory, there’s still
no conclusive evidence that talking to plants helps them grow. One theory says
that since plants take up carbondioxide, and hence talking to plants releases
carbon dioxide when we exhale. So, that’s it.
- Planting
by the Moon affects plant growth and yield?
The idea that the Moon affects plant growth is an old one that is believed by many people. This is a myth! No study has proven the effect of moon on plant growth. And the only plants that use moon light for photosynthesis are certain types of phytoplanktons which are not normally found in gardens. - Crushed egg shells are a good source of Calcium to treat calcium deficiency? This is False! Even Powdered Egg shells take a long time to decompose and release that calcium into the soil and make them available for uptake by plants. You can make a water soluble calcium using egg shells by mixing it with distilled Vinegar to make this happen. You can find this detailed video from a link in description or from a link at top right corner of this screen.
- Fresh Cow Dung or Horse Dung is very Good for Plants! Fresh Cow poop should never be applied for your plants, because it not only stinks but contains high levels of ammonia and salts which can burn your plants. It also contains harmful microorganisms like e coli which are harmful to plants and humans. Plus it also contains weed seeds which can produce a lot of weeds or unwanted plants in your garden.
- Saplings or seedlings need to be supported to protect them? True or False?
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.
- Does
Potting Mix Cause Legionnaires’ Pneumonia in Gardeners? True or False?
Do not worry! This is not True. Legionnaires’ Pneumonia is a severe form of pneumonia or lung infection mostly cause by inhaling the bacteria. Though these legionella bacteria survive in outdoor soil, it rarely causes infections. But still, prevention is better than cure. Better wear a mask while handling potting mix, specially people with weaker immune systems. - Can
Harvested or Collected seeds be stored in a Refrigerator or Freezer? True or
False?
This is not correct! Most seeds that are stored in a seed banks are first dried up so that the moisture content is reduced to about 10 percent and then these can be stored for several years. But if you freeze freshly collected seeds, the moisture content in these seeds will form ice crystals within and can destroy the seed viability. - Growing
Fruit Trees in Containers is not possible due to limited space?
This is not true. You can grow them but you need little larger containers or fabric bags like more than 18 or 24 inch. You can watch a detailed episode on the top ten terrace gardening myths and facts from an end-screen link circled right here. - Can we Use Grey Water or Black water for our plants or farming? True or False?
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.
- Garlic is the king of Companion gardening? True or False?
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.
- Are there any Bone meal substitute, specially for vegetarian people who hesitate to offer bone meal to their plants?
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.
- How do I know my plant is still alive and how to save a dying plant?
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.
- Can we grow plants from leaves
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.
- How do I prevent my neighbours from stealing my plants and fruits from my garden?
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!
- Can we install drip irrigation system on terrace garden? Infact this is one of the best options for watering on your terrace, specially if your plants are in hot sun with no green shade net. And more over, the watering hose pressure is very low on the terrace and it takes a long time to water your plants. You might require to install a pump to get that proper pressure to water your plants. Drip irrigation system is also a good option and its not that difficult to install and not that expensive. You get many options to purchase online like 100 pots, 300 pots and 500 pots options and sets. Check How to install drip irrigation here.
- Is it useful to attract birds in your garden?
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.
Seeds are magic to gardens. Tuck them in soil, add a little water and you’re on the way to a beautiful bloom or a tasty harvest. Whether you are a beginner or an expert gardener, you will certainly improve your success by avoiding these common errors that will be discussed shortly.
Germinating seeds is infact a simple process. But when seeds do not sprout, you feel disheartened and infact some loose their interest in gardening. But you should always take time to evaluate or diagnose the problem. Why didn’t my seeds germinate?
Here are the 7 FATAL MISTAKES or Answers to Seed Germination Problems.
- YOU ARE USING NON-VIABLE OR OLD SEEDS: If your
seeds have not sprouted within the appropriate number days, then most likely or
the most common reason could be the seeds are not viable.
Always check the expiry date or best before date on the seed packet and also purchase seeds from reliable sources.
This Seed viability issue can even be due to improper storage of seeds like in moisture which can cause them to rot or mold.
Here are two simple hacks to test whether your seed is viable. First method is: - Simply Pour the Seeds in a container of water and if the seeds are floating, they are not viable. Just discard them and choose only those sunk to the bottom.
- Checking seed viability using a wet toilet paper method. Pour some seeds on a wet toilet paper and keep it in a zip lock bag for 24 to 48 hours and see for sprouting to check viability.
- Another important point to remember is the Seed Pod Maturity, specially if you are growing from seeds from a fruit or vegetable. A fruit or vegetable develops from a flower after pollination and fertilization process and is nothing but a seed pod. In my previous episode, the seeds from green bell pepper did not germinate but those from the yellow and red pepper germinated to nearly 100%. The capsicum or bell pepper gradually matures from green color to yellow, orange and then finally Red. Hope this answers the question!
- WRONG PLANTING TECHNIQUE: Planting your seeds too deep can cause problems with sprouting. So, What is the ideal depth for sowing seeds? The rule of thumb is to plant seeds at a depth equal to two times or max three times their width. It’s better to plant seeds too shallow than too deep. You should also avoid pressing down on top of your seeds after you plant them.
- BAD SEED STARTING POTTING MIX OR SOIL: This is a very important factor for success rate. Starting seeds in garden soil alone is not recommended because this soil is too compacted and the seeds cannot sprout. Also if it contains large pieces of stones, wood and stuff like that, can prevent the seeds from sprouting freely. And moreover this soil is full of harmful pathogens that can affect seed germination and also the health of the seedling. Many gardeners suggest baking this soil in oven at 180 degrees for 30 minutes to kill most weeds and pathogens. But this will also kill the beneficial microorganisms like mychorrhizae and pseudomonas from the soil. So, it’s always better to prepare your own seed starting mix without using garden soil. One such recipe, you can follow is:
- Cocopeat or peat moss – 70% + Compost like decomposed cowdung or Vermicompost 30%. This is more that sufficient and the best seed starting mix. You can optionally add stuff like perlite and fine grade vermiculite into this mixture.
- Alternately you can also use seed starting coco peat pellets which can be directly transplanted into soil when the seedling are ready for transplant.
- WRONG TEMPERATURE AND WRONG SEASON: This is another common mistake most of us commit. Planting by the season depending on the zone you live in is really important, because the temperature is a very important factor for seed germination. Temperatures that are too high or too low can cause problems germinating seeds. So, try to follow the planting calendar of the zone you live in.
- IMPROPER WATERING: Seed germination is highly dependent on watering. If it’s too dry, they fail to sprout! And too wet they will rot in the dirt. Seeds need to be moderately moist to sprout and this is infact difficult to assess. Also very young seedlings are even more tender and can die due to improper watering. The best trick to water these is using a bottom tray method. Just keep the bottom tray filled with water and do not water from top. If the potting medium is dry, it starts to absorb water through the drainage holes and this process goes on and is completely safe method of watering seeds and tender seedlings.
- DIRTY OR UNSTERILE CONTAINERS OR SEED TRAYS: For a better success rate in seed germination, its always wise to use a fresh new container or thoroughly clean the old containers before adding the potting mix. Fungal and mold infections are the most common infection from dirty containers. If infection occurs you will notice a fuzzy growth on the top of the planting medium. You may also see that a seed sprouts, but then rots at its base and falls over. This is called damping off and is caused by a fungal infection in your soil.
To clean your old containers, You can use hydrogen peroxide or even use your kitchen baking soda – like 1 tablespoon per litre of water and clean the containers with this solution. Or simply clean it with soap and water or even a diluted bleaching powder.
- ROLE OF SUNLIGHT: Do Seeds require sunlight to germinate? For most of the seeds, sunlight is not required for sprouting of the seeds. Dark, damp and warm conditions are best for the sprouting stage of germination. But once the seeds germinate and two new tiny leaves are out, they need sunlight. You must follow the “Hardening Off” Method which means a gradual exposure to sunlight, like 1 hour for the first day, 2 hours for the second, 3 hrs for the third and so on to provide full sun exposure.
Slugs and snails are actually cute looking creatures, but they eat away a lot of your garden, leaving only plant or leaf skeletons. They are active during the night and really difficult to get rid-off. In our previous posts, we discussed so many natural methods to control slugs and snails like using a Beer Trap, Food grade Diatomaceous earth boundaries, sprinkling Epsom salt, encouraging natural predators like birds, frogs, toads, chicken and stuff like that. But none of these are 100% effective and in fact some of these are difficult to implement.
In this post, we will discuss on the barrier or the fence method using copper wire or copper tape and show you the 100% effective electric fence method. Some of you might be worried hearing the word “Electric”! Do not worry, its 100% safe for humans and pets because we are using just a 9V DC battery which does not cause any electric shock and, it is infact quite inexpensive, permanent and 100% working method. Inexpensive! Yes indeed, because the battery will not be consumed unless the slugs and snails complete the circuit by trying to cross this barrier.
Many companies sell some slugs and snail copper tapes and claim they repel these creatures. No doubt copper is a repellent for slugs and snails, but there has to be a good concentration of copper in the tapes and also the tape has to be more than 2 inches wide to create the copper repelling effect on the snails.
Now Lets quickly build this DIY slugs and Snail electric fence in three simple steps:
But Before
that, lets List out Few basic Things You need:
a. 9V Battery with its connecting wires.
You can also try using a 3 volt battery
for smaller pots. But the best effect is seen with a 9V battery.
b. Bare or non-insulated copper wire or
any bare metallic wire, preferably a galvanized wire because its resists
corrosion. You can also strip some copper wires from old electric wires if you
have some.
c. A small plastic container as a
battery holder. You can even use a small glass bottle to build a water
proof housing for the battery.
d. Optionally you may need a soldering gun, glue gun, wire cutters, staplers particularly
if you are installing on wooden containers or raised beds, then you may also
need some insulation tape and other stuff as required.
Step 1: Water Proofing the Battery Housing: For better durability and water proofing, place the battery into a plastic container and seal any openings to make it water proof using a glue gun or any other method. Try to make a downward loop of the wire, so that water does not get into the unit.
Step 2: Wrap the copper wire around the containers in two parallel lines. Make sure the distance between these two lines is not more than 2 cm and also make sure they do no touch each other. This can even be installed on raised beds or wooden pots using staplers. You can also stick copper tapes in a similar fashion specially if you use plastic containers. These tapes come in one sided stickers and easy to fix on plastic containers. After fixing these two lines, you can solder the wires from the battery, one to each track and fix the battery housing to the container properly to avoid water exposure and any extreme weather.
Step 3: The Connections: It’s simple! Take both ends of the top wire, and “twist” them together, do the same with the bottom wire. Connect one line to the positive terminal of the battery and the other to the negative terminal. That’s it. Its now an open circuit and not consuming any battery power. You can optionally check the continuity of the wires or copper tape if you have a multimeter and also the voltage running through the line.
Let’s see what happens when slugs and snails try to cross this fence. You know these are slimy wet creatures and when they try to cross the track they complete the circuit and get a nice shock and get repelled. Watch Video Below:
There are so many plant grow lights available in the market and choosing the best one can be a really tough job! So, Then How do you choose the right LED grow light to grow plants indoors?
There are many important factors to consider while choosing led lights, let’s split this into 5 sections. And please follow this video till the end. Will try to keep it as concise and simple without bothering you with too much physics.
- The Purpose of Buying a Plant Grow Light?
A grow light or plant light is an artificial light source to stimulate plant growth by emitting a light appropriate for photosynthesis. This light spectrum is similar to that of the sun. Grow lights are used for horticulture, indoor gardening, plant propagation from cuttings, seed germinations, Indoor food production – specially for those zones which do not receive adequate sunlight, indoor hydroponic gardening and to grow aquatic plants.
These are some of the cheaper options you can find online on amazon. Most of these are some cheap products without any warranty or proper specifications. If you want to grow indoor plants that need very less amount of light, then you can use these options. But at your own risk as there is no warranty and you won’t know how long they will last. The cost of these ranges anywhere from 5 dollar for a 5 watt bulb to 30 dollar for this type of model. But the light intensity and quality of photons they emit is too low and you may require multiple number of lights kept too close to the plants which is practically difficult.
The best option is to invest on a good quality reliable grow light like atleast a TS-1000 grow light from Mar-Hydro Company. It’s a very reliable company and into this LED grow light business since 9 years. They have a lot of products and models of LED grow lights and even grow tents for different uses. You can check their website mars-hydro.com. I have linked that in description below.
This TS-1000 set up costs around 200 USD for this powerful 150 Watt light including this beautifully designed large grow tent.
Now lets move on to the next factor in choosing your grow light:
- LIGHT INTENSITY: This is the most important factor. It simply means the amount of light a bulb emits out. We will not go into physics or science of this. But To decide on this, check out the manufacturer’s recommended foot print to know the area in square foot covered by this light. For example, this TS-1000 model covers a 3 x 3 feet in bloom stage and 4 x 4 feet in the vegetative stage with a distance of about 18 inch and 24 inch from the source respectively. If you know a bit of physics, You should also look into PPF, PAR chart and PPE values given by the manufacturer to decide on the light intensity.
Few more tips on this: The light is most intense at the middle of the light source and less intense at the peripheries. Seedlings and Young plants require cooler light intensities than vegetative and blooming plants. So, this can be achieved by either increasing the distance of these from the light source or placing seedlings and younger plants at the peripheral areas.
- COLOR SPECTRUM: Make sure you pick the correct spectrum depending on which stage your plant is in like the vegetative stage or the blooming stage or a full cycle of growth from seedling to harvesting stage. There are two types of spectums for LED lights – Targeted and the Broad Spectrum. More blue spectrum is better for Veg, Red is better for flowering stage and some fixtures have a tunable spectrum like red only or blue or stuff like that.
This Mars-Hydro Ts-1000 is a broad spectrum led light which works perfectly from seedling stage to harvest stage. You only need to adjust the distance using the rachet mechanism provided. You can look at these multi color LEDs. This is actually very bright, though in camera it may not appear that much bright. This one also got a dimmer screw right here. You can dim this further depending on your needs. - WATTAGE: or the electrical power measured in Watts. This actually does not determine the intensity or the quality of light. This only gives you a general idea on how powerful your led grow light is. The model number like TS-1000 doesn’t mean 1000 Watts. Make sure you do not misinterpret this number. This Mars-hydro light is about 150 Watts. One thing you may need to know here is: How many watts are required for the area in square foot. Generally 30 to 50 Watt is required for 1 foot x 1 foot area of coverage. Like about 30 watt or even less for veg stage or indoor plants and about 50 watt per square foot for flowering plants.
- WARRANTY: 99 percent LED lights from good companies will never have any problem and they have a very high lifespan of atleast 50,000 hours of usage. But still go for a company that provides a warranty of atleast 1 year. Mars-Hydro offers a 3 year extensive warranty on every grow light they sell. That’s really good!
- You can use Discount code GARDENTIPS and avail a discount on their website mars-hydro.com.
Now, Lets Begin with the ten common gardening myths that have been debunked by scientific research.
1. Saplings or seedlings need to be supported to protect them? True or False?
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.
2. Watering plants on a hot sunny day will magnify the sunlight through the droplets acting as convex lenses and burn the leaves badly? True or False?
No doubt, watering plants early in the morning or late in the evening is great! Because less water will evaporate during this time. This advice to “never water your plants in full sun” has been followed by generations of gardeners – But! new research has contradicted this belief that watering in direct sunlight can cause leaves to suffer from “leaf burn”. This theory that water droplets on leaves can act like mini magnifying lenses, focusing the sun’s rays and causing leaf burn has been completely disproved by physicists.
3. Talking to You Plants will help them Grow? True or False?
People who really love plants and gardening will often tell you that talking to plants or even music has a beneficial impact on their overall health and growth. Despite many different scientific studies on this theory, there’s still no conclusive evidence that talking to plants helps them grow. One theory says that since plants take up carbondioxide, and hence talking to plants releases carbon dioxide when we exhale. So, that’s it.
4. Does Potting Mix Cause Legionnaires’ Pneumonia in Gardeners? True or False?
Do not worry! This is not True. Legionnaires’ Pneumonia is a severe form of pneumonia or lung infection mostly cause by inhaling the bacteria. Though these legionella bacteria survive in outdoor soil, it rarely causes infections. But still, prevention is better than cure. Better wear a mask while handling potting mix, specially people with weaker immune systems.
5. Can we Use Grey Water or Black water for our plants or farming? True or False?
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.
6. Can Harvested or Collected seeds be stored in a Refrigerator or Freezer? True or False?
This is not correct! Most seeds that are stored in a seed banks are first dried up so that the moisture content is reduced to about 10 percent and then these can be stored for several years. But if you freeze freshly collected seeds, the moisture content in these seeds will form ice crystals within and can destroy the seed viability.
7. Garlic is the king of Companion gardening? True or False?
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.
8. Does Planting by the Moon affect plant growth and yield? True or False?
The idea that the Moon affects plant growth is an old one that is believed by many people. This is a myth! No study has proven the effect of moon on plant growth. And the only plants that use moon light for photosynthesis are certain types of phytoplanktons which are not normally found in gardens.
9. Crumbled egg shells added to soil is a good source of Calcium? True or False?
This is False! Egg shells take many many years to decompose and release that calcium into the soil and make them available for uptake by plants. Many studies have proven this and have recovered intact shells after many years of burying them into the soil. However, finely powdered egg shells might help, but again as a slow release source of calcium.
10.Growing Fruit Trees in Containers is not possible due to limited space?
This is not true. You can grow them but you need little larger containers or fabric bags like more than 18 or 24 inch. You can check out a detailed post on the top ten terrace gardening myths and facts.