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.
We will start with the term – MYCORRHIZA (that’s a Greek word mycos, “fungus”, and rhiza, “root”). It is a Symbiotic association (mutually beneficial – symbiosis is a process of mutual benefit) between a fungus and the roots of a plant.
We will look into a simple explanation to this: The plant prepares food and energy coming from the sun that’s by way of photosysnthesis and supplies these carbohydrates and other nutrients to the fungi through the roots, and the fungus in turn supplies water and mineral nutrients taken from the soil to the plants. So, Mycorrhizae are located in the roots of the plant. In general, most of the plant species can form these mycorrhizal associations. We will not go into details or types or classifications of these associations. The most common is the Arbuscular type which is also called Vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM) and this is present in 70% to 80 % of plant species. And Mycorrhizae are especially beneficial for the plants growing in nutrient-poor soils. Because the fungal mycelia or hyphae – that’s fine hair like structure can uptake the nutrients from the soil, These are better than the thinnest fibrous roots of the plants. This in scientific terms is called increasing the vascularity, similar to certain drugs in medical field which increase vascularity and increase blood supply to an organ.
There is a lot of research done on this and it is proved to be very much beneficial to plants. You can check out links to some of the website articles on these topic from the description of this video.
Well, Now at home gardening level, How to utilize this benefits of mycorrhiza to boost the growth of our plants.
There are two options am showing you here. You can checkout links to these items from a card linked to this video or visit our website at gkvk.net.
- Plant Tablets or Root Tablets
- VAM powder containing these mycorrhizae.
This one is in Tablet form. Its called Root booster tablets. This comes with a leaflet and instructions with dosage for various plants. For home plants, use 1 or 2 tablets depending on the size of the container and size of the plant.
Now how to use this: Make a deep hole like about 4 to 6 inches, till u approximately feel you are reaching the roots of the plant. Then insert this tablet into the hole and cover it with soil. Then water slowly to make the soil wet. This should contain spores of the beneficial fungi which should reproduce and start their actions. You should see the effect within 3 months. You can test this on your anaemic plants and see the improvement in about 3 months. If your anaemic plant is showing significant interval change, then this mycorrhizae are into action and providing the plant with the necessary micronutrients like iron, magnesium and others.
Now the second Product is called VAM – Vescicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizae. This comes in powder form and each gram contains 100 to 200 propogules. So, approximately add one teaspoon of this powder near the plant roots by digging a hole or while repotting sprinkle the powder and repot your plant.
Now another interesting Use of this Mycorrhizae. That is Using Mycorrhiza for a Rooting Hormone effect to grow stem cuttings, that is rooting your cuttings. You can dip the lower end of a cutting into this powder and insert them into the soil. You can apply all the other rules of cuttings like the 45 degree cutting angle and others. You can watch one of my old videos on this topic from a card linked at top right corner of this video or search in my channel.
So before going to our important and interesting quiz question.
Will summarise the benefits, Mycorrhizal fungi make plants stronger and healthy, increasing the yields, increasing flowering and fruiting, make them drought tolerant, reduce fertilizer and water usage, protect plant against harmful pathogens in soil, improve soil quality and drainage system, Increase tolerance to soil PH changes and many other benefits.
Now lastly one quiz question. Actually even I do not know a proper answer to this. Can we use broad spectrum antifungals like SAAF powder (carbendazim and mancozeb) to mix with water and water the plants. Will this not kill these mycorrhizae? Please answer in the comment box below the video.
Ref:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4717633/
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-011-3176-6_8