A Guide to Controlling Fungus Gnats in Hydroponic Gardens

A Guide to Controlling Fungus Gnats in Hydroponic Gardens
By Liz Servito

Adult fungus gnats are completely harmless, but their larvae are the real problem in any garden. The larvae dwell in and feed on the roots of plants, ultimately hampering growth and development. As the roots get damaged, they may rot and bacteria will have a place to live.

The adult are able to lay around 200 eggs in the medium during their 10-day life span, so in order to prevent infestation, immediate action is necessary. The larvae rarely kill plants, however, the damage they cause will greatly reduce yields and your plants' overall vigor

To control the population of fungus gnats, place yellow sticky traps on all garden pots. Fungus gnats go in and out of the growing medium, and if you place sticky traps they'll get caught before they even reach the medium. The trapped gnats will give you an idea of the infestation level, which is important when determining is your prevention strategies are working well.

Here are other simple and effective tips to controlling fungus gnats:

* Install screens on any doors, windows, vents, and other entry points of your garden. Choose fine mesh to make sure that all gnats, including other pesky insects are kept out of your garden.

* Sterilize your garden tools and supplies before use.

* Before your go in your garden, make sure you change your clothes and thoroughly wash your hands first.

* Dispose of any decomposing or dead plat matter from around and inside your garden. Do this often as the gnats lay eggs and loves to eat wet, decaying leaves, roots, and other organic materials. Immediately get rid of them by placing them in a bag and bringing the bag away from your hydroponic garden.

* Keep pets out of your garden, as they are possible carriers of fungus gnats and other unwanted insects.

* Avoid filling up your hydroponic system to the point that the your growing medium's surface is always wet. It may be necessary to reduce the fill time, so that they doesn't fill up and wet your growing medium.

* See to it that any clone or seedling you bring inside your garden is absolutely free from pests and diseases.

* Every after harvest, thoroughly clean your hydroponics system. Make sure there's no trace of algae, and thoroughly wash all containers and lines. Run a mix of 1 ounce of 35 per cent hydrogen peroxide to each gallon of water through your system for an entire day. Drain it off and then rinse the system.

If you are looking for safe, effective, and affordable products for controlling fungus gnats, contact the team at CXhydroponics by following the link.

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Yum! Tasty Edible Flowers You Can Grow Yourself

Yum! Tasty Edible Flowers You Can Grow Yourself
By Lawrence L. Hoyle

Add a beautiful, aesthetic touch to your next dinner with tasty flowers that you can grow yourself. Many upscale restaurants have adopted the practice of garnishing salads and certain dishes with flowers. Flowers provide a touch of color, fragrance, texture and taste to an ordinary meal. You too can create a beautiful dish by growing your own edible flowers.

Can you really eat flowers?

The answer is: yes! If you are new to the idea of eating edible flowers, you will soon find that these can make tasty and beautiful garnishes. Think of the flowers like garnishes. Except like traditional garnishes like parsley, edible flowers provide a dazzling array of colors, fragrance and texture. Many people who come across flower garnishes for the first time in their life are often afraid of eating them. Don't be afraid! They are quite good to eat, often adding a zesty or fragrant flavor to an otherwise dull meal.

The dual purpose of edible flowers

Many flowers serve a dual purpose: they are there to look beautiful in your garden, as well as to provide an aesthetic and tasty treat on your dinner plate. You can grow these flowers and enjoy them in your garden, and you can also enjoy them in the kitchen. Some specialty grocery stores will also offer edible flowers for sale. However, these are often expensive because these flowers are quite fragile and will not keep their texture for long after they have been picked. You can save yourself the expense and provide a steady supply of fresh flowers to your dinner table by growing edible flowers yourself. You should also be wary about the flowers you eat-specifically, make sure that they are organic and free of any pesticides. Here is a brief overview of the most popular edible flowers and how they might be used in your cooking.

Nasturtiums-the most common flower for eating.

Nasturtiums are by far the most common edible flower, and there is good reason for this. Nasturtiums give a bold dose of scarlet and yellow colors. They look and taste great with green salads and come in a range of colors, including, cream, orange and many bi-colors. They are also relatively easy to grow. You can grow them from seed or eat them straight off a transplant (making certain that they are safe to eat, of course). What does nasturtium taste like? You will find that they make a flavorful addition to any salad, and can range from slightly sweet to bold and peppery. Many chefs have discovered the unique taste of making flavorful vinegar from nasturtium. Simply add a handful of fresh nasturtium to a high-quality white wine Vinegar and let the mixture sit in a dark cool place for several weeks.

For a minty flavor, choose pansies.

Pansies are popular annuals that can offer a mild wintergreen flavor to any dish. Use pansies to create cake decorations, or make a luxurious cream cheese appetizer.

Marigolds-a useful substitute for saffron

Pot marigold, also known as Calendula, are easily substituted for saffron. Simply cook them with oil, which will bring out the flavor and color of the flowers. You can cook them with a bit of olive oil and some chopped onions and add these to rice or broth for a unique and flavorful combination. Marigolds are inexpensive and easy to grow, making them a good choice if you are new to edible flowers.

Eat healthy with squash flowers.

Squash flowers are one of the most popular and common of the edible flowers. You can use squash flowers, zucchini flowers, acorn and patty pan squash in various dishes. Squash flowers are often used in traditional Mexican and Mediterranean cuisine for many years.

Lawrence L. Hoyle, author, 54 years in the Landscape Profession. Check out his main website at: http://www.web-landscape-design-ideas.com. This website has free Landscape help for Do-It-Yourselves and a online Landscape Design Services for Homeowners, Landscape Contractors and Home Builders. Designs online since 2003 with designs in 40 states. Get your today.!

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Why Rhododendrons Fail to Grow and Two Super Hardy Rhododendrons for Cold Climates

Why Rhododendrons Fail to Grow and Two Super Hardy Rhododendrons for Cold Climates
By Michael J McGroarty

All the time people say to me; "Rhododendrons don't do well or grow for me." Right here and now I'll tell you why that is so and how to fix it.

Believe it or not, Rhododendrons and Azaleas are quite easy to grow and it only takes a few things to make them happy. There's a fundamental secret about growing Rhododendrons in your yard or your landscape that cannot be overlooked and it cannot be stated strongly enough. Here it is...

Rhododendrons Do Not Like Wet Feet!

They cannot tolerate any kind of moisture standing or collecting around their root systems. If you have a rhododendron or rhododendrons in your landscape that are struggling go outside, stand back and look very closely at the location of your rhododendrons and run through this check list.

1. What is the soil like in the planting bed?

2. Is it good topsoil that drains really well?

3. If you take a shovel and scoop out a shovel of soil from that area will the soil easily crumble into a small pile of soil, or will it remain in one solid lump?

4. Is your rhododendron near a downspout or does the gutter overflow anywhere near your Rhododendrons?

5. Is the rhododendron near the back of the bed and has the soil in that area settled to the point that it is lower than the surrounding areas of the bed?

6. Do you have an automatic watering system in the bed or do you regularly water the plants in that bed?

7. How much mulch do you have in that bed?

8. Do you ever loosen the mulch in the bed or just keep re-apply fresh mulch over what's there?

9. How deep were your Rhododendrons planted when originally installed in the landscape?

All of these things can contribute to an environment that is not super healthy for Rhododendrons and other plants, especially evergreens and Japanese maples.

All Plants Breath through their Roots! Did You know that?

All plants need to have the ability to transfer oxygen from the air to their root systems. I know that sounds a bit crazy, but it's true. That's why when a plant is installed too deep in a landscape, or planted in a wet location, they struggle and often die. Some plants are more tolerant of soil that breathes poorly than others, but they all need to breath. Plants like rhododendrons, Japanese maples and other evergreens are much less tolerant of this than many flowering shrubs.

It's important for you to understand how much rhododendrons dislike wet feet conditions and exactly what constitutes a wet condition. To illustrate what I am trying to explain to you, I'll tell you "a real life story about my relationship with some rhododendrons".

Many, many years ago I was growing some plants with my two friends Larry and Dale. My backyard was filled with plants, Larry's backyard was filled with plants and Dale owned a vacant lot so we filled that with plants. We had 705 rhododendrons in my backyard that we either had to sell or move to an area where they had more room. We decided to move them so we could later sell them for more money. We planted 600 of them in Larry's backyard then ran out of room so we took the other 105 over to Dale's vacant lot.

We had a lot of stuff already growing in Larry's backyard and the soil was a bit sticky, but the dogwood trees and other plants seem to do well there. Because the soil was sticky digging a root ball when it was time to sell the plants was easy because the balls never fell apart. That's a handy feature to have when ball and burlap digging plants.

Dale's lot on the other hand was very, very different. It was all sand and gravel. Mostly gravel! Digging a root ball on that rock farm was challenging and you could literally see sparks coming off the spade as you hit the rocks in the soil. Many of those rocks were the size of a nice sized baked potato!

The soil was well drained, but during times of drought that wasn't great because we had no water on that lot whatsoever. It was so dry one summer that some of the Chinese dogwoods that had been there for two years dried out.

The soil was hot, dry and as rocky as can be.

The 105 rhododendrons that we planted on that rock farm loved it!

They were as happy as happy can be and they grew like weeds. The 600 that we planted at Larry's house did okay, looked okay but it took them at least an additional two years before we could sell them. We sold the 105 off the rock farm in no time flat but it took several years for the ones in the heavier soil to each reach landscape size so we could sell them.

It was right then and there that I realized how much rhododendrons dislike wet feet!

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Electric Wheelbarrow Review

Electric Wheelbarrow Review
By Michael J McGroarty

Last growing season I was given the opportunity to use, test and review this awesome electric wheelbarrow from ElectricWheelbarrows.com. If you've known me or have been following me for any length of time you know that I am huge, flag waving fan of single wheel, construction grade Jackson wheelbarrows. To the point to even offer up "Wheelbarrow Tips and Tricks".

But at the same time, I'm a true believer in using the right tool for the job, and sometimes you need to move large amounts of material long distances, over rough or soft terrain. If you want to take your cardio workout to an insane level, or a truly deadly level for an old guy like me, try pushing a loaded wheelbarrow across a muddy yard or through the snow.

So even though I am not ready and never will be ready to give up my Jackson wheelbarrow I can see a ton of uses for this electric wheelbarrow which holds more, crosses rough terrain with ease and will allow just about anybody to move large amounts of material just about any distance they need to safely.

This electric wheelbarrow would be a life saver on a horse farm or just about any farm for that. Great for hauling a few bales of hay or cleaning out stalls and hauling manure.

It would be equally valuable for landscaping. Having landscaped over 500 homes in my younger days I'd never trade my single wheel Jackson for wheeling mulch into the beds because it's so easy to maneuver a single wheel wheelbarrow between planted shrubs. But it sure would have been nice to have one of these electric wheelbarrows for moving 10 or 20 cubic yards of topsoil from the curb to the back of the house, something we did many times by hand.

Note the heavy duty tractor type tread on the tires and having dual wheels gives you more support and more floatation on wet, or uneven ground. The tub is positioned on this machine so the majority of the weight is on the drive axle. The tub is designed and balanced on the machine in such a way that as soon as you release the dump lever, the tub dumps automatically. You don't have to fight with it, and when you dump or operate the machine the weight is never on your back.

This machine has a 10 cubic foot tub, which is a considerably larger than most construction wheelbarrows.

This machine is rechargeable, and has a long battery use life between charging.

You should be able to use it all day without the battery running down. There are indicator lights on the little control panel so you know when the battery is due for it's next charge.

If I were still landscaping and building brick patios and walks like I did in the old days, I'd make a flat platform to set on top of the tub so we could put several straps of paving bricks on the platform to move them around to the back of the house or where ever we were working. If you've even carried 11 bricks in a brick strap all day, one strap in each hand, you know what true back pain is all about. This machine could easily make that job 100 times easier and it would be a lot more ergonomically correct than having all of that weight on your spine.

This machine would be awesome for hauling stone or wet concrete in places where the cement truck is not likely to go. It would be worth it's weight in gold for that!

All in all I think this is a well built, well designed piece of equipment if you have an application where you could put one of these machines to use.

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The Convenience of Having a Kitchen Garden in Your Backyard

The Convenience of Having a Kitchen Garden in Your Backyard
By Cheryl D. Jones

Grown right outside of the home, the convenience of having a kitchen garden in your backyard can be very time saving. In today's world of large supermarkets, most do not have kitchen gardens anymore and all sorts of foods are available year round without any direct effort of having grown them. Despite this allure, the convenience of having a kitchen garden is still very real, and until you've tried the deliciousness of a homegrown oregano in your pasta sauce that was picked right outside your back door, you may not realize what you are missing.

There is some initial work and investment involved in any garden, but be extremely simple and not a lot of work or investment. You can invest in designing a small area and have it landscaped to create a beautiful backyard garden, or you can purchase a few large pots and have them set right outside of your back door for easy access. What's more important about your kitchen garden is what you choose to grow.

Many people with kitchen gardens choose to grow herb plants that they would regularly purchase at the grocery store. This is especially popular with immigrants from other countries. They often bring or order seeds from their native homelands and grow them on here in their kitchen gardens so that they can continue to enjoy many of the same foods that they relied upon in their home countries. For example, Italian immigrants used to have gardens filled with spices and greens that they used in Italy in their everyday cooking and to help supplement what they purchased here. Asians brought over seeds of bitter melon and various cabbages for staples in their cooking. Many hybrid dishes have been made that way and are staples in American cooking today.

Starting with perennial herbs and perennial vegetables that are incredibly easy to grow crops is recommended. Rosemary, chives, oregano, thyme, sage, rhubarb and asparagus make a good base for adding annual herbs and vegetables. These base herbs will carry any cook throughout many dishes summer through winter. Supplemented annual herbs can be harvested and frozen or dried for off season use.

Seasonal vegetables that are popular with kitchen gardens are tomatoes. As the countries' most popular garden vegetable, the tomato makes the backbone of most kitchen gardens and for great reason. Ready right off of the vine in the summer, tomatoes are a real treat fresh from the back yard! They taste much sweeter and balanced than grocery store tomatoes, and with the heirloom revival tomatoes are also beautiful and varied in shape and textures.

Peppers are another backyard garden favorite. They too can be easily preserved and enjoyed fresh, and growing your own peppers will save you lots of money on grocery shopping. If you've never enjoyed the health benefits and ease of growing delicious fresh peppers before you should. Even kitchen gardens in the far north can enjoy a harvest of sweet peppers with the right varieties grown. Both tomatoes and peppers are as easily grown in containers as they are in the ground.

Lettuces and other greens are another great seasonal kitchen garden additions. There are many kinds of lettuce with many flavors, many of which you can normally only find in fancy expensive restaurants. Grow them yourself at home and enjoy gourmet right outside of your back door cheaply! Other seasonal greens such as swiss chard, healthy spinach, cabbage, and microgreens are all expensive from the store too, and are so easy to grow at home. Save money on grocery shopping by growing your own greens.

Today, families are eating healthier and are more concerned about the quality and taste of their food. If you're still not sure about the convenience of a kitchen garden, try growing a few plants in containers and watch your family enjoy the ease of picking fresh herbs for adding to the family meal. Children love growing and harvesting these foods and the kitchen garden can become a project for the entire family!

Cheryl D. Jones, shares gardening tips and landscape ideas through her blog, newsletters and her nursery's website. Visit http://www.GreenwoodNursery.com/ for a full line of plants including trees, flowering shrubs, perennials, ornamental grasses and ground covers. Join the Greenwood Gardeners Club free to receive Greenwood Nursery's weekly newsletter, seasonal promotions and 10% off your first order. Start growing your own kitchen garden with herb plants and perennial vegetables from Greenwood Nursery.

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