Rockwool Cubes for Growing
Rockwool is a mixture of melted rock and sand that is spun into thread and compressed into different shapes. Most likely in a cube form or slab form.
Rockwool cubes are used by growers all over the world and are a favorite for many. This growing medium is inert, sterile, porous, and non-degradable providing firm root support. Because of how porous the rockwool is, the roots are able to get plenty of nutrient solution and air. This makes rockwool the most popular growing medium in the world.
Rockwool can be used for cloning and/or for the complete growing process.
Photo: Carly at Neponset Watershed
All garden crops such as beans, tomatoes, bananas, lettuce, okra, eggplant and taro are grown intensively within the city using only organic farming methods since these are the only methods permitted in the urban parts of Havana. No chemicals are used in 68 percent of Cuban corn, 96 percent of cassava, 72 percent of coffee and 40 percent of bananas. Between 1998 and 2001, chemicals were reduced by 60 percent in potatoes, 89 percent in tomatoes, 28 percent in onion and 43 percent in tobacco.
In Venezuela, the socialist government of Hugo Chavez is trying to introduce urban agriculture to the populace. In Caracas, the government has launched Organoponico Bolivar I, a pilot program to bring organopónicos to Venezuela. Urban agriculture has not been embraced in Caracas as it has in Cuba. Unlike Cuba, where organopónicos arose from the bottom-up out of necessity, the Venezuelan organopónicos are clearly a top-down initiative based on Cuba's success.
Another problem for urban agriculture in Venezuelan is the high amounts of pollution in major Venezuelan urban areas. At the Organoponico Bolivar I, a technician comes every 15 days to take a reading from the small pollution meter in the middle of the garden.
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Rockool is the most popular growing medium for hydroponic growers around the world. Using rockwool cubes for both cloning and growing your plants will allow them to get the maximum amount of nutrients while maintaining a good level of oxygen.
Photo: orchidboard.com
Passive hydroponics does away with the need for water or air pumps, by depending on the capillary action of the plant's own roots to transport water and nutrients to it. It essentially involves growing the plant in a porous container with a reservoir containing water and hydroponic nutrients. This system allows the plant to take in only the specific amount of nutrition it needs. The most basic passive hydroponics system consists of a pot placed in a nutrient solution or a capillary mat saturated with nutrient solution.
In the simplest method, the pot sits in a shallow solution of fertilizer and water or on a capillary mat saturated with nutrient solution. Since routine maintenance is much simplified, passive hydroponics can reduce the labor required to maintain a large collection of plants.
Passive hydroponics, and other hydroponic techniques, offer many advantages over traditional methods of horticulture. Firstly, since a sterile medium is used instead of soil, the plant is protected against soil-borne diseases. Secondly, plants grown using hydroponics take up much less space than those grown in soil, which makes hydroponics the perfect choice for hobby horticulturists.
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Photo: dinesh_valke
The seeds of Rosary Pea and Castor Bean plants are lethal. Fatalities have been reported from the ingestion of just one seed. If a young child or cat chews on one of the leaves they are sure to get sick. You can purchase necklaces that are made from the seeds of this plant.
These are not meant for children and can cause skin irritations in adults. Parts of the Oleander plant are also poisonous. It is not worth the risk to have these in the house. Even with due diligence children or pets are bound to get into a houseplant at one point or another.
It is hard to safeguard against falling leaves or other unavoidable events. The bulbs of certain flowering plants are considered poisonous too. Even if you are planning on planting the bulbs outside, be careful they are stored in a safe out of the way area that is not accessible to little heads.
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Rockool is the most popular growing medium for hydroponic growers around the world. Using rockwool cubes for both cloning and growing your plants will allow them to get the maximum amount of nutrients while maintaining a good level of oxygen.
Photo: klmmicro
The system can be automated and the gardener can control how many drips the roots receive in a specified time frame. The more of the growing medium the faster the plants grow. Since the system can be automated, the amount of time and energy that is required to maintain a hydroponics garden is less than with a traditional garden.
As long as enough water is present and growing medium the plants can be left unattended for a longer period of time. A home-based hydroponics garden can grow vegetables year round. The concern about pests and the composition of the soil are not an issue with this type of gardening.
Another bonus with this type of gardening is how fast you can have mature vegetables indoors, by increasing the amount of growing medium. The types of plants that are best for hydroponics are ones with thin spider like roots. Plants that have a bulb root system are still best grown in the traditional soil method inside a pot or outside.
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Photo: IzaD™
There are some considerations and preparations that should be made before you decide to become a part-time indoor gardener. The most important point to think about before bringing a plant indoors is whether or not it will survive being an inside plant. If the plant has high or very high light requirements and your house does not get a lot of light in the winter time, it may not be a good solution.
As a back-up you can invest in an artificial light source to supplement the natural light the plant will get. How will you get the plant indoors? If the plant is already in a pot that will fit inside it is easy enough to move it indoors. But if the plant is in the ground you need to find a pot large enough to contain the root system and one that will not be too difficult to move.
Keeping in mind that when a large plant is transplanted, re-potted or put in a pot for the first time, it may go into shock. Although with careful attention, you can nurse your plant through this. Most likely you have been taking care of your plants outdoors and they do not have any pests or bugs on them. But it smart to double check. By bringing an infested plant indoors you are putting all of your other indoor plants at risk of becoming infected too.
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Photo: Roadtraveller
There is no fail-safe plant but there are some tips and tricks you can follow to make your pets leave the plants alone. The biggest problem and the most damaging to a plant is a cat deciding to use the dirt as a litter box. Once a cat has done this once, the odor is there and it is going to be hard to stop them from going back. To prevent this from happening in the first place, cover the dirt in larger pots with lava rock or wood chips.
A cat will not like the feel of either of these materials on their paws and will not feel comfortable using the pot as a bathroom. Dogs are easier to train and keep away from plants but it is harder for other animals. Especially for cats - a deterrent may be necessary to keep them away. You can use a spray bottle of water to stop them from chewing on plant leaves or digging in the dirt.
Since cats don’t like anything from the citrus family you can put fresh citrus rinds at the base of the plant too, their sensitive noses will stop them from getting too close. Keep your soil nice and moist, not only is this good for the plant, cats will not enjoy digging in wet dirt. Some trial and error may be called for until you find the right solution that works for your pets. If all else fails, buy hanging plants instead or put the plants in an inaccessible location.Labels:Pets Around Our Garden
Posted byThanate
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Photo: kerri.o
Looking at that one blossom so really beautiful you think of the numberless equally lovely plants you are going to have from the seeds. But just as likely as not the seeds will produce plants like the parent plant. So in seed selection the entire plant is to be considered. Is it sturdy, strong, well shaped and symmetrical; does it have a goodly number of fine blossoms? These are questions to ask in seed selection. If you should happen to have the opportunity to visit a seedsman's garden, you will see here and there a blossom with a string tied around it. These are blossoms chosen for seed.
If you look at the whole plant with care you will be able to see the points which the gardener held in mind when he did his work of selection. In seed selection size is another point to hold in mind. Now we know no way of telling anything about the plants from which this special collection of seeds came. So we must give our entire thought to the seeds themselves. It is quite evident that there is some choice; some are much larger than the others; some far plumper, too.
By all means choose the largest and fullest seed. The reason is this: When you break open a bean and this is very evident, too, in the peanut you see what appears to be a little plant. So it is. Under just the right conditions for development this 'little chap' grows into the bean plant you know so well. This little plant must depend for its early growth on the nourishment stored up in the two halves of the bean seed. For this purpose the food is stored. Beans are not full of food and goodness for you and me to eat, but for the little baby bean plant to feed upon.
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Rockool is the most popular growing medium for hydroponic growers around the world. Using rockwool cubes for both cloning and growing your plants will allow them to get the maximum amount of nutrients while maintaining a good level of oxygen.
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