Many gardeners are beginning to switch to Hydroponics gardening for many different reasons. These types of gardens are small and can easily be grown inside and are perfect for most vegetables, especially the red tomato. Also the equipment required for Hydroponics gardening is not expensive and they are relatively easy to manage.

Hydroponics gardening is the growing of plants without soil, in other words, “dirtless gardening”. There are many methods of Hydroponics gardening, most of which work better than regular soil gardening because it is easier to give the plant exactly what it needs when it needs it. Plants will only receive what you give them; therefore you will be able to regulate the pH, nutrients, nutrient strength, water amount, and light amount. This makes it imperative that you research the kind of plants you will be growing so you know what they need to survive.

Hydroponics gardening is only as difficult as you make it. It can be complicated if computers with sensors are used to control water cycles, nutrients, and light for the plants. However, it can also be as simple as a hand watered bucket with a single plant. The normal home Hydroponics system is usually made up of a few basic things: a growing tray, light (natural or artificial), a reservoir, a water controlled pump for watering (or some type of watering equipment), and some form of air pump to give oxygen to the nutrients.

The growing medium used in Hydroponics gardening can be any number of things, such as Rockwool, perlite, coconut fiber, gravel, sand, vermiculite, or even air. You can get instructions from a gardening store or online or buy separate parts and build your own. There are also kits already assembled for sale in gardening supply stores.

There are certain micro-nutrients that are necessary for healthy plant growth including magnesium, sulfur, calcium, cobalt, boron, iron, copper, manganese, and zinc. These nutrients are absolutely essential to plants and if missing could cause the food to not be as healthy and in some cases even cause health problems for those who eat it. It is very important that you use a quality fertilizer when Hydroponics gardening.

Another important aspect of Hydroponics gardening that must be closely regulated is the pH balance. When the pH balance varies the plants will lose the ability to absorb nutrients that it needs. The ease with which the pH in Hydroponics gardening is tested and controlled give it a huge advantage over regular dirt gardening.

Even though there are hundreds of different variations, Wick, Water Culture, Ebb and Flow, Drip, N.F.T., and Aeroponic are the six most basic types of Hydroponics gardening systems. Hydroponics gardening is easy, affordable, and you can have fresh produce, flowers, herbs & spices all year long!

Flower gardening is becoming more and more popular every day. Flowers can brighten everyone’s day, they smell nice, and are a great hobby. Flower gardening is simple, inexpensive, and loads of fun. Flower gardening can be done for yard decoration, simply as a hobby, or even professionally.
There are some decisions that have to be made before even flower gardening can be started. You must decide if you want annuals that live for one season and must be replanted every year, or perennials that survive the winter and return again in the summer. When buying and planting, pay attention to what kind of flowers thrive in your climate as well ass the sun requirements.
When flower gardening, you must decide what type of look you want before planting. For instance, mixing different heights, colors, and varieties of flowers together in a “wild-plant style” will give your garden a meadow look and can be very charming. If short flowers are planted in the front of your garden and work up to the tallest flowers in the back you will have a “stepping stone style”.
You can order seeds for flower gardening from catalogues or buy them from a nursery. Most people will go to the nursery and buy actual flowers and then transplant them. After you have prepared your garden area and bought flowers, it is a good idea to lay the flowers out in the bed to make sure you like the arrangement and that they will be spaced properly.
One of the easiest processes in flower gardening is the planting/ if you have seeds just sprinkle them around in the flower bed. For planting transplants dig a hole just bigger than the flower, pull the container off, and set the flower in the hole right side up. Cover it with the loose soil and press down firmly, then water.

Maintaining a flower garden is even easier than planting one. Although they might make it on their own, a bag of fertilizer applied in the early spring is a good idea. Pinch back any blooms after they start to fade and keep them good and watered. To save yourself work during the next season of flower gardening, rid your garden of all debris and spread out organic nutrients like peat moss or compost. Don’t forget to turn over the soil to properly mix in the fertilizer and rake smooth when finished. If you have perennials planted be careful not to disturb their roots in this process.

Flower gardening is as easy as 1, 2, and 3: simply decide what to plant; plant it, and water, water, water! Flower gardening is undoubtedly gaining in popularity and gives anyone excellent reason to spend some outdoors and test out their green thumb.

The thing to remember while gardening is to start small. A small plant bed, about 25 or 30 feet square is perfect, is just enough room for about 30 plants. This will give you a chance to try out your green thumb and if you find that you enjoy your garden you can always expand and increase your plantings.

The next thing you will want to do is choose a site. Gardening must be done in an area that gets at least six hours of sunlight. Try and stay away from large trees that will take your plants water and nutrients, and at least three feet from any fences or buildings. In hot climates it is a good idea to choose a place that will have shade from a part of the intense afternoon sun. It is possible to have a healthy garden with even ten to twelve hours of sunlight, but the type of plants must be adaptable. While soil can always be improved, a site with good soil is a plus. Avoid areas that have rocky soil, steep slopes, or areas where water stands.

Now comes the fun part: start digging. Gardening is not a clean hobby; you’re going to have to get some dirt under your nails. First remove the rocks, debris, and any grass and weeds then dig the spot up about one foot deep. Level up the dirt and add compost or minerals if the needed. If your soil is too acidic, add lime; if it is too sandy, add peat moss. Plants will thrive in neutral to acidic soil with a little added fertilizer.

If you buy seeds then plant them according to the directions. If picking plants, choose ones with green, healthy looking leaves and stems and healthy roots. Put the smaller plants towards the front of the bed and larger ones in the back. The key to a successful beginning in gardening is planting at the right time. Make sure and wait until the frosts are over before planting. If you are planting seeds the package will usually tell you exactly when you can plant them to achieve maximum growth.

Once you have started and gotten into gardening, making sure your plants receive enough water is essential to their growth. Hand watering works well if you only have a few plants. Other options include sprinklers or sprinkler hoses. Watering is more effective during the cooler parts of the day. The type of plant will depend on how much water is needed, but most require about an inch per week. During the hottest periods plants will be need watering about three times per week.

One of the most helpful things to add to a garden is mulch or compost. Just a few inches of organic mulch will improve fertility and help the soil hold moisture. Wood chips, grass clippings, leaves, manure, and pine needles are all things that can be used as mulch.

Best for your Lawn

There are many types of grasses used for green lawns; do you know which grass is best for your lawn? The key to great looking green lawn is lawn fertilizers and weed control as well as using the right type of grass seed. Most lawns are made up of many different types of grass seed and yours might need different seed in different areas. Mowing is an important ingredient to having a great looking lawn as well.

Let’s look at the type of grass that is best for your yard. One of the first factors is to decide what zone you are in. There is a difference between the cool season zone and the warm season zone. Warm season grasses are used best in the southern states in the United States and the cool season grasses are used in the North as well as Canada. You may well be found in the middle of these two zones; in that case, you can contact your local county extension to ask which types of grass are best for your zone.

Warm season grasses are:

Bermudagrass

Buffalograss

Zoysiagrass

These are the most common grasses used in the warm season zone.

Cool season grasses include:

Bentgrasses

Bluegrasses

Fescues

Ryegrasses

The grasses can be mixed in your lawn to take advantage of the strength of the various types of grasses. One of the items you may need to consider is if your lawn has shady spots. Along with that, spaces in your yard that have at one time been covered by pine tree branches or have heavy foot traffic deserve special attention. You may also be in a region that often is affected by drought. For shaded spots, some of the cool season grasses such as bentgrass and bluegrass may be the answer to your problem. In areas of heavy traffic, try the sturdy Kentucky bluegrass. Some new strains of Kentucky bluegrass are also specially designed to be drought tolerant.

Red fescue is used to keep the lawn together and show a tighter appearance. It is fine leaved and can stand close mowing. Especially good for cool zones, it is strong and durable. Meadowgrass is an excellent choice for regions that are prone to drought conditions. It has a beautiful dark green color and has a good resistance to fungus diseases. Bentgrass provides a good base to a lawn and by over seeding can give you an attractive tight looking lawn. Ryegrass has a newly developed strain that stays green all year and has great wear tolerance.

Here are some recommendations of grasses for different parts of the country. Kentucky bluegrass still seems to be the favorite grass for the Rocky Mountain and Plains states. Bluegrass varieties that need minimal maintenance are; Belmont, Caliber, Cobalt, Monopoly, and Unique. Kentucky bluegrass needs to be watered often, as the roots don’t grow deep and is an excellent choice for sports fields and for parks. It likes to be mowed to a height of about two inches.

The grass recommended for the Northeast and Midwest is a good fescue. This grass grows slowly, has wiry blades, and has a height of only six inches. Lots of shade and moisture requires a hardy perennial relative of bluegrass called Poa supine.

The Southeast has a grass called centipede grass. The grass is light colored, grows slowly, and requires less maintenance than other warm season grasses.

Sources say that grass is hard to grow in the Southwest. A popular grass is regular Zoysia. It turns brown in October and stays brown through March. Zoysia loves the warm weather, turns brown if the temperature gets below 55 degrees, and loves to be cut short. This grass is not a good grass to use in areas that get a full-blown winter.

In the great Northwest, bent grasses are well adapted to the climate of that area. They do tend to be high maintenance but there are strains that have been developed for cool areas and are also low maintenance such as Velvet bentgrass. Ryegrass is also a good choice for cooler weather climates. You can use annual ryegrass for a quick fix on a lawn or you can choose perennial ryegrass for keeping your grass year after year.

You’ve probably heard the phrase: every rose has its thorn. Too many, thorns symbolize the danger that lurks behind the beauty of the roses, and all sorts of myths try to explain the presence of these dangerous little daggers on rose stems. Greek myth suggests that Cupid shot arrows into the roses accidentally after being stung by a bee and it was the sting from his arrow that caused the thorns to take root.

Don’t despair if these little daggers are a thorn in your side. With a little care and some patience, you can remove those pesky thorns for a nice smooth stem on your rose.

Thorns do actually help the plant drink water, so it is important that you remove them properly and do not inflict excessive damage on the stem. You need to take your time and practice a proper dethorning technique – otherwise you and the rose will be injured in the process.

Carelessly removing thorns will damage your roses in the long run. They will not last as long as they should and any peeled or torn skin will hinder the amount of water that makes its way up to the petals. Proper dethorning takes practice and patience.

You can remove thorns right on the plant, or you can wait until the stem is cut and do it then. It is best to try and remove thorns on the cane when it is quite young and before the rose blooms if you know that the stem will be cut at some point in the future for display or for the creation of a bouquet. You can remove thorns by applying slight pressure to the sides to simply push them off the stem. You can use this same procedure with cut stems.

Removing thorns by hand is a tedious task, and with some roses, the thorns grow so close together that it is almost impossible to push one off without stabbing yourself on another one. That’s where a dethorning tool can come in handy.

You can purchase a specialty product like a thorn stripper. This type of tool strips the stem of leaves and thorns. You can also fashion your own with some metal strapping from your local hardware store. If you do make your own, be sure to file the edges that touch the flower so the stem is not torn excessively in the dethorning process.

To use a dethroning tool, you simply hold it just below the flower and close the jaws together around the stem. Be sure that you don’t use too much pressure when closing the jaws of the stripper because you could damage or even severe the stem. Lightly drag the dethorner down the stem. The thorns should pop right off. It may take a bit of practice to get the hand of a thorn stripper, but after a few tries you should have a good idea of how much pressure is needed to remove the thorns.

You can also remove thorns with a knife. All you need to do is scrape the stem of the rose with a sharp floral or small pairing knife. If you are removing thorns from the cut stem, then you might consider only removing the thorns and leaves that lie below the water level.

You want to think carefully about whether or not you need to remove all the thorns from your roses. It is important to remove rose thorns when the flowers will be in a hand held bouquet or worn on the lapel. When placing cut stems in a vase for display, you should remove the thorns that will be below the surface of the water, but you don’t need to take off those that will be above water level. Removing thorns can shorten the life of your roses so be sure that you aren’t over dethorning your blooms.

An important time to do some dethorning, though, is when you are preparing plant litter for your compost pile. After pruning off any dead or decaying canes from your rose bush, you should consider removing the thorns before tossing the old stems into your compost pile. Removing the thorns will make it safer for you to work and exposing the stem in this way will also help sped up the decomposition process.