Month: July 2009

How To Build A Solar Greenhouse

Posted by on July 3, 2009

What is the point in buying a beautiful plant if you can only have it for a little while? One day of frost is all that a well-nurtured plant needs to call it quits. Luckily, greenhouses are able to provide your plants with everything that they need, even in the worst of climates.

If so, get a list of some projects they’ve completed in your local area and do a drive by evaluation of their work. Was it completed in a timely manner and did the contractor stick to the budget? Lastly, you’ll want to find out if the contractor is bonded and insured.

The only downside to starting from seeds is that you might have to invest a little bit of extra time to grow your plants. After all, anybody can walk into a store and purchase a plant with beautiful flowers that has been raised in a commercial nursery and stick it in the ground. You’ll want to research the different types of seeds available because depending on the type of plant they will have different growing requirements.

Do you want to build commercial greenhouses? There are 3 major aspects: environment, capital and time. If you’re looking to build an indoor greenhouse you do need to get the correct plans because otherwise you can find it difficult to simply change it into smaller one later on. If you cannot provide sufficient space, this will limit the range of plants you can consider. Depending on the weather, you will also need to think about the materials to build your commercial greenhouses.

The most obvious benefit of having your own greenhouse is the growing season is extended beyond the first frosts, of winter and the last frosts of spring. Greenhouses and frames offer the perfect solution, providing an environment for hardening off, gradually acclimatizing plants to the elements prior to planting out. The satisfaction in producing your own plants is immense and the techniques are essentially very simple.

Cooling fans are another option for cooling a larger greenhouse. Sometimes a fan system will come with a greenhouse kit, or can be added on later if necessary.

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Caring For Orchids Is Easy If You Have The Right Book Guide With You

Posted by on July 3, 2009

 

Many orchid lovers can say that taking care of their orchids takes simple and easy steps. But there are some that are very excited having orchids right in their garden but don’t have any least idea about the right orchids care? But why do they care? After all, most of the orchids can be found in the wild and they can grow by themselves, right? Wrong. Just like any other living things, like the dog. The dog was a wild animal of long ago but because people found it to be a good house pet, they trained it and domesticate it. With the orchids, it’s the same as that. You can definitely “tame” or learning the art of caring for orchids and learn how to grow them the right way in your own garden.

You may think that because orchids are naturally “wild” plants that grow anywhere, you don’t need some special skills to make them grow in your own garden, right? Wrong. If you want to grow orchids in your own turf, you have to consider a lot of thing like lighting, temperature, air moisture and air circulation. If you want to grow orchids indoors, you need to be detailed with what classification of orchids you would like to care for. According to orchids experts, two species are best to grow indoors: the Moth Orchids and Lady’s Slippers. Both have enduring flowers, and the latter has such an exotic look with unusual warts, hair and striped colors. Sometimes, it’s best and more enjoyable to grow orchids indoors and it would be quite a challenge and not only that, indoor orchids can truly make a house more beautiful and appealing.

But the problem is, if you want to learn the art in growing orchid plants on your own, how? Right now, there are actually a lot of learning tools that you can invest and most of them come in the form of book guides. But of course, you need to find something that fits your preference and in order to do this, you should first read some product reviews so you can choose the best or the one that suits your taste.

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Dendrobium orchid care

Posted by on July 3, 2009

The dendrobium orchids represent a major family with about 1200 species, they grow in regions between the southern, eastern and south-east Asia, including the Philippines, Borneo, Australia, New Guinea and New Zealand. Their name comes from the Greek words dendron (tree) and bios (life). These species are epiphytes (grow on trees) or lithophytes (grow on rocks) and grow in environments ranging from the heights of the Himalayas, low tropical forests, and even in the dry Australian desert.

dendrobium orchid care is relatively an easy task.In fact you don’t need to give these dendrobium orchids a lot of attention to get good results. Most dendrobiums do not require much attention from their growers to bloom.    
Below you’ll find some tips on dendrobium orchid care.

 

Temperature: This plant does the best at a temperature of 18 to 20 degrees Celsius. Temperature extremes are tolerated if exposure is not prolonged.

Light: Orchids need light, but during the season where they grow (March-September), they should not receive direct light. During this season, the sun is too strong and could dry out the leaves.
Dendrobiums take full advantage of full sunlight in the morning, but they look for the shade between 11 am and 15H - less Shadow will be needed at the end of afternoon.

Watering: The Phalaenopsis dendrobium Orchids grow best when their soil dries out between waterings. They are epiphytes in nature, (they grow on trees) and are accustomed to becoming fairly dry between the rains of their natural environment.

Watering seems to be the most difficult task.Too often, the plant is given too much water. The roots of the orchid should NEVER float in water. In the bottom of the pot, holes are made that allow  evacuating excess water. If the orchid is placed in a flower-pot holder, water will remain in the pot and the roots may rot.

 

Our advice:

Take out the orchid from its flower-pot holder (leaving the plant in its original pot), float the plant in a tray filled with water for 5 to 10 minutes (at a temperature of 18 to 20 degrees).Then let the plant drain and put it back in its flower-pot holder.Proceeding this way you will never give too much water to your plant.

Pay attention to the amount of water in the tray.
Only a maximum of 3/4 of the pot can be put in water.
Depending on your home (temperature and humidity) and the weather (too much or too little sunlight) you have to bathe your plant 1x per week.You can decide on your flower watering needs by watching its weight. It is just a matter of getting used to!

Repotting: Repot once every two years in spring, after blooming, or when growth begins. A mixture of 10 parts of fine quality fir bark and 1 part of orchid mix will work well in small pots.

Feeding: nitrogen fertilizer (25-9-9) can be used throughout the year. Use a teaspoon for three liters of water. Feed once a month.

 

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Guide To Orchid Growing Supplies for a Beginner

Posted by on July 3, 2009

If you are just a starter at growing orchids indoors you might wonder what you will need to grow blooming orchids.

 

There are some basic orchid growing supplies that anyone wishing to have orchids at home should have. Not only will these tools make your orchids grow healthy but they will help you to choose only what is necessary. However it is inevitable that everyone’s orchid growing supplies will vary according to the type of orchids they grow and how many orchids they have.

A Humidity Tray

A humidity tray is one of the best devices to have at home, especially if you live in a dryweather, when growing orchids indoors. With a humidity tray you can place several plants on one tray and maintain  the humidity at the most favourable level. When it comes to orchid growing supplies this can be quite essential and is relatively cheap to buy.

Lighting

If you plan on growing orchids indoors then consider growing orchids under lights. There are different orchid types and some of them may need more light than the amount you get through your window. If this is the case then you will need to purchase some lights. Buying lights meant specifically for orchids can be expensive. They are not really indispensable orchid growing supplies; you can also make your own lights system at home.

Fertilizer

Fertilizer is another part of orchid growing supplies that all growers should have on hand. You need to consider a fertilizer made for orchids. Other fertilizers can be too harsh for orchids. Whatever the fertilizer you choose to add to your orchid growing supplies use it only at half to quarter strength. You should use the fertilizer only once a week. Remember that orchids are sensitive to too much fertilizer and you could kill your plant with too much fertilizer.

pots

The right containers or pots are clearly something that should be part of your orchid growing supplies. Ventilation of the roots and drainage are two important factors that you should consider when buyingpots. You can find pots meant specifically for orchids at nurseries and garden supply stores.

Pesticide

To keep your flower’s good condition you need to use a fungicide and pesticide.  It may not be ideal to use chemicals on your orchids and in your home but it is indispensable. You can look for any pesticide or fungicide meant for plants to keep pests from destroying your precious plants. Orchids can be damaged very easily by pests and fungi, in addition to pesticides and fungicides keep orchids well ventilated.

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More Information About Indoor Tropical Plant Care: How to do

Posted by on July 3, 2009

Tropical plants are in fact very beautiful, and especially if you want to go with an island theme in your home, having an indoor tropical plant such as the banana plant will be a wonderful idea, a great way to add that final touch. Before you get a banana plant or any other type of tropical plant however, you are going to need to learn about indoor banana plant care and indoor tropical plant care in general.

There are a couple of indoor tropical plant care tips that are going to be especially important and which will be discussed in more detail here.

Indoor Tropical Plant Care: How to Care for Them

You should not be scared off by caring after indoor tropical plants, but at the same time you should know that it is going to be more challenging than looking after other, more basic types of indoor plants. One of the best indoor tropical plant care tips that you can find is that the plants are provided sufficient sunlight.

We all know that plants need light to survive, but when it comes to indoor tropical plant care, these plants require even more light to survive because they are used to being in a tropical climate where there is an abundance of sun and not always a lot of water. In case it is not possible to get sufficient sunlight into your home particularly into the area where you have the tropical plants, then this is easy enough to fix as all you really have to do is get a grow light.

This way you can aim the grow light directly on the tropical plants and it will ensure that they are getting enough light to survive.

Another important indoor tropical plant care tipis to be careful with when and how much you are watering. You may also find some plant that require to be watered almost every day to strive, but with the tropical plants, the last thing that you want to do is overdo it with the watering. Make sure that you are only watering about once a week, when you can feel that the soil is dry all the way through.

Even then, you are going to want to water your tropical plants sparsely, and make sure that there are proper drainage holes coming out the bottom of the container that the plant is in so that the water is not just sitting there soaking into the soil.

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