A beautiful video demonstrating a selection of carnivorous plants up close and personal.
Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.Saturday, October 2, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Caring for seedlings
If you have followed our “Plant sex: Growing more flytraps” then you will hopefully have a series of tiny Venus flytrap plantlets growing. These seedlings will take two to three years to grow to a resonable size. In the mean time, your plantlets will not be large enough to catch regular house flies, however luckily they will still be able to catch much smaller bugs to provide them with the nutrience they desire until they can start catching those big blow flys we all love to hate. Conveniently, even if your plantlets do not catch any bugs at all, they should still survive okay and eventualy grow into the huge fly chomping machines we all know and love.
The advice for maintaining your seedlings is essentially the same as for a full-grown plant. Don’t fertilize it, give it plenty of light and make sure it gets plenty of good, clean water.
The Acineta Orchid
Acineta orchids are native to tropical America growing from southern Mexico to Peru. There are approximately 15 species of Acineta orchids which are mostly epiphytic but also lithophytic. The name Acineta comes from the Greek word akintos which means immobile which refers to the rigid immobile lip of the flower.
Acineta orchid foliage resembles the leaves of the Stanhopea and Lycaste orchids, and the flowers are similar to Peristeria. They have pendant racemes with many flowers. Some of the species are fragrant such as Acineta barkeri, beyrodtiana, chrysantha, erythroxantha, and superb.
Most Acineta orchids grow epiphytically in wet forests at altitudes between 2400 and 6000 feet. Grow in baskets in moist intermediate to cool temperatures. Use potting media that drains well, such as bark and sphagnum moss. Plants that get too warm will stress and drop leaves as well as form keikis at the top of the pseudobulbs. Acineta require low light levels equivalent to Phalaenopsis orchids. Humidity needs to be 50% or over for best results. Fertilize once a month. Let potting mix completely dry between watering. In growing season at moderate temperature water thoroughly once a week or so, depending on how dry it is and spray over head from day to day. Plant requires rest in winter time. Keep mostly dry during this time. Propagation is done by dividing the plants in early spring before the growing starts.
Acineta are prone to spider mites and scale. Always inspect new orchids for these pests before putting them with your existing plants to prevent spreading.
Acineta orchid flowers normally bloom from spring to early summer. 20 to 30 flowers is a common occurrence.
Top Automatic Plant Watering
We are not often at home to water our plants everyday. Sometimes we need to go on vacation and so we will not be able to look after our plants. To address this problem, there are several automatic plant watering systems created.
Automatic plant watering systems are created to help users water their plants. This will lessen their garden chores and they can also stop worrying about missing a day in watering their plants. The device drips a certain amount of water at an exact time so that your plants will not be watered too much or too less.
A certain product has just been recognized as the best garden device. It is named as Oasis Plant Garden Automatic Drip System. It uses drippers, tank and others to facilitate in watering the plants accurately daily.
The Oasis Plant Garden Automatic Drip System has a lot of functions that are added in it for convenience in use. It is powered by battery so that goes to show that you will not need any power outlets near your watering system. You will also be able to control how much electricity used in the system. Leaving a watering system plugged in to your power outlet is not assurance that your house will be safe enough. This is the reason why it is a big advantage for the user to use battery-powered watering machines instead of machines that has to be plugged to an AC outlet.
This automatic watering system uses a dripping system and a tank. The tank can accommodate enough water if you plan on leaving your house for months. It is the exact amount of water your system will be utilizing instead of relying on a flowing water from the faucet which can be out of your control and will not be properly regulated.
Watering system contains certain options unlike other watering devices. It will allow you to choose how many days you want the machine to operate. The drippers will have the accurate amount of water poured into your plant.
If you are about to purchase an automatic plant watering machine, keep in mind the features that are included in the product. Read some reviews about the product to give you an idea on how the machine really works. and should get maximum benefits at a cost almost everyone can afford.
How To Aviod Pythium Blight, Fire Blight & Shotgun Fungus In Your Garden
Pythias blight will easily be discovered in the early sunrise. You'll be able to easily appreciate the fungus on the top side of the lawn as lily-white candyfloss. You can easily find this fungus primarily along driveways and patios, where the soil is damp. Pythias blight could easily become restrained by irrigating in the daytime at the earliest workable time.
Fire Blight
Fire Blight, yet another perpetrator favors to spring up comfortably during the summertime than any other time of year. This fungus chooses to onslaught Pyracantha, crab-apple trees, and Apple trees. The bearing of Fire Blight will easily become visualized once some? of the branches of the tree becomes cherry-red and perishes.? Fire Blight may be prevented with a little amount of pruning the stricken branch and dispatching it from the primary plant as much as possible.
It's likewise crucial that the cut off branches be burned because Fire Blight is infectious and also wash or dip the protruding shears applying alcohol in order to prevent the spread of the lethal fungus to additional portions of the branch.
Shotgun fungus
A small gem like fungus, which chooses to mature in mulch and tends to swell, has been termed as "Short gun Fungus". This fungus will grow up to eight feet in the air and can splash your home with small brownish specks and when they adhere to your home or windows, they stick like glue. Nearly all of us suspect the spiders and aliens for these little brownish specks. You can not prevent this fungus, but you'll be able to do something by keeping the mulch free so air will circulate deep down to hold back this fungus. Although mulch is great, do not allow for it to get compacted, attempt to transfer it at least once a year and likewise rake it level like it will look like you have mulched
Mark has been writing articles online for nearly 4 years now. Not only does this author specialize in gardening and horticulture, you can also check out his latest website on Andy Warhol Rugs at http://www.andywarholrugs.org/
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A Simple Step By Step Guide To Bonsai Trees
An increasingly popular hobby is the cultivation of bonsai trees. An affordable pastime for many, it is both relaxing and rewarding. It is also not too tricky to achieve some wonderful results, with some beautiful looking types available, perfectly easy to tend to from home.
Whether you are looking after Chinese Elm, a Bald Cypress, a Japanese White Palm or one of the many wonderful fruit trees, there are a few basics to keep to ensure they stay in the best possible health. Kept in the right way, over generations, there is no reason why they cannot live for hundreds of years.
The first thing to consider is where to position your bonsai. They like to be located in warm areas as a rule, though too much direct sunlight will not be good. They can be susceptible to burning if given too much direct sunlight, much like many other indoor plants. It is always good to have a couple of locations where you display them, to optimize the amount and the way in which they get appropriate levels of light.
Most importantly is appropriate watering. Again, they behave much like other household plants, so bonsai trees should never be allowed to dry out. As such, the soil in which they are planted should be checked on a daily basis. Through hotter periods, these checks would be best to be done twice a day of course.
It is best not to stick to a regular schedule with watering, as this most certainly runs the risk of over watering. A great tip in this regard is to pick up the tree. A light tree will need watering, whereas a heavier tree will most likely not need so much. Having a water mister to hand is always good to give them a little pick up if you are not sure.
Another way to decide whether watering is needed is through a water meter. These work by taking a measure of the water content in the soil, and are a quick and effective way to determine whether watering is needed. This is most certainly a good idea if you go on holiday, and you have a friend or family member looking after your bonsai trees for a few days.
Another way to help maintain correct water levels is to use the appropriate types of soil. As a rule, regular soil used for other household plants is too heavy. Garden centers will most likely have supplies of specially designed bonsai soil; which is formulated to aid appropriate draining to the root structure and retain the correct levels of moisture.
As well as the correct soil, appropriate fertilization is also important. Again, garden centers should have suitable supplies; but you need to ensure what you use contains the vital ingredients of nitrogen, phosphorous and potash.
The final task and, the most enjoyable for many, is pruning. This not only helps give those evocative shapes bonsai trees are so well known for, but is actually vital to their continuing health. This allows them to maintain strength, and is all important for a balanced root system.
Garden Pest Control - Make Use Of Ladybugs
If you have a problem regarding pest control and having abundance of aphids that makes your plants die easily in your garden, then you don't have to worry in getting troubled in your business. When we talk about pest control and ways on eliminating aphids in our garden, we have many options that come in our mind.
There are lots of ways on how to get rid of aphids in our garden. One way is by the use of chemical spray and other ways is by spraying a strong force of water to remove aphids in our plants. This strong force of water can eliminate aphids. These pests are being removed and unable to return to the plants.
With the use of chemical sprays or pesticides were both not appropriate. Though these ways are also effective, they are still harmful to our environment. The use of pesticides can be dangerous to our place. Once there is a flood, the chemicals will go with the flow of the water to the river or sea. These chemicals can kill fishes especially if you have your garden near rivers. This is one of the reasons why the use of chemical sprays is not good as a way to eliminate aphids.
When we think about a natural way of controlling pest in our garden, then Live Ladybugs will be an effective way. These ladybugs are the best enemies of most pests. They feed more than 50 aphids a day. Also, their larvae feed on aphids and other tiny insects. One ladybug may consume 5000 aphids in their lifetime.
Ladybugs are one of the friendliest insects in our garden. But aphids are scared of them because they can remove these pests effectively. They are also called as Ladybird beetles. There are about 5000 species of these beetles all over the world and about 400 of these are found in North America.
Remember that they will bring good luck in your business. Other people say that once a single ladybug flew over your shoulder, it means that you are lucky today! Purchase Live Ladybugs and let them help you in control pest in your garden.
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