All About Plants and Gardens

Hello again!  I now have the Cacti and Succulents zone up and going (in addition to the houseplants zone).  Both zones showcase helpful Helium articles and include useful links to other resources.  You can also visit the Cacti and Succulents Store and the Houseplants Store for plants, fertilizer and potting soil, containers, grow lights, and books. 

I noticed when developing the Cacti and Succulents zone that there are not many Helium.com articles about cacti and succulents.  If any of you want to create new titles about this topic, please leave a comment on the Cacti and Succulents zone and let me know about it-- I would love to add it to the page! 

There isn't really an article shortage when it comes to houseplants, but if you have an article you would like to see on that zone, please let me know. 

Both zones have links to titles that could really use some fleshing out!  So many of the titles have only one or two articles!  If you have some expertise in indoor plant care or cacti and succulent cultivation, you may want to drop by and find some titles to write to.  

If you have written to several titles on the zone (or plan to write to some titles on the zone), you may want to consider linking to the zone on your Helium.com profile or your blog or web page.  Hopefully, these zones will be a good way for all of us plant geeks to share our enthusiasm and get our articles "out there".

I am an entomologist and will be glad to try and identify insects and other arthropods found in lawns and gardens. 

The class Insecta are small cold blooded animals with a head, thorax and abdomen.  Adults have one pair of antennae on their heads, and six legs, and 0,2 or 4 wings on their thorax. Immatures may have 0. 6 or more legs and are wingless.  Caterpillars have temporary larval legs that are called prolegs.

Some fellow Arthropods [The Phylum] that are not insects are Arachnids, Crustaceans, millipedes [Diplopoda] and centipedes [Chilopoda]. 

Arachnids have the head and thorax combined into a cephalo [head] thorax[chest] and an abdomen, and they have  8 legs on their cephaolothorax.  Spiders, daddy-long-legs, scorpions , mites and ticks are arachnids. Spiders which have smooth and unsegmented abdomens are distinguished from their close relatives the daddy-long-legs who have segmented abdomens.

Crustaceans also have a cephalothorax and abdomen and have 10 legs. Common aquatic crustaceans are lobsters, crabs and crayfish while the sowbugs [or pillbugs or roly-poly's] live on land.

Millipedes have a head and a long round or squarish segmented abdomen and are land animals.  They have two pairs of legs/segment and are sometimes called thousand-leggers.  They are plant eaters and curl up into a spiral when disturbed.

Centipedes have a head and long segmented flattened abdomen and have 1 pair of legs/per segment.  They are carnivores and have fangs on their head and they run as they hunt for small animals and insects that they feed on.

Many people are very afraid of insects.  Of the 1,000,000 described insect species only 2% are harmful to man and this includes agricultural, animal and plant pests.  The only insects and arthropods that are out to get man are: mosquitoes, horse and black flies, and fleas and lice and among the arachnids, ticks and chiggers [a type of mite] because the females need a blood meal to lay their eggs.

This is a short introduction to insects and their kin.  I will be glad to write more about the different types of insects if anyone would like more information about them.

Hi, I am glad to have found this group. I love gardening especially vegetable gardening which I am still learning the know how.I look forward to learning from you guys and sharing my experience too.  Cheers x

Hi to everybody.  I joined this group as I live in the Caribbean and work with nature.  I also take lots of miscelleanous photos and am trying to post some on the Beta Zone I set up, Hiking and Nature.  Please check it out and if anyone wants more p[hotos, let me know and I can send some.

As I have signed in to join this group at an earlier date...the option to sign in again--no longer shows up in your group area.      However, my name did not stay on your membership list...one of those drop off bug situations.

I am looking forward to reading everything posted about plants and gardens.  Even though I am now limited to my raised terrace..LOL

Olivia

Found this on Reddit and thought the gardeners here might enjoy it! 

http://tipnut.com/herb-spiral/

Thank God for Spring is here. Beautiful weather is here in Illinois and my bulbs are coming out from the ground. Soon flowers will burst with different sizes and colors. Happy spring and have a great Easter.

I'm excited to know that we have the same interest. There's no particuar flowers that I favor most, because I love all flowers. Either perennials or annuals, i'm crazy about them. 

I've had a huge, perennial oregano patch for years now, and I frequently harvest the herb during the summer.  A couple years ago, I planted a rock garden nearby with lots of different fragrant herbs like orange mint and hyssop. 

I picked some of the oregano yesterday, and-- I swear!-- it tasted like mint!  Could it have cross-polinated with some of the other herbs?  I know oregano is in the mint family, and we do have bees that absolutely love that oregano plant. 

Or perhaps I just picked the leaves too soon?  I've never tried to harvest any this early before. 

I'd love to hear other gardeners' thoughts!

I found this while looking for zone content and thought it was just the cutest idea... 

http://imaginechildhood.com/blog/?p=247

Our front garden's tulip display this year is stunning, like never before!

Last year was dismal, and fraught with underground vermin. This year the tulips (and daffodills before them) are blooming in staggering profusion.

I counted them, roughly, when they all burst into color simultaneously -- we have over 130 blooms in an area not much larger than a modern living room.

Anyone have any clue as to why they are so abundant this spring? Can I divide some of these plants to better scatter them around the plot? Anyone else seeing amazing flowering bulb displays this year?

~Jim   http://www.helium.com/zone/1986-helium-home-garden-stewards

Hello, gardeners and Helium writers.  In order to have an RSS feed for the Container Gardening Zone, I created a WordPress blog consisting of Helium articles.  The blog is called "Creative Gardening" and includes articles on general gardening as well as container gardening, but the primary emphasis is on container gardening and other small-space gardening ideas. 

If you have a gardening article you would like to have featured on the blog, please let me know and I will be happy to include it.  Before sending me a link to the article, please stop by the blog and try entering your Helium pen name in the search box-- your article may already be featured.  If it's not already up there, please do send the link.

I put the first paragraph of the article and then include a "read more link", so anyone who sees your article on the blog and finds it interesting will be redirected to Helium, which will help you earn ad revenue.  Your article will also appear on the Container Gardening zone for a few days. 

Also, if you have any container garden photos you would like to share, I would be happy to include them on the blog or zone or both.

I am so disappointed in my Tiger Lilies....This is the second year that they came up beautifully and lasted only a month....while blooms where still in their prime...they died from the bottom up with all brown stems and leaves... Could it be something else..or am I expecting too much ? LOL

Olivia

I am so disappointed in my Tiger Lilies....This is the second year that they came up beautifully and lasted only a month....while blooms where still in their prime...they died from the bottom up with all brown stems and leaves... Could it be something else..or am I expecting too much ? LOL

Olivia

How to Grow Herbs Indoors

If you live in a northern climate where the growing season is short, it might be to your advantage to move your garden indoors. Obviously, this cannot be accomplished physically, but a small scale version of it is not beyond reason.

Shown below: Lighting Assembly to Grow Indoor Vegetables or Herbs

 

Why would anyone want to even contemplate this approach?

An individual first has to consider their family needs, as far as estimating the amount of vegetables that would be consumed on a weekly basis and what kind of space would be required to supply that given amount. You must first ask yourself: how many people will be consuming the virtually continuous harvest, realising this makeshift garden of yours will be supplying your familly’s needs 365 days a year since you are controlling its environment.

Some Advantages Along With a Disadvantage of an Indoor Garden

Advantages:

* Not subject to climate changes, such as rainy or cloudy days.

* Logistics friendly

I can only think of one disadvantage:

* Uses artificial instead of the perfect sunlight supplied by the Creator.

 The lighting setup shown above was made up fo three simple pine boards two of which were simply screwed and glued to the e end of the third and longer one.one which measured about 38". The two vertical pieces were simply clamped to the side of the bench. I simply mounted four plastic standard lamp sockets. You can use porcelin but the plastics are cheaper. The CFL lightbulbs I used are 15W[60W incandescent equivalent]. I chose CFL bulbs with a color temperature of 6500 degrees Kelvin to closely match that of the sun. It is actually a little higher and "warmer" but this will not be a problem.  I placed the tomatoe seedlings about 3" beneath CFL's. I will raise CFL lamp assembly as plants grow taller trying to keep the same distance. Heat from the lamps seems to be at a minimum.

 The indoor garden assembly shown above has only recently been started approximatlely a week ago, in the middle of February of 2009[this year] and three pots were started with beefsteak tomatoes which are a little ambitious, but it will be o.k. for now. The tomatoes have sprouted and are about an inch tall. Six more pots were seeded with Parsley, Scallions and Garlic...for now. The latter have only been planted a couple of days ago.

   

Shown at Left is Slightly Lanky Growth of Seedlings after one Week.



Growing Vegetables and Herbs Indoors
If you live in a northern climate where the growing season is short, it might be to your advantage to move your garden indoors. Obviously, this cannot be accomplished physically, but a small scale version of it is not beyond reason.
indoors gardening, Indoor garden, garden, Vegetable, Growing season, Plant

Buttercrunch lettuce is probably the most scrumptious in this family. When  grown outdoors one can plant in early Spring and late Fall in the northeast for a dual harvest. Some of us probably wonder if a third harvest can be accomplished by planting indoors.

Is There Any Advantage Growing Certain Vegetables Indoors?

In some cases where the mature plant is of a size that can be managed in a reasonably small area it can be very wise to plant indoors. If you were to try growing a rambling plant such as cucumber it becomes obvious that it would take up too much room though we have grown some in an east facing picture window with some surprising success.

What About The Lighting Cost To Grow The Lettuce?

Indoor gro-lights were at one time very costly and setting them up could require an elaborate setup adding to the initial investment. Today, many people simply use CFL lamps aranged in a line of 4 wide. This is usaully ample for a beginner. Each of the four lamps should have a color temperature over 5,000 K. and an output luminous brightness equivalent to a 60W incandescent light bulb. Of course, the CFL equivalent will only consume 15 W. The lamps will have to be controlled to turn on for 12 hours and off for 12 hours to simulate tthe sun. I paid $6.00 for the timer which can handle 1,000 Watts of lamps.

A link to my personal design of indoor grow lamps, the parts needed to build and how to assemble one is shown at:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2718349/construct_your_own_inexpensive_indoor.html?cat=32

Just A Little Info On The Lettuce Seed

Whether you purchase or standard seed they will come up very quickly. Mine sprouted within a couple of days. The seed are almost microscopic so you have to sprinkle them carefully.

Hi, everyone. 

I manage the Topic "African Violets," which is short on articles! 

I have also started a group called "Articles Needed!" which a forum for Topics/Zones/How-tos users to request articles.  If you write a good Helium article about African Violets, please stop by the group and reply to my post.  I am looking for articles to feature on the African Violets Topic.  Here's a link to the group:   http://www.helium.com/groups/groupshow/455

Raven Lebeau

  Slacktivism-- saving the world one mouse click at a time. 

Nice post.  Makes me want to go do it.

What is a beautiful, fragrant flower (that grows back every year) that I could buy my mom for her birthday coming up? My mom loves flowers and she's been trying to buy some to start a garden but she likes them all so much she can't decide what to buy first. I thought I could help her out :) 

pink Asian lilies or Easter lilies

Aw!! Thank you very much! I appreciate the help :)

Hi there. I want to sign up for this group but don't know how. Do I do so simply by just writing this post?

And my real burning question is:  What can I do for my Golden Bamboo  to help it look more lively.  I'm thinking it was tagged wrong because it never becomes "golden", but always a nice green. I live in North Idaho, in Zone 3, and I've kept this 4 foot tall plant alive by keeping it in my south-facing windows of my living room. It seemed happy, staying a vibrant green (not golden! ).  Now, after 4 years, it's leaves are going brown/gray.  Any suggestions? Should I use Superthrive? I can't plant it outdoors...Winters are hard here, and very lenghty, and if it did live outside, the moose and deer would eat it. 

Hi Lynette, would you consider dividing it into smaller plants. Golden bamboo is named on its bark as far as I know, there is also a black bamboo. It is a clump forming bamboo but it tends to spread in warmer climates, maybe this has happened to you. If its in a pot it may have become root bound and taken all the nutrients from the soil. I would recommend a larger pot with fresh soil and bark mulch containing compost on top or divide the plant. I hope your plant revives.

This might he also

lp

Hello,glad to find your forum.First of all,let me introduce myself.I'm Codrina ,I'm doctor,gardening,is a hobby for me.Best wishes,

Yes, it is the bamboo canes that are the coloured bit, the leaves are always green. Except when they turn grey like yours, which means they are dying. Bamboo is usually very hardy, at least the phyllostachys aurea which yours seems to be, but there's no point in letting it get eaten, and in any case, now it's too cold to start putting it out. Bamboo in pots needs the earth completely changing every two years, incorporating a quarter of mature manure into the earth. You should wait until next Spring, earliest end February before doing this. Take the plant right out of the pot, shake all the earth out, trim the roots that have probably gone in circles inside the pot, maybe replant in a bigger pot. Then every other year, the year you don't change the earth completely, top dress with manure rich earth. Don't keep it too near a radiator during the winter. Hope this is of some help. I live in France and have a complete wall of bamboo on my terrace (but no moose!). I have some pictures on my blog http://mcfutures.blogspot.com

Caroline

Thanks so much for all the helpful advice! I will try your suggestions. I can't beleive it's actually lasted in my house because half the year it's 25 degrees indoors! But it must like it...plus it sits in a full southern exposure.

I really love plants and gardening.

By the way, nice day everyone!!!! kindly rate my articles.

I'm a new writer here.

I'm looking forward for friends!

I am new here also, but I have also loved gardening, birds, photography, writing, and anything to do with the outdoors. Perhaps we can have something possitive to share with all you oldies, LOL! I would love to be a part of this group and would appreciate any feedback you can give on any of my articles.. Thank you.

I love this idea. I am so new to gardening that I likely won't write any articles. I do however have some photos of my apartment balcony garden from last year, including a photo of my upside down tomato plant.

Greetings to both of you. I've been a gardener and plant lover for more than four decades. I love to share my knowledge about gardening and different types of plants with others, and hope that in the process, that my writing encourages people who doubt that they can grow things, that anyone can be successful. 

As the root manager of the home and garden channel, I oversee the sub-channels within this channel and the sub-channel managers. If either of you have questions about specific articles, you are more than welcome to contact me with specific URLs to articles. 

As for rating, we do not choose what we are given to rate. When you write articles to any given channel, once the article is submitted, you are then directed to a pair of articles to rate. Helium is overhauling the payment plan, so until you both get some experience and writing stars, you may find that what you are able to write to is limited. If you find articles while looking around on the site, and you think you'd like to write to them, I'd recommend that you keep a running list of things you'd like to write to. What I do is copy and paste the URLs into a Google Docs document or any other word processing document. I then use the strike through feature to mark them off after writing to them. 

Take some time to read the articles of other people. Once you see how experienced writers tackle a title, you will get a sense of what is expected. If you are ever uncertain as to what is meant by a title, don't write to it until you can get clarification -- either through staff by writing to content@helium.com or by contacting the channel manager who oversees the channel where that title is posted. By not writing to titles that seem vague or ambiguous, you will be able to protect yourself against the possibility that your article will be deleted. 

Remember too, that anything you write must be original and can't be posted anywhere else for one year from the date on which the article was posted. 

Again, welcome! The flower photo we used for this group is one that was taken of one of my Rose of Sharon blooms. My husband took the picture. I'm in Texas and love the longer growing season we have here -- even though this past winter was miserably harsh and I lost a lot of wonderful plants and flowers. 

Susan Klatz Beal

Root Channel  Manager, Home and Garden, Community Editor (EAB) and Title Seeder 

Any mushroom growers here? I have a shiitake mushroom log. Right now, I have green mould growing on it I'm trying to get rid of by daily applications of peroxide and gently rubbing it off. I use Q-Tips for this. The mold doesn't hurt the mycelium (white stuff the mushrooms grow out of) or log, and won't harm humans. However, it is kind of gross. After I get it off, I am supposed to soak the log and then put it in the fridge 12 hrs, then keep it in a dark place till I see the mushrooms. Anyone have any tips for getting rid of the green mould faster?

Meanwhile, I do have a few gardening articles for you to read and lots of other cool stuff!

I appreciate any input any of you have for me.

Erin

I suspect that green stuff is moss, and it commonly grows on trees, so it's not surprising that it would grow on a log. Mushrooms are fungus, so I doubt that what you are seeing is any kind of mold. I wouldn't use hydrogen peroxide because you may kill good bacteria that can help the mushrooms grow. In the future, if you need an organic fungicide, look for NEEM oil or agricultural grade corn meal (not gluten.) I wrote an article about using corn meal as a as a fungicide some time ago.

Susan Klatz Beal

Channel  Manager , Home and Garden, Community Editor (EAB)

Where would I find the stuff you mentioned? Are they expensive? I have never heard of either of them. I have tried to avoid getting any on the mycelium for fear of damaging it, although a professional mushroom grower told me not to worry about it. Will moss damage the log ot the mushrooms? My dilemma is this: I'd like to get rid of the moss, but after I do I need to soak the log again- moss enjoys a damp environment. To further enlighten you on what I have been told, see the following link: http://shitakemushroomlog.com/care&handling.html

I would just leave the moss alone. I suspect it's an indication that the environment your mushrooms are growing in is ideal. Besides, it's very common to see moss growing up the bark of trees. Where I live, that's not the norm because we're in the thick of a devastating drought, and the temperatures are as hot as 100 degrees F.

You can find NEEM oil at garden centers. My local grocery store used to carry a product made by a company called Garden Safe. The product is a 3-in-1 Fungicide, Miticide and Insecticide, and the active ingredient is NEEM oil. There are many places on the Internet that sell it as well. I like it because it's completely organic and non-toxic. I use it on tropical plants that provide nectar for hummingbirds.

As for corn meal, if you have an agricultural supply store anywhere near you, you can buy it there, and it will be pretty cheap that way since they sell it in bulk. Otherwise, you can buy food grade corn meal at the supermarket. It's usually sold in 1 or 2 pound bags and costs around $1 or not much more. Be sure that if you purchase it from the supermarket, that you are buying corn meal, not corn gluten meal. The difference is hugs. I used it on my brugmansias because they are known to get fungal problems. Unfortunately, it wasn't disease that killed the plants, it was a horribly cold winter with record breaking temperatures that are not normal for Texas. So, the temperatures were too cold for a plant that is normally hardy here.

Susan Klatz Beal

Channel  Manager , Home and Garden, Community Editor (EAB)

I tend to agree that hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol could be a problem for good fungus, although it doesn't seem to do it alot of harm (but works pretty slowly on the moss, anyway- I've been trying to get rid of it for about 10 days). I like your cornmeal idea. Should I dilute it first and then apply it to the mossy areas?

I'm furthee bothered by the fact that my log is flaking a bit-  I really don't want to hurt it (it's an oak log, btw)

The mushroom farmer advised me to 1. Get rid of the green mold (probably he said this mostly because it bothered me so much- after all, it won't harm the mushrooms)

AFTERWARDS:

1. Soak in room temperature water for 24 hrs.

2. Give log a light tap with hammer at both ends.

3. Put in plastic bag, tying the ends shut.

4. Put in fridge for several days.

5. Untie and put in a sealed, dark cupboard box for a week (in a room)

6. Open box (should see mushrooms)

Repeat every 2 weeks.

The good news is, not only do I see white mycelium, but also small raised white fuzzy dots- these are the mushrooms starting. Now I wonder somewhat if I should give my log a soak (1) and do steps 2-6, or just soak and then put in the sealed, dark place, or what? I certainlt don't want to hurt it by letting it dry out. On the other hand, maybe if it has green moss it has enough water? I had been giving it some water daily until I got really determined to try to get the moss off. I would like to keep the white mycelium healthy while avoiding a complete moss infestation- hopefully moss won't eventually rot the log? The log is supposed to last 3-5 yrs.

 I live is NS. Here, you can put the log outside in a shady area during summer. It would definitely stay moist, because we typically get LOTS of rain! I have a forsythia bush that would give part shade, apple trees that would give more. So far, I prefer inside where I can control conditions better.

If I sound a bit desperate, I am a bit. I have veggie and flower gardens, but apart from recent research, I know little about mushrooms/mushroom growing. I just really enjoy eating them!! (button, portabello, and would like to eat more gourmet but not pay a whole lot for the privilege!!!!) Thank you for your help.

I wouldn't be surprised if the log is flaking because of the peroxide. It may be drying it out. I don't know anything about growing mushrooms. In fact, I don't eat them either -- I kind of have a thing about fungus -- and the texture just grosses me out. (I do, ironically, eat shitakes in vegetable spring rolls -- but that's because the taste is concealed by a lot of cilantro.)

When you use corn meal as a fungicide, you don't do anything but sprinkle it on the soil or on the plant. I wouldnt' use it on your mushrooms because it's a fungicide, and it might kill them.

The information I found was about a study that was done at a branch of Texas A&M University. The thing that prompted the study was the fact that when farmers planted corn where they had grown peanuts the previous year, the next time peanuts were planted, they didn't get the usual fungus that kills them. The theory was that the fact that the corn provided a fungicide that stayed in the soil after the harvest. So, they decided to try corn meal on other things, and it proved to be successful.

In the past, I had a huge vegetable garden and had lettuce, peas, haricots verts, all sorts of colored sweet peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, spinach, Brussels sprouts, leeks, zucchini and tons of other stuff. We're living in an apartment, and unfortunately, the landlord isn't real appreciative of my growing stuff - even though it makes the place look better. It's also too hot here for lots of stuff, and since we're in a drought, the difficulty is compounded. I feel for the farmers who may lose millions of dollars this year if we don't get some drenching rains soon.

Susan Klatz Beal

Channel  Manager , Home and Garden, Community Editor (EAB)

Do you mind my asking what haricots verts are? I've been a gardener for years but have never heard of them.

They are green beans -- small tender French green beans that are sold in gourmet specialty stores and often in the frozen vegetable department. They're very delicate and tasty. I grow them because they typically cost about $6 to buy in a grocery store when they're available in the fresh produce section. Patty Pan squash is another gourmet vegetable that's super expensive to buy. They cost about $7.99 a pound - and not much less on sale. They are like zucchini, but they are small, round and scalloped. My mom slices them and sautes them in olive oil with shallots and/or onions.

Susan Klatz Beal

Channel  Manager , Home and Garden, Community Editor (EAB)

Thanks for answering my question. I'll have to try them sometime because they sound delicious. Scallop squash are actually my favorite. I like to flour and fry them in butter. For a good zucchini dessert, try my recipe for Zucchini Crisp, under Fruit and Vegetable Recipes>Recipes: Zucchini Pie, it's also delicious and easy to make.