There are no secrets to gardening. If you truely love life in all forms, especially plants, you will get in 'intuned', with your plants and they will tell you what they need-IF- you pay attention; I often get frustrated when a plant starts to look 'frazzled', I can't tell if I am giving it too much water, or not enough water. Too much sun, or not enough sun. So I loose a few every once in awhile, mostly because they were not healthy plants to begin with. Many times when one starts 'acting sick' on me, I take a cutting, and get it started, so if the 'parent plant' dies, I still have one.
I tell everyone, the main 'rule-of-thumb', to growing a garden, is; #1..give them good soil; #2..Good drainage, (especially potted plants,and house plants); #3..Proper place in your house or garden; #4..Give plant food at least once a month. I dont feed my plants that are in the soil but about three times a year, but my potted plants I feed once a month. Some I feed every two weeks,(the ones that are large plants in a pot.) I kinda let them tell me what they need, and when. Some plants like sun, some complete shade, some like morning sun, and some like indirect sunlight, and some like semi-shade. Putting your plants in thier proper place has more to do with thier health than anytning, so learn about each plant, as to what they need.
I dont consider myself an expert on gardening. I can't tell you all the botanical stuff about them, or even thier proper names. If I give you a cutting, and you ask what it is, I will reply something like this; "It is a purple blossom, bushy sun-lover, I named it 'Purple Passion', dont know what it is, except that it's pretty." The main thing is dont be afraid of your plants, make friends with them, talk to them, praise them. They may not hear you, or answer back, but what the heck, they are good company.
1-can beer--1-cup liquid dish detergent-- 1-cup ammonia--1-cup liquid lawn food--1/2- cup molasses; Mix all together and put in sprayer-bottle; Apply once a month to plants...BEFORE NOON;
Tie pieces of old nylon panty hose to the stock of your flowers and vegetables, to 'jump-start' them. It has something to do with 'static-electricity'. It works. I tied them to tomatoe plants one year and we had a 'forest' of only three tomatoe plants, and tomatoes ,enough to give all the neighbors;
When you cut your hair, or if you know someone who is a hairdresser..save the hair cut off, and mulch into the soil around your roses. The hair adds NITROGEN to the soil; Dog hair works as good, when you have to clip your pet for the summer heat;
To prevent dead canes on roses and other woody stock plants, when you cut or prune them, Try this;..Mix a small amount of Interior laytex paint, with any mouth wash; When ever you cut roses or prune them and other woody-stock plants, including tree's, apply this mixture to the 'cut', and it acts as a sealer. It keeps bugs and diseases from entering stems;
Another good sealer for your cut or pruned plant canes,is Elmers Glue. Just apply a little elmers glue to the cuts on roses, etc, and you will have disease-free plants;
To get rid of SNAILS in your garden, mix together..1-part-aluminium Sulfate, with 4-parts lime or gypsom, or calcium, or sulfur; Use in a powder-sprayer can,(be sure to get under the leaves as well as the top and stems) and spread around base of plants. Note..Aluminium Sulfate increases color in plant blooms; It is what is used on pink hydrangias to make them blue;
When I find "Chewing tobacca", on sale at smoke shops or discount stores, I stock up. Snuff works too, as does pipe-tobacca. Mix about an ounce, or one good 'chew', in a gallon jar, fill with HOT tap water. Let set over night or longer. I usually strain the tobacca out, and put liquid in sprayer bottle and spray all the plants that are being eaten by worms, beatles, or 'pincher bugs'(earwigs). Spray the leaves, over and under, stalks and soil. Kills almost any little varmint. Dont throw the tobacca away, sprinkle it on the ground around your plants, and the creatures that come from the ground up into your plant, will "stay home, or move out permanently".
When my house plants get dusty, or they have mites, or other disease, I take them out on the pateo, and spray them,(drench them), with a mixture of 1-part liquid dish detergent, 1/2-part ammonia, to 10 parts of water. I let them set about 30 minutes then spray them with clear water, with the garden hose, to rinse them. I use this on all my dirty plants. With house plants,you should take a soft cloth or paper towel, and polish the leaves, to leave the water dry on them, will make spots on the leaves, or make them dull looking. With outside plants I dont bother drying them.
Use the same concoction as above to clean your plants but add to this mixture, 2-parts 'rubbing' Alcahol. My husband always said, that " it doesen't kill them, they just get drunk and fall off the plant". Haha..What ever it does to them, it works. I always rinse my plants about 10-20 minutes after this treatment, the new growth, is very tender and it may burn them..but is safe on most plants. Be sure you soak the soil around the plant, as most bugs lay eggs in the soil, and these little fellers will hatch out and you will have a renewed problem.
Root Borers
I had a hoya (house plant), once, that stayed alive, but also stayed 'puney'.I did everything for that plant, to no avail. It was a favorite plant of mine and had been given to me by my daughter. I diden't want to loose it. I read up on it in my gardening book, and it said that it had "root borers', to throw it and the soil away, it was hopeless, and it would disease my other house plants. Well, I thought I will take a look at those roots. Sure enough, it was solid with teen-weeny worm looking, things. I took the plant out of the soil. Placed the soil in a zip-lock baggie and threw it in the garbage can. Then I took the plant, and washed all the soil off, then placed in a cup of pure-undiluted rubbing alcahol. I let it set in there 24 hours, then I rinsed it and planted it in new soil,and watered it. It showed no signs of dieing, then...and in about a week, the 'little guy' perked up and begin to grow. It became a very healthy and large plant. Try things if the plant is gonna die anyway, what have you got to loose?
There is a saying, that my Mother started about me to my neighbors, "if you want the cutting to grow,let Wynell plant it, she just sticks her finger in the soil to make a hole, sticks the cutting in, pinches the dirt together around it, and it grows". They call it "Wynell's magic finger".Hah. But that is just about the truth of it though. I take a cutting off of any plant just to experiment.I try to get a new limb off of an old cane. I cut the end at an angle so that it has more stem exposed than flat cut. I remove all the leaves, except for tiny new growth on top, and insert in a good soil, about 3-5 inches.Plant cuttings root at different levels. Some root on the upper-newer joints, some root at the very end of stem/cutting, like roses, while others root at most every joint, or all three.Then, I pack the dirt down around the stem, (pinch the soil), then water it, actually I soak the soil if it is very dry, as there may be 'dry-pockets' of soil. I place it in a fairly shaded area, where it gets indirect sun light, to root.
When a plant is rooting, shade is better, as it puts the plants stength into the roots and not into the rest of the plant, so if it looks dead to you, dont worry, it will die back, to put on it's root system, then it will put out new growth. I use the powdered stuff you can buy, called a stimulent, for my house plant cuttings, and other cuttings that are hard to 'shoot'.
For pot plants I always fill my pot about 1/4 full of 'cracked-pot'. Old clay pots that have been broken into small pieces. You can use broken pieces of cement or brick. (IF the cement pieces are old,) Small pebbles or you can buy different materials in your garden Dept. that does the same. For outside drainage, you simply get the proper mixture for your planter boxes.
I took up a long strip of my lawn, awhile back, and the soil was nice on top, but was hard clay on the bottom. A 'clayey' soil will stay cold, and solid. Thus rendering the poor roots with nothing to grow on.They must have warm soil, and loose soil in order for their roots to breath and room to grow. I put gypsum on the soil and turned it under.It was still bad. I ended up putting three bags of gypsum on that strip..about two bags more than normal. Then I put good light planter mix, and peat moss in it. Turning it under with each application. It was still cold and stayed too wet. Next I put a couple of 50 pound bags of sand, and 2- 25 lb. bags of saw-dust-like mulch. I then discovered a mulch that I have since put in all my planter boxes. It is called 'bark', but is a fine saw-dust mixture. I get mine at Wal-Mart. Now everything I plant in that strip, over-does itself. I planted a tiny Potatoe bush in it, and four months later, it was a 6ft. tree.
With this project I came up with a perfect planter soil mixture. If you go to your Lumber Yards, they usually have stuff in bulk, and you can buy what you want and mix it yourself. My favorite mixture is..3-parts planter-mix, (I get the 'riverbottom-mix',) 1-part sand, and 2-parts saw dust,(shavings). To this I also add peat moss or leaf mold. About 1-part.
I mulch every winter with the fine'bark', or larger 'cedar-mulch', that you can also find at Wal-marts. This mulch protects the plants roots from the frost, and adds to the lightness of the soil. I also get about 10 bags of Cow-manure, and mulch everything with it before applying the other mulch. Only in the winter though, because it will burn your plants any other time of the year.Then I put the rest of the manure on my two lawns, along with 'Scotts winterizer mix.'
I just experiment with my plants. Most of my soil, I can dig a hole with my hands. When I can't I know that it needs something added to the soil. I also turn the soil in my flower beds every autumn, when there isen't that much growth, as watering will pack the top soil down and the water will run off and not soak into soil. It's a lot of work, but I do it all in shifts, at different times and keep it up, and it is a wonderful 'labor of love'.
Make your own Compost
Save all your garbage, and make a compost pile. You dont have to invest in an expensive compost maker. Make your own. For small gardens, and those who do little gardening, just get you a large plastic trash bag. Set it some where inconspicious in your yard. Put all your vegetables peelings, coffee and tea grounds,egg shells and what have you in the bag.(fish trimmings, and heads are wonderful fertilizer, so be sure to save these too.) Save some of your lawn clippings and small leaves ,and add to the bag. I have a little plastic bucket with lid, that I keep under my kitchen sink, and put all my 'good' garbage in it. Each time I empty the pail, I add lawn clippings to the top. This serves several purposes. 1/..it keeps the flys away from my garbage. 2.. it keeps the smell of the garbage down as it has natural clorephyll( sp), which is natures deoderizer., and 3/.. the lawn clippings is so full of nytrogen, that it 'cooks' the garbage, and helps it decompose faster. I have a small trash can, that I save some of my lawn clippings in, each week, and use as discribed. When the 'garbage' has decomposed, just remove the plastic trash bag, and spread your compost over your garden, then turn under the soil. Be sure you poke holes in the bottom of the trash bag when you start, to allow for drainage. I make up more than one trash bag, and place them here and there in my vegetable garden, when the vegetables are almost through.Then I have the compost where I want it, without lifting and tugging . Works great.
