Gardening Tips

My Garden 2009

I  am certain that everyone have their flowers and vegetables in the ground by now. Well, if you haven't then don't worry, you still have time. However, do it immediately in order to give plants reasonable time to get "grounded," or rooted in the ground. Yes, the old saying about building a strong foundation of hard work leads to success is right. The hardest thing to achieve in the process of gardening is a strong root system. And, if it is not achieved properly, the adult plant will not yield big and strong flowers, fruit, or vegetables.

Plants: How to Build a Strong Root System 
Well, good luck with that if you think you can just toss some water on a plant every morning, high noon, and yield this darling plant blooming with flowers, and producing an abundance of juicy, delicious vegetables or fruit. Sorry, but that's just not going to happen. In order to maximize your production you must feed the roots, with fertilizer, initially when planting your seeds or baby plants.

To this very day, Asians master the art of farming because they continue to do it as a means to provide food for their families, not just as a personal preference. They value farming as a "gift from above." Therefore, they take great care to birth plants properly. During colder seasons, good farmers continue to toss all of their fruit and vegetable peels over soil they plan to grow in during peak season.

The process works as follows: Nutrients from the fruit and vegetable peels start to release from a dormant state as the ground heats and decomposes the matter. As temperatures get hotter, baby plants continue to feed on the slow release of nutrients and the roots grow deeper and more sturdy.

Take the peels from the fruit and vegetables you eat daily, and cut them up. Then, toss them on top of your soil. It's free, so be smart and take advantage of the best fertilizer known to mankind. Bananas are the best because they contain protein, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, and both omegas 3 and 6.

How to Grow Sturdy and Prosperous Plants

• Fertilize: My father's favorite fertilization technique was to pour magnesium sulfate or Epsom salt, on the roots of each of his plants once a week. Try it and you will be thanking me all summer long! Alternate one cup of Epsom salt per one gallon of water, with any kind of miracle grow fertilizer every other week. Although magnesium sulfate increases the rate in which plants grow, it does not provide the nutrients found in fruit and vegetable peels, or miracle grow fertilizer. All three fertilizers are vital to use in combination on an ongoing bases. Always remember that you can't feed your plants with enough fruit and vegetable peels so never throw them away!
• Water: Watering plants is also a serious commitment. It is best to wake up early in the morning and water plants before the sun is at its highest point in the sky. This gives them enough time to drink at their leisure, before the water evaporates. Every plant requires a different amounts of water. For instance, cucumbers require daily watering. And, on days when temperatures sore above ninety, they need to be watered twice a day. However, tomatoes and green peppers only need to be watered once a week, and twice a week when temperatures sore above ninety. It is always important to Google growing instructions on every plant prior to planting.
• Prune- Pruning is done to increase the size and amount of flowers, fruit or vegetables a plant yields. For instance, okra plants must be pruned or they will grow very tall, and start to produce less vegetables. 

Ground or Planter Pot?
It doesn't matter weather you plant your things in the ground, or in the most trendiest planter pot. The techniques in which you use to care for your plants, determine the success of your crop. On the other hand, this trendy idea of growing plants upside down is causing farmers, big and small, to "jump the bandwagon". Upside down planters, such as the Topsy Turvy, are spreading like wildfire. People like them because you can save ground space by hanging them on your deck, balcony or patio. And, they eliminates weeding, caging and staking (normally done to hold plants upright).

Benefits of the Topsy Turvy:

1. Uses gravity as a verticle growing advantage.
2. The vertical grow bag heats plants like a greenhouse, so the root system explodes.
3. Gravity pulls the water and nutrients directly to the roots.
4. Plants are less likely to be damaged by animals and insects living in the ground.

The Topsy Turvy is good for both the big time farmer and the city slicker farmer (such as myself), with a small amount of land space to grow in. But, a huge desire to plant as many of their favorite fruit and veggies as possible. 
 

Topsy Turvy- space saver

Topsy Turvy- Strawberry Planter