Gardening

Backyard Pond Designs

2011-01-14T08:23:00.001-08:00

Some more good info.

Common Vegetable Garden Pests

2009-02-17T18:33:00.001-08:00

Bugs and insects are a huge pain for many vegetable gardeners. Most bugs aren't particularly destructive, they're just annoying. But if you find a garden pest devouring your harvest, you're not going to be too happy.

Among the ugliest garden pests is the tomato hornworm. It is a fat, white and green worm with a big horn that resembles a stinger. You can pull it off the plant while wearing gloves, and kill it by dunking it in soapy water. You could also spray it with stomach poison insecticide, Bacillus thuringiensis or neem oil.

Thrips overrun numerous plants and create uneven white markings on the plant's leaves. To get rid of them, use a hose to wash off the bugs and then spray on some contact poison.

You know when snails and slugs have been there because they leave behind a slimy trail and eat the leaves on the plants. You can buy bait to attract and kill them, but you can achieve the same thing with a shallow dish of beer; they'll be drawn to it and drown.

Those plump white worms that you see in the ground are most likely grubs. Grubs will cause your plants to droop, and may stunt their growth. They can be held in check by adding milky spore to the soil. Grubs eventually grow into beetles, which you can rid of with stomach poison insecticide.

Cutworms tend to attack a plant's stem at the base. Putting a paper collar around the plants is really the only way to keep them away.

Corn earworms will infiltrate a cob of corn while it's still on the stalk and consume the kernels. Likewise, a tomato fruitworm consumes the insides of tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. Choose an insecticide targeted to the elimination of earworms.

You'll find borers in thick stemmed vine plants like squash and pumpkin. The only way to eliminate them is to cut them out of the plant. You might end up having to pull up the plant and destroying it if you find a borer near the base of the plant. You can usually get rid of them with insecticide.

Beetles are bothersome pests that enjoy munching on leaves. You have to get rid of them because they can do a tremendous amount of damage to your garden. You can either spray them with insecticide or just pick them off the plants.

Aphids are a common sight in any vegetable garden. Usually you'll spot them as a group of small bugs in a variety of colors. To eliminate aphids, use neem oil or insecticidal soap.

Orchids Warm and Cold

2009-02-17T18:15:00.001-08:00

Of all the flowers on earth, orchids are particularly fascinating. Not only are they beautiful to look at, but they often bring a bit of wonder and mystery with them. Although widespread in distribution, many of them can only be found in isolated, nearly inaccessible places--volcanic mountainsides, dense jungles, deep swamps, etc.

Beginning quite seriously in the 19th century, orchid enthusiasts have devoted years and whole lifetimes to discovering as well as cultivating new types of these flowering wonders. Although most orchids are obtained these days from nurseries that specialize in cultivating these plants, many of them being developed through hybridization, it is advantageous to know a little of their natural history.

Orchids are herbacious plants of which tens of thousands of species are known, with more still being discovered. They exhibit a startling range of color and form, which has contributed greatly to public interest. Master gardeners often delight in growing a wide range of orchids to demonstrate their mastery of the arts of cultivation.

Orchids grow everywhere in the earth except for the desert and polar regions. About 85% of species occur in tropical or subtropical regions, but this leaves a huge number that may be found in much cooler zones. In some parts of the Himalayas orchids constitute the most abundantly represented family of plants in terms of sheer number of species.

By far the greatest number of orchids occur in three large tropical belts:

Tropical Africa (including islands to the east in the Indian Ocean). These largely belong to the genera (families) Angnecum, Bulbophyllum and Disa. Orchids from this region are not so widely cultivated as ones coming from other tropical lands, but Africa nonetheless has many interesting species.
Tropical Asia. This region, which covers Indonesia and other islands, along with mainland Southeast Asia, is particularly rich in orchid genera. Typical of the region are the large genera Dendrobium, Eria and Bulbophyllum and many smaller ones as well.
Tropical America. The region is made up of Mexico, the Central American nations, and the tropical part of South America. Isolated from the rest of the world for millennia, this region contains an unusually high number of indigenous orchid genera, many of which contain hundreds of individual species. Among the large indigenous genera are Epidendrum, Pleurothallis and Oncidium; many smaller genera found here also contribute more than their share to orchids that have found favor among cultivators the world over.

In the temperate zones of the southern hemisphere may also be found many orchds, though not in so abundant number as in the tropics. In southern Africa the Disa and Calanthe genera furnish a few species judged valuable to cultivation. Australia has a number of genera in common with the tropical Asia. Southern South America boasts a number of temperate orchids, but by the estimation of orchid devotees, they are greatly overshadowed by those
from the vaster tropical-zone part of the continent.

in the norhern hemisphere's temperate areas, we should take note of the United States, particularly the New England/norhteastern region, as well as Canada. There we find about 20 native genera, whose member species grow mostly in swamps and moist grounds. The most familiar of these are the Cypripediuins or Lady Slippers.

Europe also has many native orchids, but undoubtedly the most famous and showy is the Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera). The Bee Orchid grows on dry or semi-dry turf, often in open areas within woodlands. Bee Orchids are common near the Mediterranean coast of Europe, and grows (albeit less abundantly) as far north as Germany and the UK.

Orchids differ greatly from one another as far as ease of cultivating, but most of them are not the difficult plants that common wisdom would have it. The most up-to-date guide to today's orchid cultivation, without a doubt, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which can be downloaded online. Howard's wonderful guide will furnish a thorough education on the subject. Also, check out the Orchid Secrets web site, which has an ever-growing library of articles on all aspects of orchid cultivation.

People Have Been Nuts over Orchids for A Long Time

2009-01-28T12:56:00.001-08:00

Orchid culture is so widespread in our time that it is diffcult to picture a world without these wonderful flowers. However, not very long ago, the people of the so-called civilized world were totally ignorant of the vast majority of species of orchids.

Europeans of course knew about their native orchid types, such as the extravagant Bee Orchid. But familiarity with of the thousands of wonderful tropical orchids had to await the results of explorations into the jungles and mountains of South America and the East Indies. Even then, specimens were slow to make it back to countries such as England, Germany or France.

Perhaps the first living orchid to be transported from the tropics to England was an Epidendrum cochleatum, one of the more showy of its family. It flowered in London in the year 1787. Another species from the same family was brought to England in 1778. It took a decade for its caretakers to bring forth flowers from it.

Admiral William Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame had a small part in laying the ground for the orchid craze. In the early 1790s he brought 15 species of epiphytal orchids to England from the West Indies. These were put on display at the famous Kew Gardens in London. For many years the West Indies, along with India, were the central sources of tropical orchids in Europe. In 1793, though, a species of Oncidium was taken to England from Panama, followed a few years later by orchids from Uruguay.

By 1818, Brazil in partcular was contributing to what was becoming a steady stream of orchids back to England and other countries of Europe. By 1830 the Royal Horticultural Society had sent representatives traveling throughout Brazil seeking out for unusual species.

The orchid exchange soon turned into a serious moneymaking endeavor, with businessmen in Brazil making deals with their London counterparts to ship plants to England to be resold there. William Harrison, a merchant living in Rio de Janeiro in the 1830s and 1840s, sent many wonderful orchids to his brother Richard in Liverpool. Richard's house soon became a magnet for orchid enthusiasts who journeyed there to see the latest arrivals.

Introducing orchids to Europe was one thing, but cultivating them successfully proved quite another. For more than half a century England was known as the grave of tropical orchids. The plants that survived did so in spite of rather than because of the treatment they received. Growers continuing experimenting and making mistakes until, by about 1850, they had mostly figured out the art of orchid cultivation. That's when the orchid craze really exploded, because now the knowledge was available by which even non-botanists could grow these stunning plants.

Knowledge of successfully growing orchids has increased during the intervening years and now we know so much more than did those Victorian devotees. We also have, of course, better technology to assist us in the greenhouse and garden.

The most complete guide to expert orchid cultivation, hands down, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which can be downloaded online. Howard's well-written guide constitutes a thorough education all to itself. And, it's appropriate for beginners as well as more expeienced orchid cultivators. Also, check out the Orchid Secrets web site, which has an ever-growing library of articles on many topics of orchid cultivation.

Allow Your Orchids Some Rest this Winter

2009-01-27T13:57:00.001-08:00

Orchids require "rest" time every year. The exact time for this depends on the species, but for most orchids it should start some time in the fall and continue through most of the winter. You should care for your plants differently at this time than you would during their exuberant growth periods (spring and summer usually). This is a necessary part of growing orchids successfully.

A good general practice is to provide your orchids rest from November through the middle of February. You can accomplish this by restricting your watering and by lowering the temperature in your orchid room.

For tropical species, keep the temperature at about 60 or 65. For species originating in colder locales, you can lower the temperature to around 45 degrees.

During this time, provide your plants just enough water to keep them from shriveling. Most of the moisture should be supplied by misting or by taking steps to keep the air humid. Occasionally, though, you should poke down into the soil and examine the stem, roots and rooting medium of your plants. If these are beginning to dry out you should water them directly.

A few species will continue to grow during the winter months. These will demand somewhat more water than those that truly go dormant. If you see new shoots emerging, though, try to avoid wetting them or they else they could rot.

Some orchids are deciduous. This means they will lose their leaves after they have finished their growing for the year. You must give these as much sun and light during their resting time as you can. This will allow their pseuduobulbs to ripen, which in turn causes them to grow stronger and flower more freely.

Caring properly for orchids during their rest is not that difficult. Preventing problems, though, necessitates a good bit more information than can be covered here. The most up-to-date guide to modern orchid care, it is widely acknowedged, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which can be downloaded online. Mr. Howard's guide is a full course in itself, great for neophytes as well as those more experienced. Also, visit the Orchid Secrets web site, which has an ever-growing database of postings on many facets of orchid cultivation.

Orchid Suggestion: Start with Local Types

2009-01-26T20:40:00.001-08:00

It is common "knowledge" that the orchid is a tropical/subtropical plant. But in fact, orchids can be found in just about every part of the globe outside of the deserts and the polar regions.

About 85% of orchid species will inded be found in the tropics and subtropics, but that leaves a large proportion to the more temperate zones. Among other things, this means that you will not be out of luck if you live in a cool area and want to grow orchids, but do not have a hothouse or other heated area in which do so so.

There are tens of thousands of orchid species. You could be amazed to know that there might be orchids growing in your own neighborhood, even if your home is in one of our more northerly climes. Take the fairly common Lady Slipper.

Lady Slippers (also written Lady's Slippers and Ladyslippers) is a name given to a large subfamily of orchids, the Cypripedioidea, with many species that grow in cool climates across North America and Europe. If you live in the New England states of the U.S., or the Appalachian mountain region, or even in Canada, you might find Lady Slippers of one variety or another growing in the woods near your home.

One species of Lady Slipper is the state flower of Minnesota. Another is the official state wildflower of New Hampshire. The Canadian province of Prince Edward Island has a Lady Slipper as its official flower.

If you're considering growing orchids, especially in an outdoor garden, you would do well to consider a native species. It will already be adapted to your specific climate, and--if you live in a place that sees low temps in the winter--you might not even have to bring it inside when cold weather arrives.

In North America, one of the most striking native orchids is the Yellow Lady Slipper. It is also among the easiest orchids to grow in a garden. On the other hand, the Pink Lady Slipper is extremely difficult to grow.For the beginning orchid grower, the Yellow Lady Slipper would be the better choice.

Nurseries that specialize in orchid plants tend to run out of stock from time to time. Nevertheless, Lady Slippers are generally some of the easiest orchids to acquire. They are furthermore less expensive, generally, than orchid plants that come from far away. They are a great orchid for getting your thumb green, so to speak, before you take on the challenge of rarer or more "foreign" species.

All of the rules governing successful orchid cultivation apply to the Lady Slippers and related plants. You need accurate information before you begin attempting to grow these or other orchids, and the best, most thorough guide to modern orchid growing, without a doubt, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which can be downloaded online. Howard's guide constitutes a thorough education all to itself. And, you will find it suitable for neophytes as well as more seasoned orchid cultivators. Also, be sure to visit the Orchid Secrets web site, which has a growing database of articles on many aspects of orchid cultivation.

Bean Plant Growth

2009-01-25T10:21:00.001-08:00

If you are planning a garden, knowing the full cycle of the bean plant growth can enable you to maximize it’s growing season and increase the amount of crop you get. Beans, snap peas and soy beans are a healthy addition to a persons daily dietary needs. High in protein, the bean is one of the base ingredients in a vegetarian’s diet, as well as an excellent side dish for those with a preference for meat.

When growing beans the beginning growth stages are important and you will need to only use good, healthy seeds for planting in your garden. Choosing a high quality seed will help to ensure a better chance of the plant taking root and growing to yield a larger amount of healthier vegetables. While these seeds may be slightly more expensive, the overall increase of bean plant growth is worth the investment, especially if you intend on having a larger garden.

To maximize bean plant growth, planting should be done when the temperature drops no lower than 61 degrees F or 16 degrees C. If the temperature drops below this level, your plants will not germinate, and may die.

Once your seeds are planted, the time it takes for the plant to reach the seedling stage can range from three to approximately forty days, with the average being eleven days. A seedling is a very young plant that has just begun to break the surface of the soil. This phase of the bean plant growth cycle is vital, as a healthy seedling will mature into a robust plant. If your seedlings are dehydrated or over watered, as well as planted too early, your crops will suffer and the amount of beans gathered later in the cycle will be diminished.

After planting, it will take approximately fifty days from the point of the seedling stage cycle for the plant to begin producing pods that are ready to harvest. This means that there is realistically only one growth cycle for beans in a year. The season in which you plant your seeds should be no earlier than March, because they need enough time to complete the growth cycle before the colder months arrive and frost sets in. Frost can cause serious damage to bean plants and should be avoided in order for the plants survival. Greenhouses are sometimes used in colder climates for help in ensuring the growing stages of the bean plant are successful.

The bean plant is an annual plant, which means that it can renew itself for at least three growing seasons. Bean plants can be overtaken easily by weeds, so it is suggested to use a strong mulching material in the garden and clearing a six-inch swath to sow the seeds. The soil should be thoroughly cultivated and seeds should be sown about 1 1/2 inches deep into the soil.

House Plant Care Help

2009-01-24T11:53:00.001-08:00

Plants are commonly found in homes across North America and Europe. With an endless variety of types available for purchase, there is a variety for everyone. Unlike many things, adding the living touch of a plant to your home or office can be very inexpensive, with little to no cost to keep. As water, fertilizer and light are the only requirements for a plant's survival, it comes as no surprise that many people have tried to grow plants.

Its a fact that lots of folk are taking home plants to another level and taking up home hydroponics.

Hydroponic growing allows you to grow plants indoors without the need for soil and is now a hugely popular hobby.

Because so many have wilted purchased house plants that they have tried to care for, most people are convinced they have black thumbs. Without proper soil, your plant cannot live. By nourishing the soil, you can make sure the roots of your plant has access to all things required to keep your plant living and well.

There may be other factors at play if your plants are still dying. Things like bottled water may be the cause of plant death, as some variants strip the water of all nutrients, which your plants need to survive. Another common cause of plant death is the exposure to pets or children. Pets and children can damage the leaves, which can result in plant fatality.

Even if you have always believed you have a black thumb, it is not impossible to learn how to keep plants living. You might even try growing your own with home hydroponics anytime in the near future!

Winter Vegetable Gardening Yields a Spring Harvest

2009-01-23T01:40:00.001-08:00

When you think of gardening, chances are that you probably don't consider winter the best time to do it. After all, very few plants can survive in the harsh, cold environment. Why else do the trees lose their leaves and such? However, there are a number of sturdy, rough plants that you can choose to grow for harvest in the springtime. Winter vegetable gardening does not really include actually growing these plants during the winter. Rather, most of the growing takes place in the fall before winter time, and the plants are merely sturdy enough to survive the cold better than other plants.

Sturdy Plants

Which kinds of plants can cling to life when the temperature dips to zero? There are still enough that you can undertake winter vegetable gardening. You have such varieties as carrots, cauliflower, and beets to grow over the winter. While surely not as numerable as plants designed for growth during the normal gardening season, these vegetable gardening seeds will grow during some of the harshest winters that we experience as far north as states like Oregon and Pennsylvania, which tend to be temperate in the summer and can experience some very cold winters.

However, winter vegetable gardening also incorporates some other tools to help you grow during the off-season. Consider building walls or windbreaks to help keep the temperature around ten degrees warmer on the coldest days, and exterior greenhouses can help keep the plants in temperate weather even when there is ice on the ground. On same days, you may even need to ventilate greenhouses to prevent an excessive amount of heat from harming your plants. Considering that the ground can freeze up to half a foot deep depending on the temperature, you should take every precaution available to give your plants a fighting chance. By following these tips, winter vegetable gardening should never be a problem.

As previously stated, winter vegetable gardening doesn't really involve growing plants in the winter, when they will grow very slowly, if at all. Instead, it simply helps these plants to survive so that you can pick them in the spring for delicious vegetables like beets, carrots, and cauliflower. It does take a little more work and is slightly more expensive than traditional gardening, but there is no reason why a season should stop you from practicing one of your favorite hobbies. It can be a challenge at times, surely, but winter vegetable gardening is an incredibly rewarding experience.

For more about gardening please visit www.organicgardeningzone.com

Home Vegetable Gardening for Great Home-Grown Food

2009-01-22T01:10:00.001-08:00

There used to be a time when literally everyone had their own garden. Of course, the grocery store changed all of that, and now the trend is that most people don't have any garden at all. This is a sad statistic because home vegetable gardening can save you hundreds of dollars a year, as millions of people still appreciate each year. As if that weren't persuasion enough, you can also grow one hundred percent organic food with no extra chemicals which can have harmful side effects. Home vegetable gardening is more widely practiced in countries like France where it seems like literally everyone has a garden, but it is still fairly popular over in the United States.

Self-Sufficient

Home vegetable gardening is a great way to supplement what you purchase at the grocery store. There is absolutely no reason why you can't grow enough corn, carrots, beets, and other veggies to last the entire year for your family, and those are hundreds of your own dollars that you won't need to spend. Not only that, but you can go completely organic for a fraction of the price of organic food in stores while getting the same benefits. Organic foods tend to be tastier and more nutritional, but they can be pretty expensive if you go to a health foods store.

However, you can also grow food in the winter time by practicing what is known as winter vegetable gardening. The selection of plants that can grow during the winter is somewhat limited, but you can still grow vegetables like beets, cauliflower, and carrots for an early spring harvest after the ground completely thaws. You'll need to practice some different methods of home vegetable gardening, but being able to pick those vegetables in the spring can be well worth the effort. Be warned that you might need to spend a little extra on supplies like greenhouses and raised gardening beds, but even these supplies won't set you back too much.

It's a wonder that more people don't practice home vegetable gardening. It is incredibly simple to pick up, even if you are a novice, and you don't need that many tools to do it. In fact, it is pretty difficult for a garden to turn out a failure, although lack of maintenance can harm the vitality of your plants (i.e. forgetting to mix plant food, compost, or manure into the soil before planting seeds or not watering them enough). Home vegetable gardening is a great hobby that will save you money and give you some very delicious food in the process.

For more about gardening please visit www.organicgardeningzone.com

Vegetable Gardening Seeds are the Hobby's Sole Expense

2009-01-21T17:30:00.001-08:00

If you're planning on vegetable gardening, then you will obviously need to purchase seeds to be able to grow any plants at all. Many seeds, like bulbs, can be harvested to be reused in a fashion from year to year, but other seeds will need to be purchased on a regular basis. Fortunately, seeds tend to cost very little money at all, so you should never spend more than one hundred dollars or so (in that range) a year on seeds. Considering the vast amount of food that you'll receive as a result, vegetable gardening seeds are a real bargain, ending up costing you a fraction of the price that the full grown veggies would in the grocery store.

To involve your entire family, let your kids pick out some of the vegetable gardening seeds. You can even give them their own areas of the garden to tend to after teaching them the tricks of the trade. Such a hobby will also teach them about the values of hard work and dedication. Vegetable gardening for kids is a perfect family activity: it costs next to nothing, provides many hours of entertainment, and is extremely rewarding in the end. Also, your kids can pick up some useful skills along the way, such as how to create and maintain a compost pile and how to cultivate a garden.

Online and in Stores

You can pick up vegetable gardening seeds many places, from home improvement stores like Home Depot to gardening centers like Agway. Conversely, you can purchase all of the vegetable gardening seeds that you need online, often for some great discounts (although some of the savings will be lost through shipping and handling). Also, online stores tend to have larger selections of seeds to choose from, although you won't receive the seeds for a few days or even weeks. Of course, you might find the wait well worth it if you can pick up some of the more exotic plants around for your own garden.

Vegetable gardening seeds are as integral to your garden as the soil which you'll plant them in. Prepare the soil before planting the seeds by feeding it with mulch, compost, manure, or any combination of the three, and aerate it to allow oxygen to flow freely. Feeding your soil also helps plants to trap water when it rains, especially helpful during dry times. Gardening overall isn't that expensive, and that purchasing seeds is probably the most expensive thing you'll do with gardening says a lot about the hobby itself. With any luck, your vegetable gardening seeds will grow up into delicious veggies.

For more about gardening please visit www.organicgardeningzone.com

Keeping Plants Healthy with Proper Gardening Soil

2009-01-20T20:33:00.001-08:00

Gardening soil is the foundation on which the garden is built, so building nutritious soil is the first thing that a gardener should focus on when implementing a new garden, or improving on a garden that is already in the works. There are many people, due to recent problems with fertilizers carrying dangerous viruses, who are moving toward organic gardening so that those issues are not a problem anymore in their food supply.

Gardening soil can be improved through the use of compost, where grass clippings and kitchen remains are piled together and allowed to decompose for a few weeks, all the while adding more clippings, leaves and other organic material to the pile. After that time, there is a warm, rich soil that is made of the decaying matter, which is nutritious for all plants in the garden.

Signs of Malnutrition

If a garden is lacking in nutrition, such as if strong mulch is not used from the beginning or even used at all, then the plants will reflect the lack of good gardening soil.Sometimes, it is difficult to tell whether it is a nutrient deficiency or if it has something to do with insects or some other problem in the garden. However, there are some tell-tale signs of malnutrition in most plants.

When plants are not getting what they need from the gardening soil, then there is often discoloration to the foliage of the plant. In addition, the plant will all of a sudden stop growing the way it was, so that there is little to no new growth on the plant.Also, the plant will seem to be more sensitive to the amount of water it is getting, as well as increased sensitivity to heat and cold.If a plant is getting too much fertilizer, then sometimes the leaves will look scorched, although this is not a problem when using natural mulch from a compost pile.

There are specific gardening soil deficiencies that have specific symptoms, which if diagnosed, can allow the gardeners to rectify the problem and bring back their healthy plants once again. If the plants have a calcium deficiency, then the leaves of the plant will look hook shaped and the tips of new growth might die without any seeming cause. To fix this problem, mulch needs to be added that is calcium specific and the plants will soon be back to normal again.Another deficiency that has noticeable attributes is magnesium, which usually turns the leaves of the plant a yellow color. Using Epson Salts will usually rectify this issue.

For more about gardening please visit www.organicgardeningzone.com

Take Your Indoor Gardening to the Next Level With a Hydroponic Greenhouse

2009-01-19T19:32:00.001-08:00

Gardeners that grow in soil as well as hydroponically, would benefit greatly by using a greenhouse. A greenhouse has the same advantages for either, generally speaking. However, hydroponic gardening is especially well suited for a greenhouse setting, since temperature, airflow and light are more easily controlled.

Welsh onions, peas, strawberries, plus other plants grow quite well in a hydroponic greenhouse. Orchids and other flowers will thrive well inside a greenhouse garden.

Hydroponic gardeners find controlling light to be particularly challenging. Growth of algae can become a problem since the plant is in water instead of soil. To solve this, you can control how much light reaches the water, something that is simple to do in a greenhouse.

Of course plants grown hydroponically need lots of light in order to thrive, just like those grown using soil. You will not get more light in a greenhouse than you would outdoors. Because the light is filtered and diffused within the greenhouse, the grower is able to provide a more warm and consistent light for growing. The plants are shielded from reduced temperatures, yet given plenty of sun.

In winter, you will get low temperatures in northern climates of course, but the sun will be be full for several hours. Be sure that your greenhouse has a translucent polycarbonate wall as it will keep the ideal temperatures for growing plants inside even while it is cold outside.

You can install vents and fans to keep the inside of your greenhouse from getting too hot; hydroponically grown plants do need a consistent temperature, just as soil grown plants do.

Using a greenhouse opens up many opportunities to make the best of your garden. If you don't have a greenhouse, then your only choice may be inside your home – something which is not a possibility for everyone.

Unlike growing in your home, a greenhouse has significantly better light and watering setups. Not many homeowners have the space to have high pressure sodium lights or LED grow light panels installed for their vegetables, or the option of running irrigation systems through their guestrooms!

With a greenhouse, the systems can be moved where they are best for the plants, making gardening easier for you. This is especially important for hydroponic gardeners, since the water and light are far more important than in soil gardening – a soil garden is typically much better at being self-regulated in this regard.

A feeding system must be in place in order for your plants to thrive and it is easier to install such a system in a greenhouse. With good soil, plants can gain most of the nutrients they need easily. Conversly, the keeper of a hydroponic garden must account for the delivery of all of these nutrients by other means.

You will also want to look at pH levels. The pH is able to change with a lot more ease in a hydroponic setting. When growing in water, acid and alkaline levels can shift rapidly. It is easier to set up pH controls with a hydroponic garden.

If you do not construct a greenhouse yourself, you can always purchase the one that is already put together. Those who are fascinated with indoor hydroponic gardening will find that their money will be spent well. You can buy them in all shapes and sizes and can get expanders to increase the length and width of the garden.

Gardening Options

2009-01-18T00:35:00.001-08:00

There are many options when deciding to start gardening, such as what type of garden to start.Home gardening still becomes more popular, although not always in the traditional ways it took place in the past.More people live in apartments and condominiums that ever before, so traditional methods of gardening do not work in those situations. However, that does not mean that those people have to miss out on the rich rewards offered through the experience of gardening.

Options for Apartments

Container gardening is one of the best options for gardening in a smaller place such as an apartment or condominium.All that container gardening means is that the plants are grown either indoors or on a deck or porch where they are potted in containers where they grow.There are ways to grow flowers and vegetables in these containers as long as the care that is required goes into the entire process.

Container gardening requires that the soil in the containers is potting soil so that it holds the nutrients and also the water that is needed.Container gardening also requires that the plants be watered more frequently than outside plants of the same species, since they tend to dry out more quickly in the smaller pots.In addition, although the plants require sunlight, plants in containers get much hotter than those outside in direct sunlight, so the container gardener should be careful to monitor where the pots are placed and give them plenty of water.

Options for the Health Conscious

Organic gardening is a great choice for those who are health conscious and do not want to put foreign chemicals in their bodies.Organic gardening means that the gardener does not use traditional pesticides or fertilizers in growing the plants. Extreme organic gardeners do not even buy seeds that are not certified to be organic. That way they can be assured that the vegetables and fruit from start to finish are safe and healthy.

Organic gardening does take more preparation on the front end than traditional gardening, as well as research as different pest problems are encountered so that they can be solved through organic means. However, the payoff for the extra work is great when fresh, organically grown vegetables and fruits grace the salads and meals.

The way that organic gardeners get around the fertilizer issue is through the use of compost. Compost piles are easy to start; with just a few grass clippings or leaves the gardener is on his way to great mulch.

For more about gardening please visit www.organicgardeningzone.com

Understanding the Basics of Rose Gardening

2009-01-17T09:27:00.001-08:00

Gardens are beautiful pieces of natural landscapes that provide the most endearing relaxation that every person needs. Through the years, the development of gardening procedures has captured the fascination of many enthusiasts of garden landscaping. It could be observed though that every year, the major development in the human society makes it harder for urban residential area owners to find the perfect way to create gardens within their midst.

However, with the help of environment enthusiasts, the development of fine procedures to create urban gardens today has been made available for the interested market to apply in their own residential areas. One of the most enhanced processes that the said experts have dealt with is that of rose gardening.

Collaborating the Old with the New Processes of Rose Gardening

The traditional procedures of rose gardening are actually aimed to be applied in spacious areas. However, with the increasing need to create a smaller sector based rose gardening process that could be applied by urban area residents, experts as regards matter known as offer now various directives to help the urban residents to include/understand how they could raise themselves their own rose gardens in their own back-yards.

Why is there a need to help urban area residents learn about the art of rose gardening? Primarily, the capability of rose gardening to ease the stressed soul is one of the main idealisms as to why and how rose gardening procedures are aimed by the gardening experts to be shared to the owners of homes in the cities.

It has been revealed through studies that rose gardening itself gives a chance for the gardener to release his stress through applying his creativity in making his own flower garden design to be applied in his own rose gardening. Considerably, the act of rose gardening itself already helps one to release the stresses that he is experiencing, what more reward there is that rose gardening could offer to the planter of the seed when the hard work of the gardener begins to pay back as bursting bright colored blooming roses come out from the said gardens.

Yes, the innate connection of humans to nature makes it possible for a simple rose gardening hobby creates a good mood for an individual who is currently in need of spirit boosting. For this particular fact thus gives an intimate proof on the fact that rose gardening could be one of the great sources of relaxation and inspiration for many residential area owners in the cities today.

For more about gardening please visit www.organicgardeningzone.com

For Success Growing Orchids, Know their Origins

2009-01-16T18:02:00.001-08:00

Even beginners can successfully grow orchids if they take the time to learn about the differences between the major families of these wonderful plants, as well as their varied requirements.

Orchids originate within a tremendous variety of environments which differ from one another in many respects. As a result, you will find that some species produce their flowers early in spring, others in summer and yet others during the dull days of winter. Their times for beginning their seasonal growth also varies; nevertheless, for convenience, feel free to rest all of your orchids over the winter. The majority will then begin to push up their young shoots as soon as the days lengthen and the sun gains increased power.

When orchids are in their growing periods (as opposed to their dormancy), they must be treated differently with respect to heat, based on where they originated. East Indian orchids love heat. Inside, keep the temps surrounding the plants at 65 degrees Fahrenheit during night and 70 during day. In the outdoors they will thrive at up to 75 degrees in the early spring. During the hottest parts of summer they will tolerate temperatures as high as 85 or 90. Just be sure to shade the plants from the direct rays of the sun at these times.

Therefore, this type of orchid must be well supplied with atmospheric moisture at all times. Mist often and copiously! You can also splash water over the paths and tables in your greenhouse or other growing area. If you can do this every day, it will result in a nice moist heat to rise and constantly surround your plants.

Brazilian orchids actually come from a cooler climate, one in which the air is not nearly as moisture-saturated. They of course require less heat and less moisture but they do need a considerable degree of warmth during their growing season. The same may be said for the majority of Mexican-originated orchids. They should be heated artificially to approximately 60 degrees at night and 65 or 70 by day during the spring. As the days lengthen, temps may be allowed to increase. During approximately May through August the night heat may range between 65 and 70 and
by day from between 70 and 85.

Then there are the so-called cool orchids, which ideally should be kept in a separate growing area. These plants' native habitats are the Andean countries of South America, where they are found growing high up. These must be grown at lower temperatures. You might try a range of 45 to 55 degrees during the winter, and 50 to as high as 65 during the summer. Wherever you grow them, you should see that they are well shaded from the sun most of the time. Too much heat is a mortal danger to cool orchids!

There are many other groups and subgroups of orchids, too many to go over them in a limited space. If you want to learn more, the best and most thorough guide to modern orchid growing, hands down, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which may be downloaded on the web. There are many books on the subject of orchids, but Mr. Howard's wonderful guide will provide a thorough immersion in the subject. Also, visit the Orchid Secrets web site, which has a growing library of postings on many aspects of orchids.

Any Crops Any Time with Indoor Vegetable Gardening

2009-01-13T23:32:00.001-08:00

When winter strikes, you no longer need to stop gardening just because the weather gets cold. In fact, you can garden year round with no regard whatsoever to the seasons, as long as you make the preparations to garden inside your home or any other environmentally-controlled location. While there are many frost-resistant vegetables like beets, carrots, and cauliflower, new advances in gardening techniques make maintaining indoor vegetation easier than ever. Indoor vegetable gardening is growing in popularity, and it allows you to have fresh veggies to eat all year round.

Pots, Beds, and Other Containers

You can practice indoor vegetable gardening in a variety of ways, and it has some inherent benefits over normal winter gardening or standard gardening itself. Most importantly, indoor vegetable gardening doesn't restrict your choice of vegetables to grow during a particular season. You can grow strawberries, carrots, tomatoes, and potatoes all at once, and they will be delicious as ever. Imagine harvesting fresh tomatoes or strawberries in December right from your own home. By modifying your home or building a new greenhouse out back (which isn't as hard as it sounds), you can enjoy any vegetables (or fruits) whenever you want them.

Home vegetable gardening does unfortunately take a great deal more work than normal gardening. That's because while you are able to control the environment from the harshest effects of winter, rain, and drought, you have to make sure to maintain the environment completely on your own. That means that if you take vegetation inside with indoor vegetable gardening, you have to make sure that your plants get enough water and that they also receive proper lighting. Normal incandescent bulbs don't emit all the proper types of light to help plants grow. Neither do fluorescent bulbs by themselves. You'll need to purchase special light bulbs to give your plants the necessary light.

Indoor vegetable gardening can be a more expensive and work-intensive approach to gardening, but you get the benefits of being able to grow any vegetables or fruits during any point of the year, and you never have to worry about the weather becoming harsh enough to seriously threaten the vitality of your plants. If you love gardening, then it is well worth the extra money to be able to cultivate plants year round, and if not, then you may want to stick with normal, exterior gardening. Regardless, indoor vegetable gardening is the most efficient and safest method of gardening.

For more about gardening please visit www.organicgardeningzone.com

Why You Should Creating Your Own Flower Garden Read Here

2009-01-13T02:08:00.001-08:00

Amidst all the necessary advancements happening in the human society today, it could not be denied that humans are most importantly concerned in having the chance to get back to the essence of relaxation that nature itself provides the human soul. This is primarily the reason why many nature lovers today are opting to create their own flower garden within their own areas in the midst of the city life.

Have you experienced the taste of relaxation that nature itself provides? VISIT a flower garden, and your senses are immediately rewarded. You enjoy the sight of the flowers’ colors, their shapes, and their intricate designs. You smell their fragrances. You feel the varied textures of their petals. Yes, all these invigorating and warming treasures of seeing a flower garden gives the necessary refreshment that anybody needs to be free from the stresses that life offers.

Larger Benefits of Creating Your Own Flower Garden in the House

Aside from being a source of personal relaxation and replacement, flower garden creations are also able to contribute much to the reduction of both home and environmental pollution that brings dreadful effects both to the human environment and the human health. Certainly, it could not be denied that a flower garden also increases the aesthetic design or appearance of any particular establishment that it is planted in.

Yes, with the right kind of flower garden design that best fits the area availability in your house or in your areas for work, any gardener, even you could contribute to the worldwide movement towards going back to the “green thing” or nature as it is. Yes, flower garden designs come in different forms. The said different presentations of the variety of planted flowers in a garden are usually based on the flower choices of the owners and the area concentrations where the said flower gardens are to be situated in.

Certainly, from this particular discussion, it could indeed be accepted that flower garden creations are giving off too many interesting benefits that could certainly cause many homeowners both in the rural and urban areas to gain attraction in the process of creating their own flower garden within the areas of their homestead. Not only that with different forms of flower garden designs, creating different fruit yielding flower garden types could also be given fine focus by the owners of the residential areas as well as the owners of city establishments around the world today.

For more about gardening please visit www.organicgardeningzone.com

The Best Garden Tools

2009-01-12T17:39:00.001-08:00

It is necessary for you to invest in some basic tools in order to start a garden. However, such tools will certainly not be costing you too much. Yard sales or flea markets may well make such tools available for you at costs even below a hundred dollars. In any case it is better to avoid purchasing the expensive tools while starting the practice of gardening because it might be that interest in gardening is lost very soon and the entire investment in garden tools turns out to be a loss.

Starting with the shovel and the rake- the two basic garden tools now there are quite a few basic tools for gardening that are available. Among these you can proceed to buy the things that you will really need more.

The spading fork is to be chosen as the first and foremost garden tool. This is because before any kind of planting is to be done the soil needs to be opened and improved. The spading fork will dig into hard soil and break up the ground. Next comes the need of a hoe. This is used in weeding and cultivating the surface of the soil in order to facilitate the penetration of water and plant nutrients.

A watering can is to be selected next. While choosing this it is to be remembered that long nozzles are preferable as they allow the water to come out at a gentle rate of flow and also prove to be helpful in reaching across longer distances. For watering young seedlings the watering can with a detachable spray head is best suited.

A round-ended shovel is to be importantly selected. This proves to be useful in case of larger digging projects like planting of shrubs and trees. There is also the need to buy a good bow rake- the one that has short tines on a side attached to a metal frame or bow. This comes of use in leveling the soil after the soil has been turned out before planting. It also helps in removing large chunks of earth or rocks from the soil. The bow rake can also be turned over and its flat side used for smoothing soil for planting preparation.

Finally, a pair of garden shears fitting comfortably in hand is to be opted for. The shears or clippers as they are sometimes referred to, serve the object of pruning, shaping and removing leaves or branches. There are expensive shears available too but these are only to be opted for in case gardening really becomes a fascinating hobby.

Over time and upon longer usage the tools used for gardening may become dull. This brings the need to sharpen them. The right file is to be chosen for sharpening. Large coarse files are meant especially for trimming and shaping materials and for smoothening and shaping edges small fine files are to be used.

Some Useful Vegetable Gardening Tips You Should Know

2009-01-12T16:57:00.001-08:00

There is nothing as satisfying as working in your home garden to watch vegetables grow after putting in all the hard work and money. Successful gardening is much more than just popping a few seeds in the ground and waiting for vegetables to grow.

Important Vegetable Gardening Tips

For any gardening to be successful, you need to follow three Ps and these are planning your garden, preparing the soil and planting the vegetables.

A good vegetable garden needs good planning well in advance. Places that receive full sunlight are the ideal for vegetable gardening. But you have to take care of other factors such as soil quality, drainage, shade from other trees or building etc. For vegetable garden crops to mature properly, it must get at least 6 hours of full sun every day. There is no possible replacement for natural sunlight.

One very important vegetable gardening tip is to make sure that the soil should be very fertile and drainage should be good so that extra water can drain out easily during monsoons. The areas that are very windy are best avoided as strong winds can break or dry out the plants. For your convenience, choose a place near a water source. Plant the garden so that you can visit it often and monitor the plants for pests and general health.

Another vegetable gardening tip is to ensure a fertile and well-drained soil. The soil should be reasonably free of stones, supplied with organic matter and moisture retentive. Subsoil is also equally important and having rock ledges, hard shale, deep sand, gravel beds and hardpan under the soil surface will make the garden soil development difficult or at times, impossible. Alkalinity or acidity of soil is measured in pH. Soil acidity will depend upon the type of vegetable and soil that has pH less than 7.0 is acidic and more than 7.0 is alkaline.

A good vegetable gardening tip to plant the vegetables is to use stakes to mark the different rows. Once you have worked on the soil, you are ready to sow the seeds and put in the vegetable bedding plants.

Other Useful Vegetable Gardening Tips

There are many people who enjoy tasty, healthy, organic vegetables that are fresh from the vegetable garden. There are some important organic vegetable gardening tips that can come quite in handy once you start working on your organic vegetable garden. For the healthy plants, you have to provide good growing conditions. Some plants are more susceptible to disease and pest problems as compared to others. To ease your gardening, look for varieties that are disease-resistant.

An important vegetable gardening tip is to feed your plants naturally with well-rotted animal manure. Planting the same vegetables at the same spot every year can build up disease. Hence, try to plant the crops in different part of your garden every year.

For more about gardening please visit www.organicgardeningzone.com

Your Own Food With Organic Vegetable Gardening

2009-01-11T19:03:00.001-08:00

The oldest profession in the world is farming. People have been doing it for thousands of years, and the profession itself allowed civilizations to spring to life. Through all those years, people have honed, even perfected, methods for cultivating the land and bringing plants to life. For millions of people, gardening is just a hobby anymore, but it's still a useful hobby, providing food that is much cheaper than food bought at the grocery store. If you are been willing to invest the time in learning how to practise the indoor vegetable gardening, then you can acquire one of the most rewarding hobbies in all of history.

From Seed to Food

There are so many different types of organic vegetable gardening around that it can be difficult to make a decision about which one you would like to pick up as your own. Do you want to practice indoor vegetable gardening? The French style is extremely popular, yielding more vegetables per area than any other. Of course, vegetable gardening encompasses many more types than can be listed here, each with their own distinct take on things.

Once you make important decisions concerning what types of plants you want to grow, the size of your garden that you are willing to maintain, and how long each type of plant will take to grow into fruition, you will be ready for preparation of the soil. This step of organic vegetable gardening is ultimately important to the growth of vegetation. By mixing in manure, compost, or other fertilizers into soil, you can give plants all of the nutrition that they need to grow large and healthy, producing some of the most amazingly delicious vegetables that you can imagine.

As your vegetables progress, you'll need to keep them watered. Expect to give them about an inch of water per week as they grow. Any less can produce dry rot in the plants, ruining them. Any more can make them rotten. Making sure that they receive the proper amount of water each week is perhaps more integral to vegetable gardening that soil preparation, but the first step shouldn't be neglected by any means.

If you decide to pick up indoor gardening, then consider building a greenhouse in your backyard to allow vegetables and other fruits to grow year round instead of in your home. A greenhouse allows the sun's natural rays to shine through so that you don't need to invest in specialized gardening lights, and it keeps your garden temperate all the time. There are many different ways to go about vegetable gardening. No method is inherently more effective, but they all give you great food at a fraction of the price of food bought from grocery stores.

For more about gardening please visit www.organicgardeningzone.com

Follow Nature's Lead for Growing Orchids, But Don't Be A Slave to Her

2009-01-10T04:12:00.001-08:00

Orchid cultivation is no longer exclusively the privilege of the few now that their nature and requirements are better understood than was the case in years past. This happened as a result of studying these plants both in their native habitats and in greenhouses, gardens and even the laboratory.

One important discovery about orchids was that many of the most ornamental species did not require either the high heat or the elaborate growing equipment that people once thought necessary. This understanding opened orchid gardening to everyone who would take the time to read up on the subject.

In the 1800s, when the mania for orchids really exploded, many would-be growers were initially discouraged by one significant problem. World travelers sent home one exotic species after another, but often without any notes at all as to their local growing conditions. Orchids vary hugely in their needs, such as for light, heat and water, and not knowing a particular plant's unique requirements could and often did lead to disaster. "The want of some such information has been a source of extreme vexation to many lovers of these plants," complained an orchid enthusiast and writer in 1885.

Today we are more fortunate with our understanding of the orchids. We can stand on the shoulders of other orchid enthusiasts who painstakingly jotted down all they learned about each type and species of the plants that they encountered.

So, it is crucial to know what an orchid's native habitate and climate are like. But having said that, let's inject a cautionary note. Usually, it's not wise to attempt to completely recreate a plant's natural habitat conditions. Done carefully and with the right knowledge, it is possible for us to cultivate better orchids than nature can by tweaking the plants' enviroment. As you might guess, this is both art and science.

Again quoting that Victorian orchid authority: "We admit that we should by all means take nature as our guide for the production of good plants but it should be nature in her best garb only and then looking as we do upon cultivation as a help to nature the result can only be an improvement if success in the object aimed at has been attained."

So what should a novice orchid grower do? Can one strike a balance between imitating nature and trying to improve on it? The answer is simple: Educate yourself. You can successfully grow orchids if you know what you're doing up-front.

Among the best and most complete guides to modern orchid growing is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which may be downloaded online. Now, there are lots of books about orchids but Mr. Howard's guide is a complete course, and good for beginners and more experienced growers alike. Also, visit the Orchid Secrets web site, which has a growing database of articles on many aspects of orchids.

The Beauty of the Blue Orchid Flower

2009-01-09T06:43:00.001-08:00

There are not many truly blue items in nature, and this is especially true in flowers. While blue bells are one obvious example, there are many other flowers that are not available in blue varieties, like roses. Despite the fact that there are thousands of varieties of orchids, there are only two blue versions available. In one version, the blue tint only shows up on the lip and the rest of the flower is white. The other version has blue sepals.

The vandal coerulea is a naturally blue orchid flower that can be found in Northern India.Its blue blossoms can usually be seen during October and November. Each plant may yield up to fifteen blossoms, and the flowers are approximately four inches in size. This orchid does not grow in colder climates, and needs to be in an environment where the temperature stays above sixteen degrees centigrade.

A lot of orchid growers have attempted to create hybrid blue orchid flowers without much success. The weekend gardener or orchid hobbyist may never actually see one of these stunning plants. They are an elusive prize to the most avid growers. Creating a hybrid orchid is not a simple process, especially if you want to create a rare color such as blue.

The first step in creating a hybrid blue orchid flower is to choose the different plants that you are going to use.For a few varieties of orchid, the blooms will become different colors depending on the environment in which it is grown, so this needs to be taken into consideration. Look for varieties that have predominantly blue petals, which still retain the color before they are in full bloom. Also, finding varieties of orchids that have less complicated growing requirements will make the process easier for you.

The genetics of an orchid plant seem to have very distinct color dominance patterns. If you use an orchid flower that has a green color to it, it can produce a hybrid that is blue. On the other hand, if you have any orange tints in the flower that you select, the resulting hybrid will often have more of a reddish color to it.

Flowers receive their colors thanks to a chemical reaction that occurs between a pigment known as anthocyain and the A co-pigment. The desired color can only be achieved if the reaction happens at a certain pH level. To get a blue orchid flower, the reaction must take place in an environment with an alkaline pH. If the environment is more acidic, the flower will generally have a reddish tone to it.

The Black Orchid Flower and Its Mystical Image

2009-01-08T06:43:00.001-08:00

The image of a black flower stirs up many emotions in people’s minds. On the other hand, when people think of the tropical orchid flower, they often picture vivid colors. Flowers range from the soft pastels to dark, passionate reds. Could there ever be such a thing as a truly black orchid flower? There are thousands of variations of orchid, often referred to as species of orchids.New hybrid variations are regularly being created, both naturally and by practiced orchid growers.

The idea of a black flower is something mystical, which makes the idea of a hybrid black orchid flower an intriguing one. A black orchid is on the same level as mystical creatures such as unicorns. They are already an exotic and unique plant. Having them in a color that is impossibly rare in nature elevates the orchid to something special.

Thus far, no completely black flowers have been found in nature, although some very dark hues of purple have been found that resemble black. However, if you investigate these flowers closely they will definitely have a purple shade to them. The idea of black flowers is interesting imagery that appeals in popular culture. You can see examples of black orchids mentioned in song lyrics, comic book heroes, a Doctor Who episode, or perfume by Tom Ford. Though they may never be seen in real life, black orchid flowers or black roses can create a vivid image in the mind of the listener. The combination of a beautiful flower with such a dark color instantly makes an impact.

If a truly black orchid flower could ever be created or discovered in nature, there will be great demands on many levels.Enthusiastic growers and gardeners will be interested in buying the plant to cultivate. Others might be interested in purchasing cut flowers for accents to other colored bouquets. Use of the image would also become more prevalent than it already is. It is surprising to many people when they find out that the flower does not currently exist.

Perhaps some orchid enthusiast will discover a hybrid that allows for a completely black orchid flower. Selling this type of plant could be a very lucrative venture -- perhaps if you want to be rich this is an avenue you might want to pursue!

There are currently several ways of coloring flowers. The simplest one is to place the flower into water that is mixed with an interesting color dye.Orchids don't usually do well with this technique, however, because of the way they absorb water into their system with their roots. Flowers dyed with this method tend to have streaks of color following the pattern of the veins. At the moment, the only way to create a perfectly black orchid flower for your home is to have one made of silk. Many companies do sell realistic looking silk flowers, so this might be an interesting option for people who are interested in the flower.

Orchids Are Really for Everybody

2009-01-07T21:33:00.001-08:00

There is a huge selection of plants available to us nowadays to lend us their charm as house ornaments and to give our homes and offices a welcome air of freshness and life. Further, we never get tired of them; in fact, we seek more of them, wanting to add new ones to our home and work places.

Flowers, in particular -- cut or potted or growing in the garden -- have great appeal to human beings. Those of us who are especially attracted to the "flower royalty" represented by the orchid are in good company.

Orchids have been called "conquerers of the light.". They astonish upon first encounter and continue thereafter to exert a profound fascination. Mother Nature has shown her liberality with the orchids. Their flowers delight us with their brightness and elegance. Their smell is sweet but never cloying. Their texture is then, which misleads many into assuming they are delicate. Yet they can last longer after being cut than many another ornamental bloom. From a flower connoisseur's viewpoint, about the only thing they lack is abundant foliage. But this is not a serious deficiency: one can always fill the space around them with fern leaves for an attractive arrangement.

It was long believed that these marvelous flowers were exceptionally delicate and difficult to grow. This was a mistake. It's not as difficult as many people assume to cultivate orchids; in fact, many hobbyist growers can outperform professionals when it comes to producing extraordinarily striking plants. The "trick," if you want to call it that, is to seek out accurate and complete information on orchid growing before acquiring your first plant. To assure success, you must educate yourself first; skip this preparation and you may be dooming yourself to failure.

One prevalent myth about orchids is that in order to thrive, they must have high heat. Not true, I'm pleased to report! Certainly, we know that orchids have their origins in the tropics. However, quite many of them, in their homelands, group high up the mountainsides, where it is crisp and cool. It would be a mistake to subject these coolness-hardy plants to high temperatures -- if the heat didn't kill them, it would at least stunt their development.

Whether you consider yourself a green thumb or not, you can grow these loveliest of flowers. Imagine surprising someone--a friend, family member, or a lover--with an orchid you yourself grew. Envision yourself culitvating gorgeous orchids that are so good they win prizes. Picture yourself going so far with your orchid growing hobby that it becomes a business, perhaps one big enough to provide you with a living. These things are all possible to you, even as an orchid newbie.

One of the best and most complete guides to modern orchid growing is undoubtedly Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, available online. Now, there's tons of information out there about orchids. But Howard's is the most complete all-in-one reference that I've ever seen. You might also want to visit the Orchid Secrets web site, which has a growing database of articles on all aspects of orchids.

Here's to many years of orchid enjoyment!