Home Garden and Organic Farming

Hinoki Cypress Bonsai tree: In nature, hinoki cypress has a flame-shaped profile, but as a tree reaches maturity, it adopts a broad, almost domed appearance with clouds of foliage supported above branches. The scale-like leaves are edged with silvery blue and the shoots curls inward at the tips.  Hinoki Cypress Bonsai tree (Source: Bonsai Empire ) Where to keep hinoki cypress: Although tolerant of the hot sun in the wild, in containers hinoki cypress are happier in semi-shade during the hottest months. Hinoki can withstand frozen roots for considerable periods, provided the tree is not exposed to drying winds. The waxy coating provides some protection against wind, but not enough for containerized plants. It does, however, help the foliage to appear healthy long after the tree has died. Repotting: Every two to three years in mid-spring, older specimens every five years. Use standard soil mix. Akadama can be used if you can guarantee never to let it dry out. Prun...

Ficus Bonsai Tree: Fig tree species are among the most popular choices for bonsai. Their popularity comes from traits such as fast growth, adaptability to indoor conditions, and high tolerance to overwatering. They develop a dense canopy with thick, glossy, evergreen leaves, making them visually appealing. A distinctive feature of figs is their tendency to produce aerial roots from both branches and the upper trunk. In their natural environment, aerial roots that descend from branches eventually become strong enough to support the branch, providing both structural stability and nutritional benefit. Roots that emerge from the trunk often self-graft as they grow downward, causing the trunk to thicken quickly and develop a deeply fluted form. Bonsai artists take advantage of this unique growth habit when styling large specimen figs. Since most fig trees naturally produce "banyan-style" roots, this characteristic is often highlighted in dramatic air-root and root-over-rock bonsa...

If we understand how trees function will greatly increase our enjoyment of bonsai and gives us much-needed confidence in caring for the bonsai trees. And it will be easy to carry out the watering, pruning, and shaping of bonsai trees. 1. Root:  Usually, when your bonsai begins to look sick, it is an indication of root disorders. Roots have three functions, First of all, they provide anchorage, holding the tree firm in the ground. Secondly, they absorb moisture and soluble nutrients from the soil. Thirdly, they store sugars during dormancy to provide energy for the first flush of growth in spring. Japanese Maple (Acer) Bonsai (  Bonsai Empire ) Anchorage:   To hold a tree firm in its pot, the roots must be distributed all around the trunk and must grow sideways rather than downwards. One-sided root systems are unstable and most likely also result in a one-sided structure. During repotting the bonsai trees, initially, the wire used to hold a tree firm, ...

Weeds are ubiquitous. They grow everywhere, compete with crops for soil moisture, nutrients, solar radiation, and space, thus reducing the crop yields.  Weeds also act as alternative hosts that harbor insects, pests and diseases, and micro-organisms. Some weeds release into the soil inhibitors or poisonous substances that may be harmful to the crop plants and livestock. In the aquatic environment, weeds block the flow of water in canals, water-transport system, and drainage system, rendering navigation difficult. The dense growth of aquatic weeds pollutes water by deoxygenating it and killing the fishes. Weed management is done through mechanical, chemical, and biologically. Crop losses due to weeds: Most of these weeds are self-sown and they provide competition by virtue of their faster growth rate in the initial stages of crop growth.  In some crops, the yields are reduced by more than 50% due to weed infestation. Besides competition for resources, weeds often reduc...

What is healthy living soil? Healthy living soil is the most important factor for growing vegetables, fruits, and grains.  The soil must be replenished each season so that plants have all the nutrients necessary to grow. It must be protected from erosion to build healthy topsoil and from the sun, wind to preserve the moisture content. Soil quality directly relates to good nutrition, and they taste better and improve health. The untrapped minerals in any kind of soil are only accessed by humus complex. Humus is the most important thing in organic farming. Humus provides food for the soil biota includes bacteria, microorganisms, earthworms, and many more small insects. The organic residues left after the extensive decomposition of organic debris (leaves, woods, grass clippings, branches, and other plant parts) by bacteria and fungi is called humus, it contains 60-70% of the total organic carbon in soils. It contains a good mix of clay, sand particles, and air pockets....

Bacterial Wilt:  Symptoms:       - Wilting ( loss of water from leaves), Stunting( results in dwarfing and loss of vigor), yellowing of the foliage, and finally entire plant will break down.       -The vascular system becomes brown in color.       -Plants show wilting symptoms in afternoon times, will recover at nights but it will die soon.       -Lower leaves will drop first before wilting occurs.     Management:       Crop rotation with cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower helps in reducing the spreading of disease.

These are derived from organic sources like the plant, animal, and human residues. Among these are bulky organic manures such as farmyard manure(FYM), compost, concentrated manures like Oil-Cakes, and various products of animal origin like dried blood, fish manure..etc. are added in the soil, to improve the physical condition of the soil, replenish and maintain it's human status via soil organic matter, create optimum conditions for the activities of soil microorganisms and contribute a small part of the plant nutrients removed by the crops or otherwise lost through leaching and soil erosion. The plant-food elements contained in manure are released in an available form upon decomposition by soil microorganisms. The main role of this manure is to add organic matter and humus content. Biofertilizers or bio inoculants: These are the preparations containing microorganisms beneficial to agricultural production in terms of nutrient supply, especially N and P. Fertilizer and thei...

1. Black rot: ( Xanthomonas campestris )     Symptoms:       *  Most commonly seen in areas having a wet and warm climate.       * Plants can be infected during any growth stage and the symptoms resemble nutritional deficiencies.       * Infected seedlings turn into yellow in color, drop lower leaves and soon become die.       * Leaves may be affected only one side of the seedling.       * The infected tissue turns pale green-yellow and then turns brown and dies.       * Affected areas are usually a wedge or V-shaped.       * Disease progress the severely affected leaves may drop off. The veins in infected leaves, stems, and roots become black in color.   Management:      * Planting should be done on raised beds to facilitate drainage.      * Raising non-host crops.      * Affected plants s...

Benefit each other:       The Native Americans planted corn, beans, and squash together so that they could benefit each other. The corn provides the structure for the beans to climb. The beans provide the nitrogen to the soil that the other plant utilizes and the squash spreads along the ground preventing weeds. Eco-friendly plant:        Plant a lot of hemp in the land of Fukushima. Hemp's vibration has the potentiality to purify the contaminated environment made by radiation.- Dr.Masaru Emoto. To prevent ants:              Planting mint around your house can prevent ants from coming into your house. Mint destroys an ant's sense of smell making them less likely to risk the possibility of entering. Grow them near doors/windows and place mint leaves in pantries. Keep away mosquitoes in your garden:       Lemongrass, Lavender, Lemon balm, Basil, Lemon Thyme, Catnip, Rosemary, Garlic, Marigol...

Coco peat or coir pith is an agriculture waste byproduct from a coir industry, used as a soil additive. It contains macro and micronutrients, natural enzymes, and helps to improve soil aeration, improve soil structure. Coco peat is mainly used as a lightweight growing medium for the germination of seeds. Processed coco peat used as a compost for growing plants. It absorbs water up to eight times its weight.           About 180 grams of coir pith is obtained from the husk of one coconut. Coir pith contains C: N in the ratio of 112:1 and it also contains lignin (75%) which does not permit natural composting as in other agricultural wastes. Mushroom pleurotus has the capacity to degrade the lignin present in the coir pith by producing enzymes like cellulases and lactases. The C: N ratio is reduced to 24:1 from 112:1 at the end of composting. Coco peat for germination of seeds Composting method: Follow this simple composting method for large-scale pr...

In the US chrysanthemum is the No.1 dollar earning flower. Small-flowered types are used in garland making. Soil: It has a shallow, fibrous root system that is sensitive to waterlogging and prone to attack by root rot and wilt if there is no aeration. Sandy loam soil is much desirable since they retain sufficient moisture and provides good aeration. Climate: In general its a short day plant but it requires high light intensity and if reduced light is there the plants become taller with thin stems and large leaves. Insufficient light results in pale leaves and delayed flowering. For balanced root and shoot growth the optimum air and soil temperature are 16 ° c and 18-21 ° c respectively. At day and night temperatures of 22 °c  and 16 °, c respectively chrysanthemum plants produced the best overall growth. Propagation: Chrysanthemum plants are propagated by both vegetative and sexual methods. Vegetative methods include both cuttings and suckers. But cuttings are the most...

Any potting media for growing plants will generally consist of 2-3 types of components. The first is organic plant-derived materials like peat moss, leaf mold, bark these are absorbing the water very well, and also nutrient holding capacity will be great. The second component is called the coarse aggregates like sand, perlite, vermiculite, charcoal these are improving the drainage of the medium because of the shape of each particle creates large pore spaces it makes easier the flow of air. A third component is soil it is used to hold and supply the nutrients, such as loamy soil, clay soil, sandy soil are most commonly used in many potting media. Organic plant-derived materials:   Peat moss is the main ingredient for many potting mixtures for houseplants. Sometimes it is used alone for air layering and rooting, cuttings. Having very good water holding capacity proving an ideal combination of moisture and air. Leaf mold is the second possible component after peat moss in man...

Black Spot disease of rose plant:  Circular black spots appear generally on the upper sides of the leaves. These black spots are surrounded by a yellow halo, then affected leaves are turning yellow in color. These black spots are spread by splashing water on leaves. Infection occurs after leaves are wet for several hours, seen most commonly during the rainy days. How to Control black spots on a rose?   Begin with a thorough cleanup in the fall. Diseased leaves on the ground should be raked and destroyed and all the disease canes should be pruned off by several inches into good wood. Black spot disease in rose plant Affected leaves Powdery Mildew disease of rose plant:   This can cause young leaves to curl and turn purple. The white fuzzy growth seen on the surface of the leaves, this fuzzy growth contains thousand of fungal spores. The wind carries these spores to young leaves, causing more infection. Powdery mildew disease in rose plant ...

Commercial Building Plan Commercial Property plan Residential Plan Bubble Diagram In the Bubble diagram each bubble should represent a specific part of your garden design. Also, make the bubbles or blocks different colors to show their different characteristics. Eg: Use blue for the pool, pond, green for grass..etc.

Ficus Bonsai Tree: Fig tree species are very popular for bonsai making.   Several characteristics like  fast growth, ability to grow indoors, and very tolerant of overwatering make fig so popular in bonsai use.  It grows a dense canopy, and it has thick, shiny, evergreen leaves. Figs all have in common a habit of producing aerial roots from branches and the upper trunk.  In nature, the aerial roots growing from the branches eventually become strong enough to support the parent branch, structurally and nutritionally. Those emerging from the trunk tend to self-graft to the trunk as they grow downwards. This causes the trunk to thicken rapidly and adopt a deeply fluted appearance. Large specimen bonsai figs use this natural process to good effect.  Most fig trees grow "banyan" roots naturally; this feature is often showcased by styling Ficus bonsai trees in dramatic air-root and  root-over-rock styles . Ficus Bonsai (Source:  Bonsai Empire ) How to car...

Bougainvillea is semi-evergreen climbers, originated from South America. Their colorful bracts, often mistaken for flowers, vary from white, through all shades of pink to rich crimson, and are borne in late summer to early autumn. The tiny flowers are nestled in the center in these bracts. How to produce a large mature Bonsai?   To produce a large bonsai, the plant has to be grown in open ground for many years until a thick trunk base develops, whereupon all growth is removed and the new branch structure can be grown and trained. Where to keep Bougainvillea? Light and Temperature:      Bougainvillea   is a tropical plant that thrives in areas outdoors with low rainfall and intense heat. It prefers warmer climates and it will able to grow anywhere that has sunlight. For maximum blooming, they need maximum sunlight for at least 5 hrs per day. If all the leaves fall, the plant has become too cold or been overwatered. Move to a better position and moderat...

Adenium Obesum or Desert Rose Bonsai It is a South African shrub having a swollen succulent stem and bearing showy pink and white flowers after the leaves fall. It's a popular ornamental plant in tropical regions. It is excellent in pots especially for people who kill everything as the adenium lives with little care. Adenium Bonsai Flowers:  The plant flowers during the warm months and the flowers are 2-inch pink open-trumpet shaped flowers. The flowers are in the shade of pink, rose white or white. If a plant not getting enough sunlight, flowering will not happen. Temperature: It prefers warm conditions, it needs more water the temperature rise to over 40 degrees Celcius. During winter reduce the water for adeniums and temperature below 4c it kills the plants. Adenium is a drought-tolerant plant. Adenium Bonsai plants Soil: Adeniums require a gritty,well-drained soil like coarse river sand for quick draining and add farmyard manure or compost in the ratio of 1:1.Beca...

In recent years the art of making arrangements with dried flowers and leaves is a trend to fragrance a mixture of flowers for keeping in rooms, kitchens..etc.The materials used for dry flower arrangements are any cultivated flowers and vegetables including seed, pods, vines, grains, and also we can use any flowers, weeds, grasses, fern leaves, berries. Dry flower arrangements make our living environment more fragmented with natural items. Preservation of planting materials like flowers and foliage is important in a dry flower arrangement. There are different methods used to preserve the plant materials like a Hanging upside down, Burying in the sand, Glycerin method, and pressing. Hanging upside-down is the best method for dry flower arrangement. It is preferable to those materials which keep their shape and do not fall apart while drying. Materials intended for drying are tied and allowed to hang upside-down from a string without touching each other. Burying in sand ...