Growing In-Doors Versus Growing Out-Doors

Growing in-doors may seem like an easier task than growing out-doors but in my experience I found that growing in-doors can be a lot more of a challenge.  Giving the plant the natural environment it needs to grow properly and healthily can be an obstacle when you don't have what is necessary, sometimes even creating that environment doesn't work out the way you want it to.

Proper air-circulation was the most vital factor that my plants lacked when growing in-doors, this caused quite a few bugs to arise from unhealthy plants as well as other infections. Air-circulation is just as important  as the amount of water and sun the plant gets and is most definitely not to be overlooked when considering growing plants in-doors, this obviously can affect where you place your growing plants.  In most cases the plant will be placed next to a sunny window but if that particular sunny window doesn't get enough air coming in then you may have a problem, as I had... with bugs in particular, and I think we can all agree that bugs is not something one wants a problem with in their home.  If you have a sunny window with a good amount of air coming through always opt to place plants next to that particular window, whatever kind of vegetable plant you are growing doesn't matter when it comes to air-circulation, they all want it.

Whichever type of home you have, whether apartment or home, if you have a spot outside where you can place your growing plants, do so.  The important thing to remember is that you don't need to have a yard to grow, a fire escape for potted plants or a window ledge for boxed planter beds also are good places, this way your plants can get proper air flow.

MY EXPERIENCE growing in-doors versus out-doors

When I first decided to grow vegetables I was living in a one-bedroom apartment with one sunny window that didn't get too much air flowing in and out.  I lined quite a few plants on that one sunny window and made sure to keep the windows open during the day, I figured if my plants had any problems it was more likely due to lack of sun, as it happens it wasn't so much the lack of sun light rather than the lack of air-circulation.  At some time little flying bugs became a problem, the problem had gotten bad enough for me to put out little dishes of vinegar to trap and drown them (I caught quite a few that way :)  At the time I figured I just wasn't that good at growing and I still believe that somewhat but have slowly been gaining confidence since I've started my organic garden in my new yard, which I'm finding to be loads easier.

Today, as my plants begin to grow in my yard out-doors I'm beginning to realize that perhaps it wasn't really so much that I didn't know how to grow but that the external conditions simply wasn't good enough to grow healthy plants in my apartment.  Plants need a certain amount of full-sun exposure, need certain amount of watering and proper air-circulation, all these things are naturally available outside and requires discipline, hard-work and diligence to create that natural environment in a setting where it is not available.

But don't be disheartened should you be an in-door grower, I have seen many apartment dwellers build perfectly beautiful small garden in-doors on their window sill, on the fire escape and even inside their apartments where they luckily had a sunny airy window.

Mushrooms Growing Around My Potato Plant!

I love mushrooms just as much a the next person hates them, but c'mon!  There's something definitely wrong with this picture.  I woke up and was doing my daily check on all my plants and stopped short when I saw that one of my potato plants was surrounded by mushrooms, quite disgusting really.  Am I watering them too much?  It seems to be the first thing that comes to mind, afterall mushrooms love damp moist places right?

Well I simply couldn't just let the mushrooms sit there crowding around the potato plant now could I? The thought of touching the mushrooms was unbearable and even though what I really wanted to do was walk away and pretend none of this was happening, I kneeled down on my knees like a good little girl and got to it, they were moist,  slimy and really, really gross.  And then when I managed to take off all the mushroom growing around the stem I realized the root was still in the ground (pictured below) so to make matters worse I had to dig the mushroom base out, ugh. 

So I've come to the conclusion that the potato plant can do with less watering and more dry time, slowly the mushrooms seem to be going away, they only pop up every now and again- that has to be a good sign, I just hope the potatoes themselves have not been affected by all this, then again, maybe I should brace myself during harvesting time for mushroom laden potatoes.

Anti-Hopper Flour Dusting, Does It Or Doesn't It Work?

Recently I went over a couple of methods of keeping away hoppers from my bush plant.  My first method was the dishsoap and water liquid solution which I came to the conclusion barely worked at all.  Then I had read somewhere about dusting the plants with baking flour, the flour acts as a glue and seals the hoppers' mouths shut after taking a bite out of a dusted leaf, cruel I know.  Well I dusted the bush bean leaf and it's been a couple of weeks since, so here is the result...

Dusting plants under hopper attack.... Works!  I was actually pretty amazed, I thought if the dishsoap and water liquid solution didn't work then everything else was helpless as well (I really don't know what gave me that idea in the first place).  After dusting, the bush bean was visited by two different hoppers in that same week of dusting but I haven't seen any since, what a relief!  Although, I am quite concerned that I am killing the cute little things, I'm hoping in their little insect world they're singing to each other passing the word around, "don't go near that bush bean, it'll kill you".

Read previous post Oh For Goodness Sake! Grasshoppers!

Taste Of The First Fig

We have a fruiting fig tree, unfortunately I can't take credit to all the beautiful fruit trees in our yard (which there are aplenty, my husband and I really lucked out on finding this house) the previous owners were happy growers themselves and planted many different types of flowers, plants and yes, fruit trees.

When I walked into Wholefoods a week or two ago I realized beautiful purple figs were out and being sold and I became concerned that the figs on our tree, although fruiting, were not ripening.  Then I came out the other day and realized there were two purple figs on the tree, boy did that draw a huge gasp and smile on my face- I absolutely love figs!  They're such a pretty purple and cute too before you devour them of course.

3 days have gone by and I've been eyeing that purple fig, I went over to it today and gave it a little touch with my fingertips and realized the fig was soft to the touch, it probably should have stayed on the tree for a little bit longer in all honesty but I couldn't help myself.  I pulled that fig from the tree and ran inside, there was only one thing on my mind, eating it.  It was the most delicious fig I've ever had, whether it's because mr. Fig came from my own tree or if it actually was that delicious, I'm unsure- couldn't it be a little bit of both?

Just thought I'd share, until next time... Happy growing!

Brewing Up A Tea Of Sea Kelp For Your Plants' Potassium Needs

You may be saying to yourself "Sea kelp! Where the heck am I going to find that?!" The thought of going for a swim in the cold pacific doesn't sound too great simply to be dragging in all the sea kelp you can get your hands on, fortunately it's a lot easier to find than that. Going to your nearest asian market should do the trick, most asian markets will carry all different kinds of brands and bags of this stuff. Usually sold dried, sea kelp looks like (pictured above).

There's two ways to dole out this potassium rich stuff, brew it up as tea or simply crush it and add it straight to the ground. For one reason or other I like to brew up a batch of sea kelp tea, I suppose my subconscious is telling me that liquid source of nutrients for plants get through faster, much like our own bodies, of course I haven't the slightest clue whether this is true. But this is how I do it.

I take three pieces of dried sea kelp and put it in a glass jar and fill it up with boiling water. The sea kelp hydrates and gets rather large so don't be fooled by your small shriveled pieces. Let the brewing sea kelp tea sit for a few hours to a day to fully cool down and when ready you can pour it straight into the ground or load a spray bottle with the home made tea and spritz it on the foliage of your plants.

Potassium in plants help to regulate photosynthesis and the intake of nutrients through-out the plant, it can also help plants through bouts of stress. Usually potassium deficient plants produce thin skinned, small fruit and the plant itself can exhibit a thin and weak appearance. What's more, sea kelp also contains iron (plus other minerals and vitamins!) which is needed for plants' chlorophyll production, iron-deficient plants' exhibit the production of new leaves that are yellow when they should be green.

Caught In The Act: Slender Beans Pushing Forth

 The flowering stage of the bush bean begins with a little pod that look like a little bean

The bean-like pod peels back to reveal pastel-yellow colored petals, at this point the flowers have fully bloomed

And finally the whole flower is pushed out by the growing slender bean

A Source Of Nitrogen From Your Daily Coffee

The benefit of coffee grounds doesn't stop at warding away those slime-ball slugs but also has a great nutritional value to your plants, nitrogen!  Plants need nitrogen in order to grow lush and happy leaves, should you find that your plant is stunted in growth or exhibits sallow, yellow leaves when they obviously should be green, nitrogen just may be the thing that you need, and what do you know?!  You really want to make yourself a cup of coffee right now, what a coincidence.  So it's awesome that you can add nitrogen right into the ground so easily but be careful not to over-do it.  A sprinkle once in a while should be okay but coffee grounds which is highly acidic can do more harm than good if sprinkled too often, the acidity of the coffee grounds can burn the leaves and probably other vital parts of your growing plant.  

If you find that your plants are tall, lanky and weak under its own weight you may have a case of excess nitrogen.  Excess nitrogen causes plants to be so focused on building up their leaves that they forget to flower, fruit and grow strong in other areas where they should be, *ahem, for example the stem, hence the tall, lanky and weak characteristics of over-nitrogen'd plants.  But if you absolutely love the fact that you can use your coffee ground for your plants (like me) and find yourself debating whether or not to use the coffee grounds... again (also like me), simply toss the filter and grounds into the compost, in almost no time at all you'll be able to use it all over your garden without it be too acid-harmful to your plants.