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Table of Contents
1) Editor's Comments:Happy Valentine's Day. Before we talk about this week's issue, over the past several weeks we've received many requests for a printed catalog. Unfortunately, we don't have one since we only have an Internet presence. However, we have been working hard to create a catalog you can download and either view on your computer at your leisure, or print out, is you wish. We are looking for a couple folks to see if they are able to download one of the parts of the catalog, run the program, and give us comments on their experience. In fact, we want this to be as "user friendly" as possible and want to improve it for all. If anyone wishes to help us out, you'll find the page by clicking here or visit http://rexseedco.com/catalog.htm. You won't find this link to the page on our site because we haven't opened this to the general public. Please send any comments to tomkrueger@rexseedco.com We know you've been waiting with anticipation for the fourth part of our watering houseplant series. (Ok, maybe not!) Well, this week we take a look at the method of watering rather than at the water itself. Hope you'll find something interesting within. Of course, we've also included other items of interest. Finally, we've been getting a number of questions from our readers. It is our hope to share with you in future issues some of these questions and our responses. As always, if you do have questions, suggestions or ideas, do not hesitate to drop us a note. Tom Krueger Rex Gregor 2) Watering Houseplants: Part Four - Best Method to Water
We've covered when to water, differences in containers, drainage issues, and we've looked at the water. What could be next? How about the actual watering itself? There are three common methods -- watering from the top of the pot, placing water in the saucer or tray the pot is setting in, and immersing the whole pot in water. We can all figure out how the watering from the top, and the watering from the bottom are accomplished, but what's with this immersion method? You simply immerse the pot in a pail of tepid water. When you put the pot in, make sure the water rises above the soil level in the pot. You'll quickly see bubbling and hear a gurgling noise. Once the bubbling stops, remove the plant from the water and be sure to let it stand and drain for about 20 minutes before you place it back into it's tray or saucer. Interestingly enough, we can't tell you that any plant should always be watered the same way. It is best to use a combination of all three methods. Here are some real conundrums: If you water from the top when there is not enough sunshine to dry the crowns of the plants, it would not be uncommon for decay to set in at the surface of the soil. But if all your watering is done from the bottom, fertilizer salts in the soil will rise and accumulate on the surface and at the top edges of the pot where growth nearby will burn. And then if you use the immersion method, it can be time consuming, and take a bit of effort and mess. In the final analysis, don't always use the same method - vary what you do. If you always bottom water - think about doing a thorough top watering to wash away some of the accumulated fertilizer salts. If you always top water, think doing some bottom watering to sort of give the top of the soil a water break. And finally, it doesn't hurt to every once in a while immersing the pot. No matter what method you use, be sure to do it thoroughly. You don't want to just give your plant a little sip - you'll likely end up with parts of the soil not getting moisture and thus, the roots not getting nourishment. Remember that plants dry out faster in sunny locations. Also, plants that have been moved to larger containers do not need as much moisture until the roots have had a chance to move into the new soil. And finally, if you don't want to even think about watering, there are other self-watering methods called wick-watering. But be warned, this method can also result in unwanted results with too much or too little water. No matter what you do, be sure to talk to your plants every day. Significantly reduce the amount of indoor polution in your home: 3) Humor for Today:Mrs. Crabtree, the Sunday school teacher asked her students to draw a picture of their favorite Old Testament story. As she moved around the class she saw there were many wonderful drawings being done. Then she came across Little Johnny who had drawn an old man driving what looked like a station wagon. In the back seat were two passengers, both apparently naked. A bit shocked, Mrs. Crabtree regained her composure then said, "It's a lovely picture, but which story does it tell?" Little Johnny seemed surprised at the question. he answered, "Doesn't it say in the Bible that God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden?" 4) A Tall Fish Tale?
Source: Health Magazine (January/February 2002) 5) Baby Vegetable Garden Seeds:
This year we are offering something special for gardeners with small families and for senior citizens -- we call them Baby Vegetable Seeds. Almost all of these types are hybrids that have become the rage for specialty growers in "farmer's markets" in the United States and Canada. There is no doubt that Baby Vegetable Gardens will double this year. It was just a few years ago that hybridizers began working on how to develop larger size fruits and vegetables. In fact, at one time we got interested in trying to grow the largest pumpkin in the world. We never did win the top prize but, we did raise a "Big Mac" that weighted in at 473 lbs. Hybridizers have now changed their interest to growing miniature vegetables to meet the needs of senior citizens and gardeners who have small families. It is truly amazing what has happened. Here are a couple of recent developments. There is a farmer-hybridized cabbage that he named "Baby Head."
It is a unique cabbage that bears a round blue-green head that averages
about 1/2 the size of a normal cabbage head. The leaves are crisp and
sweet. The core is so small you will hardly notice it. It will keep
as well in your garden as it does in your refrigerator when the cabbage
matures. One of the latest rages for Chinese Cooking in the United States is
Baby Corn. But did you know that baby corn has long been known about
in China? This variety is best if you stagger the planting so the ears
will be ready within five days of silking. These very tiny ears are
excellent if used in boiled dinners. The Baby ears are very sweet and
tender when eaten whole. The ears may be frozen before cooking if you
wish. Feel free to click here to take a look at these interesting "Baby Vegetables." or visit http://www.rexseedco.com/baby.htm Click Image for Our Angels Gallery 6) Quote for Today:"If we would only give, just once, the same amount of reflection
to what we want to get out of life that we give to the question of what
to do with a two week's vacation, we would be startled at our false
standards and the aimless procession of our busy days." 7) Winter Damaged Shrubs and Trees:Two common winter damage problems for shrubs and trees are frost cracks and sunscald. But what about just plain cold temperatures causing stem dieback? If you have plants growing along the hardiness line for that plant, some winters you may end up with it being killed to the ground. If this happens to you, cut all the killed branches and stems way back before new growth begins in the spring. Late winter-early spring is the time to lightly prune away all damaged/dead wood and foliage. If you don't remove this dead stuff, you'll be opening your plant to wood-rottong organisms and other dead- tissue loving organisms. Eventually, these organisms will spread to the healthy parts of the plant. If the damage is beyond a point where your only alternative is to replace the plant, take serious consideration to not replacing it with the same thing. If you do, sure enough, in the future you'll have an "identical" winter and be in the same mess. Consider a more winter-hardy species to replace it with. 8) Do You Have the Time?When you have company, time is an interesting topic of conversation, sure to come up if you have a grandfather clock, an old mantle clock, or a sand timer.
You guessed it, that's where the nautical measurement of knots came from, as in knots per hour. 9) Subscribe/UnsubscribeThis newsletter, the Green Thumb Times, is sent out only to those who have requested a FREE subscription by signing up at http://rexseedco.com or specifically asked to be added PRIVACY: Your email address is held in the strictest of privacy. It is never traded or sold to anyone else. To subscribe to The Green Thumb Times To unsubscribe Tom Krueger, Editor and Publisher Rex Gregor, Contributing Editor Please feel free to forward The Green Thumb Times to a friend. Rex’s Seedco has searched the world for quality
growers of garden seeds. Many of these farmers bring together ancient
wisdom and modern science so people everywhere may have good health
and enjoyment in life. We are dedicated to providing the best wherever
they are found.
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In
November, December and January (Vol. 1, Issues 46 & 49 and Vol.
2, Issue 3) we had the first three parts of our watering series. We're
back to share more information on this critical subject.
We
don't know about you, but we've heard before that you should add fish
to your diet. We just found out from an article last year, that people
who consume fish on a regular basis are less likely to be depressed.
Scientists theorize that the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish may play
a role in lowering depression.
Did
you know that Rex's Seedco requires our growers to go through a rigorous
set of quality controls and germination trials before we offer their
seeds for sale? All our seeds are grown by well established seed farmers
and professional collectors.
Did
you know that the hourglass was the first "clock" not dependent
on the weather? It was originally used as part of a system to determine
the speed of a ship. That system included a rope tied with knots at
predetermined lengths which was attached to a piece of wood. They'd
toss the piece of wood into the water, and flip the hourglass. A sailor
loosely held onto the rope counting the number of knots that ran through
his fingers.