Friday, January 8, 2010

Quick Garden tips for the New Year

Watering tips-
Sandy soils need more frequent watering then clay soils. Also soils that are more sandy do not hold as much nutrients. Any easy way to tell if your soil is more sandy or clay is to get it wet and run your fingers through it. If the soil feels smooth it is mostly clay. If it feels grainy it is mostly sand. Many things can be added to sandy soil to make it hold more water and nutrients: http://shop.simplyhydro.com/Soil-Amendments_c_96.html also many things can be added to clay soils to make them lighter: http://shop.simplyhydro.com/Growing-Mediums_c_15.html perlite and hydroton clay pellets are the most popular.

It is better to apply water over an extended amount of time then a quick burst. When water is applied to fast soil/media does not have sufficent time to absorb the water resulting in most of the water running to waste.

Plants need certain elements to grow and live healthy lives. These elements are: Boron, Calcium, Carbon, Chlorine, Copper, hydrogen, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Molybdenum, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sulfer, Zinc, (Sodium, silicon provide benefits to plants in some situations). Carbon, oxygen and hydrogen are often not considered when talking about plant nutrition because they are provided by the air. Sulfur, Phosphorus, Potassium, Calcium, Nitrogen and Magnesium are called macro nutrients and are usually required in higher levels. The other elements are only needed in lower levels and are considered micro nutrients.

Home Made Nutrients-
I have heard a alot of talk about adding ammonia to water and applying to plants. I would not recommend this for any gardener. Ammonia is basically nitrogen. Problem is ammonia is gas dissolved in water. Because of that the ammonia could be a concentration of between 3-10 percent ammonia. If your ph is over 7 you will release aqueous ammonia a substance that is toxic to plants. It is impossible to find a relieable mixing ratio for ammonia.

NPK stands for Nitrogen, Phosphorus and potassium. Nitrogen is important to plant growth. Phosphorus is great for recently planted or starter plants. Phosphorus stays in the soil pretty well. But the smaller plants that need it do not have much of a root system for retreiving it. SO better results are acheived by applying it to the plants. When you add phosphorus to plants that are older they do not use it so it is either stored in the soil for later use or it washes into streams and lakes polluting them.

Do not use beer in your garden. Beer contains ethanol that will burn or kill your plants. Ethanol inhibits plant growth and encourages the growth of bad bacteria.

Chealtes are chemicals found in chemicals like liquid iron. Chelates bond to chemicals like iron and maganese allowing it to be absorbed by plants even when the soil ph level is to high for them. Chelates are easily washed out so they need to be reapplied frequently. Many need to be reapplied at a rate of once every 4 -8 weeks.

Look for more quick garden tips for the new year coming soon.

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