Seed Saving - How to Save Money in an Organic Garden

 

How can we make sure that all the seed we sow in our organic gardens will germinate and give us plants? Wise gardeners store their seed, year after year, especially rare heirloom seeds. Of course, seed saving also saves money. But old seed often disappoints.

If in doubt about old seed, it's always wise to pre-germinate a test sample. Soak ten seeds overnight and lay them on damp kitchen paper in a warm place in a plastic bag. After a few days, count what percentage are showing signs of life. To do this scientifically you should use at least 100 seeds. But that might be your entire supply! Ten is good enough as a rough guide. oberon

Don't waste the seed that germinates, of course. Sink it in a pot of weak compost, with its growing tip just visible, and water - ideally - with diluted kelp solution. Kelp is a great help to any young seedling. namdhari seeds

If only 20% of your soaked seeds show life you'll know that - if you plant five seeds from your remaining supply in every module - there's a good chance at least one seed will germinate.

If nothing germinates from your seed test, the seed is clearly dead or uselessly dormant. Eat the remaining seed! For example, in granola or as a topping for home-baked bread, according to the seed type. Of course, not every vegetable seed is palatable or wise to eat, and obviously you'd shun commercially pre-treated seed. As the late John Seymour of self-sufficiency fame would tirelessly say: 'use that good old mother, Common Sense!' nativo fungicide

Seed viability is the true test

Around 75oF is the ideal germination temperature for almost any edible temperate plant. Aubergines, peppers, tomatoes, squash and other hot-climate plants prefer 85oF. But they'll still germinate well enough at 75oF. Either way, we'll know in around eight days if that batch of seed will give us eg. 75% germination or just 15% germination. Or none. bayer pesticides

Then, when we sow it en masse, we can adjust the quantities of seed accordingly, as we've seen. That advice saves a lot of wasted time, but... it's limited.

Why? Under ideal germination conditions, we might get, for example, 50% germination of parsnip seed that has been saved very well but is several years old. Textbooks say you cannot germinate the seed of parsnips, lovage, angelica and other umbellifers if it's much more than one year old and has been stored at room temperature. bayer products

(That said, seed is full of surprises. One year I grew a large plot of parsnips, and a lot of other umbellifers too, from seed that was verifiably five years old and had been kept in my sock drawer.)

Why indoor seed germination can give misleading results

If you germinate the seed of umbellifers, and several other plant species indoors, the results can be misleading. Because parsnips don't take kindly to transplanting. They have to be planted in situ, outdoors. So how can we test their likely performance outdoors without wasting a lot of seed? syngenta seeds

Answer: test the germination of such seeds in sub-optimal conditions. The kind they'll actually meet - outdoors. Scatter your seed on damp kitchen paper but put it for eight days in a cool, dark place with harshly fluctuating temperatures, say, from just above freezing to 28oC. Or whatever represents the true conditions in your garden. lancer gold

For example, your garage in spring? Any seedlings that emerge will give you an index to the true percentage viability of that seed! You can now sow the balance of the seed outdoors with confidence. (Or not.)

Develop your own new heirloom vegetable variety!

Here's another benefit of testing seed under challenging conditions. If you pre-germinate seed under those conditions, and plant out only the seedlings that survive, you will get very sturdy plants indeed. When they grow, save the seed from them. Provided they are open-pollinated (ie. not F1 or other hybrids), and you save the seed from them year on year, and grow it on, you may go on to develop - and stabilise - your very own unique variety. One that is acclimatised just to your micro-climate.

Lo, you have become a plant developer! And your stabilised cultivar is now on its way to becoming a legitimate 'new heirloom'. Your very own.

Container Gardening - Tips For Growing Healthy Tomatoes in Containers

 

There are few things as lovely as slicing into a large, ripe and juicy tomato from your very own home garden. If you live in a high-rise apartment building, or simply don't have a yard in which to garden, don't worry. This does not mean that you are unable to grow your own tomatoes. There are several types of fruits and vegetables that grow successfully in pots, and tomatoes definitely make this list. Here are ten tips for successfully growing tomatoes in containers: upl products

(1) Select a container- Pretty much any type of container can be used to grow tomatoes, as long as it is at least 4 inches deep and about 12 inches in diameter. You can use some pretty ceramic flower pots, plastic garbage cans, or just some recycled coffee tins. The one thing you must insure is that the pots have adequate drainage. You do not want your tomato plants to sit in swampy soil. Make sure that each pot has at least three drainage holes at the bottom. ridomil gold

(2) Purchase your seeds- It makes sense to acknowledge that if you want good quality tomato fruits, you must start with good quality seeds. Do not just grab the first packet that you see at the local convenience store. Seeds must be stored properly to grow well, and it is unlikely that discount store seeds have been kept in ideal conditions. There are thousands of different varieties from which to choose, in different sizes, shapes, flavors, and colors. You can pick whatever variety suits your tastes. Just make sure that your seeds come from a reputable source. I highly recommend selecting open-pollinated heirloom seeds. These are essentially seeds in their purest form. Plus, heirloom tomatoes have the best flavor and texture. Alternately, you can purchase tomato plant seedlings at your local nursery. But starting from seed allows you to know exactly where your tomato plants are coming from, and also lessens your chance of transplanting a diseased plant. rasi seeds

(3) Start your tomato plants- You can start your seeds indoors as early as mid-March or April. The process of "starting seeds" refers to allowing the tomato seeds to germinate before transplanting them into their long-term home, the larger pot that you have selected. To start your tomato seeds, prepare small pots, such as those made from small milk cartons, egg cartons, or Dixie cups. Fill them with high-quality sterile potting soil mix. Place one seed in each pot and gently cover it with soil. Moisten the soil of each pot with a spray bottle of water. Cover these with plastic wrap, and place them in a safe, warm place, such as on top of your refrigerator. At the germination stage, tomato seeds do not need sunlight. But you will need to make sure the soil stays slightly moist. seeds online

(4) Transplant your tomato plants- When your seedlings have sprouted and grown leaves, it is time to transplant your plants. Prepare your pots by filling them with a good quality potting soil mix. A good mix consists of one part each of organic potting soil, perlite, sphagnum peat moss, and natural compost. This creates an ideal balance of nutrients, a loamy texture, and conditions for proper soil drainage. After you've transplanted your tomato plant, add a layer of mulch on top of the soil to help the soil to retain moisture. Place your pot in a place where it will receive full sunlight and protection from the wind. By the time you place it outside, the threat of frost at night should have passed. If not, you may want to cover your pot with a sheet, or bring it inside at night until the threat passes. oberon

(5) Establish a watering regimen- Potted plants dry out a lot more quickly than plants in the ground do. Allow the soil to become dry to the touch between waterings. But make sure to water them frequently. Ideally, a handful of your potted soil should clump together in your hand when you squeeze it, then fall apart when you poke it. If water drips out between your fingers when you squeeze the soil, you are watering too much. namdhari seeds

(6) Encourage them to grow strong- As your plants grow, give them a little shake, or gently drag a stick across the surface of their leaves. This will help the plants to grow sturdy stems and to develop the strength to resist many plant diseases. nativo fungicide

(7) Inspect them daily- The best way to keep your plants healthy is to check them every day for signs of insects or disease. This way, you can act quickly at the very first sign of a problem. If a tomato plant acquires pests, don't panic and douse the plant with pesticides. Simply pull the pests off with a gloved hand. As your tomato plants flower, pick off a few of the buds here and there. Again, this will help your plants to develop rigor and produce lots of fruit. Once your fruits begin to ripen, you should also make sure not to leave them to rot on the vine, as this will attract pests. bayer pesticides

(8) Fertilize your plants- Tomatoes need a variety of nutrients such as phosphate, nitrogen, potash, calcium and magnesium. So it is wise to supplement your plants with a liquid fertilizer about once every two weeks. Be careful not to use a harsh chemical fertilizer, since this can adversely effect your tomatoes. For example, a plant that receives too much nitrogen will grow tall and leafy but will produce little to no tomatoes. A good, reputable and all-natural liquid fertilizer that is well recommended is Protogrow. This will help your tomato fruits to grow abundantly. bayer products

(9) Stake your plants- Tomatoes are climbing plants, so it is a good idea to stake them for support. It is recommended that you include the stake in your pot at the time of transplant, rather than add it in later and risk disrupting the plant's root system. You can use a conventional tomato cage, or just a wooden stake or piece of PVC pipe. If needed, you can gently tie your tomato plant to the stake for support using an old pair of women's pantyhose. syngenta seeds

(10) Harvest your fruits- Some people rely on color to tell when a tomato should be picked. But some types of heirlooms remain yellow or green when fully ripe, so color is not a good indicator. A tomato is ready to be picked when it is glossy, has even color, and the skin is smooth, taut, and waxy looking. Once you reach the early fall, about one month before the first frost is expected, you should cut all the remaining flowers off of your tomato plant. This way, the plant can focus its energy and resources on ripening the existing fruits rather than producing new ones. lancer gold

How To Grow Orange Seeds - Some Useful Tips

 

A smart botanist always takes care to grow oranges outdoors in warmer climates and indoors in cooler climates. Oranges that are grown for commercial purpose are grown in huge groves where there is accessibility of plenty of water. The top three orange producing countries in the world are Mexico, Brazil and the United States. syngenta seeds

If a planter is interested in growing oranges right from the seed, the best way is to get top quality seeds from the local nursery. In case, the planter wishes to grow the seeds from an orange fruit which he finds particularly good, then he should try planting the seeds in the correct procedure and temperature. lancer goldss

Oranges are tropical and subtropical fruits and so grow well in both these climates. Therefore, there is an explosive rush among the growers to grow quality oranges that are the best in breed, taste and size. antracols

Firstly, if a grower is a novice in the field, he should pick the ripest of the fruits and remove the seeds taking good care not to damage them. Then the seeds should be dried in the Sun and each seed should be planted in separate pots. When planting the seeds, it is important to see that the pointed end of the seed is looking up and facing the Sun. After a week, the seeds germinate and will slowly start coming out of the soil. mahycos

It is always advisable to plant a seed in a pot rather than straight in a soil because we can have more control over it. It helps us to take care of it well and the sight of all the steps of germination is truly a wonderful sight. When the seeds start germinating we can see tiny green shoots coming out from the germinating plant. madhulika

Until it reaches a height of two feet, the plant can be grown inside the pot itself. When the plant is full grown to a length of two feet and above it can be safely transplanted to the soil. Orange trees need a lot of sunshine therefore, care should be taken to see that they are planted in a ground where there are not many other trees. They should also not be planted under the shade of any other big trees. saaf fungicide

Each tree should be planted at least ten feet apart. A full grown orange tree is about fifty feet high and therefore huge. The most important thing needed for the proper growth of an orange tree is sunlight.

How to Propagate Orchid Seeds

 

Orchids are extremely difficult to propagate from seed. Most orchids that are propagated from seed are propagated in a laboratory setting. First of all, total sterility is needed. Secondly, orchid seed is almost like dust - it's that tiny. Other seeds have food within them to sustain the new seedling. This is not true of orchid seeds. Special techniques must be used to keep the plant alive during the earliest stages of its development. Orchid seeds also need a symbiotic fungus to germinate. It can take three to five years from germination for an orchid plant grown from seed to bloom. oberon

If you're going to go to all the trouble to propagate from seed be sure to hand pollinate your orchid. There's no sense in spending years waiting for an orchid to bloom only to discover it isn't what you thought it was. Make sure, if you're hoping to grow a wonderful new hybrid that you are absolutely sure of the parentage of the orchids you will be using. The best place to get them is from very reputable suppliers. namdhari seeds

You will need someplace to create a sterile environment - perhaps some sort of box that you can sterilize. You will also need a spray bottle that's 10% bleach and soap solution (bleach and dish detergent), latex gloves, a 500ml beaker, flasks with one hole rubbers stoppers, some sterile cotton to fill the holes in the stoppers, something to label with, a pressure cooker or an autoclave, razor blades, a toothbrush, a syringe, some bamboo skewers, aluminum foil, a grow room, a tray, a gallon of distilled water and growing medium. Make sure that the growing medium works for the kind of orchid you are attempting to propagate from seed. nativo fungicide

Once you have a ripe seed pod, which can take three to six months, you need to clean it with the bleach and soap mixture using a toothbrush while wearing latex gloves. Then put it in the sterile box (you can sterilize that with the bleach and soap mixture as well). Put medium in the sterile flasks and lay them sideways. Cut the pod open with the razor blade. Keep the pod on a paper towel and, using skewers, remove some of the seeds from inside the pod and then wipe them on the medium in each flask. Don't put in too many seeds. They are very, very tiny. bayer pesticides

Add some distilled water (about 30 ml) to each flask and put the rubber stopper in the flask. Make sure that the hole is covered with cotton. Cover the ends with foil and label each flask. bayer products

Place the flasks in the grow room. Check for possible contamination every few days. If one of the flasks is contaminated the medium will be streaked and the water will be murky.

You may not actually see any plants growing for up to a year! Once the seedlings are too big for the flasks you can remove them and plant them in trays of medium.

How to Buy Herb Seeds Online

 

Buying vegetable seeds online is not an easy take, even though there are hundreds of websites selling products online. In an ideal world, all the seeds you need would be available at the same place, there would be customer friendly guarantees and delivery would be at the speed of light! But, in the real world, things happen differently. madhulika

You identify a reputed seller only to discover that they do not cover your area or they do not have the heirloom seeds you're after, or they are too expensive or the seller has run out of wholesale. saaf fungicide

Top tips to buy herb seeds online:

1.Find out if the website that is selling bulk seeds is legit. Not many websites are. In many parts of America, gardening is big business and scammers know that. Investigate the store before you buy anything. upl products

2.Find out if the online garden store has a good reputation. Do they belong to an association? Search the seller's website for feedback, testimonials and grievances about the services offered by the seller. If their record appears to be clean, that's a good thing! References and referrals are a great way of estimating the worth of the vendor. ridomil gold

3.Does the website offering wholesale products offer you any guarantees? Many a time, it happens that the items you want may not be in stock at the time of delivery. What does the vendor offer to do in such circumstances? Do they have a warranty on the seeds they sell? These are important considerations. You must have a definite idea of what will happen if you are not satisfied with the bulk vegetable seeds you receive. rasi seeds

4.Before you buy herb seeds online, compare prices. While it is not advisable to choose the cheapest, you do not have to buy from the most expensive vendor either. When you check prices, do not forget to factor in shipping charges too. Some websites offer great seasonal discounts. See if you can cash in on these offers. upl online

Once you have sufficient information about the store selling any item online, it is time for you to plan your purchase. It is easy to get carried away when you see all those colorful pictures. But, many plants may not grow if buy without planning. seeds online

Make an estimate of what you need instead of what you dream of having. To look beautiful, your landscape must have the right combination of colors and spacing. So, before you go and buy seeds online, make sure that you want the seeds and you have the space to accommodate them! vnr seeds

How to Make a Home Made Weight Loss Energy Drink

 

The world is full of people with energy drinks and weight loss programs. The thing that most of those programs have in common is that you have to sign up for them and, for most of them; they want you to buy their foods and pay their monthly fees. Yes, sometimes they just have an enrolment fee because they know they are going to get your money with the meal plan, but in any case, you are going to be paying for it. bayer products

And the energy drinks that are on the market? Everyone knows that a lot of them on the market had ma huang in them and that was like supercharged caffeine that caused a few deaths until it was made illegal. So now many of them have regular old caffeine in them, which can cause heart palpitations or increased blood pressure. Some of the newer items tell you that you will get five hours of energy or even eight hours of energy from anti-oxidants or whatever. I've tried them, and I'm not sure how much they really impacted me or how much of the impact may have been psychological, like the placebo effect, but something 'new' has come along that you may not have heard about. syngenta seeds

When I say new, I really mean new to me, but it's been around for a long, long time. As a matter of fact this was considered a 'wonder food' of the Aztec Empire. And it's something we've all heard about in another application: Chia. That's right chia, just like that chia pet you (or someone you knew) had twenty years ago. Those tiny little seeds can help you to gain energy and lose weight and they have even more benefits than that. This almost sounds like an  wait there's more. If you order right now... chia also has essential fatty acids - Omega-6 and Omega-3's which are so essential to your health. lancer gold

So what's the story, how do you get them and what do you do with them? Pretty much anywhere you can get them on the internet, and most well stocked health food stores will also have them. For the best usage and most health benefit, you can simply take two tablespoons of the seeds (fresh seeds not toasted or roasted or anything) and put them in a cup of water and stir that up and let it sit for about ten minutes. This is sort of weird, I'll be the first to admit, but the seeds will cause the water to become a bit congealed after those ten minutes. Add a couple of tablespoons of fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice to that, along with a bit of honey (to taste) and shake that up and then drink it. antracol

It doesn't taste like much to be honest with you, but does give you a good boost of energy for a few hours with no crash at the end. It's totally healthy and also filling, so if you take that prior to a meal, you will eat less. I recommend taking that about twenty minutes prior to a run or a workout at the gym. This is a healthy alternative to caffeine and it's easy to make. The seeds are very inexpensive and last a long time. One pound equals about 70 servings, so for me that's a two month supply. mahyco

The Difference Between Hybrid and Heirloom Vegetable Seeds

 

Many people say the difference between hybrid and heirloom vegetable seeds make the hybrid seeds clearly superior. They have a valid argument, yet heirloom seeds have redeeming qualities that make them valuable to many gardeners and even some farmers.

The difference between hybrid and heirlooms seeds.

1. Hybrid Seeds. Hybrid vegetable seeds are created by crossing two varieties of the same species of vegetable. The resulting seeds are often referred to as F1 and have the best qualities of both parent varieties. oberon

Hybrid varieties are normally grown for their high yield and disease resistance.

With hybrid varieties you don't want to save the seeds, the resulting plants won't have much in common with the parents and will likely be poor performers in the garden. If the seeds from hybrid plants performed well, they would become an open pollinated variety that is no longer a hybrid. namdhari seeds

2. Heirloom Seeds. Heirloom vegetables seeds are old varieties of seed, while open pollinated varieties are younger. I'm going to be referring to open pollinated seeds as heirloom seeds in the rest of this article, heirlooms have become more common today than open pollinated. nativo fungicide

Heirloom vegetables seeds can be saved from year to year, ideally producing plants that are becoming better adapted to the conditions in your garden, or producing a crop that you find more desirable, over multiple generations. bayer pesticides

There is one thing that makes heirlooms very valuable, their nutrient content is often higher than hybrid varieties.

In the end, every gardener must decide what varieties of plant you want to grow. Keep the difference between hybrid and heirloom seeds in mind and you will be better prepared to make the decision.