Zinnia Elegans is a gorgeous choice for gardens. Zinnia comes in a wide variety of colors, and its large, bright blooms really give a garden a sense of cheer. There are even varieties of zinnia that are as jumbo as three feet in height! Moreover, Zinnia Elegans can easily be grown from seeds. All these factors make Zinnia a very popular flower in gardens.
Collecting seeds of Zinnia Elegans is fairly easy. As the blooms fade, air dry the flowers by hanging them upside down.
(Left: Zinnia seeds that are not yet ripened Right: ripe Zinnia seeds)
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Gardening Tips, How To, Propagation
There is one thing we should keep in mind when fertilizing our plants – the more isn’t the better. Even though I knew this rule-of-thumb very well (I thought I did…) and practiced what I preached (for most of the time), recently, I’d over-fertilized my African violet – Frosted Denim – and burnt most of its flower buds 
Real Life Example of Bad Fertilizing Practice
A few weeks ago, my African violet – Frosted Denim – was growing beautifully with many flower buds. Since African violets like to be continually fertilized during their blooming period, I diligently fed mine in a regular basis with diluted fertilizer. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: African Violet, Fertilizer, Gardening Tips
In the gardening class which I took last weekend, I have learned how to transplant a tree. While I have never thought that transplanting a tree is an easy task, I wouldn’t expect that it could be quite difficult either (especially on a hot summer day). And here, I would like to share some key points of tree transplanting.
Root pruning can greatly increase the chances of successful transplanting, especially for big trees. We should prune the roots 3 months – 2 years in advance. By severing the roots at or just beyond the drip line of the tree to be moved, the long unbranched roots will be broken. This will prompt growth of new roots near the main trunk, compact the existing root system, and increase the tree’s chances of survival once it is moved. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Gardening Tips, How To
I bought a pot of Episcia (aka Flame Violet) seedling in October last year. Since then, it has been growing beautifully in my room, with its first flower blooming in April.
Thru some research, I have learned that Flame Violet can be propagated by stolon cuttings. This is my first time growing Flame Violet. Everything to me is new and interesting. And surely, I would like to try stolon propagation. While I was wondering when I should cut the stolons of my Flame Violet for my experiment, my dear brother accidently cut off two stolons from the plant with the rotor blades of his newly bought remote control helicopter. Ok. That’s great! At least I was saved from thinking too much more before taking any action. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Flame Violet, How To, Indoor Gardening 101, Indoor Plants, Potted Plants, Propagation
I bought my first pot of African violet a few months ago. While the newly acquired African violet is blossoming beautifully, I didn’t aware but only until another gardener pointed out to me that my African violet actually had multiple crowns.
As a curious gardening novice who like to try different things, I decided to take up this challenge and separate the crowns. It has been almost three months since I separated the crowns. Seeing that the separated crowns of my African violets are now growing healthily, I consider this “operation” as a successful one. And here, let me share with you how I did it.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: African Violet, Gardening Tips, How To, Indoor Gardening 101, Indoor Plants, Potted Plants
Tabletop garden – Black N Matching is not only an easy-to-make tabletop garden, but it is also a garden that is easy to maintain, making it a great gift for any of your self-claimed blackthumb friends.
Here, let me show you how to make this tabletop garden.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Container Gardening, Home Decor, Indoor Plants, Table Decorations, Tabletop Garden
We know that good drainage is the key to healthy plants, but the containers that we find most attractive are often the ones without drainage holes. But we can drill the drainage holes by ourselves, and it is much easier than what most of us would expect. All we need is an electric drill and steady hands.
And here, let me show you how to drill holes on our containers.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Container Gardening, Containers, Drainage, Gardening Tips, How To, Potted Plants
We know that good drainage is the key to healthy plants, but the containers that we find most attractive are often the ones without drainage holes. So, to broaden my choices of containers, I decided to go ahead and try to drill drainage holes in the containers by myself.
Because this was my first time drilling drainage holes, I chose a wooden Japanese bowl as my container for I knew that it would be much easier to drill holes on wood than on glass. And as expected, this was so easy.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Container Gardening, Home Decor, How To, Hydroculture, Potted Plants, Tabletop Garden
It is quite easy to do cutting propagation for coleus. Last month, I took four cuttings from my coleuses, and three of them have survived. I guess this wasn’t too bad for someone who propagated plant from cutting for the first time, and I have already started propagating my second batch of coleus cuttings a few days ago.
So here, let me show you how I do cutting propagation with my coleus.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Container Gardening, Gardening Tips, How To, Indoor Gardening 101, Potted Plants
For the sake of watering, I have kept all my plants in my tabletop garden – Bento Box in individual pots. By doing so, instead of watering the plants in my tabletop garden together all at once, I can pick and water only those that I find are thirsty.
With individual pots, watering my tabletop garden – Bento Box becomes an easy task. Here is how I water my tabletop garden – Bento Box.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Container Gardening, How To, Potted Plants, Tabletop Garden, Watering
Recent Comments