How To - Gardening Techniques

Gardening Techniques

Pot Plant with Crystal Soil Hydroculture Potted Plants Wrap Pot or Roots with Moss Watering Plants in Cyrstal Soil
Water Tabletop Garden Plant Propagation - Coleus Gardening Techniques - Drill Drainage Hole African Violet Care - Seperate Crowns
Propagate Flame Violet by Cuttings How to Transplant Trees

Zinnia Elegans: Collecting and Saving Seeds

December 3, 2009 in Gardening Techniques | 2 comments

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 and Saving Zinnia Elegans Seeds

Collecting seeds of Zinnia Elegans is fairly easy. As the blooms fade, air dry the flowers by hanging them upside down.

Collecting and Saving Zinnia Elegans Seeds Collecting and Saving Zinnia Elegans Seeds

(Left: Zinnia seeds that are not yet ripened  Right: ripe Zinnia seeds)

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Plant Fertilizer – When More Isn’t Better

October 29, 2009 in African Violet, Gardening Techniques | 3 comments

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 :(

African Violet Care - Fertilizer African Violet Care - Fertilizer

African Violet Care - Fertilizer African Violet Care - Fertilizer

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 »

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Transplanting a Tree

September 3, 2009 in Gardening Techniques | 4 comments

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.

Transplanting a Tree

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 »

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Propagate Flame Violet by Cutting

July 15, 2009 in Episcia (Flame Violet), Gardening Techniques | 1 comment

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.

Propagate Flame Violet by Cuttings

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 »

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African Violet Care – How to Separate Crowns

July 10, 2009 in African Violet, Gardening Techniques | 14 comments

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.

African Violet Care - Seperate Crowns

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Drilling Drainage Holes by Ourselves

May 19, 2009 in Gardening Techniques | 14 comments

Drill Garden Container Drainage Hole 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.

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Plant Propagation from Cuttings – Coleus

May 4, 2009 in Gardening Techniques | 14 comments

Plant Propagation - ColeusIt 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.

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How to Water Tabletop Garden – Bento Box

March 17, 2009 in Gardening Techniques | No comments

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.Watering Indoor Plants

With individual pots, watering my tabletop garden – Bento Box becomes an easy task. Here is how I water my tabletop garden – Bento Box.

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How to Wrap Pots or Roots with Moss

March 5, 2009 in Gardening Techniques | No comments

Tabletop Garden - Bento BoxWhen we make our tabletop garden, due to different reasons, we may want to keep our plants in individual pots. And if some of these pots cannot be fully hidden inside the garden container, we will want to wrap and cover them with moss. And sometimes, with the limited space in our tabletop garden, we may want to take the plants out from their pots and wrap only the roots and soil with moss as well. In this way, the moss holds the roots and soil together, acting more or less like a container for the plants.

Wrapping the pots or roots of a plant with moss is actually quite easy. I was actually quite surprised when I did it for the first time and found  how easy it really was. I was like, “wow! That’s it?”  So, believe me, it is probably easier than what you have thought.

Here is how to wrap pots or roots with moss.

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Watering Plants in Crystal Soil

February 26, 2009 in Crystal Soil, Gardening Techniques | No comments

A  few days ago, a friend asked me how often and how much should she water her plants when planting in crystal soil.  I would say we should add water to the crystal beads whenever the beads shrink to around half of its size or to a size that cannot stably hold up the plants anymore.

Watering Plants in Cyrstal Soil

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