Growing Sunflower for Flowers and Seeds

Growing Sunflower for Flowers and Seeds Sunflowers (Helianthus spp.) or Helianthus as the correct plant name is an annual plant which derives their name from two Greek words, “helios” means the sun, and “anthos” means flower, hence, the name sunflower. They belong to the Asteraceae family with a unique characteristics of an aggregate of two different types of flowers, namely ray and disk flowers, which look like a single blossom. They are a native to the American continents.  Before this was domesticated, sunflowers were spread throughout the North and Central American continents growing wild. The use of sunflower for human consumption is known as early as the 29th century. The natives use sunflowers for ornamental and ceremonial use, as well as for food and flavoring. The seeds were prepared by grinding them to make flour, and sometimes mixed with beans, squash and corn to make a meal. Usually they pressed the seeds for oil and cracked open for the kernels.  Another use of sunflower seeds was to produce a purple dye used for decoration, face and body painting and on cloth. They also made oil out of sunflower seeds for both skin and hair care, and even the dried plant stalks were used as materials to construct building. Sunflowers consists of many types. Basically, they are separated by their sizes, such as giant type which grows to a height of over ten feet and miniature type that grows from two to four feet tall. The miniature type is gaining popularity in Asia as border plants. The mid-sized type are planted by gardeners to attract birds and some insects for pollination to other companion crops. Methods to grow sunflower Soil requirements. Sunflowers thrives best with a soil rich in organic materials especially if you’re growing the giant type. Being a deep rooted plant, they don’t withstand with a sandy soil since they’re easily uprooted by strong wind. Sunlight. To get good flower formation, you should plant them in an open field with sufficient sunlight distribution during the day. They may tolerate in shaded areas, however, there should be at least 4 – 6 hours of sunlight a day. Planting. The seeds should be sown directly to the field with the following spacing requirements: Giant type, 3 feet apart in rows 3-4 feet apart; Intermediate type, 2 feet apart in rows 3 feet apart; and Miniature type, 1 foot apart in rows 3 feet apart. Fertilizer needs. To promote a bigger size flowers, you should apply Phosphorous and Potassium fertilizers before the start of flowering stage. Pest and disease control. Being a hardy plant, sunflowers have no serious problem with insect pests. Only the birds and squirrels are sometimes the one that invades the flowers. Likewise, no disease has been found attacking sunflowers. Harvesting. For seed purposes, sunflowers are ready for harvest 80 -120 days after planting or sowing. There are also some specific time of maturity for variety you bought based on the labels specifications. The exact time for the seeds to be harvested is when the flower starts to die back and all the petals have fallen down. Cut the dried heads, leaving a few inches of the stalk, tie the stalks together then hang them in a shaded and ventilated space. Once they’re dried after a month, extract the seeds by rubbing the two loosed heads together to let the seeds comes out. For flower use as craft projects and  flower arrangements and bouquets, simply cut the flowers before they dried out and dry them for  a couple of weeks. Happy gardening!

Growing Lamb’s Ear Plant as Ground Cover

Growing Lamb’s Ear Plant as Ground Cover

Lamb’s Ear plant (Stachys byzantina), a native of Turkey, Armenia, and Iran with tow common names such as “lamb’s ear, or lamb’s ears”, a dusty gray plant and named from its fuzzy leaves, resembles the shape of real lamb’s ear. They are a herbaceous perennials grown for its silvery gray-green, color and texture of their soft suede foliage rather than their flowers.

They are  heat resistant ornamental plant classified as an herb also tolerates in a partial shade area during its growing period. If you intend to let them bear flowers,  they bloom in late spring to early summer, so you’ve to time your planting to reach the late spring to early summer season.

Most gardeners used this plant as borders from other flower and foliage plants and is ideal as ground cover and is recommended for children’s garden due to the soft feel characteristics of their foliage.

Growing Requirements

Sowing seeds. Prepare your germinating tray or seed box and fill them with the soil mix you prepared or bought from any agriculture store in your area. Sow the seeds 1 – 2 seeds in every hole. Water them until fully established.

Land preparation. Prepare the field where you’ll plant the seedlings. Using grab hoe, spade and shovel make plot beds. The length depends on the size of your area. Locate your plots in a open field exposed to full day sunshine. Mix compost and manure to the plots to enrich the soil.

Transplanting. When the seedling have at least two true leaves, transplant them in your prepared plots distanced at 60 – 80 cm between hills after frost have been over. Water them immediately not to get stressed after planting. Continue watering until they are fully established.

Note: Lamb’s ear can be also propagated by root cuttings to maintain their varietal characteristics over the seeds.

Mulching. Add a mulching materials around the plant base to maintain the soil moisture and to ward-off weeds interruption during the plants growing period. 

Plant maintenance. When the plants begin to spread, trim them to restrain the spread not to cover the entire area. If not trimmed, Lamb’s ear easily spread in the garden. By using a garden shear,  trim them regularly to regulate their spreading ability just enough to maintain them for ground cover purposes. Make the area well drained to make your Lamb’s ear grows vigorously and looks attractive as a ground cover.

Plant nutrition. Lamb’s Ear is a hardy plant, once they’re fully established and the soil have been supplied with compost and manure, they can withstand without fertilizer application.

Pest and disease control. Slugs, aphids and mealy bugs are the most common pests of Lamb’s Ear. They can easily be controlled by any insecticides. Or you may use a homemade insecticides by following this formulation; per gallon of water, mix 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons baking soda, and 2 tablespoons powdered laundry soap. Mix  the solution properly and spray directly into the affected plants. Continue until all are totally eradicated.

Powdery mildew is the only fungus disease that attacks Lamb’s Ear that causes some white spots on the leaves. To control them, apply a fungicides following the instructions on the label.

Happy gardening!

The Easiest Vegetables to Grow in a Garden

Growing your own vegetables in your garden is a tedious task, but worth rewarding and helps you supply with your own fresh organic vegetables required for your daily kitchen needs.

You need to investigate the condition of your soil, climate in your area what vegetables thrives best so that you’ll not waste your time and efforts planting them.

But for your guidance, I have listed here some most common vegetables that are easy to grow and does not need too much care, yet gives good yield.

·         Tomato. This nutritious vegetable can supply your nutritional needs since it’s rich with niacin, potassium, phosphorous, lycopene, carotene, anthocyanin, and vitamins A, C, and E.

Tomato is easy to grow. It tolerates in a full sunlight location with a soil pH between 6 – 7. It can be grown either in containers or directly in the plots.

·         Carrot. Rich in vitamin A, antioxidants and fiber, carrot is also a delicious as a fresh snack (eaten raw) or sometimes bake into a cake as snack items. It can be grown as a single crop or combined with other vegetables in your garden or plant as potted plant.

·         Beet. Also known as beetroot, it has a fleshy storage root eaten plain and boiled and combined in salad as ingredient. It carries with it a certain a primary nutrient called Betaine which known to improve cardiovascular health for those suffering from such ailment

It can be planted either in containers or directly into the field. When you decide to plant beet outdoor, the soil should be properly cultivated and make some plots and sow the seeds directly distanced at least two inches between hill. Maintain the moisture requirement  until maturity. 

·         Radish. Consist of existing in shades of red, purple and white, these root vegetables are a great source of potassium, folic acid, magnesium and calcium. They are commonly used as ingredient in salad dressings or as a garnish for salads.

Radishes tolerates in a 6 –  7 soil pH to produce a big size roots. Radishes are fast growers and are ready for harvest in several weeks. Don’t let them over mature since they deteriorate easily.

·         Zucchini.  This vegetable is rich with potassium, folate and manganese and low in calories. They can be eaten as boiled, fried or steamed. Others make them as stuffed and baked.

They grows will outdoors with plenty of sunlight to support their growth process to produce quality fruits.

·         Spinach. High in both iron and calcium, this green leafy vegetable is eaten plain, cooked in a quiche, used as a pizza topping and made into a chip dip. They grows best in the open field  with a well-drained rich soil.

·         Pepper. This favorite green, yellow, red or orange vegetables range in flavor from spicy to sweet are rich with thiamin, folate and manganese.  Peppers can be stuffed with rice and meat or give salads, salsa and pasta a zesty kick to add more for their yummy taste. They tolerates outdoors with the soil rich in compost and Emsom salts which will make it rich in magnesium to help the peppers develop healthily.

 

Water them frequently, keeping the soil moist, or they may taste bitter once harvested.

There are still other vegetables that are easy to grow, however, I only narrow it down to these listed here to give you some guide to start your own organic home vegetable garden.

Happy gardening!

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How to Establish Your Indoor Garden

How to Establish Your Indoor Garden Indoor gardening is simply growing of house plants that suits in areas without sunlight or partially shaded areas. There are a varieties of indoor plants you can select. You can use flowering plants or ornamental crops (non-flowering) which are grown for their foliage of varied colors, shapes, and sizes. Depending on your passion of which types you want, what is important is you’ve to study their characteristics and adaptability. You can grow succulents such as; cactus, bulbs, etc, or you can grow herb varieties. It’s up to you whatever is your desires, but always bear in mind that although they are indoor plants, they still needs some amount of sunlight for their photosynthesis. To give you some ideas which plants are ideal as indoor plants, here the lists you can select…  Aloe vera – this is a succulent type of indoor herbal plant.  Begonia – grown for their beautiful leaves. African violets – bears beautiful flowers.  Cactus – there are lots of cactus species you can select to fit your indoor needs. Amaryllis – This type of bulb plants are known for its attractive flowers.   Geranium – adapted in an indoor situation but needs some small amount of sunlight.  Bonsai plants – these plants are grown for their miniature appearance, ideal as a house plant. But you’ve to bring them out once in  a while to get sunlight. Impatiens – good for shade location. Known for its glossy leaves and attractive flowers.  Palm species – there are lots of these type you can select that fits your taste. Philodendrons – this is a vine type plant, you’ve to do trimmings when their vines are long enough to maintain their beauty. Ornamental pineapple – this is attractive when they’re already bearing small fruits. Ideal as an indoor plant.  Poinsettia – Called as Christmas plant, good for its attractive leaves sometimes false flowers.   Rubber plants – Grown for their attractive leaves. Sansevieria – This is ideal in shaded areas, but also needs small amount of sunlight once in a while. Herbal plants – There are lots of indoor herbal plants you can grow as houseplants. Some herbs that are ideal as indoor plants are; basil, parsley, chives, onion, garlic, and lots more. There are plenty of these indoor plants that you can use, depending on your knowledge of their growth, adaptability,  and maintenance. If you’re going to plant them, you’ve to plan them properly so that they will not catch the effect of frost in your area. But if you’re in the tropical climate, you’ve nothing to worry. I hope this will help you in your indoor gardening. Happy gardening!