Backyard Oasis: Indoor Houseplant diseases

 

With the Backyard Oasis either setting in snow or temperatures being colder in many areas, people have turned back to indoor gardening. One of the most popular forms of indoor gardening is raising houseplants.

Plants were mean to be grown outdoors, but people enjoy plants and have adapted them to live indoors. When we bring them inside and plant them in small pots, we need to remember it’s a shock to the plant and must be done with care.

Indoor environments are also a place where fungus and other plant diseases thrive, making indoor plants susceptible to a variety of diseases. By tending your plants carefully you will notice if the plant has a problem and cure the cause.

Two common problems to watch for on indoor plants

Root rot is the most common of the diseases of indoor plants. There are two types of root rot, wet and dry. Wet rot begins at the tip of the root and moves to the stem. The roots will become brown or black and the outer layer may become so mushy it will fall off. Dry rot appears as reddish brown lesions right on the soil line.

The most common cause of root rot is improper drainage and the roots having to sit in water. With proper planning this problem is easy to solve. I always sit all my plants on trays or dishes with decorative pebbles. This will help with drainage and will also supply additional humidity around the plant.

Fungus infections are also a  common disease of indoor plants. Listed below are several types of fungal infections.

• Anthracnose, which has small lesions with a raised, edge that form on the leaf or stem.
• Cephalosporium affects young leaves with small red spots that have dark edges. The leaves will turn yellow and drop off.
• Cercospora has tiny pinpoint size lesions that will form on the backside of the leaves.
• Fusarium leaf spot attacks the plant where it is growing and it can completely rot away. It has yellow or red round spots. It’s a more difficult fungus to notice.

Cutting away and burning the affected parts and using a fungicide can cure most fungus infections.

By providing proper lighting, clean soil and clean potting containers you can prevent most plant rot and fungal problems.

I try to repot my plants in the spring. This lets me change the soil, clean the pot and check the roots to see if they are healthy.

Also, if you clean your plant leaves once a month you will notice if the plant has any health problems.

There are three other indoor plant problems. They will be covered in a future article

How to Control Moles in Your Lawn

 

If your lawn is being taken over by moles, there is a pretty good chance that you have lawn grubs. Moles love to feed on grubs! Because lawn grubs are a great food source for moles, taking control of the moles in your yard is going to require getting rid of the grubs.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Step 1

First, you need to understand what lawn grubs are. Grubs are the larvae that eventually turns into Japanese Beetles and moles love it! If you have moles, they are in your lawn, because your lawn is providing them with food!

Step 2

To get rid of the moles, get rid of lawn grubs, use a product called BT. This is a eco friendly product that will not harm your lawn, or others in your lawn - including people, pets, and birds. Read the article on getting rid of lawn grubs and Japanese Beetles that is listed in the resource section for information on getting rid of these pests!

Step 3

If you have a very aggressive mole or the mole won't leave even when the Lawn Grubs are gone, you can try a few other methods for getting rid of them. The first step is to figure out which of the tunnels they are using the most. To do this, look for a straight area of runway in your lawn and then stomp on it with your foot. If there are moles in that area, they will repair their tunnel very quickly.

Step 4

Once you've found an area where moles are active, you can trap them using live traps or traps that will kill them. You can buy traps at your local lawn and garden center or online. Of course, if you use this method you will have to dispose of the live or dead mole.

Step 5

Another option for getting rid of moles is to try to flood them out of their holes. If you find a tunnel that you know the moles are using, stick a hose into the tunnel and let the water run. Hopefully the mole will eventually come out of the ground to escape from the flood. Once he's out, you'll have to catch him and get rid of him!

Need more help with lawn care? Contact Handy Landscaping Services Lawn Care

Tips & Warnings

Get rid of the lawn grubs and chances are the moles will leave soon after! They want to eat!!

CONTAINER GARDENING - GREAT WAY TO GROW YOUR OWN FRESH, HEALTHY VEGETABLES IN A SMALL SPACE

Fertilizer - An Important Part of Growing Vegetables

Using the wrong fertilizer or using the right ones the wrong way can cause your vegetable garden to suffer.  For proper plant care you need to be careful not to overuse them. This is especially true if you use slow-release fertilizers.

These are designed to slowly release their nutrients into the soil over a period of time. If you apply them too often, your garden can be over-fertilized. Always read the directions for the fertilizers you are using on your plants. In many cases, they will suggest how often to apply them.

The right fertilization technique is important to healthy plants

Fertilizers are made up of three nutrients :

1. Nitrogen
2. Phosphorus
3. Potassium

Fertilizers are rated by the amount of each of these nutrients. Commercial fertilizers will have a number such as 10-10-10 which indicates how much of each nutrient it contains. Specifically, what this means is a 100 lb bag would contain 10 lbs of nitrogen (the 1st number), 10 lbs of phosphorus (the 2nd number) and 10 lbs of potassium (the 3rd number). The best combination for proper care will depend on the garden plants you want to grow.

Nitrogen helps with leaf and stem growth, phosphorus helps with fruit growth and development of a strong root system, and potassium helps to make the plant stronger. When you plant your vegetable garden, a complete fertilizing will help get it going. Once it has begun to grow, for the best care you need to be careful not to over-fertilize with nitrogen. Too much nitrogen can cause the plant to put its energy into creating leaves and stem growth, and not fruit growth, which can lead to a low-yielding plant.



Read Also:Container Gardening - Great Way to Grow Your Own Fresh, Healthy Vegetables in a Small Space

When you're buying fertilizers, consider that you are going to be eating those vegetables that it's being used on. You should use environmentally responsible and/or organic fertilizers for your own sake.

Fertilization and vegetable care tips:

• If you are using a water-soluble fertilizer, make sure your garden is well-watered before applying it.
• Before planting your vegetable gardens, and before applying any fertilizers, make sure you are starting with fertile soil. Vegetable gardens use a lot of nutrients from the soil, so if you plant in the same location each year, you should mix in some organic matter before you start planting.
• If you are using manure, use well-aged manure. Do not use fresh manure.

Get More Gardening Tips Here

Why Build a Compost Bin?

Getting perfect soil to grow things in is part of the hardest work the gardener has. Adding compost to your soil feeds and replenishes it, and composting isn’t difficult to learn. If you build compost bin in your garden, you’ll be helping to create a perfect growing environment because you’ll be more likely to use organic compost if you make it yourself! If you don’t want to go to the trouble of making a bin, why not just try creating a compost pile. The soil doesn’t mind where the compost is being made!

It’s possible to buy compost from garden supplies merchants, but this is expensive, especially if it’s organic compost – and you will still need to buy compost for at least a year until your home produced compost is usable.

To create a compost area, designate a small part of your garden and perhaps place a piece of fencing around it just to keep it neat, or a compost screen, if you can build one specially for the purpose. Make it have a little door flap that can open at the bottom so that you can insert your fork or space to take compost out to use. Then pile all of the garden debris in that area. It will rot, breakdown and become organic compost over time.

Kitchen Leftovers Also Add to the Compost

Any kitchen waste should also be taken down to the compost area to add to the garden waste. You can use special composting bags if you don’t want this to go on the compost as it is, then the bags go onto the compost and everything degrades together.

It will take about a year for to build usable compost but your soil will be more productive for using it once the compost starts to take shape.

Compost Bin Plans Make Easy Guides

Compost Bin Plans Make Easy Guides

The compost bin plans can be found in gardeners supply catalogues, gardening magazines or online, in a wide variety. Common and simple ones to build consist of a wooden box which basically surrounds your compost pile. Several bin plans that follow give a sampling of how one can get started with composting immediately. Planning for a space in your yard will take into consideration certain factors.

The first would be, how far do you want to walk to put your yard and kitchen scraps into the bin? If you make a bin with a cover, you will have a better ability to keep the bin nearer to the house. How much compost will you need for your garden in one season? This is the question you want to determine the answer to prior to deciding which plan to use.

Easy Variety In Plans

The pallet plan for a compost bin is one very simple way to assemble a compost bin that will encase your piling of compost material. The retail companies that use the wooden pallets for moving freight often have pallets to discard that they let go of for free since the pallets don’t last forever. The ones for your compost bin do not have to be in pristine shape.

The size of your compost piles does not have to be as large as the square that the four wooden pallets will end up making. You can simply tie the four corners of the pallets with rope, wire or chain. For a pretty effect, tie the compost bin with large twine nautical rope. If you use five pallets, making the fifth one the floor of your compost bin, you will increase the air flow to the bin, helping to cook your compost more rapidly.

As a soil conditioner, the compost that is made by your compost piles will save you money and give your plants nutrients. It encourages organic gardening, making soil testing less necessary as you have taken measures to add nutrients to your vegetable gardens.

Why Build a Compost Bin?

Compost bins or a simple compost pile can supply great "food" for your vegetable garden

There are many choices for compost bins. You can build your own or buy commercial bins. If your needs are modest, a compost pile might be all you need. Compost bins tend to keep your compost materials out of sight more than a compost pile, but either one can work.

When choosing compost bins, you'll find there are many sizes and shapes of ready-made bins. Some of them are even modular so as you add compost pile them on top of each other to make them bigger. 

You can build compost bins or containment for your compost pile out of common materials. Compost bins can be built out of common lumber, but if you choose this option it's best to use treated wood so it will be less likely to rot. If you decide to use a compost pile, a simple wooden box around it is really enough to keep it contained. Just make sure you can get at it with a shovel fairly easily so you can turn it every so often.

When building your compost bins, make sure there is adequate airflow. Ideally, you want to build it with gaps between the boards to allow air to get at the whole compost pile.

You can also buy activators that you add to your compost bin to help break down the compost pile quicker. To find some sources for bins, a compost screen or more information about how to compost, take a look at our garden accessories page.

Compost Bin Plans Make Easy Guides