What is the Function of Sulfur (S) in Plants?In a past article about minerals in soil, we discussed proper soil nutrition and explained that plants take essential nutrients from the soil in order to thrive in their environment. One of these nutrients — a macronutrient to be precise — is sulfur, which healthy plants take in larger amounts from the soil. In this piece, we'll talk about what exactly sulfur does for plants and what to do in the event of a sulfur deficiency. How Does Sulfur Affect Plant Growth? Buy Organic Sulfur Powder...
How Do Synthetic and Organic Fertilizers Compare?Knowing the type of fertilizer to apply to your garden can be a little tricky. With the number of choices available, how are you to decide which is most suitable for your garden? An easy place to start is by considering the two main categories of fertilizer: organic and synthetic. While most might think organic is always the way to go, there are some instances where synthetic might be a better choice for your plants. Read on to learn the differences between synthetic and organic fertilizer, h...
7 Ways to Make Your Garden More SustainableHaving an ecofriendly garden gives you fresh produce and can be a source of joy and relaxation when tending it. We've collected our 7 best garden tips to help you make your plants healthier, have a higher yield, and allow you to have a sustainable home garden. 1. Commit to Organic Using organic fertilizer helps create a sustainable environment for your herbs, flowers, and vegetables. When you opt for a chemical-free fertilizer, you're creating a chemical-free environment and producin...
Should You Grow in a Straw Bale Garden?Straw bale gardening is a technique that uses bunches of straw as hosts for growing plants. This method of cultivation is built like a raised bed garden - above ground with the exception that you use straw bales in place of soil. Find out how you can create your own straw bale garden, the pros and cons of it and what you can grow with this gardening method. Which Type of Straw is Needed? To make a beautiful, healthy garden you need good, firm straw bales. Wheat, rice or barley are good choic...
How to Nourish Your Soil in the WinterIn most climates, planting seasons are cyclical. This means that during an off or dormant season, you should just leave your soil alone, right? Well, not if you want to optimize your plants' health and yield in the following season. Gardening is a full-time job, and you need to ensure that your soil receives proper nourishment all year long, including in the winter. Here are a few tips to make sure that when the winter turns to spring, your soil is primed and ready to burst forth with pla...
How Can a Drip Irrigation System Improve Your Garden?What is Drip Irrigation? Drip irrigation helps to reduce the likelihood of diseases that are related to moisture problems in plants. It helps water drip directly to where it's needed the most instead of being sprayed all over the plant. Some types of drip irrigation are best suited for use in hedges and garden beds while others are better for flower beds or lawns. There are systems available that can help virtually any type of garden and any type of plant to flourish. Take a look at this...
What You Need to Know About Soil pHWhen the time comes to design and plant your garden, you will need to know whether your soil is acidic or alkaline, as different plants thrive in various soils. Maintaining the correct pH level for your plants will ensure that they intake essential minerals, absorb enough water and ultimately produce at their best. In this article, we'll show you how to figure out your soil pH and ways to correct it if it's not where you need it to be. What is Soil pH? Soil pH is a number that descri...
Major Elements vs. Trace Elements: Why Your Plants Need BothGrowing vibrant, healthy plants takes more than a green thumb - your plants need a variety of slow-release and fast-release water-soluble fertilizers that contain the right ratio of both major elements and trace elements. The problem is that unless you're a biochemistry buff, chances are good you might not be familiar with the elements your plants need to thrive. If so, here's a quick primer to help you choose the right fertilizer for your application. What Are Major and Trace Element...
5 Common Fertilizing Mistakes You Want to AvoidApplying fertilizer to your garden is an essential step in guaranteeing a healthy harvest, but you do need to be strategic with your application. While there are a number of times when fertilizing your plants is a great idea, contrastingly, there are just as many moments when the fertilizer bag should stay closed. We’ve rounded up a few common mistakes gardeners are likely to make when fertilizing their plants. You’ll want to keep these errors in mind, so you can keep your plants at their bes...
The Importance of a Pollinator-Friendly Garden and How Boric Acid Can HelpMost people wouldn't think twice about applying pesticides to their garden when the plants aren't being produced for consumption. After all, as long as you aren't planning to eat what you're growing, it shouldn't matter what you apply to keep pests away, as long as they help your plants thrive. This explains the popularity of toxic pesticides like sprays and granular varieties aimed at killing ants, beetles, and other insects that prey on plants, even when they are harmful...
How to Masterfully Manage Weeds in the GardenYou may agree that one of the most notorious garden pests is technically not a pest, but rather a plant or group of plants. If you’re picturing dandelion flowers with pointed leaves right about now, then yes, you got it, we’re talking about weeds. None of us want to see pesky weeds popping up near our healthy crops or among our flower beds. While it may seem impossible to fully rid your garden of weeds, there are a variety of methods you can use to manage their growth more effectively and pre...
6 Clever Ways to Reuse Your Christmas Tree in the GardenWait! You may not want to drag your Christmas tree to the curb just yet. We may have said goodbye to another Christmas and your tree may have lost some of its evergreen color as a result, but that doesn't mean this holiday pine has completely fulfilled its purpose. There are a couple ways you can recycle your Christmas tree that will benefit your garden well into the New Year! From mulch to ground cover, learn how you can reuse and recycle parts of your tree long after Christmas is over. ...
How to Make an Indoor Garden Compost Bin (Vermicomposting)It's time to up your gardening game with the help of wiggly worms! Common kitchen waste, including onion and garlic skins, carrot tops, and coffee grounds, can be composted year-round in an indoor worm bin. Learn all about it below. What is Vermicomposting? With a worm bin, you can turn food scraps into compost, instead of sending them down the garbage disposal or to the curb, which reduces the amount of organic material that ends up in local wastewater treatment plants and landfills. Wo...
What's the Function of Zinc (Zn) in Plants?If you're like most home gardeners, you're always looking for ways to keep your plants thriving and disease free without resorting to chemical fertilizers. Even many commercial growers want to lessen their impact on the environment by finding natural ways to improve their yield and quality of their crops. It's often not as easy as it sounds to be an organic gardener or farmer. One good resource that can help boost your vegetable production and keep your plants healthy without harm...
Is it Possible to Build Your Plant's Immune System?Plants, like humans, have the ability to get sick. In the agricultural industry, about 20 percent of all crops are expected to be lost due to disease. In a home garden, you may not notice the impact of plant disease affecting your yield but your plants are being affected as much, if not more so, by your plants "getting sick." That's why it's so important to understand how a plant's immune response works, and how, if possible, you can boost your garden's collective immu...
How to Make a Beautiful Planter From Old TiresIn the gardening world, repurposing old tires to be used as planters is quite controversial. On one hand, proponents of tire planters suggest that reusing old tires as containers for plants, benefits our environment. This is because disposing of unwanted tires isn't as easy as tossing them in your dumpster. Tire material is non-biodegradable and flammable. It's dangerous to the environment to have them accumulate in a landfill, but tire planters create a new use for them. Meanwhil...
Still haven't gotten a COA for this product to verify the company's third party testing. I haven't heard from them in over a week. I have left a voicemail and a couple e-mails that have not been returned. It has been a month since I first ordered this product.
What is the Function of Sulfur (S) in Plants?
In a past article about minerals in soil, we discussed proper soil nutrition and explained that plants take essential nutrients from the soil in order to thrive in their environment. One of these nutrients — a macronutrient to be precise — is sulfur, which healthy plants take in larger amounts from the soil. In this piece, we'll talk about what exactly sulfur does for plants and what to do in the event of a sulfur deficiency. How Does Sulfur Affect Plant Growth? Buy Organic Sulfur Powder...
How Do Synthetic and Organic Fertilizers Compare?
Knowing the type of fertilizer to apply to your garden can be a little tricky. With the number of choices available, how are you to decide which is most suitable for your garden? An easy place to start is by considering the two main categories of fertilizer: organic and synthetic. While most might think organic is always the way to go, there are some instances where synthetic might be a better choice for your plants. Read on to learn the differences between synthetic and organic fertilizer, h...
7 Ways to Make Your Garden More Sustainable
Having an ecofriendly garden gives you fresh produce and can be a source of joy and relaxation when tending it. We've collected our 7 best garden tips to help you make your plants healthier, have a higher yield, and allow you to have a sustainable home garden. 1. Commit to Organic Using organic fertilizer helps create a sustainable environment for your herbs, flowers, and vegetables. When you opt for a chemical-free fertilizer, you're creating a chemical-free environment and producin...
Should You Grow in a Straw Bale Garden?
Straw bale gardening is a technique that uses bunches of straw as hosts for growing plants. This method of cultivation is built like a raised bed garden - above ground with the exception that you use straw bales in place of soil. Find out how you can create your own straw bale garden, the pros and cons of it and what you can grow with this gardening method. Which Type of Straw is Needed? To make a beautiful, healthy garden you need good, firm straw bales. Wheat, rice or barley are good choic...
How to Nourish Your Soil in the Winter
In most climates, planting seasons are cyclical. This means that during an off or dormant season, you should just leave your soil alone, right? Well, not if you want to optimize your plants' health and yield in the following season. Gardening is a full-time job, and you need to ensure that your soil receives proper nourishment all year long, including in the winter. Here are a few tips to make sure that when the winter turns to spring, your soil is primed and ready to burst forth with pla...
How Can a Drip Irrigation System Improve Your Garden?
What is Drip Irrigation? Drip irrigation helps to reduce the likelihood of diseases that are related to moisture problems in plants. It helps water drip directly to where it's needed the most instead of being sprayed all over the plant. Some types of drip irrigation are best suited for use in hedges and garden beds while others are better for flower beds or lawns. There are systems available that can help virtually any type of garden and any type of plant to flourish. Take a look at this...
What You Need to Know About Soil pH
When the time comes to design and plant your garden, you will need to know whether your soil is acidic or alkaline, as different plants thrive in various soils. Maintaining the correct pH level for your plants will ensure that they intake essential minerals, absorb enough water and ultimately produce at their best. In this article, we'll show you how to figure out your soil pH and ways to correct it if it's not where you need it to be. What is Soil pH? Soil pH is a number that descri...
Major Elements vs. Trace Elements: Why Your Plants Need Both
Growing vibrant, healthy plants takes more than a green thumb - your plants need a variety of slow-release and fast-release water-soluble fertilizers that contain the right ratio of both major elements and trace elements. The problem is that unless you're a biochemistry buff, chances are good you might not be familiar with the elements your plants need to thrive. If so, here's a quick primer to help you choose the right fertilizer for your application. What Are Major and Trace Element...
5 Common Fertilizing Mistakes You Want to Avoid
Applying fertilizer to your garden is an essential step in guaranteeing a healthy harvest, but you do need to be strategic with your application. While there are a number of times when fertilizing your plants is a great idea, contrastingly, there are just as many moments when the fertilizer bag should stay closed. We’ve rounded up a few common mistakes gardeners are likely to make when fertilizing their plants. You’ll want to keep these errors in mind, so you can keep your plants at their bes...
The Importance of a Pollinator-Friendly Garden and How Boric Acid Can Help
Most people wouldn't think twice about applying pesticides to their garden when the plants aren't being produced for consumption. After all, as long as you aren't planning to eat what you're growing, it shouldn't matter what you apply to keep pests away, as long as they help your plants thrive. This explains the popularity of toxic pesticides like sprays and granular varieties aimed at killing ants, beetles, and other insects that prey on plants, even when they are harmful...
How to Masterfully Manage Weeds in the Garden
You may agree that one of the most notorious garden pests is technically not a pest, but rather a plant or group of plants. If you’re picturing dandelion flowers with pointed leaves right about now, then yes, you got it, we’re talking about weeds. None of us want to see pesky weeds popping up near our healthy crops or among our flower beds. While it may seem impossible to fully rid your garden of weeds, there are a variety of methods you can use to manage their growth more effectively and pre...
6 Clever Ways to Reuse Your Christmas Tree in the Garden
Wait! You may not want to drag your Christmas tree to the curb just yet. We may have said goodbye to another Christmas and your tree may have lost some of its evergreen color as a result, but that doesn't mean this holiday pine has completely fulfilled its purpose. There are a couple ways you can recycle your Christmas tree that will benefit your garden well into the New Year! From mulch to ground cover, learn how you can reuse and recycle parts of your tree long after Christmas is over. ...
How to Make an Indoor Garden Compost Bin (Vermicomposting)
It's time to up your gardening game with the help of wiggly worms! Common kitchen waste, including onion and garlic skins, carrot tops, and coffee grounds, can be composted year-round in an indoor worm bin. Learn all about it below. What is Vermicomposting? With a worm bin, you can turn food scraps into compost, instead of sending them down the garbage disposal or to the curb, which reduces the amount of organic material that ends up in local wastewater treatment plants and landfills. Wo...
What's the Function of Zinc (Zn) in Plants?
If you're like most home gardeners, you're always looking for ways to keep your plants thriving and disease free without resorting to chemical fertilizers. Even many commercial growers want to lessen their impact on the environment by finding natural ways to improve their yield and quality of their crops. It's often not as easy as it sounds to be an organic gardener or farmer. One good resource that can help boost your vegetable production and keep your plants healthy without harm...
Is it Possible to Build Your Plant's Immune System?
Plants, like humans, have the ability to get sick. In the agricultural industry, about 20 percent of all crops are expected to be lost due to disease. In a home garden, you may not notice the impact of plant disease affecting your yield but your plants are being affected as much, if not more so, by your plants "getting sick." That's why it's so important to understand how a plant's immune response works, and how, if possible, you can boost your garden's collective immu...
How to Make a Beautiful Planter From Old Tires
In the gardening world, repurposing old tires to be used as planters is quite controversial. On one hand, proponents of tire planters suggest that reusing old tires as containers for plants, benefits our environment. This is because disposing of unwanted tires isn't as easy as tossing them in your dumpster. Tire material is non-biodegradable and flammable. It's dangerous to the environment to have them accumulate in a landfill, but tire planters create a new use for them. Meanwhil...
