In general, plants grown in straw bales appear to require less water than when grown in soil. Another benefit to using straw bale culture is the garden bed will turn into compost offering some additional nutrients to your vegetables and herbs. The constantly composing environment warms up to provide gentle heat to the roots of plants and for your greenhouse. After some preparation and processing the compost will also begin to generate Co2 which will help to boost your plant’s growth rate.

Instructions:
Wheat straw bales are a good choice for cultivating plants. You should try to remove any weeds that may sprout, then follow the instructions below to get started growing your vegetable crops “Straw Culture” style.

Construct Garden Area
The straws should be tied and in a vertical position. Build a (plastic) barrier/fence around your garden area to hold the bales in place. If you do build a barrier around your garden, make sure the bales are packed in well. The barrier should be made of plastic or other synthetic material and not consist of wood or other biodegradable substance.

Place a sheet of plastic on the bottom of your grow area to help the straw retain moisture. Tightly pack in the tied straw bales until the entire area of your garden is filled in. Soak the entire garden with water and place another sheet of plastic on top. Each bale will require approximately 1-gallon of water daily. For example, if you used 10 bales, you will need 10-gallons of water. Place another sheet of plastic on top of the bales after watering. The plastic should remain on between feedings until the processing period is over.

Preparing Bale (Processing)
The straw bale will require 3-4 weeks of processing before it is ready to grow plants. After the 3-4 weeks processing time, the bale will begin to decompose and form compost. This is when you will add fertilizers and top with a dressing of bagged compost or manure about 4 inches high. Do not use soil.

Adding Fertilizer:
Once you’ve topped with compost/manure it’s time to add the fertilizer. Spread the dry (soluble) fertilizer over the surface of the bales and then water according to manufacturers directions. After you add fertilizer, the rate of bacterial action in the decomposing straw will increase, raising the bed’s internal heat. Cover with plastic and let it sit for an additional week. After a week, the bales should be cool enough to start planting your seeds - just drop em’ in to sprout.

This article courtesy of http://www.hydroponicsearch.com - Gardening search engine and educational community.

Too much organic material in your pond or water garden puts algae into overdrive by providing nutrients that cause it to grow. Besides obscuring the beauty of your vividly colored fish, algae rob oxygen from the water and emit noxious contaminants that can kill them.

Ultraviolet (UV) clarifiers work by employing that part of the light spectrum to rid algae of its ability to reproduce. Once destroyed, the microscopically tiny algae form into larger clusters that are easily eliminated by common filtration systems.

Sun-blocking plants and those that provide abundant supplies of oxygen present another easy answer to maintaining a clear water environment for your pond. “Floaters” like water lilies, lotus, water hawthorn, four-leaf water clover, and yellow floating heart reduce sunlight by substantially shading the water surface and thereby impeding algal growth.

Water hyacinths have become a recent rage, especially for the lazy among us. No soil is required for these beauties. Toss them in the water and they’re “planted.” A water hyacinth isn’t just another pretty face, though; these plants do their part in the war against algae and blanket weeds by keeping sunlight scarce on the water’s surface. But one note of caution: This plant may take over the world if allowed. It’s invasive as all get out, so keep it under control or you (and your neighbors) may wish you’d never laid eyes on it.

Submerged plants, such as Cabomba, Anacharis, and Jungle Vall, not only produce oxygen for use by both plants and fish, but also absorb nitrogen from decaying plant matter and fish waste that would otherwise be used by algae to proliferate.

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Brett Fogle is the owner of MacArthur Water Gardens and several other pond-related websites including www.MacArthurWatergardens.com and www.Pond-Filters-Online.com He also publishes a free monthly newsletter called PondStuff! with a reader circulation of over 9,000. To sign up for the free newsletter and receive our FREE ‘New Pond Owners Guide’ visit MacArthur Water Gardens today.

Have you ever wondered about the evolution of the stove? This article briefly explains the evolution of fire and the stoves that are now used for cooking fine meals in homes across America every night of the week.

Fire is indeed a very old discovery. It is used for warmth, to heat water for bathing and for cooking meat, vegetable and other food items. It can even be used to make hot drinks. Electric fireplaces are the most recent adaptation of the discovery of fire. When early man first learnt the art of making fire, his life and indeed our lives, changed forever. Early man huddled around the fire to gain warmth and to cook and in many respects fire is not all that different now.

Since this early time, we as a people, have evolved to the point where we now have electric fireplaces and electric stoves meaning that we don’t have to spend hours trying to start and stoke a fire. Rather it is done automatically for us.

The role of fire has changed a lot too. Kitchen stoves have become increasingly popular as they essentially provide the same heating and cooking capabilities as was the case for the cave dwellers all those millions of years ago. Once modern stoves were invented however, the fire became more refined and was split between living room and kitchen, with many abodes having both facilities in their homes.

With the advent of electricity, electric fireplaces and stoves are now at the most advanced they have ever been. For one thing, electric fireplaces don’t require a ventilation system like traditional fireplaces do and stoves have in built ventilation systems and even additional stove top ventilation fans.

Because electric fireplaces and stoves run on electricity, it is easy to be able to control the amount of heat they give off for warming the room or cooking your dinner. All you need to do is just turn the settings up or down according to your needs.

The heat output from electric fireplaces and stoves is much more efficient than wood- burning or gas-burning ones because the output remains constant until such time as you change it or turn it off. With wood burning and gas burning fireplaces and stoves the heat can fluctuate and you have only minimal control. Electric fireplaces and stoves are much easier to maintain and clean as well. You’ll never have to chop up wood or scoop out ash or clear out the chimney. The only thing you’ll have to worry about is wiping out the fireplace at the beginning of each winter or wiping out the stove every couple of weeks to keep it free of spillages.

About the Author: Jolissa Smith is the owner of AAA Stoves which is a premier source of information about Stoves. For more information, go to: http://aaastoves.com

Source: www.isnare.com

Planting roses correctly in a proper location is the most important success factor. Before you plant your roses, let’s review proper placement.

Roses should receive a minimum of 6 hours of strong sunlight. The more the better. They benefit from good air circulation and should not be planted too near to large plants that will compete for food and water. Do not plant roses where the drainage is poor. When spacing roses, follow this guide for zone 6. Plant Hybrid Teas and Grandifloras 30-36″ apart, Floribundas 24-30″ apart, Shrub roses 4-8′ apart and Climbers on fences 10-18′ apart. Plant climbers and pillar roses right up against their supports. In general, for full coverage, climbing roses are planted on every other fence post. In the south, roses should be planted farther apart; and in the north, somewhat closer planting is recommended.

Upon receiving your roses, open the cartons to check their condition. If the plants are dry, spray with water or soak the plants. If you are not ready to plant your roses, keep them in the cartons in a cool (35-40 degrees F.) area. Check daily to make sure the roots and canes do not dry out; usually a light spray every 2-3 days is sufficient. Keep the plastic securely wrapped around the roses.

One day before planting your roses, bring them into room temperature. It is particularly beneficial to unpack them and place the roots in a pail of lukewarm water into which you have added SeaMate at the rate of 1 tablespoon to a gallon of water.

Planting Roses

While preparing the soil, keep the unplanted roses in a shady place and take care that the roots do not dry out. Prepare the planting hole by removing the soil to a depth of 12-18″. Make the hole wide enough so the roots will have enough room for natural root spread, plus 2 inches on all sides. The soil you have removed should be mixed thoroughly with organic material. It can be peat moss, compost, well-rotted manure or leaf mold. Leafgro, Chesapeake Blue or Chesapeake Green all work especially well. This should be added at the rate of one part organic material to two parts soil.

Trim any roots or stems that are broken. Then build a mound of soil in the hole so the roots are supported at a 45-degree angle. Spread the roots over the mound. The mound should be high enough so the bud union is 1″ below ground level. In areas where the minimum temperature is warmer than 10 degrees F., plant the bud union at or 1″ above ground level. (The bud union is the knob where all the canes come together to join the central trunk). Only budded roses have bud unions. “Own root” roses, usually hardy shrub roses, are always planted with the place where the canes branch out from the trunk an inch or two below the soil surface.

Fill the hole 2/3 full with the enriched soil mixture and tramp to remove any air pockets. Water thoroughly with liquid SeaMate solution prepared at the rate of 1 tablespoon of SeaMate to a gallon of water. Fill hole with solution and let it soak into soil. After solution has soaked in, fill the hole with the soil mixture to ground level, firm the soil and water again. Mound the remaining soil mixture (and additional soil, if necessary) over the rose, covering all canes to within 2-3″ of the top. Finally, make a water-holding ring of soil, about 24 inches across, around the rose. Slowly water the soil mound. Keep the mound moist at all times. This soil mound will keep canes plump and moist while new feeder roots and sprouts are forming. Carefully remove the soil mound after the sprouts have been formed. Within a week, they will turn their normal deep green color. Try to protect these sprouts from sudden late frost. (If the young sprouts should be injured, the rose will sprout again in a few weeks).

Newly planted roses should be fertilized monthly, but very lightly. Too little is better than too much. Until the leaves are full-size, use 100% natural organic fertilizer such as fish emulsion, SeaMate or Plant-Tone®. Never fertilize roses in autumn.

Newly planted roses that are reluctant to leaf out can be encouraged if the procedure below is followed:Lay a piece of cotton cloth over the rose canes with one end of the cloth in a bucket of water which sits next to the rose. An old T-shirt, a piece of bed sheet (double thickness) or burlap will work fine. The cloth should not touch the ground all the way around the rose: a small air space is needed for ventilation. The bucket should be kept full at all times. The purpose of this procedure is to make a greenhouse (steam chamber) effect: this will keep the canes from drying out before the roots begin to grow. A similar process commonly referred to as “sweating” is often used in nurseries. Once very small leaves appear on the rose canes, the cloth and the soil mound can be removed, preferably in the evening before a cloudy day.