Growing The Right Plants For Profit

Owners of small "commercial" greenhouses are alert for ways to save labor and stretch their producing areas. Both ends can be served by starting annuals ( plants) and tender perennials in flats in late winter or early spring, and moving them to cold frames as soon as freezing - weather is past. Once the flats are moved out, the greenhouse space can be filled with other things.

Selling plants in flats of a dozen to 100 or more avoids the work of potting. Most small plants retail at about 50 to 60 cents per dozen, with the possible exception of double petunias, which usually run to twice that much. Potted singly, these same plants retail for 25 to 39 cents apiece, but to rate that price range the potted plants will also have to be grown a bit larger than is necessary in flats.

Grow the plants in full sun in a cool house, to keep them bushy. The following are four of the most popular plants small greenhouse owners have found to be steady, profitable items. The cultural hints I offer are, of course, based on the timing of the seasons, weather, etc., in my area. Be sure you take your own local conditions into consideration in applying my recommendations (or anyone's) as to seeding time,etc.

Alyssum

Although sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima) is a tender perennial, it is treated in the north as an annual. It can be started in the 50-degree greenhouse. January seed-planting should assure salable plants in April. Culture approximates that of ageratum, and the sweet alyssum can be propagated by cuttings and rooted in any growing media. If your greenhouse is crowded, move the flats of sweet alyssum to the cold frame as soon as danger of freezing is over.
Impatiens

Impatiens - often called patience, busy Lizzie, or touch-me-not - has a translucent stem. Leaves are green, reddish, or variegated green and white. These attractive little plants produce gay flowers of white, pink, red, or purple.

Any friable soil, in 65-degree temperature, is well adapted to impatiens. Seed culture is much like that of coleus, and you can grow impatiens from seed to bloom in 6 months. Cuttings taken in January and rooted in any media will be ready for 2- or 3-inch pots by April.
Thrips and aphids are the most bothersome pests and can easily be destroyed by malathion.
Marigold

The brilliantly colored marigolds that grace nearly every garden can become a source of profit for the home greenhouse grower. Sow the seed in ordinary soil in late February. Pot up as growth indicates, and you will have salable plants by mid-May. If you want the extra greenhouse space, transfer the marigold flats to a cold frame or lath house once the danger of frost is over. In this way, they occupy space for only 6 to 8 weeks. A few more weeks in the cold frame and they are ready to be sold in the same flats they were grown in.

Petunias

Petunias are among the best spring sellers. Hybridizers have done so much work on breeding diverse varieties that it is difficult to recognize the old petunia form in some of the new double beauties. Grow your petunias from the best seed you can obtain; it costs very little more than inferior seed and assures you petunias different enough to sell at a premium to gardeners in your community or to a retailer.

Sow petunia seed in mid-January for flowering by the first week in May. Transplant the seedlings to flats of average greenhouse soil, spacing them about 2 inches apart. They can be grown on and sold directly from these flats; or, as they crowd one another, you can pot some of them in 2- or 3-inch pots.

Petunias do well in 65 to 75 degrees F. and can stand full sunlight. If you are short of greenhouse room, shift your petunias to the cold frame as soon as hard frost no longer threatens.

Aphids are their worst trouble, but in this case, too, malathion makes short work of the pests.

Enjoy growing and selling these delightful plants!


Source : Articlebase
Author :Jimmy Cox
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Aerated Compost Tea, The New Organic Fertilizer

Organic gardeners all know compost is fantastic stuff. But now, there's something even better and that's aerated compost tea. If you start with a good compost you'll have a versatile elixir for all your garden needs. Compost tea helps prevent foliage diseases and at the same time increase the nutrients to the plant and shutdown the toxins hurting the plants. It will improve the taste/flavor of your vegetables. So why not give this tea a try either by buying it or brewing it yourself. You won't believe the results!

Four ways that good bacteria work:

Help compete for the nutrients

Dine on the bad varmits

Help produce antibiotics to use against the varmits.

They shove the bad varmits out.

Compost tea that is correctly brewed has a wealth of microorganisms that will benefit your plants' growth and health as well as the soil that they live in. Compost tea can be considered yogurt for the soil. The microorganisms living there are both good and bad. What the aerated tea does is make sure the good guys win by introducing helpful bacteria, fungi, protozoa and beneficial nematodes.

Harmful bacteria lives best in soil that does not have good air circulation. Good bacteria lives best and will thrive in soil that is well ventilated with oxygen. This is where a good aerated compost tea, made the right way, comes in. When you have well oxygenated compost you automatically get rid of 3/4 of the bad varmits. Also by using harmful insecticides or chemical fertilizers we reduce the number of beneficial microorganisms in the soil.

Plants produce their own energy and food and half of that goes to the roots and some of that goes into the surrounding soil and guess who gets that? Correct, the good guys, and then it turns into a beneficial cycle.

The following is taken from the internet and shows compost tea is becoming a force in gardening.

National Organic Standards Board Compost Tea Task Force Report April 6, 2004 Introduction In 2003, the National Organic Standards Board convened a Compost Tea Task Force to review the relevant scientific data and report their recommendations on ‘What constitutes a reasonable use of compost tea?’ The Task Force was composed of 13 individuals with knowledge and expertise in organic farming practices, organic certification, EPA pathogen regulations, compost, compost tea production and analysis, plant pathology, food safety and environmental microbiology.

Throughout their discussions, members consistently acknowledged the growing interest among certified organic and conventional growers to use compost teas, and the need to develop effective biologically-based tools to manage plant fertility, pests, and diseases.

A primary reason for producing compost tea is to transfer microbial biomass, fine particulate organic matter, and soluble chemical components of compost into an aqueous phase that can be applied to plant surfaces and soils in ways not possible or economically feasible with solid compost.

Source : Article City
Author :james ellison
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Hydroponics Gardening

What do the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Floating Gardens of China, and a popular science fiction television program have in common? Hydroponics gardening!

You may have heard of a hydroponics gardening system before this, in which case you'll understand what I'm talking about. If you haven't heard about hydroponics gardening, don't worry. Hopefully by the time we reach the end of this article, you will have a clear idea of what a hydroponics garden is, and if someone asks you whether you think a drip system, or an ebb and flow system is better, then you won't have to squint at them and say 'eh?' in that confused way.

Before we get on to the subject of drip, and ebb and flow systems, let's take a crash course in hydroponics gardening.

Coming from the Greek words 'hydro' for water, and 'ponics' for labor, the word hydroponics in gardening terms is used to specify a type of gardening that doesn't have its roots in soil, if you will forgive the pun. This soil-free type of gardening depends entirely on a water based system that is enriched with nutrients.

These nutrients can either be in the form of specially formulated chemicals for hydroponics gardening, or they can come as a variety of natural nutritional ingredients found in nature itself. The use of either nutrient form is solely dependent upon the gardener.

Since hydroponics gardening is a soil free system, containers are the best methods for growing, and a number of different varieties of containers, and pots are available to buy.

As a growing medium for the plant, something for it to get its roots into, different gardeners will have different likes and dislikes. Shale is a simple and easy solution, especially for the first time gardener. With a little bit of research however, you can easily find out if Hydroton or Rockwool is a better growing medium for you than shale would be. (Hydroton and shale can be used in an ebb and flow system, whilst horticultural Rockwool can be used with just about any system).

'Any system' referring to methods used to pass along the nutrient enriched water to the plants. Again there are many options for the hydroponics gardener to choose from, but I will explain here only the two systems that I mentioned earlier.

Simply put, the ebb and flow system uses a pump to respectively flood and then drain your containers at regular intervals. The drip system uses a continuous drip that supplies a steady ration of water solution that's right for each plant.

Also it should be noted that hydroponics gardens have a higher growth rate, and many gardeners take advantage of this to create high yield vegetable and fruit gardens.

Now that you now what hydroponics gardening entails to a large extent, with a little more research you should be able to set up your own hydroponics system, and keep yourself year round in fresh fruits and vegetables!



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Bugs That Are Beneficial For Gardening

1. The aphid midge look like a small wasp and are very delicate. There are over sixty different varieties of aphids and larvae will eat these out of your garden. If you want to attract them then grow plants with a great deal of nectar and pollen.

2. The big-eyed bug is a quick moving bug with huge eyes and tiny black spots on its head and thorax. Field crops and orchards are usually where these bugs are found. Leafhoppers, spider mites, plant bugs and aphids and small caterpillars are what the big-eyed bugs.

3. Ladybugs come in sizes ranging from 1/16 to 3/8 inch and have circular red, orange or yellow trunks with black markings. Where large amounts of pollen and nectar-producing flower are that is where you will find ladybugs. Aphids, mealybugs, small insects and scales are the ladybugs favorites. The ladybug is related to the Mexican bean beetle but they are beneficial.

4. The minute pirate bugs are about ¼ inches long as adults and have a black and white pattern on their body. Like the big-eyed bug they are fast moving and like gardens with goldenrod, yarrow, alfalfa, daisies, and other pollen-producing, flowering plants are grown. Small caterpillars, thrips, spider mites, insect eggs and immature leafhoppers are what the Minute Pirate Bugs eat.

5. The Mealybug Destroyer have wing covers that are black and as an adult this bug is 1/3 inch long with an oval shaped body and a coral-colored stomach. The mealybuy destroyer is naturally there if mealybugs are present and the destroyers will eat all of the mealybugs in the garden.

6. An adult spined soldier bug is about ½ inch in length when it reaches adulthood. The shoulders of the thorax come to sharp points and are grayish brown in color. They prefer to feed on caterpillars, armyworms, grubs, sawflies, and Mexican bean beetle larvae. The shelter of perennial plants near a garden are preferred by the spined soldier bug.

7. The tachinid fly look like a big, hairy housefly and grow to about 1/3 to ½ inch long. Eggs that kill caterpillars of many pest species such as gypsy moths and armyworms are deposited by the females. Flower nectar, sweet clover, parsley and dill are what adults prefer to feed on. If you see caterpillars with white eggs hooked to them, do not kill them because the eggs will turn into more tachinid flies.

8. Adult tiger beetles will be about ½ to ¾ inches long. They are bright-colored, have long legs and feed on many types of pests. Tiger beetles will come if there are perennials in your garden.

9. The assassin bug look flattened and have elongated heads. This type of bug ranges from ½ to 1 3/8 inches long. The assassin bug is naturally found in a garden where pests live. They will eat almost any common pest.

10. An adult bumblebee will grow to be 1 inch long and are round with black and yellow striping. They can be recognized they their smoky-colored wings and hairy bodies. This bug pollinates and like nectar and pollen.

Try to attract helpful insects into your garden to get rid of those annoying and unwanted pests.

Source : Isnare

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Gardening- An Expression

Give the same plants to several people, you will see several arrangements. Each one distinct and different, yet, using the same plants.

This is the ultimate reward of gardening- a means to express, to create with the help and inspiration from the gifts of Nature.

Gardening is not just physically and aesthetically rewarding.It enriches the spirit. It awakens one’s creativity that lies dormant from neglect, or lack of motivation, or a popular excuse, not enough time.

Gardening is fast becoming a popular hobby of the times. From the tropics , to the frigid climes, gardening centers are offering more choices to tantalize even the most conservative taste.

Each year, gardeners look forward with excitement to their gardening; a hobby they take passionately. What new plants are being introduced? What variety of surprises awaits them? The ornamental gardener will be glorious with the new plants or hybrids for the present growing season. The vegetable/herb gardener looks forward with anticipation at harvest time.

With so much variety to choose from, what factors determine which plants to buy? After considering the soil, weather, sun/shade location factors, the choice is all about self- expression.

No two gardens are alike, given the same set of plants.

Colors are as revealing as the plants. A conservative gardener will opt for traditional plants. At times, you see the same plants, the same arrangements year after year. Aha!! Perhaps the gardener does not adapt to change too quickly. It may be lack of time, or change of physical health.

Vibrant colors in the garden reflect a vibrant gardener. A garden bursting with colors is very attractive and pleasing to look at. It is inviting.

What about passion? They say red is a color of passion, of energy and courage. Add white to the reds, and the garden beckons the passer-by to take a look. Someone said this combination looks like a candy cane.

My garden is overcome by burst of yellows and orange, not really by choice. Somehow, it gives out a golden glow as the blooms bask in the sun. It reflects my enthusiasm for life. Many of my plants are gifts from friends, treasures for my garden. Yellow flowers remind me of my mother.

Purples and blues in the garden are colors of reflection, of peace and calm. Add white flowers to this and it invites a meditative mood.

After colors, the arrangements of the plants reveal something of the person. I have a friend whose flowerbeds are symmetrical, weedless, picture- perfect, right out of a magazine. Indeed, this expresses her organized way of thinking and living.

A gardener who loves to re-arrange the plants and loves to add new plants and ornaments shows an enthusiastic and energetic spirit, ready to welcome change, eager to experiment.

What about an overgrown garden? Perhaps it reflects someone with scattered energies, at times, a full plate, or one who does not have the time or energy to tend the garden. It may well show one who starts with a burst of enthusiasm that wanes quickly after the planting is done.

No matter how you plan your garden, it is a creative tool that allows you to express yourself. Gardening is therapeutic,physically, mentally and spiritually.

Happy gardening.

Source : Isnare

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Water Gardening - Essential Basics You Should Know

A minimum availability of six hours of sunlight, enough space to accommodate few plants and maybe a few fish too will qualify any kind of container to be utilized forwater gardening purpose.

Earlier, this hobby used to be limited to only small ponds or considerably large water bodies. However, with time and with advent of many innovative concepts, water gardening can now even be enjoyed in the comfort of ones apartment. As with soil gardening, water gardening also has some specific requirements that need to be adhered to.

Primarily, you will need a big container that can hold minimum 15-20 gallons water. This will be sufficient to cultivate a miniwater garden. Plants will then be planted inside the container with the soil type varying from plant to plant. The plant may also be settled on a certain level inside the container depending on its depth requirements. All this information can be accessed either online or at your nearestgarden center.

It is advisable that you don't make use of the tap for water gardening purposes. Many cities have special water treatment plants that mix chemicals in water to make it drinkable. Chlorine is one such chemical that is commonly added to water. Such chemicals can be devastating for your water garden plants and thus you should first get rid of them to make the water usable for water gardening. Chlorine normally burns out in 24-48 hours and hence you must wait until then to put any plants in the container.

The containers meant for water gardening can fit anywhere from one to three varieties of basic plants. They are classified according to their behavior while in water. While some of them may grow out of the water line and would want to reach skies, the others may remain grounded inside the water. There is a third type as well which keeps floating in the water, and hence is called, "floater". What all varieties of plants and how many of them should you cultivate will depend on the container size and the attention they will require.

Now coming to the marine life, you can have fishes and snails in your water garden. Mini water gardens can even accommodate guppies that normally can endure any temperature. They can also feast on the mosquitoes that may try to test the waters. If you have opted for a large container then you can even flash couple of goldfishes to your friends. Snails can also be kept as they play an important role in clean up operation by eating away the decaying plants and the fish waste.

Creating and maintaining a water garden is not as easy as taking a container, filling it up with water and plants and then adding a little marine livestock. You will need to maintain your water garden well by providing it with regular fresh water supply. A method will need to be devised to periodically drain out stale water and add fresh water without harming the inhabitants of the water garden.

Source : ArticlesBase
Author : Abhishek Agarwal

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