Plant diseases and pest

Hello Everyone

Having beautiful garden is everyone's dream which can be fulfilled by having healthy plants grown with adequate nutrition,water and pest and disease free plant.First of all lets understand the difference between pest and disease. Pest is an enemy of plants which is living creature like,insects,snail,bug, aphids, flies etc.  Disease is a physiological disturbance in a plant caused by fungus, virus,harmful bacteria and deficiency of minerals etc.

 As you have heard prevention is better than cure so always grown disease resistant varieties which is generally available from National seed corporation or buy seeds from certified agencies.

There are various measure to control pest and disease

1. Mechanical Control
2. Organic Control
3. Chemical control 

Mechanical Control : Will include the following:

• Destroying the hiding place for pest.
• Removing weeds and wild plants which act as a host for pest.
• Using manure and compost  in well decomposed form,otherwise it will attract white and black ants,pest etc. .
• Removal of affected branches,shoots leaves or flowers.
• Removal of affected plant so that it does not spread in other plants.
• Handpicking insects like snail slugs or others .
• Remove the cluster of eggs of insects.

 Organic Control  include the traditional household remedies which have no toxic effect.

Neem Spray :  Works very well  for all pest. Boils 50gm neem leaves in liter water for 10 min. and spray on effected plants.

Soap Spray: gets into the skin of insects and cause dehydration.Mix 1-2 tablespoon of liquid soap with equal mount of water and spray on insect.

Garlic,ginger and Mint spray: Boil 1 pod of garlic, little ginger and 15gm mint leaves in 1 liter water, leave it overnight and mix 1-2 tablespoon of liquid soap and then spray on plants.very effective.You can use only garlic(2 pods) also.

Eucalyptus oil: A great natural pesticide for flies, bees and wasps. Simply sprinkle a few drops of eucalyptus oil where the insects are found.

Chemical Control  : is based on substances that are toxic but are very quick in controlling pest.One should be very careful in amount of spraying Pesticide,because the excess amount can kill the plant also .There are different chemicals for different disease.
Monocil is the very common insecticide which can be used for many pest in all plants.
Mix 30 ml monocil in 250 ml water and spray on plants.

List of Plant Disease 

HYDRO CULTURE (Planting the House plants in Water )

Hello Everyone

Hydro culture is the method of growing indoor houseplants in water instead of soil. Growing Plants in hydro culture  is of less maintenance,reduced risk of pest and disease. It gives the pleasure of seeing root growth which we miss in soil plantation.

  

Things required for planting plant in Hydro culture

• Pot

• Pebbles

• Indoor Plant

• Water

Pot

You can use culture pot which is same as normal pots with a difference that it has water level indicator with that, or you can use transparent pots where you can see water level from outside.You can use your empty bottles for growing plants.


Culture Pots                                            Transparent Pots

Your transparent pot can be of glass or plastic .Glass is better option.You can use your old bottles and food parcel packing also.

Pebbles

The main purpose of pebbles is to provide support and moisture  to the plant. There you can use different medium like clay pebbles,crystal soil.

CLAY PEBBLES

CRYSTAL PEBBLES

You can use it for support but it does not provide moisture.

Indoor Plants

List of plants which you can grow in hydro culture .

Pictures of plant grown in hydro culture in my house

Water

water should not be hard water.

How Plant in hydro culture

Take plant with roots remove all the dirt and place in hydro container.

Place little pebbles and then place plant and put little pebbles and fill with water till roots are covered.Water level depends on plant.

Keep changing water daily till new roots are not formed.

Then you can reduce the frequency.

Fertilize not before month.

Palm and Foliages

Hello Everyone

Palms

Palms are one of the most beautiful indoor plants,which beautify your room,staircases,office area or any shaded portion. If palms are grown indoors and potted correctly they will grow to approximately 3f t- 8ft in height, so it is better to decide place of palm carefully considering their height while choosing the place to pot palm. Mostly Palm are quite expensive compared to other house plants. Most palms do not like to be disturbed too often, so its best to re- pot only when absolutely necessary.Palm's prefer partial shade with some sunlight, especially the kentia and parlor, as they are more than happy in low-light conditions. Brown tips can be caused by under-watering and cold air , and spots can be caused by over-watering or  watering with hard water. Yellowing leaves is most likely due to under-watering.Rot root main  cause is over-watering and the container, soil or both may not be draining well. Red spider mite, mealy bug and scale can be a problem.Palms can be propagated from seed,root division,suckers(, a term for a basal shoot that grows from the base of a tree or shrub),From seed the growth is very slow,and very few palms produce suckers.

KENTIA PALM

View more palms

Foliages

Foliage plant is the term for a plant that is grown mostly for it's foliage (leaves). Most foliage plants are grown indoors, but the majority of them can be grown outside in semi-shade most of the year round.

Foliages can be propagated through cuttings.There are two types of stem cuttings: tip cuttings, which include the apex or plant tip and a small portion of the stem; and section cuttings, which include a 2- to 3-inch section of stem (not including the apex or plant tip
and leaf joint.

 List of foliages which can be grown easily.

• Coleus – tip cuttings
• Croton – tip cuttings
• Dieffenbachia– tip cuttings
• Philodendron – tip and stem cuttings
• Pothos– tip and stem cutting

Foliage List

How to grow different types of house plants

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Today we will talk about House Plants.Plants which can be kept inside house in rooms.That means. plants need very less sunshine.They can be grown partially or fully indoors.Houseplants are in various shapes ,sizes and color. We can broadly categorize as below :

• Ferns 
• Palms
• Foliages 

Ferns

Ferns hate direct exposure to sunlight.The position should be shady and soil should be well drained and moist.Ferns can be propagated through spores and root division.Root division is a simple method with respect to propagating through spores.
Root Division

Fern Spores

 Propagating through spore takes time.Place the spores in a peat mixture in a pot. Set the pot in a saucer of water to
 allow the moisture to seep up through the entire mixture.
Then put the moistened pot into a plastic bag in a sunny, warm location.Fern spore propagation will take some time. Watch for a slime-like green coating(green algae) on the surface of the peat. This is the beginning of the process and over many months you will begin to see small leaf appearing out of the slime.



Selecting Ferns

When growing ferns indoors, choose a spacious area, as they tend to grow long leaves that shoot out in all directions. Indoor ferns are especially suited to hanging from ceiling hooks in remote corners of rooms that receive the maximum amount of light but are rarely,if ever, touched by the direct light of the sun.
Boston Ferns: These are the most popular of the houseplant varieties.

View different types of ferns

Propagation of plant by Layering,Grafting

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Layering   A layer is a shoot which is allowed to form its roots before it is disconnected from its parent. A layer can be made in the ground or in the air. In ground layering, the stem is bent down and the target region buried in the soil.

Ground Layering

 









Air Layering

Air layering is done on woody trees and shrubs.For fruit tress it is the best method to propagate. Bougainvillea ,Rhododendron are good example for air layering. remove 1-2 inch ring of bark in length from healthy 1 to 2 year old branch,without damaging wood.Cover the area with sphagnum moss and cover with polythene or gunny cloth(bori) and tie with jute rope. after 2 to 4 weeks you ca
n see new roots.

Grafting

Taking a part from one plant and making it grow on another plant in simple terms is grafting.

Grafting is very common in roses.

Rose Grafting

Propagation of plants through cutting

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Cutting is a Vegetative portion of a plant used for propagation. It can be leaf,stem or root. For selecting a vegetative portion of a plant for use as cutting it is better to study its growth behavior ,i.e. to see whether it forms new wood over old wood,or leaf  or root.For cutting hard old wood is required.Cut should be made just below a leaf joint or node or leaf Junction.

Leaf Junction

Node

Leaf Joint

Leaf cuttings, in which a leaf is placed on moist soil. These have to develop both new stems and new roots. Some leaves will produce one plant at the base of the leaf. In some species, multiple new plants can be produced at many places on one leaf

Examples of leaf cutting are

• Rex Begonia(Easy to grow)
• Gloxinia
• Peperomia
• African Violets

Stem cutting  should be cut just below leaf joint and cutting should have 1 or 2 node for development.

Examples of stem cutting are 

• Rose
• Jasmine
• Bougainvillea
• Geranium
• Carnation
• Dahlia
• Chrysanthemum
• Different type of money plants

Roots division is the division of plant into two or more plants with roots. Easiest way  of propagation.Best Time to do is rainy season.

• Take out the plant from the pot you want to divide.
• Divide the plant with roots.
• Repot the old plant.
• Plant the divided plant with roots into the new pot.

Examples of Root Cutting(root Division) are

• Dianthus
• Gerbera
• Chrysanthemum
• Different types of Ferns

Different types of bulbs (tubers,rhizomes,corns)can also be propagated by root division. Gladioli,dahlia,tulips etc. are delicate bulbs which have to be lifted every year. Amaryllis,Tuberose, Zephyranthes etc. can be left in ground.

For lilies you can see lily post.
If you want to plant new bulbs you can DO LIKE THIS.

Plant Porpagation through Seeds

Hello Everyone

Plant propagation  is the process of creating a new plant from an existing plant .There are many methods other than seeds.Various Plant propagation methods  for small home garden are as follows:

1. Seeds
2. Cutting including  stem and leaf 
3. Bulbs,corns,tubers,rhizomes
4. Root division
5. Grafting
6. Layering

Seeds

Almost all the plants can be raised from seeds and it is the most important tool in nature for propagation. Gardens raised from seed is not always advised for all plants,due to no proper cross pollination.Seeds may be purchased or collected from your garden.Seeds collected from your garden should be from best plant,which did not suffer from any disease.Seeds should be preferably collected on dry day with no strong wind,Collecting on a wet day will not dry properly and are likely to get mouldy . It is advisable to dry seeds in a warm and dry place.The place which is too hot,sunny or moist is not suitable.A protected corner which gets morning sunshine is to be preferred.

Pictures of marigold flower for seed

 Sunflower and marigold  flowers are very easy to preserve for seeds.

Tips for sowing seeds

• Sow them in lines with proper spacing.
• Mix fine seeds with little sand for even placement.
• Do not sow very deep.It should be twice the thickness of seed.For fine seeds place seed and then spread the thin layer of soil on it.
• Seeds damp off very easily if seeds are watered a lot .
• Seeds sown on its edge or growing point upward germinates quicker as compared to seeds sown with growing point downwards.

 Next time we will talk about propagation through cutting which can be done only in rainy season.

Growing Own Fresh And Healthy Vegetables

Hello everyone

If we grow our own vegetables and use them in our kitchen is the best part. Nowadays daily news is full of vegetables with pesticides and other chemicals used for growth which is harmful to our health and beyond that the happiness you get from plucking the vegetables and eating fresh is bonus on that.

You can start your vegetable garden twice in a year, you can start either in January,March or in Mid June.

Your Container is very important it should be big in size ,your soil should be porous and fertile and you should not plant many plants in one container,in your 12 inch or 14 inch pot you should not plant more that 2 saplings in one pot. If it is clumsy it will grow but it will not give vegetables properly.

Seed you can sow in different months in a year.

In January

1. Radish
2. Cabbage
3. Lady Finger
4. Bottle Gourd(Lauki)
5. Ridge Gourd(Tauri)
6. Bitter Gourd(karela)
7. Spinach
8. Methi
9. Dhaniya
10. Cucumber
11. Brinjal
12. Tomatoes
13. Beans
14. chilli
15. Mint

In June

1. Radish
2. Cabbage
3. Lady Finger
4. Ridge  gourd
5. Brinjal
6. Tomatoes
7. Cucumber
8. Bottle Gourd (Lauki)
9. Bitter Gourd (Karela)
10. Beans
11. Chilli

Below are few images of some above vegetables that grown in my terrace.

Bottle Gourd(Lauki)

Ridge Gourd(Tauri)

Brinjal

Tomatoes

Cucumber

In August

• Spinach
• Methi
• Dhaniya
• Mint
• Carrot
• Cauliflower
• Beetroot
• Turnip
• lettuce
• Peas

Specially for carrots, beetroot, radish, turnip, cauliflower, cabbage the pots should very deep.

Look At the Images Below -:

Read More About Pot Preparation >>> http://inandoutpotgarden.blogspot.com/2016/07/pot-preparation-for-plants.html

For spinach, Methi, Dhaniya, mint pots should be broad so that it can spread with good depth. In the below pic onion is grown.

All type of gourds ,cucumber and bean are climbers keep your pot where you can give support and full sunlight. You can grow Onion and garlic in spring by pitting onion and garlic 1/3 pod in soil.

Pot Preparation for plants

Hello everyone

The basic of terrace gardening is to prepare a pot for the plant.

• Choose pots that are large enough for your plant, have drainage holes.If pot is porous its better.

• Cover the hole with stones.

• Then fill half pot with potting soil.

• Take the plant which you want to plant with roots covered  with soil.

• Cover the rest pot with potting soil leaving some space for watering.

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A fairly lightweight potting mix is needed for container gardening.Soil straight from the garden usually cannot be used in a container because it may be tooheavy, unless your garden has sandy loam or sandy soil.Clay soil consists of extremely small (microscopic) particles.It holds too much moisture when wet, resulting in too little air for the roots.Container medium must be porous in order to support plants, because roots require both air and water. Packaged potting soil available at local garden centers is relatively lightweight and may make a good container medium. Soil less mixes such as peat-lite mix are generally too light for container vegetable gardening, not offering enough support to plant roots. If the container is also lightweight, a strong wind can blow plants over, resulting in major damage. For a large container garden, the expense of prepackaged or soil less mixes may be quite high. Try mixing your own with one part peat moss/compost, one part garden soil and one part clean, coarse (builder's) sand, and a slow-release fertilizer (14-14-14(n-p-k)) according to container size.

Potting soil can be made at home

Mix the following material

* peat moss/compost-Gardeners use peat moss mainly as a soil amendment or ingredient in potting soil. It has an acid pH, so it’s ideal for acid loving plants, such as blueberries and 

camellias. For plants that like a more alkaline soil, compost may be a better choice. Composting is a simple way to add nutrient-rich humus which fuels plant growth and restores vitality to depleted soil. It's also free, easy to make and good for the environment.

* perlite- perlite provides optimum moisture retention for successful plant growth.When  perlite is added to heavy clay soils, water ponding and surface crusting may be eliminated. In addition, plant roots may more easily penetrate the perlite/soil growing media and develop more fully.

* Sand -Sand which builders uses in construction.

* garden soil - Normal soil which is clay soil.

Fertilizer you can put later on also not necessary to put while making potting soil.You can avoid perlite while making pot soil.

For sowing Seeds fill the pot full with pot soit and remove little of top soil and sprinkle seeds with distance and put the soil which you removed and water it softly and slowly.