In my last post I announced that we would be conducting the first landscape transplant experiment designed by social media. We have about 100 ‘Bloodgood’ plane trees in 25 gallon containers that are leftover from a recent nursery trial. The trees will be planted at our Hort station and receive minimal care after planting beyond an initial watering and a kiss for luck. I asked for some suggestions for potential treatments and got some good suggestions. … Continue reading this article “Vote early and often!”
Tag: products
Amazing water slices!
Here it’s already Wednesday and no GP postings! My excuse is that I had a seminar to give yesterday before catching a late night flight to Pullman. Bert (who should have posted Monday) must still be lost in a mai-tai fog somewhere in Hawaii. Or maybe he’s looking for Holly, who’s been AWOL for a week. They’re supposedly at the ASHS meetings. Right.
I’m kind of liking the idea of finding fun new products for the busy gardener. … Continue reading this article “Amazing water slices!”
They said to write about it, so I will…
Please tell me – am I crazy? Or just not the gardening trend-setter that I should be? Should I be spending $10 on this? Check out this excerpt from Garden Cuttings Newsletter, with the note “Please feel free to use this information in your stories and columns”:
“Instead of sending dried leaves and other yard waste to the landfill, compost it! DeComp-9 Organic Compost Booster speeds up the composting process with patented microorganisms that quickly break down leaves, grass clippings and other yard waste.… Continue reading this article “They said to write about it, so I will…”
Does colored glass help root cuttings?
I get a lot of questions about a lot of different products and practices. New topics send me to the scientific data bases and that’s where I went for today’s posting. One of my garden writing colleagues asked me about colored glass rooters – glass containers in different colors that can be filled with water and a plant cutting. The conventional internet wisdom, according to my colleague, is that green and blue glass rooters are the best.… Continue reading this article “Does colored glass help root cuttings?”
Where to Draw The Line on Home Remedies
On Tuesday Holly posted an extremely interesting article about how Bounce could help control fungus gnats. Then one of our frequent commenters (and all around great guy) Ray Eckhart pointed out that he has a problem with promulgating an off-label use of a product. And that got me to thinking. What household products is it OK for us to suggest that a consumer use for a non-labeled purpose, and what products shouldn’t we suggest? This is a question that has haunted me for a long time, so with this post I want to give you my line of thinking – I’m not trying to tell you what’s right or wrong – just trying to let you know my thoughts on the topic.… Continue reading this article “Where to Draw The Line on Home Remedies”
Bounce – it’s not just a fabric softening sheet…
…it’s an Integrated Pest Management tool!
[Note added after-the-fact: this was a tongue-in-cheek bit of hyperbole – kind of like “it’s not just a Job, it’s an Adventure.” Did not mean to imply that it actually IS an IPM tool. Very badly worded. Hence the beating I took in the comments. Live and learn.]
Fungus gnats (Bradysia spp.) are a pain in the bottom for commercial greenhouse growers. The adults are more of a nuisance than anything else –it just looks bad when a customer picks up your 6” pot of pansies and a bunch of little black gnats take flight. … Continue reading this article “Bounce – it’s not just a fabric softening sheet…”
DMSO
A few months ago I was interviewed for an article where they asked me whether I thought that a deer repellant which was taken up into a tree would be a good idea. I said sure, great idea. It would last a long time — something that most repellants currently don’t. Well, I just saw the article and I must say that I’m not so sure that it’s a great idea any more.
It seems that the repellant that they’re talking about is basically a combination of hot peppers and DMSO. … Continue reading this article “DMSO”
Are Fertilizer and Insecticide Spikes a Good Idea?
One of the products that I often hear gardeners raving about are their fertilizer / pesticide combination spikes which are supposed to not only feed your plants, but also kill all of the insects which attack them. I, personally, have not used these products, but I’m generally the kind of person who says “If it works for you then keep using it”. Still, these spikes bug me a little. Here’s why.
First of all I should point out that I’m not opposed to fertilizer spikes by themselves. … Continue reading this article “Are Fertilizer and Insecticide Spikes a Good Idea?”
Cornmeal myth busted
As my colleague Fred Hoffman says, the horticultural silly season is upon us. This week I heard from one of our European readers, questioning the use of cornmeal as a fungicide. He referenced an online article entitled “Cornmeal has powerful fungicidal properties in the garden.” He hadn’t been able to find any reliable information and thought it might make a good topic for our blog. So Johannes, this rant’s for you!
If you’ve followed the link to column in question, you’ll see that the original “research” is attributed to one of Texas A&M’s research stations in Stephenville, TX.… Continue reading this article “Cornmeal myth busted”
Here’s the plant food everyone is talking about!
Apparently I don’t talk to the right people; I’d never heard of this product until newbie gardener and longtime skeptic John emailed me about Eleanor’s VF-11 plant food.
Upon visiting the website, this is what I learned about VF-11 and roses (the rose aficionado market is apparently a lucrative one for snake oil salesmen):
Point: “VF-11 Plant Food is not a ‘push’ like other fertilizers…think of it as a strength and health builder.”
Counterpoint: It certainly is not a fertilizer.… Continue reading this article “Here’s the plant food everyone is talking about!”