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What are LED Grow Lights For? LED grow lights are a relatively new horticultural introduction, although NASA has been studying them for decades. Are LED lights better than traditional grow lights? That depends upon the crop on which they are used, as well as economic and energy expenditure factors. Just like fluorescent and incandescent bulbs, LED bulbs produce light that is needed by plants. Most plants need light waves of red and blue....

How to Make a Gourd Wreath To create a beautiful fall wreath, you’ll need any type of store-bought wreath form or you can craft a homemade grapevine wreath from natural materials. If you wish to decorate the wreath with fresh items, you’ll want to have the wreath form on hand prior to collecting materials. An array of seasonal materials from the backyard and garden can be used to decorate a fall wreath....

About Low Water Perennials Most perennials suitable for hot, dry climates require loose, well-draining soil and are likely to rot in compacted or soggy soil. Drought-tolerant perennials tend to be low maintenance and most require little, if any, fertilizer. Keep in mind that all plants need at least a little water, particularly new plants that are just getting started, as moisture helps develop long roots that can tap deep into the soil....

Effects of Road Salt on Plants Plants that suffer salt damage in winter are often hit twice– once when the spray lands on their branches and again when salted snow slurry melts into their root zones. Salt can be incredibly damaging to plants, causing them to suffer from dehydration by bounding up water and nutrients as the sodium separates from the chloride and works its way into the plant tissues. Salt damage symptoms depend heavily on how much exposure the plant received but, in general, you’ll see symptoms like stunted, yellow foliage, leaf margin scorch, twig dieback, and even premature fall coloration....

What is Epazote? Epazote (Dysphania ambrosioides, formerly Chenopodium ambrosioides), is an herb in the Chenopodium family, along with lambsquarters and pigweeds. Although often thought of as a weed, epazote plants actually have a long history of both culinary and medicinal use. This adaptable plant is native to tropical Americas and is commonly found throughout Texas and the southwestern United States. Common names include paico macho, hierba homigero, and yerba de Santa Maria....

Everything You Need To Know About Fall Lawn Fertilizer Cool Season Grasses Let’s start with cool season grasses such as fescue, ryegrass, and bluegrass. As days get shorter and temperatures cool down, autumn is an excellent time to add nitrogen to the lawn to improve root systems and store food, without adding a lot of top growth. Then your lawn can sail through winter and be ready for an early spring greenup....

Best Fertilizer for Poinsettia Plants Poinsettias do fine with any good quality, all-purpose fertilizer. A water-soluble fertilizer is easiest to apply, but a dry fertilizer will also satisfy poinsettia fertilizer requirements. Be sure to water the plant thoroughly after fertilizing poinsettias, especially if you use dry fertilizer. Otherwise, the fertilizer may scorch the roots and damage the plant. Don’t bother fertilizing your poinsettia while it’s blooming, it isn’t necessary. Similarly, if you don’t intend to keep the plant and your goal is to simply enjoy it as a holiday decoration, no fertilizer is needed....

What is Fig Thread Blight? Fig trees (Ficus carica) are deciduous shrubs to small trees, native to the Mediterranean where they enjoy the warm temperatures of the region. When these warm temperatures collide with damp conditions, trees may become susceptible to leaf blight of figs. Leaf blight of figs, sometimes referred to as thread blight, is caused by the fungi Pellicularia kolerga. It is fostered by hot, damp weather. Fig thread blight first appears as yellow, water-soaked lesions on the foliage of the plant....

Since focal points in gardens draw the eye to something, it is important to decide what to use when creating focal points. When creating a focal point, one will want to consider what to add for a focal point and placement in the landscape. Learning How to Use Focal Points Learning how to use focal points is all about one golden rule: Less is more. Avoid the temptation to overuse and crowd an area with objects you have decided are the “cat’s meow....

Choosing Foliage Plants for Your Home In choosing your plants, consider the location’s environment. Determine whether a particular plant will only survive or thrive in that environment. Go to your library and find references of the specific care of plants being considered for the indoor environment. It is important to begin with good quality, healthy, pest-free plants. Make sure leaves possess good color for the species, with no brown tips or margins....

When designing a garden path, the choice of materials varies depending upon not only the budget, but the feel or theme of the garden. For instance, is the garden formal or informal? Is there a water feature or other point that can be joined by the inclusion of a bridge? Of course, what is the working budget for landscape design and how much is allotted for garden paths and walkways?...

Even if the garden is filled with beautiful plants and other features, a dull or unimaginative layout can quickly turn others away. Keep reading for tips on shaping the garden and avoid any lackluster issues. Garden Shape Design Dull-shaped gardens can appear boring. For instance, a garden that is dominated by nothing but lawn can look bleak, empty, and uninteresting. However, you can transform it into something more exciting simply by adding curves and reducing lawn areas....

Storage Zone in Backyard If you’ve got a backyard, you may have gardening equipment, landscaping tools, kids’ backyard toys, and even pool cleaning equipment that needs to be stored somewhere. Yes, you could rent a storage unit, but that’s so inconvenient when you need something NOW. Don’t worry, no matter how small your balcony or how large your lawn, there are lots of ways to create DIY garden storage. The idea of creating a storage zone in backyard corners is to provide storage space built in to another useful piece of outdoor furniture....

What is a Grow Bag and What are Grow Bags Used for? Grow bags are just what they sound like– bags you can fill with soil and grow plants in. When sold commercially, they are usually made of thick, breathable fabric, much like a reusable grocery bag. The bags are usually rectangular and come in a wide array of heights and widths, making them much more versatile and easily arrangeable than most hard plastic containers....

Read on for information about recognizing, preventing, and controlling gladiolus scab. Scab on Gladiolus How do you know if you have gladiolus plants with scab? The initial symptoms are small dots on lower leaves. These develop into round, water-soaked spots initially a pale-yellow shade. Over time they darken to black or brown. Scab on gladiolus has entered the second stage of the disease when the shallow lesions look sunken, with raised margins that have the texture of scabs....

What to Grow on a Berm A berm is essentially just a raised bit of the landscape, which you may choose to add to your yard for any variety of reasons: improved aesthetics, as a focal point, for a wind break, as a privacy screen, or to redirect drainage. Regardless of the reason, your new berm will be just a hill until you add plantings to it that make practical sense and that add to the beauty of your garden....

One especially popular use is making grape jams and jellies. You can make jelly out of any grape, but some varieties are better suited than others. Keep reading to learn more about growing grapes for jelly and jam and the best grapes for jelly and jam production. What are the Best Grape Jelly Varieties? One of the best known varieties of grape is the Concord, and it’s one of the best grapes for jelly making....

Types of Grapevine Support Structures Support is needed for grapevines to keep the new shoots or canes and fruit off the ground. If the fruit is left in contact with the ground, it will likely rot. Also, support allows a greater area of the vine to gain sunlight and air. There are a number of ways to support a grapevine. Basically, you have two choices: a vertical trellis or a horizontal trellis....

Indoor Camellia Care One crucial part of indoor camellia care is the appropriate temperature. These plants need lower temperatures in order to bloom. Typically, temperatures below 60 degrees F. (16 C.) work beautifully. Just take care that temperatures stay above freezing. Give your camellia houseplant a nice bright window indoors. A southern exposure window would work very well. Wherever you place your plant, be sure that it receives at least a few hours of direct sun for the best growth and flowering....

Start Growing Acorn Squash When learning about how to grow acorn squash, the first consideration should be space. Do you have enough to accommodate the acorn squash plant size (which is considerably large)? You’ll need about 50 square feet (4.5 sq. meters) per hill with two to three plants in each. That’s a lot of ground, but the good news is that one or two hills should provide plenty for the average family....