Flowering Amorphophallus campanulatus Blume ex Decne

The stinking flower

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Dodder - Cuscuta

Other names of this parasite include love vine, strangleweed, devil's-guts, goldthread, pull-down, devil's-ringlet, hellbine, hairweed, devil's-hair, and hailweed.

Dodder is an annual a leafless, parasitic. It is a bright twisting yellow or orange creeper sometimes tinted with purple or red. At times it is nearly white. The stems can be very thin and thread-like or rather firm. Dodder is said to contain some chlorophyll in the buds, fruits and stems, but the amount of food manufactured in this tissue is of little significance to the survival of the plant.

The flowers are small white, pink or yellowish. Dodder produces seed that falls to the ground and sprout the next growing season if a suitable host is present. If no suitable host is present, the seed may remain dormant for five years. The seeds can travel by water along irrigation channels. Moist soil and sunlight is required for germination.

Dodder seedlings must attach to an appropriate host within a few days of germinating or they die. The young seedling is delicate to touch and yellowish stem touches in the air until it makes contact with a plant. The contact is made firm by one or more loops about the stem. If this plant happens to contain foods suitable to the dodder then a secondary provocation is aroused, this causes root-like branches (haustoria) to form and penetrate the stem. The basal part of the parasite soon shrinks away so that no soil connection exists.

Dodder attack only when a rival is close by, and every so often gain surprise on their victims. Their vines do not directly cause destruction, but are rather used to struggle victims. Once an enemy is struggled, it attempts to constrict it to death.

Pulling and destroying dodder infected plants is recommended. Dodder must be destroyed before it produces seeds or infestations will spread. Once established, dodder appears in patches in the field. Cutting the host plant earlier to the dodder producing seed helps reduce the quantity of seed.

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Roselle - Hibiscus sabdariffa

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Ripe Spondias dulcis - fruits de cythère

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Mulching your garden

Mulches are materials placed over the soil surface to maintain moisture and improve soil conditions. This goes for every garden site, from vegetable garden to flower bed Mulch can reduce water loss from the soil, minimize weed competition, and improve soil structure. Properly applied, mulch can give landscapes a well-groomed appearance. However, Mulch must be applied properly; if it is too deep or if the wrong material is used, it can actually cause significant harm to trees and other landscape plants.

Mulched gardens are healthier, more weed free, and more drought-resistant then unmulched gardens, so you'll spend less time watering, weeding, and fighting pest problems.

There are two basic kinds of mulch: organic and inorganic. Organic mulches include formerly living material such as chopped leaves, straw, grass clippings, compost, wood chips, shredded bark, sawdust, pine needles, and even paper. Inorganic mulches include gravel, stones, black plastic, and geotextiles (landscape fabrics).

Both types discourage weeds, but organic mulches also improve the soil as they decompose. Inorganic mulches don't break down and enrich the soil, but under certain circumstances they're the mulch of choice. For example, black plastic warms the soil and radiates heat during the night, keeping heat-loving vegetables such as eggplant and tomatoes cozy and vigorous.

Using Organic Mulches

There are two prime rules for using organic mulches to combat weeds. First, be sure to lay the mulch down on soil that is already weeded, and second, lay down a thick enough layer to discourage new weeds from coming up through it.

Wood chips and bark mulch: You can purchase bags of decorative wood chips or shredded bark from a local garden center to mulch your flower garden and shrub borders. Or simply from carpenters, they have loads.

Shredded leaves: If you have trees on your property, shredding the fallen leaves creates nutrient-rich mulch for free.You can spread a wood chip or shredded leaf mulch anywhere on your property, but it looks especially attractive in flower beds and shrub borders. Of course, it's right at home in a woodland or shade garden. They also serve well as a mulch for garden pathway.

Grass offcuts: Grass trimmings are readily available mulch, although it's a good idea to return at least some of your grass clippings directly to the lawn as a natural fertilizer. Its fine to collect grass clippings occasionally to use as mulch, and the nitrogen-rich clippings are an especially good choice for mulching vegetable gardens. Your vegetables will thank you for the nitrogen boost!

Straw and hay: Great mulch for the vegetable garden is straw or hays. It looks good and has most of the benefits of the other mulches: retaining soil moisture, keeping down weeds, and adding organic matter to the soil when it breaks down. But be sure the hay you use is weed and seed free.

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How to create a new garden bed

1. Sketch the areas of your garden plot that you want to clear.

To get your edges straight for a square or rectangular vegetable plot, stretch a string between sticks and mark the line with a chalk stick.For a round shape, use a hose or rope to lay out the area, adjusting the position to create a smooth curve.

2.  Clear the surface by first removing dry plants, weeds, and rock.

If your garden area contains a lot of perennial weeds make sure that you first kill these weeds or grasses.

3.  Dig it up.

Now comes the digging. Dig up your new garden. If you have poor soil, now's also a great time to incorporate organic matter, such as compost. Just dig it in while you work the ground.

4. Create edging for the new bed

A waterway about 8 inches deep and a couple of inches wide will stop even the worst invaders from crossing and have a fine edging. Otherwise, drop an edging material around the border of your garden like bamboos.

5.  Position desired plants

Select which plants you will plant and place them before you put them in the ground can make a world of difference. This allows you to get the spacing just right and make your plants really will look good next to each other.

6.  start planting

When you know all of your plants are in exactly the right spots, plant them in the ground.

7.  Water them

Once your bed is planted and protected, give your plants a good soaking. Enjoy your gardening.

Tips: make sure you make research about the types of plant needed at the proper timing and place.

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Newspaper seed starter

Everyone must have old newspapers at home, some seeds, and soils, but no pot to make them germinate. Well, using newspaper as a seed starter is not only very cheap but also biodegradable thus the paper pot can directly bury into the ground without disturbing the seedling and its roots. 

 

 

Materials needed:

Newspaper

soda can

soil

seed

DIY

Gather some old newspaper.

Take a soda can.

Fold the newspaper into two. And place the Soda can on top.

Wrap the newspaper around the can.

After that, just fold in one end of the newspaper to make the bottom.

It should look something like this, with the can.

Remove the can, Here is your homemade pot.

Now, just add some soils in. Add desired seed, and let Mother Nature do her work.

Voila, you now have quick and cheap pot for starting seeds that you made from newspapers that you were just going to throw away.

When the seedlings have sprouted you can plant the whole thing in the ground where the newspaper will eventually decompose.

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