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on sale here!
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HAPPY and HEALTHY Plants Start with Healthy Soil!
Want to help eliminate pest problems from your garden? Then, keep your
plants healthy by providing proper watering, feeding and light conditions.
- Soil Prep - See our Prepare
the Soil page to do it right. Chances are, if you just bring home
a plant and dig a hole, drop it in and hope for success - you won't have
much of it.
- Watering - Don't water everything at the same time just
because it is convenient or what your neighbors do. Group your plants together based in part on
how much water they will require. That way you are not over or under
watering neighboring plants. Too much or not enough water causes
stress on the plants and a stressed plant attracts insects and disease.
Ask us about water requirements when you buy your plants or check on
existing plants in one of our gardens the next time you stop in.
- Feeding - The Garden of Eden was a miracle in and of itself - but
we doubt very much there was a "miraculous" fertilizer being used!
Most plants prefer a mild, naturally slow releasing and consistently available source
of nutrients. When you fertilize the soil, you are feeding the
microbes, which in turn, provide the nutrients necessary for the plants'
growth and health. Sure, sometimes a specific type of plant may
require more of one kind of nutrient over another - especially if it isn't
native to your area. But if you apply a well balanced, organic
fertilizer on a regular basis, most of the time you'll keep the levels of
nutrients where they need to be because you keep the organisms in the soil
well fed and healthy. For years all that was used was manure, but
nowadays we have easy to use and premixed fertilizers for every need that
are a bit easier on the nose!
- Light - Sun or shade? Full sun or partial shade? Deep
shade or dappled sun? Find out what kind of lighting conditions your
plant prefers. Group those with similar needs together, just as in the
watering guidelines. There may not be any time for pests
to move in if you cook a shade loving plant out in the sun! Scorched
leaves are unattractive and too much of this abuse can really fry a plant,
stressing it out and making it, you guessed it, more susceptible to pests
and diseases. And a plant that likes the sunlight will struggle in the
shade. Often it becomes leggy, weak and yes, stressed. Mealy
bugs, white fly, aphids and other insects are often found on plants with
poor lighting conditions.
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