Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, it’s a neurodegenerative disease associated with a build-up of certain proteins and chemicals in the brain, which causes the brain atrophy and brain cells to die. This leads to dementia symptoms that worsen over time. […]
There’s a gardening myth that Aspirin tablets can be used to stimulate rooting in plant cuttings, but is it true? There’s a saying that “a little science is a dangerous thing“, and as we’ll see when we dissect this myth, it’s based on some partial […]
Deadheading is a pruning technique for removing flowers once they’ve finished in order to encourage plants to direct their energy into producing new flowers and extend their flowering period, rather expending their energy reserves on old spent flowers to produce seeds. Removing spent flowers is also […]
Announcing the Hort People website, an Australian green industry job board where employers can advertise jobs and job seekers can find work at https://hortpeople.com NOW HIRING! HORTICULTURISTS, GARDENERS, LANDSCAPERS, TEAM LEADERS, STUDENTS & BEGINNERS. Hort People is run by Daniel Fuller, the host of the […]
If you grow plants and trees in pots, some will eventually grow large enough to become rather top-heavy. considering that most potting mixes are fairly light, they need to be for proper aeration and drainage, they may not provide sufficient weight to prevent tall or […]
Paper wasps are beneficial insects that are a natural part of the native ecosystem and play an important role in pollination and pest population control. Paper Wasp Identification There are many species of paper wasps worldwide, so they do vary in appearance, but the distinctive […]
Crane flies (Family Tipulidae) look like giant mosquitoes, being up to 3cm (1-1/4″) in length, with a long slender abdomen, very long thin legs, narrow wings, and long antennas with multiple segments per stalk. They can be brown, green or white in colour. They’re sometimes called […]
Tall plant pots can look quite elegant indoors or out in the garden, their shapes serving as visually appealing aesthetic design elements. One of the downsides though to using such deep pots is the large volume of growing medium (potting mix) that it takes to […]
If we look at a healthy natural environment that hasn’t been damaged or subjected to human disturbance, we find that nature goes to some effort to protect the soil, which is not ‘dirt’, but a complex living ecosystem, known as the soil-food web. Layers of natural […]
Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) are perennial plants from the Asteraceae (daisy) family, that are native to Europe and Asia. They’re often described as ‘edible weeds’, which is a rather disparaging term, considering that the plant has been used for culinary and medicinal purposes for many centuries […]
This post is contributed and may contain affiliate links When it comes to keeping your lawn looking great, there are a few simple things you can do to make the process a little bit easier. From taking better care of your lawn mower to watering […]
Citruses are flowering trees and shrubs from the rue (Rutaceae) family and are native to subtropical and tropical regions of South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Melanesia, and northeastern Australia. Plants in the genus Citrus provide a wide assortment of fruit types, including important crops […]
Non-native, feral rodents, such as the Black Rat, aka Roof Rat (Rattus rattus), Brown Rat, aka Ship Rat or Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus) and House Mouse (Mus musculus) are destructive pests that can cause considerable damage to a home and garden if they’re not controlled. […]
How do you know if you have rats or mice, or some other pest problem? Correct pest identification is important for deciding on an appropriate course of action. Visual identification is not easy because rats and mice are nocturnal, meaning they are most active at […]
This post is contributed and may contain affiliate links If you have a green thumb and love spending time outdoors, why not put your skills to good use and earn some extra money? With a little effort, you can turn your garden into a veritable […]
Despite the unfounded concerns of some gardeners, setting up Queensland fruit fly traps will not attract more of the harmful female pests into your garden. These traps do work effectively to reduce the numbers of the pest already there, and are best installed at the […]
After using pruning tools, such as secateurs, loppers, hedge hedge and pruning saws, it’s important to clean them to prevent rusting, and to avoid spreading diseases from tree to tree. It’s a good idea to sterilise pruning tools after use, especially before using them on […]
Overpotting is a term used to describe the negative effects on plant health when a plant is grown in a pot that is way too big for it. While it might seem like a good idea to give a plant plenty of future growing space, […]
The soil cation exchange capacity (CEC) is the ability of soils to bind and store a particular group of nutrients by electrical attraction, those that form positively charged cations, such as calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), potassium (K+), and nitrogen in the form of ammonium (NH4+). […]
The life expectancy of fruit trees varies with the type of fruit tree, and the rootstock that they’re grafted onto (if they’re not growing on their own roots). Trees on dwarf rootstock tend to have a shorter life span than their larger counterparts because the […]
Burr knots (burrs or burls) are masses of small root initials, plant cells that are dividing and transforming into root tips, which appears on the above-ground portion of a rootstock, or on the trunk and limbs of apple trees. This is an inherited disorder where […]
The goji berry plant (Lycium barbarum), also known as a wolfberry (gouqizi, 枸杞) in Chinese, is a scrambling deciduous shrub with long, sparsely spiny weeping branches. It’s a Lycium (boxthorn) species that is a member of the Solanaceae (nightshade or tomato) plant family, and is […]
Fruit cracking is a common problem in tomatoes when there is a wide fluctuation in soil moisture levels, which leads to inconsistent water content within the plant. This is usually caused by huge temperature variations and/or inconsistent irrigation. The cracking or splitting of tomato fruit […]
Introduced, non-native, feral rodents, such as the Black Rat (Rattus rattus), Brown Rat, aka Ship Rat or Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus) and House Mouse (Mus musculus) are serious pests that need to be controlled. The danger with using commercial poison baits to control rats and […]
Bananas are tropical plants that belong to the Musaceae (plantain and banana) family. The cultivated varieties of bananas available today originate from ancestral species native to the Malaysian peninsula, New Guinea and South-East Asia. Even though banana plants are mistakenly referred to as trees, they’re […]
The recommended time for planting all evergreen trees and plants, including citrus, is in spring, and the next best time to plant them is in early autumn. The question many new gardeners ask is why? Evergreen trees and plants retain their leaves all year round. […]
I was invited to talk on the Plants Grow Here podcast with Daniel Fuller once again, you can listen to Ep.107 Companion planting by veg family – Angelo Eliades (Deep Green Permaculture) here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6MWPemQs5NkOLrvjPiIr3f?si=e2R4emj2QoWxMQe4Adnaow Episode Description: Have you ever wondered which veggies to plant together, […]
Comfrey, nettles and yarrow are herbs that are dynamic accumulators, plants capable of concentrating nutrients at much higher levels than the surrounding soil. When added to compost, these herbs break down, releasing their concentrated nutrients, helping initiate the composting process in a new compost pile, […]
The European wasp (Vespula germanica) is a social wasp that lives in large nest colonies. It’s native to Europe, North Africa and Asia, and has now spread throughout the world. In the US, these wasps are known as German yellowjackets. Why Are European Wasps Considered […]
Tomatoes require a sufficiently long growing season and suitable temperatures in order to ripen their fruit, otherwise the fruit may stay green and fail to ripen. When growing conditions are less than ideal, there are ways for gardeners to turn things in their favour, to […]
Some houseplants are sensitive to the fluoride that is added to municipal tap water for the purpose of preventing tooth decay in humans. The symptom of fluoride toxicity in plants is leaf necrosis (yellowing, then browning, leading to dead, scorched areas on the leaf), which […]
Tomatoes can be grown quite easily from seed, and you can use seeds collected from tomatoes you’ve grown yourself, or from ones you’ve purchase from the greengrocer! There are a few tricks to saving tomato seeds, as they are wet seeded crops, which have seeds […]
One of the most damaging pests of fruit and vegetables in Australia is the Queensland fruit fly or Qfly (Bactrocera tryoni). To control this pest, you can make your own home made traps using empty clear plastic bottles, and also make the homemade bait lure […]
It’s quite disappointing for gardeners when healthy and vigorous tomato plants,drop their flowers and fail to produce fruit after a good growing season. Tomato plants have what are described as complete flowers, they contain both the male and female parts within the same flower. The […]
When houseplant (indoor plant) leaves turn yellow, it’s usually one of the first symptoms indicating that the plant is stressed. If the conditions causing the plant stress are not alleviated, the yellow leaves may eventually turn brown and drop. Plant stress can be caused by […]
In this comprehensive, practical gardening guide, we’ll show you the easiest ways to produce brilliant, bountiful harvests with less effort and cost, by working cleverly with nature. New to gardening? Start the right way, learn how to select the best sites for garden beds, prepare […]
Foam packing peanuts are a lightweight packing material which is used to fill the empty space in boxes and containers, to cushion the contents and protect them from damage during shipping. They’re a welcome addition in freight packaging for the additional protection they provide, but […]
I was invited to talk on the Plants Grow Here podcast with Daniel Fuller on Sunday 10 October 2021, you can listen to Ep.70 Enhance your urban yield – Angelo Eliades (Deep Green Permaculture) here: https://kite.link/PGH-ENH Episode description: Angelo Eliades is an urban permaculturist that’s […]
Horticultural oil, also known as white oil, is an easy and inexpensive pesticide to prepare at home from readily-available materials. It is used to control scale, aphids, mealy bug, citrus leaf miner, mites and caterpillars on roses, ornamentals, citrus and other fruit trees. The commercial […]
Food additives are listed on product labels with a three or four digit number code, because their real names may be far too long to use. This number system is known as the International Numbering System for Food Additives, or INS for short. For example, […]
Container gardening is a great way to grow vegetables when there is no space left in the garden beds, or when space is limited, such as in a courtyard or balcony. When growing in a pot or container, the three main requirements are: The container […]
Just about everything can be composted using cold (slow) composting, hot (fast) composting, worm farms (vermicomposting), bokashi composting and Hügelkultur composting. The table in this article lists how to compost just about every garden and kitchen material that can be recycled, and which composting systems […]
Indoor plants add color and vibrancy to your space. To keep your houseplants in their best form, you need to prune them regularly. Pruning will help you remove dead leaves and flowers and encourage the plant to grow fuller and shapelier. If you’re new to […]
Many warm-season crops, such cantaloupe, capsicums, chillies, cucumbers, eggplants, lima beans, pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, and watermelon, are native to subtropical climates, and are therefore very frost-sensitive. They prefer temperatures of 21°C (70°F) to 35°C (95°F), and need daytime temperatures above 15.5°C (60°F). A week of […]
Warm season vegetables and fruit trees are often grown close to brick, stone and concrete walls facing the midday or afternoon sun. This is because these surfaces act as a thermal mass, heating up during the day, and releasing the heat at night as the […]
Odor repellent (scent repellent) products are an effective way of deterring unwanted pest animals from visiting the garden and causing damage. They either contain ingredients which pest animals find offensive and objectionable, or those that evoke an instinctive reaction of fear in pest animals, because […]
