Can my tropical plants grow in the gravel or do i need peat?
We have a tropical fish tank and have purchased some more tropical plants (Cryptocorynes, Cabomba, Anubias Nana), can we place them straight in the gravel.? We have heard a roumor that if you add peat in the tank they will grow more, is this true? any hints?
Yes its true but you need to put the peat in before the gravel when you set the tank up. I would sugest if that is not possible that you put a Grolux bulb in your tank or something equivalent. The plants that you describe need a lot of light and plant food. If all else fails and your plants dont do very well you could get some Java fern which will grow anywhere and multiply very quickly. Good luck.
Is gardening with tires bad for the environment?
I have read many articles that suggest using old tires for container gardening. My father is considering making a vegetable garden out of tires. Does the tire pollute the soil and there fore the vegetables? I it is bad to burn tires.. Should I be concerned about the quality of the vegetables? Have you seen any scientific evidence about this topic? Or environmental tests?
If you already have the tires – I say use ‘em. Don’t burn them, however. I can’t imagine there is any concern about the quality of the veggies since what that really depends on is the soil you put them in and how you fertilize etc. They make rubber mulch these days – probably from old tires…
One critter warning – if you are not going to turn the tires inside out to eliminate the ridges, or if you are going to "store" tires, I would give you a caveat about mosquitoes who LOVE to breed in the little bit of water that usually sits in those ridges. Make sure the tires are packed tight with soil.
If you don’t have tires already, I don’t see an advantage to this method over any other raised bed method.
There are lots of unanswered questions that would help determine what the best garden situation is for you :
Do you want raised beds because you have trouble up and down? If that is the case, build a box (make the bottom out of screening and landscape fabric so water will flow through) and set it on top of some table legs or horses.
Or is it because you only have a little bit of space? Container gardening is easily done with vegetables. See the book Movable Harvest for really great ideas. You can use pretty much anything you can put a drainage hole in (provided it didn’t have chemicals in it first!).
Personally, I think anytime you are recycling something for a good use it is worthwhile – but for the love of God – PLEASE don’t buy new tires to try this project out!
Just in case you DO have a bunch of tires laying around, I attached a link to a site that has many ideas for using them up in the garden.
Good luck to you and your dad!
Ideas for a tropical garden with dry,unfertile soil ?
I am from Sri Lanka which is a tropical country. There is a patch in my garden with unfertile & dry soil. It is very shady so I tried growing foliage plants. They have grown but still the soil is not rich enough. Could you give me some ideas as to what to do with it.
You need to improve the soil. You can do this by adding some mulch and turning it into the soil. Try planting bromeliads, crotons or cordylines. They are colorful foliage plants and I am sure they will be available there. Water and fertilise regularly for success. Good luck.
