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Organic matter

Growing Melons in Greenhouse

When you start to feel that cucumbers is no longer attractive to grow in your greenhouse, and your friends no longer visit you in late summer to avoid the free tomatoes, you should really consider of growing melons.

Sow the melon seeds in your greenhouse between mid April and end of May. Sow them directly into 3 inch pots using standard potting soil.

Once the seedlings bear two true leaves, plant them out in a cold glasshouse inside growing bags. Better yet, plant them directly into well-prepared soil (with lots of organic matter) in your greenhouse. Composted grass clippings and straws are good ideas if your melons are trenched in using the double digging method.

Create some support for your melons. This may be a single line of string tied to the supports in the glasshouse roof, which is then secured in the ground with a peg next to the base of the melons. Or, you can always use a fan trellis.

As the melons start to grow, tie the strongest shoots to the support and pinch out the side shoots that grow from the main stems. When the stems reach the top of the support, pinch out the leading shoots. This trick will help your melons concentrate on bearing more and larger fruits.

Next key is watering. Water your melons well. Oh, they love plenty of water. The best way is using a drip irrigation system. Another is inserting a 3 inch pipe when planting those melons so that water can directly touch the roots. Remember that it should be constantly moist, not wet. So water your melons well, but never too much.

Once the flowers grow, take a small paint brush and lightly brush each flower to aid pollination. It is recommended to be done during mid-day since it is when the humidity is high. After 2 or 3 days remove the male flowers (note: a female flower has a melon-like growing at its bottom part).

Once the fruits grow, feed them with a liquid melon fertilizer (the one usually used to fertilize tomatoes as well) once a week.

When the fruits are as big as tennis balls, support them using string nets. As the summer passes by and the fruits reach full size, remove a few leaves to allow them ripen. Keep in mind that in the peak of the summer your greenhouse must be kept humid by watering the path early in the morning. Keep a bucket of water standing still inside it is a good trick, too.

Growing melons may be challenging, but the rewards are worth the efforts. The harvest can be enjoyed in various dishes. Tasty sweet!

Organic Raspberry Production Guide, Revisited

Organic Raspberry cultivation requires sufficient amount of care to be taken care by farmers. It should be planted in a place where harvest seasons never overlaps with rainy days. It is advisable to have plantation performed in autumn or spring seasons. Organic fertilizers can yield better results to the farmers. [click to continue…]

Organic Raspberry Production‏

The best regions for raspberry production aren’t very hot in summers, and there shouldn’t be any rain in harvest season. Most suitable soil is rich in organic matter, and can hold water with good drainage. Soil thats is very heavy, light, or with bad drainage should be avoided. [click to continue…]

Improving the Soil – Ventilation,Processability,Color and Water Holding Capacity

Ventilation: Ventilating the soil not only improves drainage but also makes roots and underground organisms breathe. Ventilation can be achieved with most of the methods that improve drainage.

Processability: Heavily clayed soil is hard to work on. To improve this, drainage methods can be used together with adding organic materials that the soil lacks.

Color: Color of soil will change depending on for how long it’s been worked on. While the color of soil depends on the kind of rock it originated from, the amount of organic matter also has an effect. It can be said that the dark colored soil has been used in agriculture for centuries. Dark colored soil absorbs the heat faster and it will lose it slowly. This means they start getting warmer earlier in Spring. As such, improvement of color means darkening it. In old days, this was done by adding ventilated ash to soil, but nowadays we use organic mixtures.

Water Holding Capacity: Soil with too much sand in it has too good drainage, water disappears before the roots can absorb it. To improve water holding capacity of soil, as much organic matter as possible must be added. This will improve the situation and let the roots absorb water when the moisture is low.

The Cure For Veggie Deprivation

Has the economy’s persistent and ongoing downward spiral caused you to bemoan the ouch-factor of a myriad of basic yet frequently-used pantry staples – the very same ones that were comparatively dirt cheap just a few years [click to continue…]