Chemistry of Plant Life

[nutronjon]

Yipes, I took my plants back in the living room where they get natural sun light. A day under the heat lamp caused spotting and leaves to turn yellow. The plants do not look so healthy amd I don't know if I caused a disease to grow on the plants, or it was just the effect of the heat lamps.

This gardening thing obviously isn't just what is in the soil. It is heat and cold and light.

[freeztar]

I would not put plants under a heat lamp. It can cause the leaves, or the entire plant to die. It also sucks all the water out of them. A heat lamp can be good for germinating seeds, but I would not recommend one after the seeds have sprouted.

Make sure to give your plants lots of water to aid in their recovery.

[nutronjon]

Originally Posted by freeztar

I would not put plants under a heat lamp. It can cause the leaves, or the entire plant to die. It also sucks all the water out of them. A heat lamp can be good for germinating seeds, but I would not recommend one after the seeds have sprouted.

Make sure to give your plants lots of water to aid in their recovery.

I had everything so moist, white fuzzy mold started to grow on the tomato plant, and prehaps dark spots were also mold. Whatever, it didn't take but a day to realize I had made a mistake.

I have transfered three plants, califlower, broccoli, and an herb outside. Our weather is too wierd to transfer warm weather plants outside. I heard the peach crop will be terrible this year, because it wasn't warm enough for bees to leave their hives.

[Michaelangelica]

Uncle Al's list is a good one
I have used sandpaper on Ipomena noctiflora seeds. They are incredibly hard coated. You need to rub away for ages. People were amazed that I got them to germinate.
I collected some camellia seeds this year they have a hard coat, I had no sand paper so after forgetting to buy it for a few months I finally put them in a good peaty layer over potting mix and i think they are coming up. the first time I have grown camellia from seed. I just have to live long enough now to see how they flower.

Some Australian plants won't germinate at all without smoke. You can even buy smoky water here to soak the in!(No wonder most of the rest of the world thinks us strange! My daughter in London was taking pictures of snow last month -bemusing Brit. onlookers).

Some plants (eg Thyme) produces growth inhibitors for other thymes/plants. I guess they grew up/evolved in a rough, dry neighbourhood and first in/up? gets to keep the neighbourhood.
If they all come up at once you're safe.

There are a lot of fungal diseases that kill baby seedlings.
I always plant seeds in a thick sandwich of sterile material ( vermiculite, heat treated "peat") over the top of store-bought seed or potting mix.
Some say chamomile tea will help kill fungus ("damping off" -phytophera??)

I agree about everything you want to eat, something else does too
The possum eats my tomatoes 24 1/2 figs ( I got the other 1/2) and my parsley
He has a 'turf deal' with the snails who eat my chives, leeks, shallots and garlic chives.
I am sure they just divide up the garden between them.

I am always amazed by people who ask "How did early man find out what plants/ berries etc were edible/medicinal and which were not?"

Sit and watch!! the goose, possum, monkey, snail, duck, sheep etc.

Many are so terrified of plants killing them when in fact it is very hard to make a good, quick, painless, suicide potent from plants. I have researched it extensively.
In one old NSW Department Of Agriculture pamphlet on poisonous plants chili /chilli featured !!not

A terrified young mother came up to me in my nursery one day saying her child had just eaten a berry like this (the once she is holding in my face.)
My "dark side" swung into action uncontrollably and I said
"Not unless he is VERY allergic to olives."


Anyone used honey, Vegemite, or aspirin or (willow) to promote cuttings?

[Moontanman]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

Uncle Als list is a good one
I have used sandpaper on Ipomena noctiflora seeds. They are incredibly hard coated. You need to rub away for ages. People were amazed that I got them to germinate.
I collected some camellia seeds this year they have a hard coat, I had no sand paper so after forgetting to buy it for a few months I finally put them in a good peaty layer over potting mix and i think they are coming up. the first time I have grown camellia from seed. I just have to live long enough now to see how they flower.

Some Australian plants won't germinate at all without smoke. You can even buy smoky water here to soak the in!(No wonder most of the rest of the world thinks us strange! My daughter in London was taking pictures of snow last month -bemusing Brit. onlookers).

Some plants (eg Thyme) produces growth inhibitors for other thymes/plants. I guess they grew up/evolved in a rough, dry neighbourhood and first in/up? gets to keep the neighbourhood.
If they all come up at once you're safe.

There are a lot of fungal diseases that kill baby seedlings.
I always plant seeds in a thick sandwich of sterile material ( vermiculite, heat treated "peat") over the top of store-bought seed or potting mix.
Some say chamomile tea will help kill fungus ("damping off" -phytophera??)

I agree about everything you want to eat, something else does too
The possum eats my tomatoes 24 1/2 figs ( I got the other 1/2) and my parsley
He has a 'turf deal' with the snails who eat my chives, leeks, shallots and garlic chives.
I am sure they just divide up the garden between them.

I am always amazed by people who ask "How did early man find out what plants/ berries etc were edible/medicinal and which were not?"
Sit and watch!! the goose, possum, monkey, snail, duck, sheep etc.
many are so terrified of plants killing them when in fact it is very hard to make agood quick painless suicide potent from plants.
A terrified young mother came up to me in my nursery one day saying her child had just eaten a berry like this (the once she is holding in my face.)
My "dark side" swung into action uncontrollably and I said
"Not unless he is VERY allergic to olives."

Anyone used honey, Vegemite, or aspirin or (willow) to promote cuttings?

Some of the local Pines only shed their seeds when exposed to fire the cones only open up when a fire run through the woods. the cones shoot the seeds out after the fire has passed. great way to reseed after a fire!

[freeztar]

Originally Posted by Moontanman

Some of the local Pines only shed their seeds when exposed to fire the cones only open up when a fire run through the woods. the cones shoot the seeds out after the fire has passed. great way to reseed after a fire!

Indeed. Fire Ecology.

[vanamoinen1]

Another method that sometimes works w/woody seeds and/or seeds which have been in storage for a while is to put them in a plastic bag with a bit of H2O2 solution--about 1 tblspn/cup. The peroxide helps water pass through the aril to the embryo inside. Depending on the species, refrigeration of these soaking seeds may also help to imitate winter dormancy--for example, daylily (hemerocallis) seeds in the peroxide solution stored in the fridge for 3 weeks have much higher germination rates that dry seed planted directly in seed media. Tree peony seeds and hellebore seeds (both of which have awful germination rates once the seed dries out) have acceptable germination rates with this peroxide/cold "stratification" method.

As far as the nitrogen issue goes: decaying wood mulches do deplete nitrogen from the soil, so if you are using fresh mulch, you may need to supplement with a high-nitrogen fertilizer. HOwever, as the mulch continues to break down, the nitrogen which was absorbed by the mulch is re-released to the soil. It's just part of the natural breaking-down process of cellulosic materials. In general, nitrogenous wastes and fertilizers contribute to the leaf growth of the plant, and late feedings (autumn) are inadvisable since they can cause the growth of tissue which lacks the time to harden off before winter sets in.

Hope that helps.

[Michaelangelica]

JUST read Gardening Australia (Nov 2008 -I'm in the library) essay by Michael McCoy who says
"I've determined that when I'm old I'll measure my worldly achivement on my mastery of raising plants from seed"

[Michaelangelica]

JUST read Gardening Australia (Nov 2008 -I'm in the library) essay by Michael McCoy who says
"I've determined that when I'm old I'll measure my worldly achivement on my mastery of raising plants from seed"

While I am here; Could I please ask the chemists what chlorine (and its friends) do to soil CHEMISTRY-not to wee beasties etc- just to the chemistry.
Does it lock up certain nutrients?- for example.

goodness JUST found this from the same mag
http://www.frangipaniheaven.com/inde.../BagMethod.htm

[vanamoinen1]

michaelangelica: there are a number of difficulties associated with salt concentrations in soil, not the least of which relate to waste runoff of soap products/detergents. Typically, a soap comprises an alkali salt (e.g. sodium, potassium) or an ammonium salt of a long chain fatty acid; the class of soaps/detergents includes a myriad of different salts and a class of compounds called "surfactants"--btw, sodium lauryl sulfate is a common ingredient in bodywashes/shampoos which can be viewed as the sodium salt of the ester formed by reacting lauryl alcohol and sulphuric acid. The "problem" of surfactant-containing waste water is that the very function of the surfactant--to change the surface activity of the substrate to which they are applied--implies that when they are applied to soil they may change its permeability--as a simplified view, soil may become water-logged as a result of its permeability being increased. In addition to the soap/detergents, other pollutants may also be washed into the soil as a result of the change in permeability. Over time, micro-organisms may break down the soaps/detergents in the soil--and indeed, long chain fatty acids are a good energy source for them. But if the system is overwhelmed, the soil will stagnate and sour--runoff into water resources also becomes an issue. Many plants will not tolerate waterlogged soil, which the increased soil permeability may produce. They simply die from root suffocation or become susceptible to fungal infections.

Hope that's informative.