How to Grow Sunflowers

Many people love the idea of growing sunflowers. It is because it can easily add a stunning feel in your garden, and can also be a nice source of fresh and vibrant flowers that you can use to decorate your home.

Sunflowers do not always have to be planted in lawns or in the ground. You can also plant them in pots, so that you do not have to cut them, in case you want to place them indoors to bring summer inside your home.

If you are planning to pot and grow sunflowers, here are the things that you have to do:

Choose Your Sunflowers

There are several types of sunflowers that you can grow. Some grow really big that you can use to boarder your lawn, while some are smaller in size, which you can use to decorate parts of your garden.

Sunlight for Sunflowers

Even if your sunflowers will be planted in pots, you still have to remember that they need at least 6 hrs of sunshine every single day. Therefore, you have to place your pots in an area where there is sun. Sunflowers that do not receive enough sunlight will be weak and will not be able to grow as expected.

Containers & Pots for Sunflowers

If you want to grow giant sunflowers, you will have to give them separate pots. You do not always have to buy the pots. You can use an old 5 gallon bucket that you might have in your basement. Just make sure to clean them thoroughly, so that it will not contaminate the soil.

What Soil to use for Sunflowers

Garden potted soil is always best to use for sunflowers. This is because this type of soil is often treated with fertilizers that will help your sunflower grow tall, produce vibrant colors, and will have a lengthier life.

Growing Sunflowers from Seed

The seeds can be purchased anywhere. Sunflower seeds are very common, and you will be surprised to find them even in your local grocery store (in the garden section). Most often than not, the packets will have instructions on how to plant your seeds. Follow them, because the way you plant your sunflowers will depend on the type of seed that you want to grow.

How to Arrange Sunflowers

If you want to create a stunning sunflower display in your garden, then you might want to arrange your pots accordingly. Big flowers go at the back, while the smaller varieties should be arranged in front. You might also want to arrange them according to color. Your creativity will be exercised here. You can check out some pictures online to find inspiration on how to arrange your sunflower garden.

As your sunflowers grow, make sure that they are receiving enough sun. They love the sun, and they will only grow appropriately when they receive the needed nutrients from the sun. Water them too, but not too much, because you will just loosen the soil to the point of knocking the off.

These are the ways that you should do, if you want to plant sunflowers in pots to make a beautiful and stunning sunflower garden at home.

How to Grow Roses

Growing roses in your garden is one of the nicest way to make your garden look appealing, interesting, and super romantic as well. Who would not fall in love with roses anyway? They are charming, vibrant, and when grown properly, you can easily turn your garden into your very own relaxing sanctuary.

Roses come in a large variety, you can even grow the ones with long stems, same as the ones you see in flower shops. So why will you settle for roses in bouquets that can only last for days, when you can just grow them in your garden and enjoy them for months?

If you want to know how to grow long stem roses, here are the things that you have to do:

Rose Canes

The first thing that you need to do is to source the right variety of roses. You can buy seedlings from nurseries and greenhouses for this. The thing with roses is that it can be quite challenging to grow them. So if you want to do it the easier way, you might want to buy the canes already, so that roots have somehow established already.

The Soil

The best time of the year to plant roses is during early spring. This will ensure that your roses will have a cool breeze and an equal amount of sunlight. Make sure that your roses will receive at least 6 hours of sunlight during the day. The soil where you intend to plant your roses should also be well draining. This means that the soil has the best ability to absorb the water, and drain it, so that the water will not sit on the ground.

Dig a hole for your canes. The hole should be twice as deep and twice as wide. Place compost around the hole so that your roses will have the best nourishment that they need while they are growing. Plant your roses and make sure to water them at least 1 inch deep, in order for the roots to establish.

Rose Pruning

Pruning your roses every year is also required. This will prevent unwanted sprouts that will not bear flowers, which will only use up the plant’s energy. You might also want to remove the branches that are too thin, because these branches, although healthy, will not likely produce flowers as well. You should also watch out for branches that is showing spots. This can be an indication of a disease that can kill your plant.

Make sure to wear safety goggles and protective gloves when pruning roses. This is because roses have hard and sharp branches, including big and sharp thorns that can easily scratch your skin.

Nurturing Roses

Adding fertilizers around the area where your rose is planted is also necessary. This will promote growth and abundant production of flowers.

Roses make a beautiful and super romantic garden. It can easily catch anyone’s attention. Not to mention, roses have a distinct appealing fragrance too, which can surround your garden for a more relaxing and aromatic experience.

image courtesy of jchapiewski/flickr

How to Grow Orchids Indoors

Orchids are very well known exotic flowers. They normally grow in the wild, which makes them very difficult to grow commercially, and even more challenging to grow indoors, as they are accustomed to growing in an outdoor setting.

Nonetheless, growing orchids indoors is not an impossible thing to do, especially these days, when there are several things that can help us achieve the results that we want to achieve.

For instance, there are potting mediums that we can use for orchids, as well as hybrids that will make orchid growing easy, especially for beginners.

If you want to know how to grow orchids indoors, here are the steps that you need to follow:

Purchasing Orchid Seedlings

The best way to start growing orchids is through seedlings. You can buy orchid seedlings almost anywhere. But if you want the best assistance for this, it might be best to go directly to a nursery, so that the staff there will be able to assist you when you have questions. Get your seedlings from nurseries, but make sure that your seedlings will not show signs of health issues. Usually, orchids with disease have black patches that can be seen on its leaves. Ideally, you would like to get orchid seedlings with bright green leaves.

The Orchid Environment

Choosing your orchid environment can be quite challenging. This is because you want to mimic the same environment is has, when it was growing in the wild. But for orchids that you want to grow indoors, you might want to select the ones that are called “air plants”. These are the types of orchids that grows on trees, where they receive an ample amount of shading from the branches and leaves of the trees, when there is too much heat coming from the sun. Trees are also often packed with fungus and debris. These are actually nutrients for the air plants. So if you want to grow orchids indoors, try to emulate this type of environment for it to grow and produce beautiful exotic blooms.

Lighting is also needed by your orchids. You can either install a filtered light, or you can also place them in front of window that gets enough sunshine. However, since orchids do not want too much sunshine, you need to place a sheer curtain or covering to prevent them from getting too much heat.

You must also invest on a good air humidifier. Orchids love humidity, so this is very important if you want them to grow perfectly indoors.

Do not over water your orchids. It will just drown them and kill its roots. Just make sure to water them when you feel that the soil is already dry.

Adding fertilizer to your orchids will help your orchids grow healthy with a lot of vigor. Remember, making sure that your orchids are healthy will also give you the same level of assurance that your orchids will be able to produce healthy and vibrant flowers that you will surely be proud of.

image courtesy of infomastern