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Tips For Beginner Gardeners

Ah, how exciting to contemplate the planting of your seeds! Keep it simple and concentrate on success the first time. Put the seeds in the soil in the right way—and fine-tune it later. The earth is your best teacher in this! Standard planting technique means fill a deep flat or a pot with soil, or prepare a weed-free seedbed…

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Tips on Curing Tobacco

There are many different methods for curing tobacco, but the easiest is to pick the leaves when they get a tinge of yellow on them, then hang them in an open shed or under the eaves.  You can string them on a piece of bailing wire or strong string.  Set it up so that the leaves dry out during the day…

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Tips for Growing Onions

For greenhouse growing, plant in pots or deep flats and allow them to come up closely together.  When the tops reach 6 or 8 inches, cut back down to 3 inches and allow to grow back again.  After the tops attain 6 or 8 inches again, cut back down to 3 inches again.  What this does (besides providing you with an…

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Rhodiola Growing Hints

Germination benefits greatly from cold conditioning/stratification, possibly ~ 6 weeks at 5 Celsius or colder, though typically seed is sown on moist sterilized potting soil (in plug trays – 72 cell trays are popular) during the winter and placed outside for two months or more, preferably with snow cover. Seeds can be covered lightly or pressed into the soil…

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How to Start Cacti from Seed

Those of you who are familiar with starting cacti from seed may ignore these directions. Here are some tips for those of you who are just starting out growing cacti from seed. You need to use full spectrum grow lights or a good greenhouse. You can’t just germinate them on a windowsill in an apartment–they need bright light and…

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Starting Aloe from Seed

  Sow seed in regular greenhouse conditions or indoors in a warm and light location. Use 4 inch square pots filled with potting soil composed of 50% sifted compost and 50% coarse, sharp sand or pumice. Add a small amount of wood ash. Commercial cactus mix or standard potting soil are both acceptable, although mixing your own potting soil…

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