Bone meal and blood meal are organic fertilizers used in gardening, but they have different compositions and purposes. Bone meal is for plants that require a phosphorus boost for root health, such…
Category: Plants in Hawaii
This section holds an encyclopedia of plants that have come from or will be brought to the Hawaii Kai Plant Exchange. There are also anecdotes about permaculture: composting and aquaponics in particular.
Duckweed: I can’t believe I’m going to grow this stuff
Many years back, I received a gift of duckweed. I put it into my aquaponics tank, where it was quickly gobbled up by hungry tilapia. I didn’t give it a second thought….
Rice Paddy Herb: Why did it take me so long to discover this delicious plant?
I just learned about rice paddy herb on the 808 Green Thumbs Facebook group. This is an outstanding culinary find! Its scientific name is Limnophila aromatica. Popular in Southeast Asia, it is…
Recommended: Renee’s Garden Container Cucumber, Bush Slicer
I’ve been a fan of Renee’s Garden seeds for many years: over a decade, in fact. Their product line is fun, eclectic and often unique. They also specialize in the backyard gardener…
Growing without soil: hydroponics vs. aquaponics
I like to think about hydroponics as being a good indoor “gardening” technique that graduates to aquaponics outdoors. Technically, it’s not true. You can use both hydroponics and aquaponics indoors or outdoors….
Revisiting Kiwano, part two
If you recall from [this post], I had just started harvesting African Horned Cucumber, also known as Jelly Melon and also known as Kiwano. Then there was my own nickname for them,…
You don’t need a lot of land to plant a garden
Check out this post from Oregon State University (OSU), “Things to consider when starting your vegetable garden.” It’s probably the best checklist I’ve seen so far: short and actionable for those interested…
Gardening 101: Deadheading isn’t just for heavy metal fans
On a visit to a local nursery, I bought an already established coreopsis plant. The plant was so well established it had more dried up flowers than new blooms. No problem, I…
Poor soil? You’re in luck. Try cosmos flowers.
Both my mom and I tried growing cosmos flowers in the nitrogen-rich mulch soil mixture we usually use, but the flowers didn’t seem to like it. Then, we tried again using ordinary…