The very short answer to this is osmosis. Osmosis, very basically said, is the naturally occurring phenomenon where water flows towards areas of higher concentration until an equilibrium of concentration is obtained. Trees take advantage of this phenomenon by increasing the concentration gradient with increasing height of the plant. This way water continues to flow [...]
Tag Archives: watering
podcast Top 12 Gardening Mistakes that Get in the Way of Gardening Success
1. Ignoring Soil Health: attempting to grow high quality plants from a low quality soil There’s nothing better than sinking your teeth into your own home-grown, delicious, nutrient-rich food. That kind of food not only tastes amazing, it works wonders for your health. Where do plants get the nutrients necessary to create such flavorful and [...]
Accelerate Seed Germination
Sometimes getting seeds to grow can take many days and even weeks depending on the species you’re trying to grow. One quick and easy way to accelerate seed germination without using chemicals is simply to dampen the soil with warm water. Since plants’ metabolic rates are temperature-influenced (see ‘Cold-Blooded Plants‘), watering with warm water (not [...]
Space Above the Soil
When you plant seeds or seedlings in pots, be sure to leave at least an inch (2.5 cm) of space from the soil surface level to the rim of the pot. The reason for this is to leave room for watering so you’re less likely to splash over the edge of your pot and make [...]
Draining Indoor Plants
It’s important, when watering indoor plants, to make sure the water has a way to drain out of the pot. This prevents two things. First, by preventing standing water in the pot, it allows the roots to breathe as needed. Unless your houseplant came from a swamp it’s important to remember that the roots of [...]
Salty and Sodic Soils
What a Gardener Can Do When Confronted with this Problem The basic idea: Salty soils will squelch the productivity of any garden unless all the plant material chosen for your garden comes specifically from seaside regions. Salty soils have a high osmotic pressure, exerting a strong pull on water, thus keeping plants thirsty. Fortunately, there [...]
Starting a Lawn: Seed versus Sod
At face value, seed is much less expensive then sod, but sod is much easier to deal with then seed. If you decide to plant grass seed and grow your own lawn it will usually be cheaper, but you will have to put up with the issues that a sod farmer deals with when he [...]
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