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Best tips for growing Salvia splendens / Scarlet Sage / Tropical Sage at home

Salvia splendens native to Brazil makes a beautiful indoor as well as outdoor plant. Stem is square, hollow and upright featuring large, dark green, oval and serrated leaves on it. During blooming season Salvia displays spikes of red, tubular flowers. It blooms throughout summer as well as autumn. Not so tolerant to low temperature, Salvia should be brought inside home in winter months. Salvia splendens is known as scarlet sage, tropical sage also.

Propagation

Salvia is not propagated from seeds as germination rate is extremely low. It is grown from stem cuttings. Cuttings can be rooted either in water or soil mix. Take a 4-5 inch long stem cutting. Remove leaves present on the lowest node and make a slant cut just below this node. Put the cutting in a jar filled with fresh water and keep in a bright spot away from direct sun light. Change the water regularly to avoid any type of contamination. Cuttings root within a week. Transplant the cuttings in pots or containers when roots are ½-1 inch long. Cover the pot with a plastic bag and tie it with a rubber band. Put some holes in the plastic bag for air circulation.  

Follow the same above mentioned procedure to take cuttings. Prepare soil mix for planting cuttings in the pot. Poke 2 inches deep holes into the soil mix using pencil. Put the cuttings in those holes and water it. Cover the pot with a plastic bag and tie with a rubber band. Puncture the bag with 2-3 holes for air circulation. 

Container

Choose a 8-10 inches long container or pot. Container should have drainage holes at the bottom. Cover the drainage holes with small pieces of bricks or stones to ensure smooth drainage out of the container otherwise excess water stays in the container leading rotting in the plant.

Soil

Grow Salvia in any well drained soil. However, Loamy silt is good. 

Sun / Temperature

Salvia grows in full sun to partial shade well. Put near window sill while growing indoors. It can tolerate moderate to deep shade conditions too. 

Watering

Keep the soil moist always. Water the plant on first sign of drooping. But be careful not to over water Salvia otherwise it will rot.

Fertilizer

Feed once a year in spring when it is actively growing. Use any general purpose liquid or granular fertilizer.

Caring

Salvia can be attacked by mealy bugs and aphids mainly. Treat the plant with appropriate method as soon as first sign of infestation appears.

  

Best tips for growing spinach at home

Spinach is a cool season leafy vegetable.  Known for lush green foliage spinach is rich in iron, vitamins and anti oxidants.  Spinach crop can be harvested after 6-8 weeks from planting. In warm climate spinach tends to produce seeds rather than growing the foliage. So harvest it at right time. It is called as 'Palak' in Hindi. Spinach can be grown in containers at home, follow below tips for success. 

Propagation

Spinach is propagated from seeds. Prepare soil enriched with garden compost and sow seeds ½ inch deep and 1 inch apart. Water the soil without affecting seeds. Seeds germinate in a week. Then thin out the weakest seedlings and create 3-4 inches of space between two consecutive seedlings. This increases air circulation around the crop and minimizes the chances of any fungal attack. 

Container

Prefer a tray to regular pots or container to propagate spinach, tray being 3-4 feet long provides a large surface area for sowing more number of seeds. Planting tray should have sufficient number of holes at bottom. You can put small pieces of bricks or stones over the holes to help with drainage. 

Soil

Spinach grows in any type of well drained soil. However loamy soil is ideal. Soil should be loose too so that spinach seedlings could establish roots easily and quickly. Add a fine layer of garden compost to the soil. It will provide nutrients to the plants.

Sun/Temperature

Spinach thrives in full direct sunlight. It should get minimum 5 hrs of sunlight. So place your container where it gets that much light like east facing window or balcony. Partial shade is beneficial for spinach.

Watering

Spinach is a humidity loving plant. Mulch the soil using dried leaves, straws etc to retain moisture around the plant. Water spinach regularly. Keep soil moist. 

Fertilizer

Spinach doesn’t have feeding requirements. Good quality compost works well as fertilizer. If you want feed the plant with nitrogen based fertilizer as it promotes foliage growth on the plant.

Harvesting

Start harvesting crop after 6-8 weeks of planting. Cut off outer leaves which are 3-4 inches long. It will encourage more growth on the plant and ultimately results in more foliage to harvest. Remember to harvest the crop completely before plant blots and produces seeds. (Generally when temperature rises the plant tends to flower and fruit due to increased temperature and stops producing more leaves)

Caring

Spinach plant can be attacked by mealy bugs, aphid and slugs. So inspect the crop regularly and treat it on time.

Best tips for propagating Lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana) from cuttings in water

Lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana) is very common houseplant. It is assumed to bring luck and fortune in home.  Being not at all demanding, Lucky bamboo can be grown indoors for many years. It is easily propagated from stem cuttings. Steps for that are mentioned below. 

First of all choose a healthy looking at least 4-6 inches long lucky bamboo’s stalk. By healthy looking means, stalk should be green and solid. Avoid any blackened or rotten stalk. The stalk should have minimum one shoot growing from a node / joint on it.

Pluck all leaves off the shoot leaving mature leaves on the top. It helps lucky bamboo to focus all its energy on root formation.

Make a cut on shoot ½ inch above the point where it connects to main stalk.  The cutting should have at least one node from where roots will appear. Or directly cut the shoot in the line with stalk's top.

Put shoot cuttings in 1-2 inches of fresh water filled in a glass jar or ceramic container. Cuttings will root in 2-3 months. Change the water regularly to avoid infection. 

If you want to use stalk then cut it a bit (½ inch) below the joint from where cutting was taken. Cover this part with candle wax to avoid any type of infection on it.  New shoot will emerge in 1-2 months. 

A visit to annual flower show 'Buds N Blooms' at Empress Botanical Garden, Pune (India)

DesignGreenIndia visited an annual flower show  - ‘Buds N Blooms’ at Empress Botanical Garden, Pune. The Empress garden covers a sprawling 39 acres, and is home to many rare species of trees and flowers. Managed by Agri-Horticultural Society of Western India since 1880, Empress garden organizes this annual flower show with aim of bringing gardening lovers together across India. 

Around 1,500 varieties of flowers, including 600 different varieties of roses are on display there for gardening lovers. Petunia, Marigold, Salvia, Zinnia, Coleus, Gazania and Gerebra are main annuals covering most of the ground area at the show.

Different stalls of indoor plants, bonsais, vegetables (seeds), gardening and landscape accessories, flower paining, Japanese ikebana flower arrangements are arranged by nursery owners, vendors and horticulturists coming all over  India from  places like Sikkim, Darjeeling, Gujrat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra. 

Flower competition (Rose) is one of the highlight of the event. Different type of roses (hybrid, floribunda, miniature roses) grown by nursery owners and enthusiast are being showcased in the show.  

Also there are stalls by nursery owners for home gardeners.  Soil mix, fertilizers, seeds, bulbs, compost could be purchased after consulting with experts at these stalls.  

Various flower competition, workshops, street-plays, story-telling sessions and an interaction with experts in the field are other features of the show. Around 25,000 visitors are expected this year.

DesignGreenIndia recommends its viewer a visit to this show. It is being held from 17 to 19^th Jan 2014. The exhibition will open from 9 am to 9 pm.