Inside Urban Green

The Sunshine Of Enlightenment Has Set On Sunset

"Early Girl ' tomato, 'Purple Ruffles' basil, garlic chives, and jalapeño chiles all have a spot in our large galvanized planter. (photo) Thomas J. Story

Sunset Magazine was a regular part of my reading diet in the early years of my life in Southern California. I always had a current copy of their Western Garden Book, the de facto bible of west coast horticulture.

Sunset is no longer, however, an independent publication. Like This Old House, Time Warner owns it. Like This Old House their horticultural content is sadly behind the times, witness this article titled Plant a one-pot vegetable garden.

There is not one word about sub-irrigated planters (SIPs) when they would be an obvious choice for anyone with current knowledge of modern methods of vegetable production.

Instead of an EarthBox, Garden Patch Grow Box or Tomato Success Kit, Sunset's "test garden" staff chose a galvanized water trough. Some may consider this a trendy choice, but it is a dumb planter for this purpose.

Any sub-irrigated planter will out-produce a cattle trough planter, while saving water and time. It is no contest.

This Old House Needs A House Cleaning

Photo: Michael Skott

I am a long time fan of This Old House. I well remember when Bob Villa and Norm Abram started the original series on PBS back in 1979. TimeWarner now owns the name.

This Old House may still be a leader in home improvement information but sadly; their horticultural writers are living in a prior century. This Old House is badly in need of a horticultural house cleaning.

The latest case in point is this article titled “How to Plant in Pots”. You don’t even need to read the article to know that it is out of date. Just read “The Ingredients” related to the photo. "Pottery shards to place over drainage holes” for example is Neanderthal stuff. 

The author goes on to write over a thousand words never mentioning anything about modern methods like sub-irrigated planters (SIPs), not even as a viable option.

This isn't about growing pansies and petunias, it's about people getting accurate information to help them grow some of their own food. I do believe we are trying to eliminate food deserts, improve nutrition and fight obesity. The public deserves better than this from a venerable brand name. 

I often wonder if garden writers who write outdated information like this have computers and spend any significant amount of time on the Internet. It takes some research time but it is vital to updating professional knowledge in any field. It doesn’t appear that they do from what I slog through every day. It is in a word, depressing. The word "science" appears to be absent from their vocabulary.

 via www.thisoldhouse.com

Houseplant Watering Advice From the U.K.

Following is some houseplant watering advice published by the U.K. Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) in partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society (founded 1804). It is from a brochure titled "The Easy Guide to Growing Houseplants."

It may not seem so, but what it describes is a somewhat primitive method of sub-irrigation (erroneously known widely as "self-watering").This method does not require a special planter, but it does require a basic understanding of how capillary action works.

In any case it's a better method than the "poke, pour and pray" top watering that is unfortunately embedded in our largely matriarchal houseplant society.

Incidentally, the best way to learn houseplant growing and maintenance is to install them in soda (pop) bottle SIPs (sub-irrigated planters). They are the best teaching aid that I know of in my long career.  

View the brochure either as a PDF or Word doc. 

The Easy Guide to Growing Houseplants (PDF)

The Easy Guide to Growing Houseplants (Word doc)

WATERING

Once your new houseplant is safely home, you need to care for it correctly to ensure that it remains in pristine condition – and this largely depends on how well it is watered. Too little or too much watering can cause problems.

OVERWATERING: Giving too much water can be as dangerous as underwatering. The roots not only require moisture but also air, so overwatering leads to the forcible removal of air from the potting compost so the houseplant’s roots are killed by suffocation.

BEST PRACTICE: Watering little and often is the best advice, taking into account the growing environment and the seasons.

Watering from below is the best approach as some plants can suffer from rotting or sun scorch if water is directed onto their stems, root systems or foliage.

DRAINAGE: The best method is to stand the pot (which must have drainage holes in the bottom) on a suitable sized saucer into which a small  amount of gravel has been placed.

Fill the saucer to about 1⁄3 of its depth with water and leave the plant standing for 30 minutes. 

If all the water has been taken up you can repeat the operation until uptake stops, then any surplus water should be tipped away but of course retaining the gravel.

Source: www.the-hta.org.uk