Especialidades JA/Floricultura/Respuestas
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1a
1b
1c
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Aphids
Likely to be found on new shoots and buds, aphids are soft bodied insects 1-2mm long. Often green but occasionally light-brown, and sometimes with wings, they may cover (in a colony) the complete growing tip of the plant. Aphids are most active in spring and summer and multiply at a prodigious rate feeding on the sap of the plant by piercing the plant cells via a proboscis. In large quantities they may seriously retard the growth of the plant and ruin buds. They are particularly damaging to the new shoots with subsequent damage to the emerging leaves which become malformed with much the same appearance as leaf-curl in peaches.
Leaf cutting bee
Leafcutter bees are 6-16mm long and mostly black with bands of light-colored hair. They chew pieces from the edges of leaves. The pieces are regular in shape, circular or oval. Damage is not often significant.
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A windowbox or window box is a container for growing plants usually positioned outside a window and supported in place by brackets on the wall below.
Window boxes are often used by apartment-dwellers on higher floors, who do not otherwise have access to a garden or place to grow flowers, and allow the plants to be readily seen by those inside the property as well as outside. A window box is usually only 6"-8" (15-20cm) deep so may not support tall plants. Access for planting and maintenance can be via the window from indoors.
Before building a window box, decide where you will mount it. It should be at least as wide as the window you will mount it by or it will tend to look smallish. A window box is most easily constructed using 1"x6" pine lumber. The box should be open on the top and can be held together with nails, screws, or for the more ambitious woodworker, with a box or dovetail joint. It can be fitted with molding and painted to match the house.
Once the box is put together, drill holes in the bottom to allow drainage. Line it with plastic sheeting to keep the moist soil off the wood (for the most part), and hold the plastic in place with construction staples. Trim the plastic, and cut holes in it where it lines up with the holes drilled in the bottom. Mount the window box on the house with brackets or screws. Fill with potting soil and plant your flowers.
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Soil Preparation
Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Soil preparation
Fertilizing
Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Fertilizing
Planting
Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Planting
Growing to Maturity
Water the plants after planting them, and keep them well watered afterwards. Watch for pests and take measures to control them as early as possible. You can keep the plants blooming for long periods by "dead-heading" them, that is, plucking off the blossoms as soon as they begin to wither. Dead-heading prevents the plant from producing seeds, so it will try again by making more blossoms.
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You can apply the same techniques given above for annuals to care for perennials, but with perennials, there is more impetus to get it right. If you get it right, they will come back the following year. Indeed, if you already have a bed of perennials, there is no need to plant them at all. Just fertilize and water them, and make sure you keep the pests at bay. If the plant makes it through the fall in good health, chances are excellent that it will survive the winter and be healthy again in the spring.
Visit your perennials weekly, and for this requirement, jot down what you do. You can write it in a notebook, or even start a blog to record your activities.
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The three most important plant nutrients are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. NPK fertilizers are named for the chemical symbols of these elements: N for nitrogen, P for phosphorus, and K for potassium. Fertilizers are marked with the percentage of each of these nutrients. For example, a fertilizer may be marked as 18-51-20, which means it is 18% Nitrogen, 51% Phosphorus, and 20% Potassium. You may notice that these numbers do not add to 100% - the remainder is made up of "fillers". Fillers prevent the nutrients from clumping together and "burning" the plant.
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9a
9b
- Dusty Miller
- Gazania
- Sweet Alyssum
- Globe amaranth
- Verbena
- Nasturtium
9c
- Sunflower
- Sweet Alyssum
- Cosmos
- Dahlia
- Petunia
- Geranium
- Gazania
- Snapdragon
- Verbena
- Zinnia
9d
- Dahlia
- Marigold
- Lobelia
- Cup flower
- Impatiens
- Pansy
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The purpose of a soil test is to determine the nutrient content of the soil. This will allow the gardener to select plants that will grow best in the existing soil conditions or to determine what nutrient supplements are required to amend the soil for the intended plants.
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Annuals
Biennial
Perennials
References
- http://mostlyorganicgarden.com/NPK_explanation.html
- Wikipedia articles: