Companion Planting

Companion Planting is that of which you plant different crops next to each other that may mutually benefit each other. Some will deter the bad pests or even attract the good ones. They may also provide additional nutrients for fellow plants and encourage more pollination by attracting more bee's. (and we all want that don't we?)

One example is the three sisters that was implemented by Native Americans which included squash, corn, and climbing beans. The corn supplies a climbing structure for the beans, the beans provide nitrogen for the other plants, and the squash provides a ground cover to prevent weeds.

One of the best things I think companion planting can offer is natural pest control. Most people keep their edibles away from their ornamental's and flowers but in actuality they can help each other fight off the bad pests and bring in the beneficial ones. 

Marigolds strong odor will repel aphids and other insects that attack vegetable plants. You could even use them in your indoor garden.

Nasturtium is a popular plant to put next to other low growing veggies because it attract some caterpillars. It is also used as a trap crop. Trap Cropping is a method of companion planting in which certain plants will be placed among the crops to attract the bad insects and take on the beating in order to save the others. A bit of a martyr I suppose.

Protection from harsh weather is another great benefit. Smaller and more fragile plants that prefer a more moist or shaded area will find a good home under taller, branching plants that will provide cover. This would be considered nurse cropping. 

Some plants don't always vibe with each other either. There are many graphs online of which plants tolerate and don't tolerate each other. I found a simple chart, I've noticed there are a lot of them out there and most will conflict in some way but this will do for now. If the writing is too small I placed the link below it.

https://www.earlmay.com/tips__solutions/edible_gardening/companion-plants-chart/

Before you spray a chemical on your plants or food crops for bug control, consider All the Natural options you have! Don't kill the bee's, Feed them!

Taking Cuttings

I am going to give you a few tips on taking cuttings and being successful at it!

Cloning is asexual propagation. After taking your cut and planting it the end will swell up and callus cells form. From the callus cells come the first specialized root cells. Specialized cells are the ones that give the plant a purpose. New root cells will continue to grow on top of each other and start to branch out.

I've worked in hydro shops for years and it seems like the biggest problem is a lack of patience and knowledge in what a plant is actually going through while changing its whole purpose and becoming a plant of its own.

First thing is making sure the tools you are using are sterile. Just as I mentioned in cleanliness is next to godliness, you want to make sure you are not doing damage by using dirty tools. These cutting are very fragile and susceptible to issues because the cut provides an entrance for disease or even pests.

You want to have everything ready and in front of you when you are ready to take your cuttings. It is important that your cuts get put into water or immediately into a cloning hormone and put into your choice of medium. If you wait too long an air bubble can enter and cause the loss of pressure within the plant, called turgor pressure, causing it to wilt. Snip the end again if it does get dry.

Always take your cuttings from a well maintained and healthy plant. It will be an exact clone of the plant its taken from so if the mother plant is weak it could pass that right on to your cuts. The mother plant you take from should be in the vegative stage. Although it is possible to revert a clone from a blooming plant into a vegging one but who has time for that anyways. Plus its just a lot of stress for the plant to go through.

The best place to take your cuts from is the end of the branches where the new growth is. The cuts should be anywhere between 4"-8". The bigger they are and the more foliage on them the more the new plant has to take care of and keep alive. Pick off any extra leaves and trim down the stem. You should always have a few leaves left with both a node and internode left to help produce for the plant. A node is the site where your leaves come out from and the internode is the spacing between each set of leaves.

Your cutting should be in a warm environment between 75-78 degrees with around 80+% humidity. The colder the temps, the longer the process can take. After a few days you can drop the humidity 5% and it will cause the plant to work a little harder to root.

Rooting can take anywhere from 2-4 weeks.  Should be closer to the 2 week mark but it depends on the woodiness of the plant you are cloning. Don't freak out if your plants wilt. I have had people tell me they toss out their clones after 5 days because they were dying. One of the reasons for his failure was most likely too low of a humidity. Patience my friend. Most of the time your plant is going to go through a little bit of a healing stage. I always assume they will look worse before they look better. Once they start to put off new growth I can pick off the wilted or dead leaves left behind.

I prefer to use Grodan A Ok's or the individually wrapped rockwool cubes that you can write on. You can also clone in an aero machine such as a TurboKlone or EzCLone. They allow you to suspend the plants over a misting of constant water and you can use a gel hormone on the stem or even a liquid concentrate you can put straight into the res. Another method is bubbling or DWC.  You can easily make something with a nursery flat and an air pump. You don't want them sitting in stagnant water, they will most likely rot.

Herb Blocks

Over the past holiday I'm sure I've spent over $20 in spices and herbs for my feast. It just seems dumb I don't have my own going, especially when all the seeds are literally staring at me. Soooooo I decided to go with convenience and make myself some little herb blocks I can easily move around and not worry about making a mess.

I've picked out 10 different varieties of herbs and labeled each of my 4x4 blocks with a sharpie. (Its best to do this prior to soaking your blocks so the marker sticks) Much easier then plant labels if you ask me. I never have an issue with it coming off and never have to worry about guessing which plant is which because the damn thing fell out.

After you have them all labeled and ready to go we need to of course prep our rockwool. I have a bucket of water with a PH of 5.5. I will soak the blocks and also a couple A OK's for at least 15 minutes.

Take out your blocks and starters from the bucket. Do NOT squeeze the water out of them. I do however let them drain just the excess before i put them in the tray.

You dont have to do this but they do not make a 4x4 block without a hole so I will fill in in with the A OK's just for my OCD of things looking neat.

Once I have them stuffed I will score the corners where i will put the seeds. Also, another thing you do not have to do but some of the seeds call to be planted 1/8 in deep, I find the scoring helps me get the little seed in there and covered just enough. Others you can simply press onto the surface of your block. I also double up on my seeds in this situation just to ensure my blocks were full. Of course most of them popped. I will weed out the weak oncs when they get a little bigger.

                                

Once you have all your seeds nestled in to their new home you should put the tray on top of a heating mat and under a prop light. Cover your tray with a dome to keep in the humidity. These seeds pop fast and will easily stretch so  make sure they are not too far away from the light.

After a few days you will see sprouts!

*Boom*  

 

A Few weeks later...

 

It is harder to keep your algae growth down with all the spread out seeds but one thing I like to do is just take some coco chips or even just the fibers and sprinkle it on the surface of the block. I personally am not really bothered by it so as long as its under control I wont worry about it.

 

         Goddess Tip: the small kabob skewers you can get in the grocery store are perfect for supporting your little guys without damaging a lot of the new root material growing throughout the block.