Video: 2 Easy Methods to Revitalize OLD Potting Soil
Epic Gardening has two methods for rejuvenating and reusing soil to save money but still have an epic harvest. Learn them in this video!
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Epic Gardening has two methods for rejuvenating and reusing soil to save money but still have an epic harvest. Learn them in this video!
Featured Products:
Orchids make the perfect houseplants — they’re stylish, long-lasting and easy to care for. They’ll continue to bloom for years with minimal effort.
After years of living in the same space, things might get cramped. And the same can be said for your moth orchid. Refresh your orchid – and let it spread its roots – by giving it a new home and repotting it.
Orchids generally need to be repotted once a year. The best time to repot is just after flowering, or when new growth appears.
You’ll know it’s time to repot if any of these reasons apply to you:
Think it’s time to repot? Follow the steps below to give your orchid the space and soil it needs to keep growing happy and healthy.
How to repot orchids:
Is your orchid telling you it needs to be repotted? Watch this video to learn how!
Laura from Garden Answer demonstrates how to care for moth orchids, also known as Phalaenopsis orchids. Repot, fertilize and give orchids exactly what they need to help them thrive.
For this project, you will need:
Moth orchid
Orchid pot with holes
Watering can
Going back to school is equal parts nervous jitters and genuine excitement for what could be. Remember what it was like to have a new backpack, a fresh outfit that makes just the right statement and your stack of empty notebooks waiting to be filled?
It feels like anything is possible at this time of year!
Molbak’s Garden + Home is here to help teach you gardening basics. Already an experienced gardener? Now is the time brush up on your lessons.
Espoma’s Gardening School 101
1. Build a Foundation for Success. For a garden to be great, superior soil is a must! Perform a quick soil test, study the results and your garden will be A+ in no time!
2. Back to School Shopping. Examine your garden equipment to see what should stay — and what needs to go. Look for cracked handles, rust and missing or loose parts. Then, go shopping for replacements.
3. Get a Whole New Look. A new school year means it’s time to reveal your new look. Do you want to be refined? Edgy? Colorful and bold? Sweet and simple? Define your garden look and do your homework — then start pinning!
4. Make a Plan for Success. The only way to improve this year’s performance is to analyze the successes and failures of last year’s garden. Your assignment: create a new garden plan.
5. Meet the Teacher. Hi! It’s a pleasure to see you! At Espoma, we’ve been teaching organic gardening practices since 1929. Comment with questions below, post them to Facebook or tweet us. We’re here to make you the best gardener you can be.
6. Sharpen Pencils. Clean and sharpen your garden tools to get them ready for the new season! You can DIY or take them to your local garden center.
7. Find New Friends. Follow us on Facebook and check out our posts to find gardeners who are just as passionate about organic growing as you are.
Throw your cap (or gardening gloves) up in the air! You passed the Back to Gardening School Class! Your garden will thank you for it later!
As the official kickoff to summer, Memorial Day weekend is the perfect excuse to tidy up the garden. So before you bring out your red, white and blue and get ready for the summer season, spend a little time cleaning up around the yard.
And yes, Memorial Day may be the start of summer fun, let’s not forget the real reason behind the holiday and thank our veterans.
This federal holiday, observed the last Monday of May, honors those who’ve died serving in our country’s armed forces. Formerly known as Decoration Day, the holiday originated after the Civil War to commemorate both Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the war.
Take some time and follow these simple, inexpensive and necessary gardening tips to get your yard in tiptop shape.
Five Ways to Spruce Up:
CLEAN.
It’s not the prettiest task but it is one that can have the most impact. First, give lawns a nice clean cut and trim. Next, rake leaves out of garden beds and borders. Shred or leave them whole and place in a compost pile. Finally, remove tools, debris and the uncoiled hose that may be sitting on the patio.
WEED.
Another task that’s low on the fun list, but necessary for a clean yard is weeding. Pull any weeds and discard. Do not compost weed seeds.
MULCH.
Adding fresh mulch to the garden makes everything look clean. Mulch with shredded bark, compost or other biodegradable mulch.
FEED.
Now is a good time to apply the second application of your annual feeding program for your lawn. It’s also a good time to give your plants a boost with liquid fertilizer Bloom! to ensure they’re looking their prettiest and peppiest for the party.
DECORATE.
Colorful flowers do a world of wonder for a garden. Buy annuals and plant them along borders. Choose heat-loving flowers that will bloom all summer. Decorate with colorful containers and place by front door and at focal points. Putting a few plants out around the patio will really set the mood.
Have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend! If you used any of our tips, let us know! Share your pictures with us on our Facebook page!
Blueberries are nutritional powerhouses packed with high concentrations of antioxidants that help guard against cancer and heart disease. Just one serving of blueberries serves up almost 25 percent of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin C.
Growing blueberries maximizes small spaces and keeps fresh, nutritious fruit nearby. Even if space is limited, you can still grow blueberries at home. Some blueberry shrubs are the perfect fit for containers on the porch, patio or balcony.
Ought to Pot: The Best Blueberries for Container Gardening
Bushel and Berry™ Pink Icing – With breathtaking spring and fall foliage and large, sweet berries mid-summer, this gem makes small spaces shine. Plus, these bushes are self-pollinating, so only one bush is needed to produce fruit.
Blueberry Type: Dwarf
Light: Full sun
Size: 3’ H x 4’ W
Zone: 5-10
Chill Hours: 500
Ripening Season: Mid-summer
Taste and Size: Large blueberries with sweet, robust flavor
Yield: Moderate yield
Features:
Patriot Blueberry – The Patriot puts on a show each season – from striking white blooms in spring to warm, vivid foliage in fall. During summer, you’ll be busy munching on up to 20 pounds of blueberries!
Blueberry Type: Northern Highbush
Light: Full sun
Size: 4-8’ H x 3-5’ W
Zone: 3-7
Chill Hours: 800-1,000
Ripening Season: Early: Mid-End of July
Taste and Size: Large blueberries that taste classically sweet
Yield: High yield, 10-20 pounds of blueberries
Features:
Bushel and Berry™ Peach Sorbet – Full of charm, these compact blueberry plants are four-season showstoppers with stunning leaves ranging from peach to pink to orange to emerald green. Spring’s white, bell-shaped flowers will give way to an abundant summer crop of healthy, sweet blueberries mid-summer.
Blueberry Type: Dwarf
Light: Full sun
Size: 1½’ H x 2’ W
Zone: 5-10
Chill Hours: 300
Ripening Season: Mid-summer
Taste and Size: Medium blueberries with a sweet, tropical essence
Yield: High yield
Features:
Sunshine Blue Blueberry – These berries are even more nutritious than other blueberries because they’re high in Vitamin P. Another fun attribute of the Sunshine Blue is their hot-pink flowers in spring and blazing red leaves in fall!
Blueberry Type: Southern Highbush
Light: Full sun
Size: 3-4’ H x 3-4’ W
Zone: 5-10
Chill Hours: 150
Ripening Season: Mid-season: End of May-End of June
Taste and Size: Medium blueberries that taste opulent and sweet
Yield: Moderate yield, 5-10 pounds of blueberries
Features:
Northsky Blueberry – Meet the most cold-hardy blueberry out there. The Northsky can withstand temperatures of -45° and can even bear snow on its branches. In spring, the Northsky produces lots of sweet, white blooms that look absolutely darling.
Blueberry Type: Half-high
Light: Full sun
Size: 2-4 H x 2-3 W
Zone: 3-7
Chill Hours: 800+
Ripening Season: Mid-season: Mid-End of July
Taste and Size: Small, firm blueberries that taste fresh, wild and free
Yield: Small yield, up to 2 pounds of blueberries
Features:
Bushel and Berry™ Jelly Bean – This blueberry is prolific – producing a bumper crop of large, flavorful blueberries mid-summer with a super sweet flavor like homemade blueberry jelly. Brilliant green new foliage emerges in spring which gives way to darker greens with red hues throughout the summer and fall.
Blueberry Type: Dwarf
Light: Full sun
Size: 1’ H x 2’ W
Zone: 4-8
Chill Hours: 1,000+
Ripening Season: Mid-summer
Taste and Size: Medium to large blueberries with homemade jelly flavor
Yield: High yield, bumper crop
Features:
Looking for more options? To learn more about blueberries, the best tasting berries, how to plant, care for and grow, visit our Organic Blueberry Growing Guide.
Raise new plants that grow as big and mighty as Jack’s Beanstalk with these five tips for planting success. Your new plants will look so perfect your neighbors will think you plucked them right from a fairy tale!
Before you even think about picking up your garden trowel, check out these tips.
Say Yes to Success: 5 Tricks for Planting New Flowers, Veggies and More
1. Start with the Best. Make sure you have the right light, space and soil for each plant. Then select plants with shiny, blemish-free leaves that you can easily lift out of the container.
2. Royal Soil. Before planting, test the soil and add necessary amendments. If your soil is lacking, your plants will be too. For an extra oomph, add Espoma Organic Vegetable & Flower Garden Soil or compost to the planting hole. And if direct sowing seeds, mix in an organic seed starting potting soil, so seeds can take root easily.
3. Feed Now… and Later. When planting, mix in an organic starter plant food. Adrianna, an Espoma customer, loves Bio-tone Starter Plus. She can even tell “when the roots begin to take up the plant food because they start to grow MUCH faster.” Bio-tone Starter Plus’ secret is mycorrhizae, which promotes bigger blooms and helps plants get established faster.
4. Stay Strong Seedlings. Before moving indoor seedlings outside, toughen them up. Otherwise, they may not make it. To help seeds adjust, begin hardening them off two weeks before transplanting. How-to instructions here.
5. Don’t Forget to Water. While still in their nursery containers, water your plants. Then water deeply after planting. Water reduces plants’ stress levels and helps them adjust to their happy, new abode.
Get ready, your organic flowers, veggies and plants are about to be bigger and healthier than ever! You grow, gardener!
Organically feeding your favorite plants just got way easier – and faster. Say farewell to messy measuring and that fishy smell of other organic, liquid fertilizers.
And say hello to Espoma’s new line of liquid plant foods. Learn more about our new collection below.
Hello, Healthy! Espoma’s New, Liquid Organic Plant Food
Here are a few reasons our new liquid plant line will become one of your favorite things.
Meet the New Liquid Plant Food Trio
Bigger, better plants are only a flip away!
Try our new liquid organic plant foods with organic potting soil for super amazing results. Can’t wait to see what big beauties you grow!
Step aside houseplants. Not now indoor herbs. There’s a new indoor winter gardening project in town… indoor seed starting!
Find the Prime Time: When to Start Seeds Indoors
One of the biggest mistakes when starting seeds indoors is starting too soon.
Before starting seeds inside, look up the last spring frost date in your area, then count back 4-6 weeks. That’s the best time to start seeds indoors.
This handy seed starting chart from Organic Life makes it easy to calculate when to start and transplant your seeds.
To Sow or No? Best Veggie Seeds to Start Indoors in Winter
Not all seeds succeed indoors! Save root crops and cold-hardy seeds for when it’s warm enough to plant directly outside. Or, you can grow two crops of broccoli and lettuce. Start seeds indoors now then sow more outside later.
Here are the best vegetable and herb seeds to start indoors in winter.
Seed to Succeed!
There are three secrets to starting seeds indoors: warmth, light and an organic seed starting mix that promotes root growth.
Start with Espoma’s Organic Seed Starter – a gardener’s favorite! But don’t take it from us. One of our customers, Shelia, shared that she used a lot of seed starter in her day, but “this one is just OUTSTANDING!” Her plants came up just perfect, and she “will never use anything else, ever again.”
Fill seed trays to within ¼” of the top and lightly water. Follow the instructions on the seed packets to see how deep and far apart to plant. Cover with soil, press down and label.
Place tray in a larger pan of shallow water for a minute so thewater seeps up from the bottom.
Place seeds in a warm spot between 65-75°. Try the top of the fridge!
Loosely cover tray with plastic wrap or the cover from your seed-starting kit. Check seeds daily for moisture. Find even more detailed instructions here.
Give seeds 12-16 hours of light daily. Supplement sunlight with grow lights if needed.
Once you see sprouts, remove the cover and move seeds to a sunny, south-facing window that is 65-75°F. Then, turn the container a little each day to prevent leaning seeds.
When leaves grow, add a bit of fertilizer such as Espoma’s Plant-tone or liquid Grow!. Both are organic fertilizers, so they are safe to use on edibles, around children and pets and they help plants grow bigger than ever before.
Once you see that first sprout peeking through the potting soil, homegrown veggies are only weeks away!
Ah, a whole year of gardening is ahead of us. January is the best time to pause, reflect and prepare for a year of incredible gardening.
OK, tired of reflecting? Here are a few winter gardening tips to keep you busy this January!
Things to Do in the Garden in January:
Ward off those winter blues with a hearty helping of green, gardening thoughts.
Here’s to a home filled with fresh herbs, the sweet song of birds and a stack of gardening magazines. January’s looking quite charming after all!