Know More About The Dangers Of Our Christmas Plants

With the holidays and holiday decorations in full force, it's important to know the dangers of your Christmas plants. There are traditional holiday plants that are poisonous to both humans and animals alike that can severely hurt someone. Of course we want to get into the holiday spirit with mistletoe to kiss your loved one, the staple of your holiday- the Christmas tree, and poinsettias that represent the Christmas holiday. However, not knowing their dangerous potential could put your loved ones in danger.

The berries on your hanging mistletoe are extremely poisonous. We recommend removing the berries before decorating your house with this holiday decoration. If ingested, the berries can cause diarrhea, vomiting, excessive salivating and urination, heavy breathing and a fast heart rate. So, avoid leaving the berries intact when hanging this plant.

The poinsettia flower is a pretty, brightly colored red plant that just screams Christmas. However, there is a lot of controversy whether it is poisonous or not. The flower itself is not dangerous, but the sap that comes from the leaves can cause vomiting and mouth and skin irritation. If your pet or child ingests any part of the plant, you can treat it with soap and water.

In comparison to mistletoe, the berries on a holly branch are poisonous as well. Not as poisonous as the mistletoe berries, holly berries can cause gastric intestinal distress, diarrhea and vomiting in small children and pets. If ingested, contact your physician or veterinarian immediately.

Lastly, we have the all mighty Christmas tree- a real one that is. Bringing a real pine tree into your home can be dangerous, especially to pets. If your furry friend ingests the pine needles there is a danger of their internal organs being pierced by the needle. Decorating an artificial tree is the route to go if you have curious pets that could potentially ingest the pine needles. Plus, an artificial tree will not drop pine needles, dry out, and are not a fire hazard unlike a real pine tree.

Facts About Sugar Maple Trees

The scientific name of sugar maple is Acer saccharum. Sugar maple tree is a native of North America and is the most commonly found species amongst the seven other types of maple trees. It grows in abundance throughout South Ontario, Nova Scotia, New England, Texas, Georgia, Canada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Mid-Atlantic states. Sugar maple tree facts are pretty interesting to know. Especially kids can utilize the content to make environmental science project works or for their scrap books.

Facts About Sugar Maple Trees

Maple trees are usually grown in gardens as landscaping plants owing to its beauty and the extensive branching system. You might be well accustomed with maple syrup that has an extensive use for making desserts and is a common serving over dining table. Sugar maple trees are found in almost all places in the United States. We describe the facts here.

1. The normal height of sugar maple trees ranges between 70 to 100 feet. The trees have an average diameter of 5 feet. The trees when grown under optimal condition can even exceed the height of 100 feet. One of the important facts that kids should know is, the tallest or the largest Sugar Maple tree has a height of 110 feet and a width of 5.6 feet. This tree is present in Bethany, West Virginia. During the initial years of its growth the bark appears dark gray in color but matured trees have a very rough textured dark brown colored bark.

2. Sugar maple has singlet leaves that are dark green in color. The undersurface of the leaves are comparatively less dark. The size of the leaves lengthwise is 3-5 inches and they are very smooth. The buds are arranged on the twigs in an opposite fashion and are pointed sharp, appearing brown in color. The color of the flowers ranges from pale yellow to greenish yellow and they are arranged in clusters. The plant is monoecious containing both male and female reproductive organs. The male flower is pistillate while the female is staminate.

3. The tree normally flourishes during the month of January within temperatures ranging from 0 to 50 °F. Sugar maple is also adapted to summer temperatures prevalent in those geographical locations. It can tolerate summer temperatures of 90 to 100 °F. The tree can sustain annual rainfall of 20-50 inches but the heavy frost during the month of September and November is harmful for the plants. Like temperature, sugar maple is capable of growing under a different soil varieties. If you are growing sugar maple at your home, then make sure the soil is well drained, fertile and has good texture. Maintain the moisture conditions of the soil ensuring there's no water clogging or dampness. The optimal pH should range from 5.5-7.3.

4. Sugar maple produces huge quantities of seeds, that forms food for the seed eater animals. Seeds are capable of germination and hence, you can use the seeds for propagation of plants. You will find the trees blooming with flowers during the seed bearing season. Sugar maple produces sap and while pruning maple trees you have to be careful that the sap doesn't fall on you. Pruning is usually done during late summer or fall season. Large quantities of sap is collected during January to April that is industrially used to manufacture maple syrup.

5. Sugar maple trees are susceptible to a number of diseases. The most common diseases are gall and canker disease, caused by fungal attack. Sclerotium bataticola and Rhizoctonia solani are some of the plant pathogens that attack these plants during seedling stage. The plant is more vulnerable to stem, vascular and foliage diseases due to fungal and bacterial attack. Thus, the plants are carefully investigated for healthy growth and reproduction. Sugar maple also has considerable economic importance as the trunks are used for lumbering and the sap for syrup.

How To Successfully Grow Tomatoes In Your Garden

If you stop by any garden stand on the side of the road or stroll into any grocery store, you're going to find that tomatoes are rather expensive. That farmer's stand has good-tasting tomatoes, but they cost a ton, and the grocery story's best deal is going to leave you with nasty-tasting, dry fruit. So the answer here for the tomato lover is to grow them at home!

When growing tomatoes, the great thing is that you never have to settle for a single variety. There are of dozens of different tomatoes you can grow, from the large heirloom variety to the smaller types like Roma and cherry. Try planting different types of tomatoes for an increased variety. Also, make sure you're growing plants that thrive in your environment.

One of the best ways to grow tomatoes is to purchase them already started in containers, but there are a few things to watch out for. You want plants that are lush, dark green and very moist. You want strong plants with thick stalks and plants that appear to have fuzz on them. The healthier the plants are, the more likely they are to grow.

Until you decide to transplant your tomatoes, they should be kept well watered and in the sunlight. Just because they're in those black planting trays doesn't mean that they don't need all the love and care of a garden plant. Take care of your plants long before you put them in the ground if you want the best results.

Before planting your tomatoes, you should focus on the quality of your soil. If you're thinking that you can just dig a hole in the dirt and let nature take its course, you have another thing coming. Sure, this might work one out of ten tries, but you'd be much better off amending your soil with all-natural organic compost, and topping it off with organic mulch. Give your plants something to thrive on.

The thing about tomatoes is that the fruit of the plant doesn't grow consistently. You're going to have some full-grown tomatoes that begin to ripen on the vine while other tomatoes are just starting to bud. You can't wait around, though; you have to harvest as the tomatoes begin to ripen. As soon as they're plump and green, you can pick them. Wait longer if you want vine-ripened tomatoes.

Aphids, also known as plant lice, absolutely love feasting on tomatoes. They enjoy other plants as well, but it's something about tomatoes that really draw these buggers. So make sure you go through and pick off the aphids by hand, avoiding the use of harsh chemical sprays and such.

Every plant needs sufficient sunlight, but tomatoes thrive on it. The more sun they're receiving, the quicker and healthier they'll grow. So make sure you're growing in full sunlight if you want the best results.

How To Plant Potatoes Well

Potatoes are easy to grow in holes, trenches, under mulch or landscape fabric, or in containers. Grow potatoes in full sun and well-drained soil or mulch.

Plant potatoes when the soil temperature is at least 50°F. Potatoes grow best when the air temperature is between 60 and 65°F.

Grow potatoes from seed potatoes—small tubers grown especially for planting to produce a crop. Keep plants evenly moist as tubers develop and enlarge.

New or baby potatoes are harvested early in the season 75 to 90 days after planting. Main-crop or mature potatoes require 135 to 150 days to harvest.

The traditional time to plant potatoes is in spring as soon as the soil can be worked, about two to four weeks before the last expected frost. Spring planted potatoes grow best in beds covered with plastic or raised beds that warm quickly. Keep beds covered with compost or straw until plants emerge. Protect newly emerged plants from frost and insects by covering the planting bed with a floating row cover.

Protect growing potato tubers from light, fluctuations in temperature, pests, and injury by keeping them covered as they grow. Use soil, compost, mulch, hay, straw, or landscape fabric to keep tubers covered. As potatoes grow, tubers push upwards and are easily exposed to light. Tubers exposed to light turn green and contain a chemical called solanine which can be poisonous.

Trench planting is the traditional method for growing potatoes. Dig a trench or hole 4 to 6 inches deep, put the seed potatoes in place one foot apart, and backfill with 2 inches of soil. When the plant grows to 6 inches tall, add soil to cover all but the top leaves; fill the hole or trench as the foliage grows on and continue to hill up loose soil around the plants.

Seed potatoes can be set on the surface of a planting bed and covered with soil; as with trenching, continue to hill up or mound soil above the tubers. At the end of the season, the plants will be covered by a low mound of soil.

Potatoes can be grown across the surface of a planting bed by simply covering seed potatoes with mulch. This method requires no digging.

Loosen a few inches of soil across the planting bed then lay seed potatoes on the soil cut side down about one foot apart. Each seed potato should have two or three eyes. Cover the seed potatoes with one foot of mulch—shredded leaves, leaf mold, or clean hay or straw.

When shoots and leaves have emerged from the mulch and grown about 6 inches, add more mulch—enough to cover all but the top most leaves. Repeat this process. After several weeks, begin to check under the mulch periodically for developing tubers. The mulch should always be several inches thick over the tubers keeping tubers from turning green.

Mulch, unlike soil, is not rich in nutrients so the yield may be less. Feed mulch grown potatoes with fish emulsion— after sprouts emerge and again just before plants flower.

To harvest new or mature potatoes, lift the mulch and take what you need; be sure to recover still growing tubers so that they do not green.

Potatoes can be grown under black landscape fabric with almost no effort. Place seed potatoes on the planting bed one foot apart then place black landscape fabric over the planting bed. The black fabric will exclude light as though the tubers were underground. As plants emerge they will begin to push up the fabric; cut slits in the fabric to allow the plants to grow up. Make sure that as plants grow, tubers are kept under the fabric and not exposed to sunlight. To harvest potatoes enlarge the slit or roll back the fabric to expose the tubers.