Saturday, February 27, 2010

TEA TIME

---CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT---
Figured it was high time to make some tea for the plants. They all have been through a rough time this year so far with the unusual long January freeze and the strong winds lately.


Going back to some folk wisdom and some organic gardening basics I came up with this concoction.

It is manure tea with a dash of Epsom salts. Should be just the thing to perk up my beat down plants.

A couple of trowel scoops of cow manure go into the brew and just a tablespoon or so of the Epsom salt. I put the ingredients into some Arizona tea containers that I had saved up. The containers are thick plastic, hold about somewhere around a gallon or so, and are great to reuse to mix stuff in.

Next added some rain water collected in 5 gallon buckets during the passing cold front this week. Put on the cap and shake the brew up and let her sit in the sun. After a few days of settin' in the sun it will be ready to pour on the base root zone of the plants.

Will it help? Who knows, but I figure it couldn't hurt.

The manure adds organic matter to the soil which forms humus which helps the plants take up nutrients and minerals. Mixed with water in the tea it gets to the root zone quicker.

The Epsom salts are a naturally occurring mineral. It is actually hydrated Magnesium sulphate. It is easy for sandy soil to lack Magnesium so I have heard.

The other part of the Epsom salts is sulfur. Plants not getting enough sulfur show light green or yellow leaves. Got plenty of that going on in the garden.

Lots of gardeners for generations use Epsom salts on there plants. Some say it works wonders to make the plant grow stronger others say that it don't.

Anyway, here is the finished concoction ready to go after it ages some.


On the weird side ever seen whats left of an Avocado after it is attacked by black birds.

I have been throwing the Avocado's in a small area of my yard. The flocks of hungry blackbirds arrive and strip away everything but the seed.

Kind of like watching some of them Amazon piranhas attack something.



On the plant front my Mandevilla vine is sprouting some new growth.

I cut the vine off back to bare stick several weeks ago.

The new leaves started popping out this week.

It is a great plant and loves the heat and humidity here in the summertime. This plant never fails to provide
blooms year after year here.


And lastly, [ Is lastly a word? ] Thanks to Susan for identifying this plant for me.

It is a Brazilian Plume Pink Flamingo.

I took some cuttings from it last week that I hope will grow so I can stick it in my garden and maybe it will bloom this summer.

I like the way this plant blooms. To me, it looks like a big firework going off.

------sanddune---------

10 comments:

  1. Great post. I've gone the tea route with Alfalfa.The smell could end the war in the Middle East! I had trouble going organic with the dogs. They ate the stuff. So, I divided the front and back gardens; one organic and the other chemical. The chemical did better (for me) and a lot less work and smell.

    I'm loving your Pink Flamingo plant. Are they rare? I've never seen one before. How long and frequent is the bloom?

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  2. Interesting concoction. I use rainwater from my rainbarrels and the plants definitely prefer that over the county water from the hose. I'll have to try adding some Epsom salts especially for my bananas and palms. That is, if my bananas come back after being frozen down to the ground. Love the Flamingo flower!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jim,
    This tea has little smell maybe because it is from processed manure from the bag and not fresh. My dogs don't bother with it they are to busy chasing birds,squirrels and lizards to care.
    I agree that the organic methods are a lot more work. But they seem to be gradually paying off with better healthier soil.It may take a few years of adding compost to see noticable changes here.
    The Pink Flamingo plant is a photo that I took last spring from another garden up north because it caught my attention. Last week I went by there again and found the same plant healthy growing in mid 20 temperatures. I managed to take some cuttings from the plant and brought them back. I'm hoping they will take and I can grow it here in my garden. Never knew what it was called until I posted it's picture and Susan identified it for me.

    NanaK,
    I started using rainwater collected in five gallon buckets to water my plants a while back. I read in my old copy of Square Foot Gardening that rainwater is better for the plants over city water as it doesn't have all the processing chemical like Clorine added. Makes sense to me.
    I also read in the local paper that the freeze damaged banana's will resprout from the ground so I hope your frozen ones come back for you. The Epsom salts as a suplement have been used for years especially on Tomatoes and Peppers. Does it help? Some folks swear by it others don't.I hope it helps give the plants a boost in my sandy soil.

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  4. Following your advice a couple of months ago I fed some epson salts to my shrimp plant and it definitely did it a world of good - this reminds me I better give it another little tonic.

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  5. Gillian,
    It's susposed to help the plants to deal with the heat stress like you are having now. My Shrimp plant liked it also.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Interesting post... I have not used epson salts before, got to try it later. I also have shrimp plant (yellow) in my garden.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Sanddune,
    I've used my own compost to make tea and then put it on my veggies. I've also used epsom salts and can't really tell if it mattered. But I know it didn't hurt so I'd recommend it. I think your concoction makes good sense.Making use of the leftover gallon jugs is probably easier than the big tub I made my tea in. I'm going to give this a try. thanks for sharing it.

    Your Pink flamingo should root fairly easily... I have the red ones and root cuttings right in the ground.

    You've got some lucky crows... quacamole is a good feast!
    Meems

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ami,
    I think that Epsom salt helps if used in moderation. Just make sure you dilute it like 1 teaspoon per gallon of water. If it doesn't perk up your plants you can always soak your feet in it.

    Meems,
    The Arizona tea jugs are the best. They are thick plastic and last a long time. I had saved them for emergency water storage containers prior to hurricane season. Oops, I had better restock. Glad to hear about the Pink Flamingo doing well here. I didn't know if it would take the summer heat. And yes, the Avacado's everyone wants. The squirrels cut them off the tree.my dogs fight to get to them first when they hit the ground. My little terrier guards a grounded Avacado like a mother bear guards her cubs.Then the birds eat whats left after the dogs are finished.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I like your tea! Good combo...never thought to combine epsom salt...I usually apply seperately. Great idea! I love your pink flamingo. I agree that it looks like fireworks!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Kimberly,
    Everyone seems to like the Pink Flamingo plant. Now if my cuttings will just grow maybe I will get a couple of the plants here. Seems like lots of folks add some Epsom Salts to their plants. There must be something to it.

    ReplyDelete

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