Avant Garde'n Owners' Blog

Fresh Chamomile Tea

2011-08-12T15:44:00.000-07:00

Fresh Chamomile Tea

The tea itself is fairly easy to make, depending on desired potency you steppe 3 to 5 dried flowers for every cup of water just below boil for 15 minutes. This process releases essential oils from the flowers which is the active medicine that is hard to find in most store bought chamomile tea. the tea is used as a sleep aid and is great for many digestive issues including stomach ache, cramping and lack of apatite. breathing in hot steam from the tea helps with nasal congestion and sinus infections.

Chamomile is a small annual flower that needs light to germinate from the surface of the soil. Chamomile is a great addition to any mountain garden, as it quickly shoots out small flowers with yellow centers and white pedals that look like small daises. The plant quickly expands to cover whatever container it is in.It's flower heads can be taken off to make tea with or to harvest the small seeds. Chamomile can be 6 inches tall to two feet, but regular pruning can help control plant growth. Wild fauna including bees, butterflies and birds love the aromatic flowers, but care should be taken to keep the plants out of reach of deer and other herbivores.

Promoting Healthy Floral Aroma

2011-07-22T12:53:00.000-07:00

Whether you’re growing flowers at home or running a commercial garden, you probably want a stronger sweeter aroma from your flowers. There are several ways to help your plants develop that sweet floral aroma that you’re after.

When plants are healthy, their cells are active and doing their jobs correctly, ie. producing the oils that are responsible for the natural aroma of your plants. Stress or harsh growing conditions can inhibit the formation and development of aroma producing compounds and oils. Reducing stress and optimizing growing conditions is one of the ways to help your plants behave normally.

A key factor in stress reduction and healthy cellular activity is vitamin B: Lack of B vitamins may stunt cellular activity. Consequently, healthy levels of B vitamins promote strong healthy cell growth, which helps the plant produce the compounds and oils that smell sweet. Most rooting compounds and enhancers have B vitamins as do other additives like SuperThrive.

Another contributor to floral aroma is sugar: There are many products on the gardening market that will help to introduce sugar to your plant’s system. Alternately, watering with sweet things like molasses, corn syrup, and other sugar sources are a more natural way to add sugar to your plants’ diets. Within these sugars are bio chemicals like polyphenolics, terpenoids and anthocyanins.

Finally, amino acids help your plants to process and use the B vitamins and sugars that they are eating and helps boost plant growth and bloom size. Products like Organa-ADD contain high levels of these essential elements.

These three points should be taken into consideration when you decide what nutrients, fertilizers, or additives to use in your garden, when trying to boost and promote the floral aroma in your garden.

http://www.hydroponicsnutrients.co/blog/hydroponicgrowing/aroma-enhancer-the-facts-you-need-to-know-in-hydroponics/#comments

Getting started

2009-05-21T14:21:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! We're here getting our blogs and stuff working. Go check out our Twitter! AGHydroponics. Come back soon for more.
--Cheers
Dan P.