Watch the Show: Grow a Venus Fly Trap!

Okay, all you “Little Shop of Horrors” fans out there, this article’s for you! Just kidding. Of course many gardeners, musical fans or not, might enjoy the subject of this entry, namely, the Venus Flytrap. The Venus Flytrap is such an amazing plant due to its carnivorous nature. Excitingly, an owner or visitor with a watchful eye can actually view the flytrap in action. Its color and scent it gives off act as a magnet for unsuspecting flying insects. Inside the mouth of the plant, there are several hairs that act as triggers, alerting the green carnivore when touched by a tasty intruder. When a fly or other insect touches two of those hairs, the “jaws” of the plant close, trapping its prey. The Venus Flytrap is indigenous to North and South Carolina in the United States, but with the proper environment, can be grown and admired anywhere.

Flytraps do need a warm and humid climate to thrive and grow, so unless this is true where you live, you will need to grow your plant indoors instead of out. A controlled environment like a terrarium will suffice, and is necessary to begin growing a flytrap even if transferring it outdoors at a later time. When outdoors, your garden hose reel can supply the necessary water, but indoors, a checking of the soil by touch, and often will be necessary. Also, tap water is extremely harmful to the finicky flytrap, so if outside, attach your hose to a rain barrel that collects the rain water as it falls to be administered later to your flytrap. Indoors, bottled water will work sufficiently or take some from your outdoor rain barrel or other rain-capturing receptacle for later use. Transferring your purchased plant from its pot to your terrarium or outside spot if climate permits, is very much like transferring any other houseplant. You must make sure to take the entire root system with as little handling or disturbing as possible. A peat moss and sand mixture will work best as the moss absorbs water and the sand drains well. If encased in a terrarium, it will be necessary to spray the soil each day to keep it moist; if outside, it is good to keep a dish of water underneath your Venus, and simply keep that dish filled, and sprinkle water from it daily over the plant soil’s surface. Your flytrap will flower each year because the Venus self-pollinates. As your plant grows and matures, new bulbs with “mouths” will form and can be transferred to new pots or left together, your choice.

You will find the Venus Flytrap to be the most interesting plant you’ve ever grown, and will most likely look to grow more of them, intrigued by their unique nature. If taken care of, your flytrap will live up to a decade and beyond.


About the author: Jon Bassfarm is an Internet content writer who enjoys researching and writing about many subjects including garden hose reel and landscaping.

Growing Fresh Corn in Your Own Backyard

Everyone knows that corn tastes its best when it goes straight from the garden to boiling water to plate, at least those who have ever had the privilege of tasting truly fresh corn know this to be true. The corn bought at the local grocery has probably sat for a good amount of time, losing its flavor incrementally as it is held and not consumed. The sugar inherent to corn’s delicious kernels rapidly disappears after picking, turning to starch. Why not expedite fresh corn’s arrival to your family’s plates by cutting out the middleman (grocery store or market) altogether? Grow delicious corn for yourself in your own backyard.

The best site for your corn will also be the best site for many other of your garden’s fruits and vegetables: a spot that possesses nutrient-rich, moisture-retentive soil and gets a full day’s worth of precious sunlight. To ensure your soil is as rich as possible, it should be worked thoroughly beforehand, working deep within organic compost from either your own compost bin or your local trusted lawn and garden store. While at the garden shop, use available resources well by asking the local experts what variety of corn would work best to your particular climate and geographical location. After obtaining this helpful information, purchase corresponding seeds, compost, and some nice straw, for mulching and get thee home for planting! Corn’s growing season starts as the first signs of Spring arrive, at about a week after the last frost has done its worst. Soil temperature should be in the mid-fifties, so this could be sooner or later, depending upon where you might be located. When your soil is at this temperature, it is much easier to work and loosen for proper planting, so waiting will make the growing easier for your crop as well as the work easier on you, to work the soil and plant in it. Seeds should be planted into the soil at an inch below the surface, allowing for about five inches between each seed. Make sure to water your plants diligently each day from your garden hose reel, being watchful that water runoff is minimal, ensuring waterings are most effective. Soon your seeds will sprout, and as they reach about four inches in height it will be necessary to thin them a bit, allowing the healthiest of plants to remain, and to exist with about a foot of space between each. Mulching and fertilizing is advised to ward off weeds, pests, and keep valuable moisture within.

An inch of water each week is advised in order for your corn crop to remain successful. Excitedly, you and your family will watch the stalks grow ever taller, anticipating the flavorful kernels housed within each husk. Make sure to wait until husks are a dark green before harvest, allowing the cob to be fully covered with the juicy nuggets that are desired. From harvest to boil, remember, for the most satisfyingly delicious corn you’ve ever tasted. Growing it yourself will assuredly intensify the satisfaction and flavor as you enjoy your crop!

About the author: Jon Bassfarm is an Internet content writer who enjoys researching and writing about many subjects including garden hose reel and landscaping.

Secrets to Growing Succulent Home Grown Lettuce

Everyone has had at least one delicious salad in their lives that knocks their socks off. Remembering one of my favorites, it was at an upscale steak restaurant, and the salad consisted of simply a crisp quarter of a head of iceberg lettuce and a light vinaigrette dressing. What made it so delectably delicious was the crispness and freshness of that lettuce, undoubtedly organic, and most probably grown locally. Lettuce that is bought at most grocers is often limited to a few varieties with homogenously subpar quality, texture, and taste. Growing your own lettuce in your backyard is not only fairly simple, it also is self rewarding, producing a quality of product that you will be proud to serve to your family and friends again and again.

Perhaps the most difficult part of growing your own lettuce is deciding on which variety to plant. If this is your first venture into growing, perhaps it might be best to grow the easiest variety first: loose-leaf lettuce. Loose leaf varieties are more heat tolerant so you don’t have to worry as much about an unpredicted heat wave ruining your crop. It might be fun to research and find a variety of loose leaf that isn’t carried by your local grocer, so take your time picking your seeds at the local garden shop. For the most part, lettuce is a cool season crop. For best success, seeds should develop from seed to starts indoors, and then transplanted into your backyard garden as soon as the soil is soft for tilling and working. Lettuce should not be planted (again, for the most part) in warm weather, as it will all too often grow too quickly and taste overly bitter. Early Spring after the last frost (you hope) is the best time to get your plants in the ground. Soil that is extremely nitrogen rich is much appreciated by lettuce and many other plants, so working large amounts of compost or organic fertilizer into your soil can be most helpful in encouraging growth. Allow for sufficient, yet not overwatering your lettuce from your garden hose reel, being attentive to keeping your crop moist, not flooded.

Perhaps the secret to enjoying healthy lettuce is in the harvest; when is the right time to enjoy it at its best? The best thing about leaf lettuce is its ability to be harvested a leaf at a time, a method that can actually encourage its growth. In this way, whenever you’re having salad for dinner, simply take the amount of leaf you need, leaving the rest to sprout and grow new leaf growth for your next salad. Be forewarned, you will quickly become spoiled by the freshness of your homegrown lettuce and will demand the same quality from the rest of your produce. You might just be forced to grow all your vegetables at home, so be prepared!

About the author: Jon Bassfarm is an Internet content writer who enjoys researching and writing about many subjects including garden hose reel and landscaping.