The Secret to Growing Plants

For many people, growing plants or gardening, is often relegated to the too hard basket. Indeed, many have an unfounded belief that they are "no good" at gardening. Similarly, there are some that believe that, rather than a "green thumb" - that they have a "black thumb".

This sort of thinking has generally been brought about, because of the rare times they have tried to plant something, with no training, it has almost immediately turned up it's toes.

Rightly so, too!

If you knew nothing about concreting, would you expect your first raw attempt to look like a runway? Of course not. Not without someone showing you how to do it, first.

So, why should gardening be any different?

Is it because you can buy plants in the supermarket, therefore giving everyone the immediate license to be an instant gardener?

You can buy engine oil in the supermarket, but this does not automatically make you a mechanic, just because you bought some oil.

Would you like to know the secret to growing plants?

Let me tell you - The Secret to Growing Plants is, that, there is no secret.

Or maybe, The Secret to Growing Plants is, that you have to learn about it first. Goodness! What a concept!

Just think - all that money I have just saved you from spending on those nefarious "Gardening Secrets" books and the like.

I have some great news for you.

It's Easy.

Really.

Easy.

Apart from the fact that you do have to actually learn something about it first, gardening is VERY forgiving. If you make a mistake after having planted something, it will NOT die overnight. A plant will continue trying to grow, regardless of what may assail it from your misguided ministrations. If ultimately, things are so drastically wrong, that a plant just cannot grow, for any one of a myriad of reasons (but more likely because you forgot to water it, tsk,tsk), you still have DAYS to do something about it before, ultimately, the poor thing carks it.

First however, it will TELL you something is wrong. It will start to wilt, it will not look good, it will probably start turning yellow, leaves may fall from it. The greatest plant doctor skill you already possess, is observation. Difficult, this gardening stuff - yes, you must return to the bloody thing after you have planted it - and LOOK at it. Does it look like it did the day before? Don't fiddle with it, just observe.

If it's not looking too flash, return to the site you found this article and find out why. Just maybe, go to a plant nusery and ask someone. Gardeners are generous with their help.

If you were concreting your driveway, you would have about an hour to fix things, before you no longer can and must then call in a bulldozer.

If you have you obtained your mechanics license through buying engine oil at the supermarket, filled the radiator with oil and the engine with coolant, not only will this little mistake become quickly apparent, but the is no way back - best look for another car.

With plants, you can say "Hmm, this doesn't seem to be working, I'll try it another way" - AND, you have still got time to do so. But first you find out something about the situation.

Here are a few immediate things it could be:


Not enough water;


Too much water;


Planted too deep;


Not deep enough;


An air pocket under the roots;

Here are some situations that may take weeks to show adverse effects:


The wrong time of the year;


The wrong climate;


Too much sun;


Not enough sun.

All of these problems are pretty easily remedied and generally, plants suffer no long term damage from these situations. Provided - you DO something about it.

If you are new to the whole gardening thingo, remember this, you cannot just sling a plant into the ground and forget about it. A plant is a living thing, just because it takes a little longer to actually die than most things, does not mean you don't have to look after it. However, most gardening (as in looking after plants), relies more on common sense than anything else. Throw in a fair amount of patience and learning through observation, and you are pretty well on your way to learning the secret to growing plants.