I really wanted to post some pictures of my plants on this blog. For that reason, voila, here I am to do so. I'm quite surprised to find a "Add image" option here. What an amateur of a blogger I am. Phew, now that I am aware of this function, I shall find it more a breeze to put up pictures on my blog(s) instead of the usual photobucket upload and URL pasting.

Ok, enough blabbering, here are the pictures.

In memoriam:

Living and kicking ass:

Above are just some pictures I took from my corridor garden. There are actually more plants waiting to be displayed. I absolutely love love love my plants.

This has been a period of crazy plant acquisition sprees. Over the past few weeks, I have in total bought three pots of African violets, different floral colours of course, some herbs e.g. Cinnamon Basil and a pot of Gloxina which adds to the collection of two types of Gloxinia that I already have. With the recent additions, my corridor garden is now teeming with plants and I may have some problems having to attend to them. My greatest concern now is the space problem as a corridor can only accomodate a certain number of plants. However, with my expansion of the collection and the desire to propagate what I have now, I foresee many plants inappropriately placed and some even blocking the passageway when I have to resort to putting them on the floor. I certainly got to resolve this issue soon but in the meantime, I think I should just concentrate on tending to them first. Well, contradictory as it may sound, I think I am more interested in ensuring that my plants grow well first. Even though it is highly inconsiderate of me to suggest that, plants are still the main priority and I would definitely do my best to see to their robust development and growth.

I have finally figured out why egg shells are added to soils, key word "finally". It has been a long time since I was confounded and baffled by this problem and I think I have the answer now until a long while of pondering. To understand how the eggshells work, we have to first look at the chemistry behind egg shells. If I remember correctly, eggshells are composed of calcium carbonate which can react with protons to form water, salt and carbon dioxide. As such, by adding eggshells, the carbonate of the shells can neutralise the acid in soils, thereby neutralising the acidity of soils. You may be wondering if there's any side effect in doing so. My answer to that question is no. Correct me if I am wrong but I believe egg shells are basically innocuous to the soil chemistry as it will remain unreactive in the soil unless the soil becomes acidic. Instead of being detrimental, the egg shells would actually be a boon in this case as too acidic a soil can hinder plant growth. With the acidity controlled by the harmless eggshells, the conditions will be right for the plants to thrive. If you think my reasoning is flawed, please feel free to comment and correct me. That's all I have to say in this post! Arrivederci and peace!

Stevia rebaudiana

I mentioned in my previous post that I have bought a new plant and yes, the name of the plant is in the title of today's post. As told in the same previous post, I did a little goggling on the plant and here's what I have obtained thus far. From what I have found about the plant, stevia rebaudiana or simply stevia is a member of the sunflower family, Asteraceae. It has been used for centuries as a sweetener and it is only recent that we began intensively farming and using this plant as a natural sweetener due to its inherent sweetening property. According to wikipedia, yes wikipedia again, the plant contains extracts that are 300 times sweeter than the sugar that we use and the plus side is it is low in calories. These extracts are completely natural and they are definitely safer to consume than artificial sweeteners such as aspartame which may be detrimental to the human health. Unlike the rest of the artificial sweeteners, stevia extracts have been found to be medicinal and beneficial to the human health. Some of the ailments that the plant is purported to treat are heartburn, high blood pressure and it is highly useful for diabetics who have to take carbohydrate-controlled diets. Since it is low in carbs and so many folds sweeter than ordinary sugar, just a small amount is needed in the everyday diet. Moreover, with the medicinal properties, it is clearly a good alternative to the run-of-the-mill sugar. However, the use of stevia as a food addictive is still banned in many countries, especially Singapore. I find it a pity that such a commercially viable and healthy substitute is banned as a addictive due to insufficient studies and unsubtantiated claims that it may be harmful to health. Nevertheless, it can be used as a supplement and privately, we can still take it as a homeopathic cure. 

I will be taking cuttings of my stevia plant soon. Hope the cuttings will be able to grow into new stevia plants. Given the right conditions, I think they will. I guess only time will tell and I will definitely post the updates once I have done that. Watch this space!

Stevia discovery

It's really fun to learn about a new plant such as its name, cultivation method and on top of that its medicinal properties, if any. I made such an exciting discovery when my mum bought a sweet leaf stevia plant from a nursery of sorts. Anyway, I looked up wikipedia and was amazed to find a lot of information about the plant. Since it is so late now, I think I will continue the post tomorrow. Ciao!

Parsley

I am madly in love with herbs, to the effect of wanting to grow any herb I can get my hands on. Just a few weeks ago (I can't exactly remember when), I sowed the parsley seeds that I got from NTUC and the seedlings are thriving well now which I hope stays this way for as long as possible. Pictures of the seedlings will be posted as soon as they are captured on camera. For now, let me share some background information on the popular herb that is prevalently used as garnish to whet our appetite. 

Parsley is a biennial plant that is prized for its leaves. A few varieties of parsely are commonly found and the variety that's growing in my corridor garden is the curly leaf cultivar. Other common cultivars include the Hamburg and Neopolitan. Besides being a culinary herb as mentioned afore when it is used as a garnish, parsley is purported to have medicinal properties as well. According to wikipedia, it is capable of controlling high blood pressure when administered as an infusion. The crushed leaves of the parsley can even be used to salve mosquito bites. 

I am still working on the cultivation details of parsley. At this moment, I can only say the germination of parsley is longer than most herbs. To speed up the germination process, one thing that the cultivator can do is to soak the seeds in water overnight to soften the testa or seed coat.

The plant is also often planted around tomato plants as a companion to the tomato. The idea, or belief is that the plant attracts beneficial insects that help overcome the pest problem that tomato plants usually have. On top of that, it is also said that the scent of the plant masks the strong smell of the tomato plants and in a way, conceal the existence of the lycopersicon from potential pests. Being a fan of tomatoes, how can I not love parsley?

Cont'd

Lemon balm, a member of the mint family as mentioned previously, is a truly useful plant with many pleasant properties. Not only is it an edible plant which can be used in cooking, it is also purported to drive pesky mosquitoes away with its active ingredient, citronella, a distinct chemical that gives it the distinct lemony smell. My lemon balm is growing strong now and I hope it will flower soon so that I can propagate more of it. Wish me luck!