The above photo is of Spicy Greek Basil being grown hydroponically in a mason jar that was painted gray to inhibit algae.  This is a no brainer method of growing,  as it requires hardly any maintenance, and, have you priced basil in the market during winter? The jar,  a standard 4" net pot filled with perlite topped with a quarter inch of coir sprinkled with activated charcoal and you have a nifty little hydroponic garden,  Oh, I forgot to mention a short strip of felt to act as a wick.  Add the seed and fill the jar with water and a dilute solution of water an ..read more

Just because it is winter it does not mean you have to discontinue gardening, you can always find something to grow, and somehow to grow, in the great indoors.  As for myself, I am growing zinnias, carnation and a hyacinth bulb. The carnation is Miss Aroma and it is very fragrant, but just my luck the seed I planted produced a white flower and I would have liked some color. The zinnia is Thumbelina but unfortunately it as no aroma. The hyacinth does have a nice aroma and it is going to be pink. All are being grown hydroponically one way or the other.   ..read more

Seeing as there is not much gardening to do this time of year it gives me a great excuse to get outdoors and do some photography.   Recent surgery on both eyes has returned my vision to where it was when I was in my twenties, so it is like a whole new world and I intend to take advantage of it.  I have been itching to try my new Nikon DSLR to get familiar with the different settings and lenses but my images were out of focus, so here are some examples of what it can do now that my vision has been corrected.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!   ..read more

I thought I would post examples of a photo that had been modified with the Nik Collection plugin HDR Efex Pro 2. The photo above is the original photo as taken on September 30, 2018. Below is the photo modified in Efex Pro 2 using the landscape vignette selection.  It might be interesting to print a modified photo on a matte surface stock just for fun.   ..read more

I would like to digress from gardening to do a post about something I found and would like to share with fellow photographers. Recently I read something about a plugin called the Nik Collection being available for free some time ago.  I like free, so I thought I would like to try the free version and searched for it online.   It did not take long to find a site that still allowed users to download the free version.  There is a new version, but not being a professional I was happy to get the free version even though it does not have all the new bells and whistles. https ..read more

Winter has descended on upstate New York with a vengence!  The National Weather Service said the winter would be warmer than normal, and I say: Bring it on, soon! Just to have a single flower this winter I am growing a Thumblina Zinnia to dispel the winter gloom.   The plant is being grown hydroponically in a recycled container. I just love fooling Mother Nature ..read more

As my test plant was doing nicely I decided to deflask one more plant. Then, I saw another promising plant I just could not throw away, then another, and another and so on, until at eight I decided enough is enough. I will ask my wife to get rid of the excess plants before I have a house full of them. All in all, I am very satisfied with this experiment.  It took a little over a year from the time I pollinated the flowers until I had seedlings ..read more

One of the seedlings has been deflasked and planted in moist sphagnum moss to determine if they can survive out of flasks. The seedling has been placed in a domed growing container under a small T5 6500k fluorescent lamp and will be gradually acclimated to live outside the container ..read more

Early in 2017, we had a speaker at the orchid society meeting and as is customary the speaker brought plants for sale. The speaker receives no fee but member plant sales are suspended if the speaker is bringing plants. By the time I arrived all he had remaining were dendrobiums that he had hybridized himself and I bought one just to help offset his travel costs. I don't know anything about dendrobiums and never had one previously. At the same time, I was experimenting with Keiki paste, a hormone paste that when applied to a node may cause a new plant to form. Some paste was applied to a node ..read more

The results of this project have been much better than I ever expected ..read more