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I’m doing a project to see if constructing a very simple greenhouse-like structure would help the people in Ethiopia grow their plants easier. I need plants that can be found somewhere like Lowe’s, for instance herbs and stuff. Just as example plants. What kind of plants should I use?

Why Ethiopia? I mean, we don’t have issues on growing plants. A few months ago when we celebrated our New Millennium, 70-80 million trees were planted all over the country.

Maybe you should change your research to what the indigenous Ethiopian trees are, and how to get their seedlings to the farmers or whatever population that wants to plant them.

One Love !!!
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Usually, how tall are okra plants before they start to bloom? My plant is about 1ft tall. It looks very healthy but I have not seen any blooms yet. Thanks for any help.

Mine start blooming when they’re about 6 feet tall. There are different varieties of okra and it may be different from variety to variety.

My wife and I want to get a couple large floor plants for our home, but one of our beloved cats has a taste for plants. Whenever we’ve had floor plants in the past, he always chews the leaves to shreds and then leaves little piles of green vomit around our home (pleasant, I know). Anyway, are there any kinds of plants that cats will not eat?

There are many plants that are toxic to cats. Here’s a website that lists them all:

Yes i water the plant, and no, i do not over water the plant. Yes the plant gets some sun. I get tropical plants, and even bought plant food for the new plant, but he is not doing good at all.

The last plant i got was healthy, then all of a sudden he got weak, and then i noticed bugs that looked like centipeads (spelling?), where did these bugs come from?

No Green Thumb. Tropical plants like it warm and enjoy a fine mist with water at room temp. It sounds like the bugs that attacked your last plant was because there was mold in your dirt and the dirt did not get a chance to dry out thoroughly. The next time you buy a plant make sure you have the directions for care. Follow them to the T and you should be OK. Most need water once a week. Water them till it runs out the bottom then stop. As for food do not get on leaves just poor on dirt. Try again you’ll get it down sooner or later. Good Luck!!

I know that plants need a certain amount of nutrition from the soil to grow, and that when growing plants indoors, the only nutrition they get is what you give them. I am trying to grow these plants completely organically, with dirt from my backyard, using nothing bought from a store except the vegetables/plants from which I took the seeds. So far I have large sprouts of morning glories and catnip, and small sprouts of tomatoes, green beans, cucumber, and green bell pepper. They seem to be doing very well with a combination of filtered tap water and mineral water, but I want to make sure they don’t suddenly die out because they are getting too much or too little of something. The mineral water is bottled still (not carbonated) Italian mineral water. I have southern exposure in the window that they sit in, so sunlight doesn’t seem to be a problem. Any tips for growing these through the winter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Filtered water is best. I would not bother with mineral water, you would be better of getting correct supplements for your plants than using mineral water. Speak to your local nursery and they should be able to tell you what you need to add to your soil in the area in which you live. Happy Gardening!

If I go away for a week, the Texas summer is very hard on my potted plants (peppers, tomatoes, herbs) because I have no one to water them for me. I’ve tried googling for a potted plant slow-release watering system I can put into my plant (changing pots not an option, this would be temporary thing) but can’t find anything.

Everything is set up for a huge garden and I’m looking for a couple of plants in pots!

I need something I can stick into my plants, leave for the week, and then come back and still have alive, healthy plants.

Thanks!
I repeat, "I have no one to water them for me".
I thought this would be too long-winded to add to the original question, but this will be a gift for my fiance, who is currently mourning the loss of his usual summer potted plants because he had to leave for a week. Little rainfall in his area of Texas.

I’m quite certain there are water ration laws where he is that forbids water consumption during certain hours/days, and I doubt he has access to an outdoor hose faucet. It is also unsafe to have it running from inside his apartment, say through a window, while he is away from the premises.

This device from a garden store that you can attach to a 2 litre bottle of water sounds ideal. It’s what I’ve been trying to find online with no luck. Where can I order one?

a neighbor kid??

My fancy fantail goldfish is becoming increasingly interested in the silk plant in his tank and keeps trying for a nibble. He loves peas and things but I thought it might be nice for him to have a real plant as its healthy for him to eat and oxygenates the water. What plants are low maintenance and ok for gravel digging fish like my fantail? And how would I look after this plant properly?

Any of these plants will do well for beginners. http://www.aquariumplants.com/Beginner_Plants_s/17.htm
You want to have some sort of lighting so that your plant will grow. I recommend full spectrum lights designed to give plants the full spectrum of visible light so they have a wide range of light wavelengths to get their energy from.
The plant species I linked you to don’t need CO2 injection (a pain in the butt) or fertilizer (dangerous to your fish). If your goldfish roots it up, just rebury it. These plants are hardy and will do fine.

I especially recommend aponogetons. My first plants were aponogetons; I bought a pack of bulbs from Walmart for three dollars for five to ten bulbs and two of them grew into very beautiful plants with no special care whatsoever.

If you want a plant that your goldfish won’t eat, try this one: http://www.aquariumplants.com/Ludwigia_Broad_Leaf_Ludwigia_repens_p/bp017.htm (read the review that someone wrote)

I’ve had plants before but they turn yellow after a week so I removed them. My other 20 gallon tank has fake plastic plants. I am starting a new 20 gal tank. I want to fill it with plants before I add any fish. I know that I need to care for the plants as much as I would for the fish. So I want to know what kind of plants I should get for starters. What else do I need to know?

I know this is a commerical site, but it does give pix and facts about plants. I’ve always like Amazon sword plants and used those for angelfish spawning.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=768+802&pcatid=802

In an effort to save money, I plant a lot of my bedding plants from seed instead of buying blooming plants. Does anyone know how long those plants that nurseries sell have been growing? It seems like my seedlings (particularly dianthus, sweet william, and snapdragon) are very straggly that whole first growing season, winter over nicely (we have fairly mild winters), and look great the following spring.

seven or eight weeks at least in ideal light and moisture conditions.

If a person was sealed in an air tight room with plants, these plants have enough sunlight (lamp light) and water to thrive of course. How many plants would be needed to keep one person breathing perpetually? What is the most efficient plant available for this scenario?

Sealed room survival
Terrestrial plants do not recycle inorganic CO2 fast enough. Algae are the organisms NASA uses. This should give you a very rough point of comparison to the number of plants or algae needed to supply oxygen for life support.
"A net production of 500 g to 600 g of dry algae per man per day is required for oxygen regeneration" This would be about 5 – 6 Kg wet algae. This would then need a tank and water to be grown.
http://cedb.asce.org/cgi/WWWdisplay.cgi?7000907
Air quality & treeshttp://www.coloradotrees.org/benefits.htm
"6 liters of algae water will produce… 600 liters of oxygen, and consume 720 liters of CO2" thus 6 liters of algae water per person will supply sufficient oxygen.
http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3g.html
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/newsletters/lpib/lpib85/plants.html
But it takes "17.5 trees per person" to produce oxygen however 20 trees per person are needed to consume the CO2 per person according to NASA. 20 trees versus 6L of algae.
http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education/SpaceSettlement/Contest/Results/96/winner/seis.html