Auxins are plant hormones that regulate cell growth and development.

Auxins are found at the tips of twigs, roots, and buds. Auxins are the reason roots go down and stems go up. Until recently, it was believed that auxins were responsible for restricting buds lower down the stem from developing. We now know that this apical dominance has more to do with sugar consumption.

Many herbicides are actually synthetic plant hormones that force a plant to grow so fast that it dies.

Auxins travel through the stem downward, through the phloem, so gardeners can bend branches into a more horizontal position to reduce auxin levels and stimulate lateral bud growth.

For many vegetable crops, you can transplant seedlings with the cotyledons below the soil line. Very often, these meristem tissues will transform into root tissues, adding nutrients and vitality to your plants.

Seed starting

A layer of vermiculite is often placed over newly planted seeds, in pots. This helps retain moisture, which improves germination without encouraging fungal diseases, such as damping off disease.

Soilless growing medium

Vermiculite is also a component of soilless growing medium. Combined with materials such as peat or composted bark, this mixture provides a very light medium, filled with water, air, and nutrients, making it easy for new roots to become established.

Root and bulb storage

If you store root crops or bulbs over the winter, keeping them in a bed of vermiculite can stabilize moisture levels, preventing rot.

Soil conditioner

Because it is so light, vermiculite can be mixed with heavy clay to create more macropores and micropores. This improves soil structure, making it easier for roots to move through the soil.

With all of those good characteristics, you would expect more people to use vermiculite, right?

Unfortunately, until 1990, many sources of vermiculite contained asbestos. Pure vermiculite does not contain asbestos, but there is no way to be 100% sure that the vermiculite in the bag at the garden center hasn’t absorbed asbestos or some other harmful chemical. Using it in small doses is probably fine. I prefer renewable resources, such as aged compost, which I know is healthy for everyone involved.

Pomolgy refers to the art and science of growing fruit.

Urban drool is the water that runs off improperly watered lawns, carrying fertilizers, pesticides, and valuable nutrients to ground water, local streams and the ocean, causing potentially devastating bacterial and algae blooms and chemical pollution.

Take a look at other hard surfaces, such as driveways, walkways, and patios. Instead of impermeable concrete, consider permeable pavers, wood chip paths, and growing strips. These breathable materials allow water to be absorbed into the soil, filtering sediments and pollutants, and allowing the water to be stored for later use by plants, rather than creating flooding, pooling, and runoff problems. These more porous surfaces also allow the soil and plant roots to breath.

If you have an area of your landscape that regularly receives excess water, you may want to consider installing a rain garden to reduce urban drool and ground water pollution.

If you see urban drool occurring at a local park or business, take a moment to reach out and let them know. They may not be aware of the problem.

As plants follow the sun and brace themselves against the wind, they become stronger. This means plants grown in greenhouses tend to be taller and weaker than plants grown outside. To keep these overly protected plants healthy, many greenhouses use machines that knock the plants over, in different directions, several times a day. Cool, huh?

​Thigmomorphogenesis is the response of plants to touch (thigmo is Greek for touch).