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General Introduction to Vegetable Gardening

Growing your own vegetable garden is a great project to undertake. There are many benefits to having your own garden plot, and the venture is entirely customizable to the space available and your tastes. Plus, it doesn’t take an extensive list of tools or supplies to get started.

Why Grow Your Own Vegetables?

Growing your own produce is proven to increase your consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Food right out of the garden has a much better flavor than anything you can purchase from the store.
You can reduce the money you spend on groceries.
You choose the varieties to grow, giving you a more extensive selection than what you may have at the market.
You completely control the pesticides and fertilizers used to grow your food.
Having vegetables in your yard reduces the environmental impacts of transporting food from the field to the store.
Gardening is a proven natural stress reliever and good source of outdoor exercise.
Growing and tending to plants is an excellent learning experience.

What Type of Space is Needed to Grow Vegetables?

How much space you need for a garden depends on how much you want to grow. You can start with something minimal and expand in future seasons, you can keep it small from year to year, or you can grow a large homestead garden capable of feeding your whole family.

Do I Need “Land” for a Vegetable Garden?

One of the best things about a vegetable garden is that you don’t need to have a large chunk of “land” in your yard to grow plants. This common misconception prevents some people from gardening, but there are alternative ways to garden.

Suppose you are limited on workable ground or don’t have any. In that case, you can garden using raised beds, containers that sit on your patio or balcony, hanging baskets, or even unique planters that attach to the side of your home.

Having limited space doesn’t mean you can only grow a couple of plants. There are many ways to maximize the space available, allowing you to grow a bigger garden. Some options include growing plants vertically with trellises, using the square foot gardening method, inter-planting compatible crops in the same space, and planting high-yielding varieties.

What Tools are Needed to Get Started?

You need three things besides your plants and the garden space itself to get started:

You might want to purchase gloves, a long-handled shovel, a hoe, and a garden rake as you do more gardening.

Why Do My Houseplant’s Leaf Tips Turn Brown?

Browning leaves have filled many houseplant owners’ hearts with dread. The problem can come on quickly, and knowing how to combat it can feel overwhelming. While browning leaves can have many causes, the good news is that the steps for overcoming the damage tend to be the same.

Here’s what you need to know to get your plants back on track.

Top Reasons Why Plant Leaves May Turn Brown

Houseplant leaves will brown for dozens of reasons. Here are some of the most common:

transplant shock
too much water
too little water
lack of humidity
temperature extremes
pest/disease damage
fungal contamination
natural aging process
intense lighting
too little light
excessive fertilizer
nutrient deficiency
… and many more!

Notice anything strange about this list? Many of the common causes of browning leaves are opposites of each other! In other words, both too much AND too little water, sunlight, and nutrients can all cause this kind of plant stress. No wonder browning leaves is such a common problem, right?

In most cases, browning leaves signify that something is slightly wrong with the plant’s environment. Assess what seems unbalanced, make a small change, and the problem is likely to resolve itself. Patience will be rewarded here, as it might take several weeks to get to the real root of the problem.

Diagnosing Problems Based on Browning Location

One way to determine the reason for browning leaves is to pay attention to where it occurs on the leaves. Browning on the tips, in spots, or across the whole leaf indicates different types of problems.

Browning on the Tips

Leaf tips that are beginning to darken and fall off are typically a sign of inconsistent watering. In other words, the plant is conserving its limited water supply by restricting access to the leaf tips, causing them to brown. Watering more frequently can fix the problem.

The Whole Leaf is Brown

When entire leaves start to turn yellow and then brown, the cause is most likely natural aging. There’s little you need to do to combat the problem. Instead, the plant is simply shedding its old growth and making room for new.

Browning Spots Over the Whole Leaf

Brown splotches developing over leaves are a telltale sign of disease problems. The plant is likely infested with a fungal or bacterial pathogen and will require a topical treatment like a fungicide to combat it.

Help! Why Is My Houseplant Wilting?

Is your houseplant starting to look a little worse for wear? Drooping leaves are always an alarming sign, especially if you aren’t sure about the cause. Thankfully, there are steps you can take to address the cause and get your plants back on track. Here’s how to diagnose the problem and get your plants looking better, faster.

What Causes Houseplants to Wilt in the First Place?

Plants get their structure from continuous water pressure within the leaves and stem, known as turgor pressure. If this flow of water is interrupted or imbalanced for any reason, the plant will lose its structure and start to wilt.

Some of the leading causes of wilting include:

Getting Rootbound

Plants go limp when their roots don’t have the space to grow properly. This happens when they grow in too small of a pot. So, fix the problem by re-potting the plant into a larger growing space.

Too Little Water

It’s all too easy to accidentally ignore an out-of-the-way houseplant. Skip a few watering sessions, and your plant will start to go limp. You can tell this is the likely cause of the problem if the soil feels dry several inches down. The good news is that many varieties will recover almost instantly after a good drenching.

Too Much Water

Conversely, too much water can also lead to drooping. Excess moisture may drown the roots and prevent them from getting enough oxygen. This leads to a condition called hypoxia, where the plant roots essentially drown and kill off the rest of the plant in the process.

It’s critical that you address the problem immediately when you see it. Start by refraining from watering for several days. You may also need to replace the potting soil to give the roots a fresh start.

Pests and Bugs

An insect infestation can quickly take down healthy plants, leaving them wilted in little time. The most common indoor pests include aphids, scale, mealy bugs, fungus gnats, and whiteflies. If you see dropping leaves, check their undersides for signs of pest damage or clutches of eggs.

Pick off any eggs or insects on sight, and consider spraying an insecticidal soap over the whole plant. It’s good to isolate any infected plants from others to prevent the problem from spreading.

Temperature Stress

Unlike people, plants can’t move when experiencing unpleasant conditions. Consequently, they are highly susceptible to temperature fluctuations. Too much time near a sunny window or excessive exposure to a drafty window can cause plants to droop. Thankfully, fixing the problem is usually as simple as moving the plant to a more stable location.

How to Re-Pot Your Houseplants?

Just like outdoor plants, houseplants occasionally grow too big for their space. When that happens, it’s crucial to re-pot your plants to give them fresh soil and more room to grow and develop.

Not all houseplants respond well to being re-potted. Most can go several years without requiring a larger container, while others grow quickly enough you’ll need to replant them every few months.

Here’s how to tell when your houseplants are ready for a larger container:

The roots take up so much space they are starting to push the plant out of the container.
The roots are starting to grow through the container's bottom drainage hole.
The soil dries out much faster than normal.
The plant is top-heavy and falls over frequently.
The plant is growing slower than normal.
There is noticeable salt and mineral buildup on the top of the soil.

7 Steps to Re-pot a Houseplant

Once you determine the timing is right, re-potting a houseplant is a relatively straightforward process.

Water the plant the day before replanting to saturate the soil.
Prepare a second, larger pot by filling it one-third of the way with a high-quality potting mix. Ideally, you want this pot to be at least twice as big as the previous one.
Put your fingers over the top of the root ball and turn the pot over. Gently tap the pot's rim on a firm surface to see if the root ball will loosen from the sides. If not, run a knife along the perimeter to loosen them.

Gently remove as much of the root ball as you can from the first pot and place it in the second on top of the fresh soil.
Keep the plant straight with one hand while adding in more soil around it. Don't pack the material in too tightly, as you want to give the plant's roots plenty of space to stretch out.
Fill the pot with soil up about one or two inches from the top of the rim. This allows for adequate watering space.
Water the pot slowly so the planting soil can settle. Add more soil if it falls too far from the rim.

Note: Re-potting can stress out a plant, meaning that this is not the time to add extra fertilizer. Instead, wait several weeks for the plant to adjust to its new growing space before adding any supplemental nutrition.

PT-Pruning tips-RFP

Request for Proposal – Pruning Tips

Vr. 1.0, May 18th, 2022

Detailed requirement of the “Why” in “Recommended Structure for Pruning” added;
“Main techniques for pruning” now is not compulsory;
“Reliable” part in “General Requirements” amended;
Problems Should be Avoided added;

Vr. 0.4, May 9th, 2022

Samples, writing requirements and special requirements added;
RFP structure adjusted;

Vr. 0.2, Apr. 28th, 2022

Requirements of pruning techniques and cautions added;

Vr. 0.1, Apr. 27th, 2022

Writing Guide: https://article.picturethisai.com/writing-guide/

What is this content for?

You are selected to create a brief PRUNING recommendation for a series of specific plants.

We hope the recommendations can help readers to quickly understand how to take care of the plant. Focus on the most important things the readers need to do when they prune their plants to keep them growing in a better way.

General Requirements

1. Writing: please use correct grammar and spelling when you’re writing this content. Add “grammarly” or “microsoft editor” extensions to your browser, and they can help you to find and correct minor writing problems.

Please try your best to make your writings varied in sentence structure and expressions while writing for different plants. Colloquial and conversational style is suggested.

2. Reliable: Please use reliable resources or references from at least one website in order to make the language concise and accurate. Websites with suffixes of .org (except wikipedia.org), .gov or .edu are considered to be more trustful. (this requirement is abiding by part 2 in Writing Guide)

3. Word Count: each description should be around 50 words. If there’s any specific pruning recommendations that the readers need to pay more attention to, you can write a little longer, 60 words at most.

4. Focus on the Topic: do not mention anything other than pruning in this section, as other information will be presented in other sections.

5. Operational: focus on the practices that common users can control or are easy to execute.

Recommended Structure for Pruning

1. Why: tell the readers the reason(s) to prune this plant, e.g. for a better shape, more blooms/fruits or just regular cleaning. There might be different reasons for different plants.

Please make sure the main reason is mentioned. For instance, the main reason for pruning Rosa is to get more flowers, so “pruning Rosa properly if you want to see more flowers” must be covered, then mention other reasons like “to keep it clean by cutting off dead leaves”.

Also, you can tell the readers what might happen if they don’t prune this plant.

2. When: tell the readers an approximate time to prune this plant, e.g. before/after blossom, in spring/winter or other seasons, or during any growth phase/stage, etc., and that’s enough. Don’t write things like “3 days before blossom”, or “on 15th Jan.”.

3. What: tell the readers what/which part of the plant needs to be pruned, e.g. the dead/withered leaves, flowers, fruits, or the part that grows too high, or the secondary stems, etc.

Tell readers the main techniques for pruning it, such as the length, angle you cut, and the section of the plant you need to prune. (Not compulsory)

Please present the cautions of pruning, e.g., to leave a clean and smooth cut to prevent infection.

4. Note: it’ll also be great to tell the readers the tools that are common or easy to find for them to prune this plant.

Special Attention:

Do not use specific pruning time or date. For example, “to prune it before blooming or in early Spring” is enough, but “to prune it 3 days before blooming or on15th Feb.” is not okay.
Please use the Latin name to search for information online. If you cannot find useful information with the Latin name, you can use the common name, but please paste the link to prove that the Latin name and common name refer to the same plant.
Please use common names instead of Latin names.
Italicize any Latin words that appear
You’ll see short references in the CMS for each plant, so please use information that is relevant to them. If you cannot find any relevant information, please use what you found and leave a comment to indicate this.

Samples:

Lagerstroemia indica (Crepe myrtle) [55 words]

Crepe myrtle is pruned in order to maintain its attractive shape. This should take place in mid-Spring to avoid damage from colder temperatures common in winter. Cut away the lower limbs that are thin in diameter using clean pruners, and cut slightly above where the two branches meet. Avoid pruning top limbs on an established tree.

Solanum lycopersicum (Tomato) [60 words]

Pruning the Tomato plant helps to produce more fruit, and to keep pests away. Cut off the suckers (stems between main stem and the stems branching off of it) while still small with clean sharp scissors, leaving only the main branch and a few side branches. Prune during any stage of growth, but don’t over-prune your plant all at once.

Malus pumila (Paradise apple) [55 words]

To promote Paradise apple productivity, increase the quality of the fruit, and prevent diseases, you should prune it in late winter or early spring. Using clean pruners to cut off dead or diseased branches, or branches that are growing off to the opposite side near where the two branches intersect.

Problems should be avoided:

1. Reference and species do not match:

2. Unclear, contradictory or redundant information:

a. Unclear: “Ivy can be pruned year-round, beginning in spring.”, “year-round” includes “beginning in spring” so “year-round” is enough;

b. Redundant: “Also use clippers to cut away unhealthy leaf sections and also trim roots when repotting”. Repotting information is redundant here in the tips of pruning.

3. Information absence:

a. Main information absence: The tips for Aphrodite’s phalaenopsis should focus on encouraging new blooms, but the tips below missed it completely:

“Only prune the stem of Aphrodite’s phalaenopsis after it has reached at least a foot in height, to encourage a new stem to grow. Then carefully use sharp clippers or a knife to prune the stem top back to an inch or so above the triangular growth node.”

b. Required information absence: the right referential links should not be absent.

If there’s anything you find unclear or need to discuss while writing using this RFP, please leave messages to Steven – Project Manager on Lark.

How Do Different Seasons Affect Your Houseplant?

Do you feel like your mood changes based on the season? Shorter days and colder temperatures affect houseplants too. Even though they spend their lives indoors, houseplants are still impacted by the weather.

The changes may seem subtle, but they impact how you take care of your plants over time. Here’s how the seasons will affect your plants at home.

What Do Seasonal Light Changes Mean for Houseplants?

Since the Earth spins on a tilted axis, daily light exposure changes over the year.

The winter sun is further in the south, meaning it hits south-facing windows for most of the day but only hits the east and west for a few hours in the morning and evening.

The summer sun, in contrast, is further north, which means the sun doesn’t reach as far into the room around south-facing windows but better hits the east and west.

This means your plants will experience different light exposure based on their location. Depending on their growing requirements, you may want to change their placement in your house based on the season.

Adjust Your Watering Schedule

Changing temperatures affect the watering needs of plants, even indoors. Many varieties grow more slowly or even enter a state of dormancy as the temperature drops, meaning that they need less water for the following months.

As a general rule, it’s best to test the soil before watering to ensure you aren’t giving the plants more than they need. Wait to water until the soil feels dry about one and a half inches below the surface. Too much water, and you risk causing the plant to rot.

Consider Changing Humidity Requirements

Plants need moisture to grow, and there tends to be less available in the air over the winter. Furnaces dry out indoor air, which can fry plant leaves that thrive in humid environments.

Boost the relative humidity in your home by grouping houseplants close together, closing heating vents near your plants, and adding pebble trays or humidifiers near them. Even the occasional spritz with a spray bottle will help keep moisture levels high.

Stop Fertilizing

Slower growth in the winter means that plants are pulling fewer nutrients out of the soil. While you might think this is a sign to apply more fertilizer, the opposite is actually true. Refrain from fertilizing until the weather warms again, so you don’t force the plant to break dormancy too early in the growing season.

How to Feed and Fertilize Houseplants

Just like you, plants need a regular supply of food to stay healthy. The situation doesn’t change for indoor houseplants — in fact, being restricted to a small pot makes it even more necessary that you give them supplemental nutrition. After all, their roots can’t reach through the soil to find what they need on their own.

However, giving a houseplant too much fertilizer is almost worse than skipping it altogether. An excess of nutrients can burn plant roots and scorch their leaves. That’s why it’s essential to be precise and give your plants exactly what they need without any extra.

You likely won’t need much fertilizer for the first few months after transplanting a plant in new soil. The potting mix will provide all that the plants need at first, but you’ll need to start supplementing over time.

What Kind of Fertilizer Should I Use?

The first choice is determining what kind of fertilizer to use. Indoor plant blends typically come in liquid, slow-release, and granular forms.

Liquid Fertilizer: As their name implies, liquid fertilizers come as a concentrated liquid blend of nutrients. Most must be diluted in water before use. This makes the fertilizer easy to apply evenly in the pot and reduces the risk of overfeeding. The one disadvantage is you need to apply it regularly to get the benefits.

Slow-Release Fertilizer: Most slow-release fertilizers are coated in time-release shells, which dissolve in the potting soil over several weeks while releasing nutrients. Each variety will have a different release timeframe, though most will last between four and nine months. So, while this fertilizer lets you apply it and forget all about it, it tends to cost more than other types.

Granular Fertilizer: These dry fertilizer pellets are easy to mix into potting soil. They dissolve upon contact with water, making it harder to control the amount you apply. So, while granular fertilizer tends to be the least expensive, it’s better suited for outdoor gardens than potted plants.

When to Fertilize Your Houseplants

Time your fertilizer application for when the plant is in a growing stage. That way, it can work as fuel to power growth.

Most houseplants do best when fed every other watering session during their growing season. That usually works out to once every two weeks. Once the seasons change, you can halve that frequency to once per month. In many cases, you can skip fertilizing altogether through the fall and winter.

How to Apply Fertilizer

There’s no real secret for fertilizing houseplants, except remembering that less is more. Make sure you carefully read the instructions for your fertilizer mix so you get the correct ratio.

Give the plant a thorough watering before applying the fertilizer as directed on the package. Moist soil tends to absorb fertilizer better, and it helps ensure you won’t burn the plant roots.

Remember: It’s best to start with a diluted amount of fertilizer. If the plant responds well, you can always add more!

RFP for Plant Description-MP

What's this content for?

The purpose of this writing task is to give the user a first impression of a specific plant, and to make potentially unfamiliar plants more accessible to the average person.

This section of the PictureThis app is the first section that directly refers to the characteristics of the plant, so we want to draw the user in with this first impression. Interesting facts are the top priority. Creating a unique image of the target plant is the key.

Daily usage or industrial value is encouraged; it is an easy way to make the plant stand out in the user’s memory. Utilize basic physical descriptions and measurements only when you cannot find any other information.

IMPORTANT: If you cannot find any interesting information, please refer to the last section of this document entitled “If You Can’t Find Interesting Facts”

Requirement

Writing Guide: https://article.picturethisai.com/writing-guide/

1. General Requirements:

Word Count: each description should consist of around 30-60 words.
Avoid Formulaic Expression: try to change the choice of content and expression appropriately, preventing similar content with a similar structure from appearing repeatedly within one working set. For example, one entry can start with the type of plant (The Golden pothos is a very popular houseplant….), and then the next entry can start with a “fun fact” (The Olive tree can live for thousands of years…..)
Overly formulaic content (>50% content is written in the same form) will be rejected.
Avoid simple listing: including but not limited to geographical distribution, basic physical description, and habitat. Try to use generalized terms, e. g., we should use “Northeast Asia” instead of “Japan, Korea, Inner Mongolia, and Russian Far East”. A simple listing of more than 3 items (countries, habitats, physical description) at one time is NOT ALLOWED.
Interesting Facts: each description should consist of 2 or more facts.
Balanced: do not let one fact take up too much space.

2. What is an Interesting Fact?

2.1 These facts are considered interesting (Dos):

Historical use and cultural significance. Connection with local culture is highly recommended.

Garden usage and why it is used like this. (for garden plants)

Economic value. (for crops)

Culinary use. (for crops, vegetables, and spices)

Toxicity (including to pets), invasive, and other harms. (but please DO NOT describe symptoms of poisoning or environmental hazards IN DETAIL here, they will be described in other sections)

Insect/bird attracting. (e. g., milkweed is the only food for monarch butterflies’ larvae)

For wildflowers: in which season and special ecosystem you can find them blooming.

The name origin: why it is called this.

The similarity to some most common plants and how to distinguish them.
Fun facts: e.g. unusually long lifespan; endangered species; famous person discovered it or made it popular; unusual feature, special appearance, or remarkable behaviours—like a flower that is actually a leaf or a dramatic physical change when lighting differs; an alternative common name but only if it has an interesting story; etc….

IMPORTANT: If you cannot find any interesting information, please refer to the last section of this document entitled “If You Can’t Find Interesting Facts”

2.2 These facts are NOT interesting (OK but Not Suggested):

Simply mention the place of origin (but in some limited conditions it will be considered interesting, such as when it is highly invasive and you are chasing its origin; or declare the usage in a native garden, etc.)

Morphological description and measurements. (but if it is very uncommon in the plant world, or directly related to its usage, it is a suggested fact.)

Flowering and/or fruiting season.

2.3 Do not mention these pieces of information (Don’ts)

Scientific synonym, alternative common name. These names are listed in our system in another section, please DO NOT mention them unless there’s an interesting name story behind it.

Taxonomy information (family, genus, etc.) is not interesting to common readers and it can often be wrong (because of the taxonomy system that has changed frequently and recently). Please DO NOT mention it here.

Widely cited “NASA Research” supporting the air-cleaning effects of plants is flawed. The air-cleaning efficiency of all the plants is later proven to be too low to be practical. Using any plant to absorb toxic chemicals in your room is not realistic, so please DO NOT mention any air-cleaning effects of plants in this section.

Special Attentions

Local information in your country is highly recommended

Use common names instead of Latin names whenever possible

Italicize any Latin words (other than placeholders) that appear (e.g., genus names, etc.)

If you believe that the common name of the writing target is wrong (including singular or plural form), please report it in the link below and we will change it in time.

Link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vO4wADpXiyJdfwnO4FWJiu0CL_1etZ4zdxapqGraE2U/edit?usp=sharing

Sample Descriptions

Tanacetum vulgare (Tansy)

Tansy is a fragrant herb that has a scent similar to rosemary 【special character】. It has been cultivated since Ancient Greece【historical】, and its essential oil is still widely used today 【economical usage while avoiding talking about its indications and efficacy in aromatherapy】. But take care: internally taking either tansy or its essential oil is toxic. 【toxicity】

Callistemon citrinus (Crimson bottlebrush)

Crimson bottlebrush is a shrub commonly found in swamps and near rivers【When and where can you find them】. You can easily recognize this plant by its unique red flowers, shaped like a bottlebrush【special look】, hence it got the name “crimson bottlebrush”【name origin】. The flowers produce sweet nectar which is a source of food for numerous species of birds【wildlife attraction】.

Brassica oleracea (Cabbage)

Cabbage is an edible vegetable that is popular throughout the world. Culinary dishes such as stir-fries and soup commonly feature the leaves【edible use】. In addition, Cabbage produces edible gold and yellow flowers during spring and summer that attract bees and butterflies【wildlife attraction】. It is one of the older cultivated foods, dating back over 4000 years! 【historical, fun fact】

Syzygium paniculatum (Magenta cherry)

The Magenta cherry is found exclusively on the coast of New South Wales in Australia 【local information】. The tree produces white flowers that bear small red fruit 【basic info acceptable, because only ONE short sentence, and info on tree is limited 】. The fruit is famously used in Australia to make jam【local cullinary use】. The Magenta cherry is currently classified as endangered 【endangered species】.

If You Can’t Find Interesting Facts

Sometimes you might find only basic information: physical description (with no particularly unique attributes), habitat, geographical distribution, blooming period, etc.

Not to worry. There are some plants that simply do not have any documented interesting facts to share. However, you would be surprised how you can make even a “boring” species stand out in the user’s mind. Here are some tips on how to do that:

Double check your search: often you can spend just a minute or two more on google and find something interesting that you missed the first time. Skip to page 4 of the search. You might get lucky!

Deeper search: if you double checked your search on google with no success, you can sometimes have luck by looking at the references at the bottom of the articles you have already checked. Even Wikipedia—though not considered by our team to be an authoritative source—will have a “References” section at the bottom of every entry that includes links to authoritative sources (.edu, .org, etc.) that you might not have found in your normal google search.

Interesting translation? See if the Latin (or Greek) scientific name is even a little interesting when translated into English.

Who discovered or named this species? Don’t be shy, just directly ask google: “Who discovered/named/first documented Crocus tommasinianus?” (remember using the Latin name is always better)
Take a look! Search the species under the images tab of google and look at all the photos. Are there any unique characteristics that you see? Does it look like anything else, like an animal or object that could make your description “pop out” to the user? Be creative!
Use colorful language and phrasing. Imagine you are an ad copywriter, trying to catch the eye of the reader. You can even address the user directly, for example: “If you spot a flower in the wild that looks like an exotic bird, then lucky you! You may have found a Bird of paradise.”

Keep in mind: these difficult-to-make-interesting entries can take more time. But don’t get too carried away! It would be easy to follow all the above suggestions and take too much time. They are just ideas, tools you can access when you need them.

Please streamline your protocol for these species. Save already complete “uninteresting” species that you did your best to make interesting, so your memory might be jogged in the future. Save a list of authoritative sources that are not typically found in a google search or that are more factually thorough than average.

Don’t force it! If you stretch things a bit too far just to make it interesting, it may come off as fake. If the above tips are not helping you create something you as a reader would find authentically interesting, then provide the basic facts that are available, comment in the CMS “no interesting facts available”, and move on.

[ and remember, when there is no information at all, please check the “no reliable source found” box, and leave the entry blank]