-James Gordon- Hello again everyone, and welcome back to another Fifth Season Blog on hydroponics. Last hydro blog, we kicked off with an introduction to growing hydroponically and talked about water quality and pH manipulation. Today we are going to talk about feeding, pH meters and calibration, and nutrient amalgamation. So again, let's keep an open mind, maybe take some notes, and hopefully this will be a good tool to reference. As we said in the previous blog, to start, we need clean … [Read more...] about Intro to Hydroponics Part II: Nutrients and pH
Blog
Propagating Garden Annuals for Some Winter Gardening Fun
-Pam Scott- It's hard to believe that we are working our way swiftly through fall, yet the nights are getting cooler, the days are noticeably shorter, and the sun is much lower in the southern sky than it was a few weeks ago. After a rocking growing season this year, we are beginning to close down the flower garden for the season, bringing some plants indoors to winter over and letting the rest of the garden go to seed for food and shelter for birds and insects. This is the beginning of a … [Read more...] about Propagating Garden Annuals for Some Winter Gardening Fun
Weird Houseplants
-Ginny Shafer- Anyone who has seen my “human teeth” earrings knows that I love all things strange and macabre, and the popularity of Halloween tells me I’m not the only one! In honor of All Hallows Eve, I want to take some time to highlight a few of the creepiest house plants we regularly carry at Fifth Season. Ficus microcarpa The first thing I thought when I saw this bonsai is that its bulbous, twisted trunk looks just like a mandrake out of the Harry Potter series. As any Harry … [Read more...] about Weird Houseplants
Elizabethan Style Mead
-Ryan Blankenship- Mead could possibly be one of the oldest styles of alcoholic beverages known to humanity. Pottery vessels discovered in northern China that dated back to 7000 BC had chemical signatures consistent with honey, rice, and organic compounds associated with a fermented beverage. Fast-forward to the 16th Century, and we find that most of the meads created during Elizabethan times usually contained honey, herbs, fruits, and even hops. The majority of the alcohol content in this … [Read more...] about Elizabethan Style Mead
Intro to Hydroponics
-James Gordon- Good day all, and welcome to this week’s blog! Today we are going to tackle the basic principles of hydroponic growing. First, we’ll go over some of the common hydro systems. Then we’ll introduce the basic necessities your system of choice will use. So let's keep an open mind, maybe take some notes, and hopefully this will be a good tool to reference as you start growing hydroponically. So first things first. What is Hydroponics? Hydroponics is the act of growing plants … [Read more...] about Intro to Hydroponics
Indoor Organic Gardening – Growing Sprouts and Microgreens
-Jonas Hall & Jess Pusch- As we move from summer into fall and our gardens shift to cold-loving crop varieties, we can see the end of the outdoor growing season on the horizon. Gearing up for final harvests as late as November, we’ll have fewer fresh vegetables to eat than we enjoyed during the summer, but we can still enjoy fresh sprouts and microgreens grown indoors! What are sprouts? Your familiarity with sprouts might be limited to their use in stir frys (mung bean sprouts) and … [Read more...] about Indoor Organic Gardening – Growing Sprouts and Microgreens
Mounting a Staghorn Fern
-Pam Scott- Of all the beautiful tropical houseplants we offer at Fifth Season Gardening, I find the Staghorn Fern (Platycerium) to be the most strikingly dramatic. When mounted and hung on a wall, the Staghorn Fern becomes more of a living sculpture than a houseplant. With Staghorns, as with all tropical plants, it is helpful to know how and where the plant grows in its natural habitat in order to maintain its optimal health. Staghorn Ferns are epiphytes, as are air plants and most … [Read more...] about Mounting a Staghorn Fern
My First Wine From A Kit
-Mike Weeks- I recently decided to venture into the world of winemaking because, like many of you, I enjoy pairing a nice glass of wine with dinner and had heard from folks that the kits we carry can make some really nice wine. A customer shared with me that she and her husband once made wine from one of our kits and when her wine connoisseur brother visited, they conducted a test and he named the kit wine as the most expensive and best one in the lineup! I have to say, I was surprised at how … [Read more...] about My First Wine From A Kit
Centurion Pro Tabletop Trimmer Assembly/Review
-Ryan Blankenship- Recently, I helped a customer put together their Centurion Pro Tabletop Wet/Dry Trimmer. The unit came in 5 separate boxes with some assembly required. This compact trimmer is only 24” L x 10” W x 21” H and weighs only 35 lbs. This unit is perfect for a small time grower up to a large greenhouse grower. This machine can trim 20 lbs. an hour wet, or 4 lbs. an hour dry using the same tumbler. Some other units require you to change the blades between wet and dry, but not … [Read more...] about Centurion Pro Tabletop Trimmer Assembly/Review
Ghosts on the Balcony: A Novice Grows Golden Ghost Peppers Organically
-Dan Toot- We’ve seen the labels in the grocery store, and maybe we’ve looked into the overall benefits of organic growing, but many of us have not put it into practice ourselves. This may be especially true for those of us living in an apartment. But as quarantine encourages us to lean into our hobbies and interests, even an apartment dweller like me can dip their toes into the soil of organic gardening and understand firsthand the allure and benefits of growing organically. I got my hands … [Read more...] about Ghosts on the Balcony: A Novice Grows Golden Ghost Peppers Organically
