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Turmeric (Curcuma domestica syn Curcuma longa) is a perennial plant of the ginger family that grows a height of at least 1 meter tall. It is a native of south-east Asia and is used for its underground rhizomes, a famous ingredient as curry powder for food coloring especially the famous chicken curry, Campbell’s chicken soup, mustard, and other curry sauces in first class restaurants. It is also used as a natural dye for some fabrics and other items.

It has also a medicinal properties as natural pain killer and said to aid in curing cancer.

It is the main ingredient for almost Indian curry powders and sometimes goes by the name of Indian saffron but is not related to saffron at all.

Growth Requirements

Soil. A well-drained soil with rich organic materials is an ideal soil for planting turmeric.

Light. The area should be exposed to full sunlight at least 5 – 7 hours a day. If the place is shady, find a slight shade with sunlight exposure during the day.

Water. Tumeric tolerates well with a regular water supply during its entire growing period. Don’t over water, since the roots will rot with too much water supply.

Plant nutrition. The soil should be rich with organic materials with additional fertilizer if the plant shows slower growth during the reproductive phase

Planting. Select a fresh and plump rhizomes with 2 – 3 buds per seed piece, and lay them in the germinating tray until the shoots emerges after 3 weeks. After exposing your seedlings to gradual sunlight, transplant each seedling in your prepared plots distanced at 12 – 16 apart between row. If planted in containers, set one seedling in every pot container.

Pest and disease control. Red spider mite and aphids are the only insect pests that attacks turmeric. To control them, just mist the leaves with an insecticidal soap to wash them away. Some common disease is the leaf spot, a fungus infection. Use Bordeaux fungicide to control this disease.

Harvesting. Harvest the rhizomes after 250 days after or 9 – 10 months after planting when the leaves turns yellow and the stems are drying up. Dig carefully at the plant base and harvest the rhizomes. If you’re harvesting them for home use, just simply remove a portion of the clump and remain the rest for future use.

Happy gardening!

Source by Crisologo Ramasasa

Thoughts are things. Thoughts can be turned into reality very quickly. Throughout history, thoughts have created towns, industries, businesses. Thoughts have helped people go to the moon. Thoughts have even healed people.

What kind of thoughts do you have? Are you careful about the thoughts you create in your mind? What is the result you want to have: a mediocre destiny, a good one or do you want to live an exceptional and extraordinary life?

Well, what I’m going to say will be hard to hear but hey, something has to say it. Most people answer “of course an exceptional life, with love, health, money and happiness”, but what they really think is “a mediocre life, with hate, illness, sadness and envy”

How can I say that? Well, simply look around you. Simply listen to the media and read statistics about our society. Let’s look at a couple of them and see for yourself if people truly want to be healthy and happy or think the right way.

Fact #1: The US spent more on fast food per year than they do on movies, books, videos, and records combined. Americans spent more than $110 billion on burgers, fried chicken, and the like in 2000.

Fact #2: In any given 1 year period, 9.5% of the population or approximately 20.9 million of American adults suffer from a depressive illness.

Fact #3: About 1 woman in 5 has depression in the US.

Fact #4: Less than 15% of people are really happy with the quality of life that they’re experiencing – meaning 85% of them are not!

Fact #5: The number of minutes a week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children is, get ready to have a heart attack, 3.5 minutes.

Fact #6: The number of minutes a week that the average child watches TV, get ready to have a second and fatal heart attack, is 1,680 minutes, or 4 hours a day. I’ve read some statistics that say 7.5 hours a day.

Sorry but no need to go further. No need to say that people plant hate, illness, sadness and envy in their head. They all plant horrible thoughts. How do you want good thoughts to produce bad result? In the same way, how do you want bad thoughts to produce a great life, full of joy, health, wealth and happiness?

An ancient scripture says that you will recognize them by their fruit. The Bible says “For a good tree brings not forth corrupt fruit; neither does a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. Good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil”

Source by Emmanuel Segui

When searching for the perfect housewarming gift for someone special, the money tree is a gift like no other. This is a very unique gift that will be a daily reminder of your caring and thoughtfulness. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? That’s because it is!

The money tree plant is gaining popularity as the perfect gift for several occasions. A new home is the perfect time to celebrate with one of these beautiful plants! It seems that this plant was just about made for a new home.

There are reasons it is such a favored gift for celebrations such as these. The main one is that this plant is said to bring wealth, prosperity and good fortune to those who occupy the same space as the tree. We could all use some good fortune and wealth, right?

This plant is also beautiful. It usually has five braided stems forming one gorgeous trunk. It immediately draws the eye and a lot of attention. Most of the money tree plants have five long, shiny leaves. If you are lucky enough to receive a plant with a stem containing six leaves, that is thought to be even more lucky. A plant with seven leaves is said to be the luckiest of all!

Sounds like a plant that you would want to last a long time, doesn’t it? Well, lucky for you and your gift recipient, it is very easy to take care of. The money tree is actually very low maintenance. Once you understand a few basic principles of care, you are good to go. This sounds perfect for the busy new homeowner. Yet, when he or she has company, they will look like a pro with a very green thumb. They will also have an interesting story to tell about the tree.

This perfect housewarming gift just continues to get better and better. Why? Because it is also widely used by those who practice feng shui. A money tree can balance out a room that is lacking in one of the basic feng shui elements. These elements include water, fire, earth, wood metal. The five leaves on the pachira aquatica are said to represent these elements. It can, by it’s mere presence, balance any room that is lacking.

The money tree really does make a perfect housewarming gift. It is thoughtful and really shows that you care about the future of those you are giving it to. They will be reminded of your support every time they see it.

Source by Barbara Neitzel

Gardening is a good passion and if you are the one like me then you would be searching for seeds of different kinds of plants to plant them in your home. The good news is that you no more have to sweat out in heat and rain to find seeds from a nursery or a shop. The seeds are available online through various online shopping sites. But before you hop in to buy the different kinds of seeds that are available online you need to take care of certain things. The things that should be careful about are mentioned underneath.

Check the Label

Before you buy the seeds check what kind of temperature conditions they need for planting. Some plants require indoor planting before they are placed outdoors while others do not. Check how large they grow and how much will they grow? What light conditions they need? All this will help you to choose the plants that would suit in the place you lie in and prevent them from dying.

Be Selective

If the seeds are for the indoor plants then buy the things that you like. If they are the vegetative plants then choosing the ones that your family consumes is a better option. With changing weather conditions you can also change the vegetable plants in your garden. This will also give you an idea to deal with different kinds of plants.

Buy Extra Seeds

Not every seed grows out into plants. Some fail to germinate. Thus, if you really want a plant to grow out of the soil then you should buy extra seeds. Even if some seeds fail to get transformed into plants, some will definitely grow. They would also offer you continuous harvest for the next season.

Consider the Space

Space is another great factor for choosing the seeds. This is because the place you have would determine the type of plants you can grow in them. If you are residing in an apartment then sure you will not have much space. This will make you opt for the indoor plants or the ones that do not grow big. If you have a lawn then, of course, choosing bigger plant varieties would not be a hindrance for you.

Control Diseases

Keep away diseases of the plants by choosing the disease resistant varieties of the seeds. They will surely give better growth of the plants due to the disease resistant quality of the seeds.

If you could keep in mind these little things while buying seeds then your plants would be a good one than others.

Source by Achal Mehrotra

Have you seen a fairly-flat, porous rock in your garden or even, an interesting slab of stone that has a natural planting area carved into it? It is possible to slab-plant your Bonsai trees, in much the same way you may see wind swept cedars clinging to the side of a stone bluff in nature. Planting your own Bonsai tree grove is possible, but getting your plants started can be the most difficult part of the process.

Slab planting your Bonsai trees will require a stone slab, plumber’s epoxy putty, long-grain sphagnum moss, Bonsai wire and wire cutters, besides your plant and clay based fertilizer. Anchoring your Bonsai tree to the slab, while the roots spread and grab hold involves mixing the plumber’s putty in a glob around a wire, to anchor your plant to. This ball of putty should be placed where you plan to center your plant and it will need to harden for half an hour or more.

In the meanwhile, you will need to mix water and clay based fertilizer with the moss, in order to form a dough-like mixture to contain your Bonsai tree, plant or shrubs. This can be rolled into loaf like rolls, to be molded around the roots of the tree, once it has been wired to the hardened putty and wire anchor. By molding these rolls around the root ball, you are forming a planter, in which to place fresh soil. You will need to cover the soil with moss, in order to hold it in place, but as the soil and dough like mixture dries, the roots will start to spread across the stone slab, adding artistic interest to your Bonsai.

For the first few months, you will want to water gently, in order to prevent erosion, but you may prefer to mist the moss and the tree’s roots, depending on how deeply your tree or shrub is placed. You can continue to prune new growth and larger leaves or branches, training your Bonsai tree to the shape you desire.

If you plant multiple trees on a large slab, you may want to add other pieces of natural miniature landscaping, such as small pieces of driftwood, pebbles and natural elements. The creative Japanese art of Bonsai planting allows you to create a peaceful and relaxing slab planted grove of miniaturized Bonsai trees or a single, unique specimen with interesting, gnarly twists and wind swept, cascading shape.

Source by Judy Jenkinson

Nitrogen is an essential component of Chlorophyll, the green pigment in plant cells, which next to nitrogen also contains magnesium, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. Chlorophyll is a vital catalyst in the production of carbohydrates by using the sun’s energy in the process called Photosynthesis.

During Photosynthesis hydrogen is combined with carbon dioxide to form sugars and oxygen. The basic formula for Photosynthesis combines 6 molecules of carbon dioxide (CO2) and 6 molecules of water (H2O), interacts with each other in the presence of chlorophyll and sunlight, and converts them into 1 molecule of glucose (C6H12O6) and 6 molecules of oxygen (O2). A catalyst is defined as any substance which speeds up the rate of a chemical reaction without being chemically changed itself.

Nitrogen is also responsible for vegetative leafy growth and is taken up by plants either as nitrate or ammonium. Some plants, especially legumes, are able to absorb nitrogen from the atmosphere and transfer it to the soil.

Nitrogen deficiency manifests itself in stunt growth and pale green or yellow leaves. Older leaves, lower leaves, turn pale green or yellow first as the plant transports nitrogen from the older leaves to the younger ones.

Blood meal, an excellent source of nitrogen, can be added directly to the soil or diluted in water and applied as a liquid fertilizer. It may also be spread in granular form in garden areas to deter rabbits. Blood meal added to compost piles acts as a composting activator.

Blood meal, or any fertilizer high in nitrogen, is not recommended to be used on established plumeria plants as it may cause a growth pattern characterized by increased leaf production and thin branches. When growing plumeria plants one wants flowers to develop. As discussed in Part One of Plant Nutrients, it was bone meal added to the soil that aided in the production of flowers. This is mentioned here because both, blood meal and bone meal, are approved as soil additives in certified organic production.

Fish emulsion, widely used as an organic fertilizer, is another good source of nitrogen. It is usually composed of 5% Nitrogen, 1% Phosphorus and 1% Potassium. In addition to these three macronutrients, fish emulsion also contains micronutrients and trace Minerals. Fish emulsion also makes a fast acting foliar fertilizer.

Tropical plants with large leaves, including Alocasia, Caladium, Calathea, Canna, Colocasia, Ginger, Heliconia and others, benefit from periodic applications of additional nitrogen using fish emulsion or blood meal.

Leafy vegetables, such as arugula, lettuce and spinach and herbs, such as basil and parsley, also respond well to extra feedings of nitrogen.

Potassium, chemical symbol K (from the German word Kalium), is an important nutrient that assists the plant in regulating its cold and heat tolerance, insect and disease problems and drought tolerance.

Potassium also plays an important role in the water use of plants, called Osmoregulation. One of several functions of Osmoregulation includes the opening and closing of the Stomata, which affects the uptake of carbon dioxide and the temperature control through transpiration for the Photosynthesis process. Stomata are the minute pore openings underneath plant leaves that can open and close according to the metabolic needs of plants.

In addition, potassium regulates plant enzymes. It increases root growth and lowers respiration limiting the plant’s energy loss.

Potassium uptake is faster when the plant’s root system is in warm, moist and well aerated soil with a slightly acidic to neutral soil ph.

Potassium deficiency manifests itself in deformed, stunted or yellow leaves, weak stems and premature bud or fruit drop.

Plumeria plants and plants in general need an adequate amount of potassium in order to flourish and develop their full growth and flower potential.

When providing plants, including tropical and plumeria plants, with the three macronutrients nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, it is important to provide plants with the correct ratio according to the plant’s individual needs.

These are the important contributions that nitrogen, blood meal and potassium make in creating a beautiful and lush garden that every gardener can be proud to showcase privately and publicly.

Part Three of this Plant Nutrients series will focus on the Secondary Plant Nutrients magnesium and sulfur as well as on the Micronutrients boron, chloride, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum and zinc.

Source by Bob Allen Walsh

Amidst the deafening sound of clanging steel is a camaraderie that is so amazing and found inside General Motors Powertrain plant in Bay City. Workers in this plant say that they don’t have any ill feelings toward the decision of GM to cut costs even if it means losing their jobs in the process. The workers in Bay City understand that the automaker is experiencing hard times and in order to keep the company afloat sacrifices has to be made.

According to Joe Delaney, age 59 and works as a technician in the Northstar Camshafts Department of Bay City, “I think that everybody’s working a little bit harder.” Delaney has spent 38 years working for GM and he has witnessed the layoffs that occurred in his department. Almost 330 plant workers last year have agreed to accept the incentives to retire through the companywide attribution program offered by GM.

General Motors has brought in new trainees in place of the laid off workers. These trainees come from other GM plants such as its plant in Delphi while others were recalled from layoff. Despite the addition of trainees the plant’s workforce still dropped by about 670 combining blue and white collar workers.

Delaney further stated that workers have realized that cuts are important for General Motors to get back on track. Ed Duby, Camshaft Business Team Manager have also agreed by saying that workers has somewhat gained a new sense of ownership in the plant by helping decisions that would cope with change. Duby also added that workers are part of a collective team striving to achieve a common goal of improving and setting the plant for future work. “I’m excited where we are right now. I think, in the next two years, people are going to be jumping on GM’s bandwagon.”

The remarkable improvement that General Motors is developing with its workers simply shows the degree of professional maturity that both workers and the automaker has achieved which if we are to compare with GM products is likened to the astounding progress that the automaker has achieved in terms of its new generation GM fuel tanks.

Source by Noah Scott

Detroit’s ‘Big 3’ automakers probably don’t want to hear the fact that Tundra plant in Texas is producing one pickup truck every minute. This information was unleashed by Toyota before its first assembly of Tundra.

As the Detroit’s Big 3, which is composed of General Motors Corp., DaimlerChrysler AG and, Ford Motor Co., struggles to maintain its standing in the pickup truck segment, Toyota plans to manufacture a total of 200,000 pickups every year. Said production is attributed to the highly automated and sophisticated facility of its new Tundra plant in Texas.

Mike Goss, Toyota spokesperson said, “If consumer demand pushes the plant on San Antonio’s south side to operate at full capacity, which could happen by next spring, a truck will roll off the line an average of every 73 seconds.” He added, “From beginning to end a truck will take 20 to 24 hours to complete.”

Aside from the Texas plant, Toyota Tundra high performance parts are also assembled at Toyota’s Princeton, Ind., plant. However, the production is boosted by active participation of the new plant in Texas. Toyota’s Tundra plant in Texas in conjunction with its 21 onsite suppliers is expected to employ 4,100 people. Said information was earlier announced by Toyota.

Don Jackson, vice president of quality and production for Toyota’s Texas arm said, “The suppliers will provide about 70 percent of the parts used in the Tundras and 50 percent of the value of parts in each truck.”

Tundra replaced the T100. The second generation version of Tundra, which was introduced at the 2007 Chicago Auto Show, is made larger to serve as a mighty rival for Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado, Dodge Ram, and Nissan Titan. Accessories Toyota Tundra truck parts are also upgraded to enhance quality and functionality.

Auto analysts are saying that Toyota is poised to overtake General Motors Corp. as the largest automaker around the world. Moreover, Toyota is initiating strategies to win the reign. So far, said strategies are making good impressions in the automotive world.

Nowadays, Toyota and Ford are spending millions to dethrone Ford in the pickup truck segment. However, no other automakers have succeeded in trying to topple the throne of Ford. It has dominated the segment for several decades now. In fact, its F-150 remains as the top-selling car in America.

Source by Mark Clarkson

Production of iron and steel is generally recognised as being a fairly high fixed cost activity. Maximization of asset use, with operation of plant at high levels of capacity utilisation is therefore important. This raises the question however, of how steelmaking capacity should be defined.

Defining plant capacity

Nominal plant capacity is often defined by suppliers of plant and equipment against a particular set of operating conditions. Usually, nominal capacity is calculated based on a 21 shift operation (meaning three shifts per day, 7 days per week) with provision for normal maintenance periods and assuming ‘typical’ product mix. Quite often however, reality may be somewhat different from these conditions.

Some variables

Some typical variables that can impact maximum steel plant production potential (i.e. capacity) include:

• Product size: With small diameter bar, for example, maximum output will generally be lower than if average diameter bar is made [e.g. 12mm versus 16mm average diameter]. The same situation arises if thin gauge coil is produced [e.g. 1mm rather than 2.5mm average coil thickness]. This is best explained in terms of less steel moving through the mill at any one moment in time. Product mix therefore can have a large impact on capacity, impacting this by plus or minus 25% or even more
• Grade mix: Complex grades (e.g. those requiring special thermal and mechanical treatment in a stop-start rolling schedule) may take longer to pass through a mill than commodity grades. Similarly, alloy grades may need more working than do carbon steels, reducing mill throughput
• Order sizes: In a mill making different product shapes (such as square, round and angle-shaped long bar products) small average order sizes can result in greater set-up time – with an adverse impact on mill capacity – if rolling mill schedules are not optimized by maximization of batch sizes
• Coating weight: For some lines, weight is added to the steel during the production process. That happens for example with zinc coating, which can add up to 250 g per square metre to each side of a steel sheet. Depending on the coating weight (which can be as low as 25 g / square metre) the weight of final material sold can vary quite significantly. In fact, we have seen several coating lines where capacity utilisation exceeded 100% for just this reason
• Unplanned stoppages: Clearly, if a mill stops running for some unexpected reason (e.g. because of a ‘cobble’ or a ‘breakout’), maximum production potential will be impacted for a period. With modern approaches to mill maintenance, especially when a ‘proactive’ preventive maintenance approach is applied, this issue tends to be less common than in facilities where ‘reactive’ maintenance practices are used. It should be remembered however that in some parts of the world, steel rolling mills can be 50 years old or older still. In such cases, frequent breakdowns can have a very significant impact on capacity
• Capacity creep: This terms refers in the steel sector to the tendency of a given facility to produce greater output year by year, as minor bottlenecks are relieved, small productivity-related investments are made (possibly impacting planned downtime), operator understanding increases, etc. The trend may increase plant capacity by no more than 1% per year; but over a 10 or 20 year period the overall impact on production potential can clearly be significant.

A common sense approach?

From the foregoing, it is clear that capacity is not always what it seems. If in doubt, our recommendation is firstly to check the nameplate capacity provided by the equipment supplier, to double-check maximum output across a recent period and if possible to discuss the findings with local management. That approach should give a consensus answer at least, and one that is underpinned by actual performance.

Source by Andrzej Kotas

LED plant lights are now used in a variety of was in different sectors. As they are available in different designs, shapes, and wattage, you can easily select one that is according to your specific needs and requirements. It depends on how you want to put these lights to use.

Take the example of those people who need grow lights for commercial and large applications. In this case, it is important that you make a choice after paying special attention to the overall power of these lights as well as their construction quality. For large applications, it is a good idea to opt for 600-watt lights. Make sure they are made using IP50 glass and metal. Here, it is also essential to know if there is a filament used in these lights or they are solid state lighting products. As these are high powered lights, it is advisable to use a surge protector along with light timer or controller.

On the other hand, if you maintain a large indoor garden, you can find different types of LED plant lights to choose from. A 300-watt light is usually considered to be a good choice in this case. The thing you need to keep in mind is that if you are installing these lights in your indoor garden mainly for photosynthesis, you need to be sure of where to install it. What it means is that you should be careful about the height of these lights. You can have them installed at a height of 12 inches to 6 foot. Moreover, it is recommended to move the light a bit closer to the specific plant that you are growing. This helps achieving right intensity and optimum coverage for your plant.

Usually, these two types of lights are enough to help you accomplish your different goals, but if you have relatively smaller indoor garden, there is no need to invest more money on buying high-power lights. For small and midsized indoor gardens, you can achieve great results just by buying and installing 120-watt LED grow light. These lights are quite useful, but do keep in mind that they are meant for indoor gardens and should not be exposed to wet locations.

These are different types of lights available for you to let your plants grow in the right way. However, you should bear in mind that along with using these lights, you need to pay attention to the humidity levels and temperatures, which you can also adjust by using lights for fewer hours.

The crux of the matter is that you need to be extremely careful when buying LED plant lights. By changing the intensity of the light, you can achieve different objectives. This is the reason why you need to pay attention to this important aspect and choose the best one available today. Meanwhile, don’t forget to check estimated LED lifetime, as this will help you get the best value for your money.

Source by Robert Fogarty