A single leaf bud cuttings were superior to stem cutting in respect of the percentage rooting, the number and length of roots and the development of shoots, and this method also conserves planting material. They found that the best results were obtained by dipping in IBA (indole-3-butyric acid) of 55 ppm or in combination with NAA (naphthalene acetic acid).

Organic manures were extensively used in Sarawak and included guano, prawn and fish refuse, and soya bean cake. More recently Sterameal, a potassium-fortified sterilized animal meat-and-bone meal, which is produced commercially and has been sold widely in Sarawak, has become popular.

Rootstocks of P. colubrinum, which is highly resistant to foot rot, have been used, and two-node cuttings of this species strike roots easily to provide rootstocks. Other rootstocks tried include P. cubeba, which is not fully resistant to foot rot, and P. hispidutn and P. scabrurn, with which there was little success.

The usual form of compound fertilizer used is a mixture of urea, double superphosphate, muriate of potash and kieserite to supply the magnesium. The trace elements supplied are iron, copper, zinc, manganese, boron ;Ind molybdenum, which have been listed above: Sterameal has a main shoot and two lateral orthotropic shoots.

Piper is a large genus, with over 1,000 species, in the family Piperaceac. They are mostly herbaceous or woody climbers or shrubs in the tropics of both hemispheres. You can put the large allied genus Peperomia into a separate family Peperomiaceae, but most authorities include it in Piperaceae.

Among the economic species of Piper are Betel pepper, P.betle L., whose leaves are chewed as a masticatory, together with the betel nut from the palm, Areca catechu L., from Zanzibar, through India, Malaysia, Indonesia and into the Pacific.

Kava, P. methysticum Forst., whose roots provide the national beverage of the Polynesians. In addition to P. nigrum, which now provides the true pepper of commerce, the following species have been or are also used as spices or provide pepper substitute.

Early in the seventeenth century the Dutch drove the Portuguese from Indonesia and acquired control over many spice-growing regions, including pepper-producing areas near Bantam in Java and Lampong in Sumatra. Although the Dutch captured much of the pepper trade, they never succeeded in maintaining a complete monopoly as they did with cloves and nutmegs. Even so, the Dutch continued as important spice producers until the Second World War. In 1938 Indonesia produced 55 000 tonnes of pepper compared with only 700 tonnes in India.

The Destroying Angel (Amanita virosa) is another poisonous mushroom, although quite a rare species, which is distinguished from the other type of Death Cap (A. phalloides ssp. yam) by its sharp club-shaped cap and frayed stipe. It grows predominantly in mountain forests on a limestone subsoil. It is as potentially dangerous as the Death Cap and its fruit-bodies contain another type of toxin called virosin, whose toxic effects can be compared with those of amanitoxins. It should also be mentioned that amanitoxins are present in some other fungi, which are not necessarily related to the Amanita genus. These poisonous substances were in clusters on rotten wood. It can quite easily be mistaken for the edible mushroom Kuehneromyces mutabilis.

Experiments have proved that although high temperatures lessen the virulence of the poison, they do not destroy the toxic substances. Finally the character of the Death Cap arises during which the poison fully penetrates the blood stream so that any late stomach-pumping is ineffective.

Until recently, the medical profession was helpless in the face of such poisons. Neither the serum produced by vaccinating Horses with extracts from the poisonous Amanita species nor injections of a glucose solution into the veins helped in any way; iiimilarly valueless was the use of a mixture prepared from the minced raw stomachs and brains of rabbits.

If the interest in mycology is deeper, further information may be obtained from the recommended specialized literature and also from a professional mycologist who will supply the fundamental framework of knowledge, which is the prerequisite for such a study. This also requires a good microscope and basic laboratory equipment, which for beginners can be very simple.

The spores ejected from the hymenium form 4 powder, which is white, brown, yellow, pink or black in amour and which serves as an established and critical characteristic for the purposes of classification. This can be easily discovered by putting a cap that has been freshly detached Irons the fruit-body on white paper with its gills facing downwards and then leaving it under a bowl or a glass or even inside a plastic bag. After a few hours the ripe spores will start to fall on to the paper.

Such descriptions should contain details of shape, measurements, colouring, smell, textural colour changes along with the data about the locality of the find and its general habitat and finally the date and name of the collector.

Wood Blewits are the twin fungi of Blewits (Lepista saeva). They grow in woods, orchards, parks and along tree-lined lanes. In contrast to Blewits, the whole fruit-body is a beautiful amethyst purple when young. This colouring disappears with age and changes into cloudy purple or beige-brown, which is a feature of both the caps and gills.

The stipe always lacks a ring and it was therefove formerly classified as a member of the independent Amanitopsis genus. The colour of its cap is changeable, but a typical Grisette has a grey cap on a whitish stipe and volva. The fruit- bodies with an orange or orange-brown or sometimes a slightly olive tinged cap are classified as Amanita crocea. Their stipes are similarly coloured and are characterized by transverse broken lines.

The reddish-brown Amanita umbrinolutea can also he frequently seen. It has a dirty-whitish volva, and its stipe has also transverse irregular stripes. All the above-mentioned Amanita species are edible; some mushroom-pickers even consider them tasty. Their disadvantage lies in their fragility and therelbre they do not transport very well. Finally it is worth noting once again that, when such Amanita species are being gathered, constant vigilance must be exercised to avoid confusing them with the Death Cap (Amanita phatloides), which has a similarly tall volva at the stipe’s base; however, the Grisette is always without the characteristic ring.

Human beings, for example, are heir to a thousand, yet most of us get by for the allotted span without much more than a cold from time to time. Well then, so is the dahlia liable to certain ills, but just as with you and me, it is not certain that these will develop.

Record against each entry all those details which seem important and which are peculiar to the particular plant or variety, including special feeding. Any other details which affect a group of plants, or are common to the whole, such as general weather conditions, temperatures, routine feeding or watering and so on, should be recorded in diary fashion day by day. By cross reference between the two records the behaviour of any one plant or variety over a period can be studied fairly easily.

The trouble is that really comprehensive records are tedious things to maintain, unless one is extremely enthusiastic, but even a comparatively simple record will be most useful.

Brandy is my huge boxer, a wonderful dog but he does have his faults. One is trying to destroy my roses and other garden plants. I could not chain him because he was accustomed to freedom, so have attempted to overcome his very determined efforts to kill off the plants in some other way. The first year of growing roses (2005) I learned how much Brandy enjoys eating rose leaves.

The fact that when he bit off leaves, one or two canes were broken made no difference to him. He wouldnt stop. Practically all of the dog repellent products were tried with absolutely no result. The problem became worse and began to include more than rose leaves, zinnias were uprooted, petunias trampled, etc. Then in early winter a rose bush was completely torn apart.

Things reached a climax the next spring when I arrived home one day to find the tender green shoots of my tulips chopped off at ground level. It just had to stop! Punishment is most effective when dogs are caught at their misdeeds. So after that, each time Brandy went out I watched him from the back door, if he went near one of the rose bushes he was called a bad dog and had to come in the house.

Laclarius volemus is a pleasant and easily recognizable mushroom. It is particularly well distinguished by its plentiful supply of white milk, which has a mild taste, does not change colour and has a smell of pickled herrings (trimethylamin).

The gills are permanently white or whitish and this feature distinguishes it from champignons, whose gills are pink when young and later turn a dark brown or black. The base of the Death Cap’s stipe widens out into a tall, membranous, whitish volva, whose upper edge has irregular lobes. The ring on the upper part of the stipe is fine, limp, white or whitish and has a smooth surface. Its white flesh has a mild, sweet, delicate taste and thus great care must be taken when picking Field mushrooms, because the Death Cap sometimes occurs in a pure white form.

Amanita citrina can easily be identified by its lemon or greenish-yellow cap, which is covered with numerous remains of the veil. Its basal bulb is large but without the membranous volva. Its flesh smells of raw potatoes, is not poisonous, but certainly cannot be recommended for consumption because of its unpleasant taste and the possibility of confusing it with the Death Cap.

Nowadays, indoor gardening has been popular in many homes. The newest AeroGarden kit that uses Hydroponics and Aeroponics made an innovation for indoor gardening. With this kit everybody can have their own garden without worrying about the dirt because it does not uses soil in order for plants to grow.

AeroGarden is very convenient for any home. It does not require a large space to make indoor gardening successful. The AeroGarden equipment is 16 inches long by 10 ” inches wide by 15 ” inches high as the lowest possible light setting, and then 21 inches high when at the highest setting.

Unlike in real gardening, AeroGarden will be the one to monitor the plants growth by itself. Through its high technology system that can give the ideal growing condition of the plants and the microprocessor it contains which can control the watering and light for the growing plants the owner wont have to worry about the plants survival. It will also alert the owner when additional water and nutrients are needed. People may now generate their own organic-based plants at any time of the year they want to.

Clitocybe inversa is distinguished in colour from other related species by its orange-yellow, yellowish-red to leathery yellow cap. Its gills and stipe arc similarly coloured and the flesh has a faint mushroom odour. The huge mycelium at the base of the stipe is white and grows deep down through the soil especially if this is composed of rotting pine needles. This mushroom grows gregariously in the humus of spruce forests, where it is sometimes distributed in large colonies or clusters or sometimes circles.

The old fruit-bodies are usually reddish-brown or at least have red patches. The identity of Tricholoma saponaceum (and some other differently coloured species) is revealed by the presence of a specific smell, which resembles that of ordinary household soap. However, this is less conspicuous in fresh or young fruit-bodies.

Clitocybe inversa is similar to Clitocybe gilva, which differs from the former in its lighter yellowish- brown to light brownish-ochre cap with numerous shallow, circular, spongy dark patches reminiscent of fruit-stones. Its gills are also lighter and whitish in young specimens, turning yellowish later. It grows in deciduous and coniferous forests, is perfectly edible and tastes even better than Clitocybe inversa.