Stag horn fern: uncommon,rare stunning!!!

The first time I saw a Staghorn fern I was amazed! It was a unique looking plant and to grow on a piece of bark? The fern fronds were fuzzy and resembled stag antlers. In English, its botanical name Platycerium bifurcatum means, "broad-horn twice-forked," and provides an accurate description of the plant's physical appearance.Staghorn ferns are spectacular plants, easy to own and enjoy; they require almost no work, no soil and not much watering.All you have to do is provide a warm bright airy location and your Staghorn fern will perform, growing larger rapidly with almost no care.These ferns are epiphytic, which means they grow mounted on plaques or other substrates.1 out of 5 visitors at the nursery asks me to sell my prized stag horns iv got 3 beautiful ones hanging right in front of my living room windows.
platycerium varieties are intensely sought-after collector's plants and if any of you ever have a chance to get your hands on one of these rare wonders take utmost care of them ...here are some basic care tips
Growing Conditions:

Light: Bright light, but not direct sunlight. They can handle more sunlight given enough water, warmth and humidity.

Watering:Most staghorn’s fail due to overwatering. To ensure that fern has enough water check the sphagnum moss in the center of the plant. If it is still moist and spongy, leave it for a day or two. If it is drying out then it is time to water again.

Fertilizers:Staghorn ferns do not usually require fertilizer. They will usually get the nutrients they needs from the bark.

Propagation:. Large plats can be easily divided into smaller plants, and even small "chunks" that include a leaf and a bit of root ball can be potted individually. Make sure new divisions are kept warm and moist until they are growing independently.

Growers tips: The chief concern with these plants indoors is humidity: they should be misted frequently and given ample ambient humidity during the warm growing season. They are more cold tolerant than many people expect, and larger plants can withstand fairly long periods without water. Don't remove brown, flat leaves at the base of the plant—these are essential. Overall, these are not especially difficult to grow.

Did you know:A popular nutritional supplement in cold regions where staghorn ferns grow outdoors year round is the placement of a banana peel in the fern foliage base to provide potassium.

Natural ways to keep your garden snail free this moonsoon.

1st of all im extremely sorry for this prolonged absence from my blog....been keeping busy with a couple of huge sites..and the nursery.The monsoons are a crazy time at the nursery snails ,slugs, centipedes,mites,mosquitoes & even snakes have made my time here hectic as ever.

Snails and Slugs are probably the most devastating insect to the gardens and plants. Killing snails and slugs with pesticides may be very effective, however it is also devastating to the wildlife, your pets, and your family. When the snails and slugs natural predators eats the contaminated snails and slugs they will too get contaminated and get very ill and sometimes die. If your curious domestic pets and young family members sees those bright blue pesticides, they are very likely to eat it and end up getting very ill. over the years iv discovered some realy interesting ways to get rid of snails and almost always they have worked well not just at the nursery but at at most of the sites where we put them to action im listing out a few methods that i use ...and a few that iv heard of and find extremely funny.

the ones that i can vouch for are:
1)Remove slugs and snails by hand.:by far the most effective and easy way to get rid of the snails in the garden.Squish or drown them in a jar of soapy water.
2).

Tobacco water: Raju one of my most trusted workers has devised this absolutely brilliant natural insect repellent .what he dose is he soaks chewing tobacco say about a couple of packets in a bucket full of water lets this sit overnight and next day he sprays it all over the garden.iv never seen snails run away faster
3)

BEER:snails arnt much into beer guess they prefer natural ways to get high. Pjs apart what you need to do is Set yeast traps in troublesome beds. Sink a shallow jar or store-bought trap so the top is flush with the ground. Fill the traps with beer - regular or nonalcoholic - to 1/2 inch from the top and wait for the snails and slugs to fall in and drown. Check the traps every few days.For those of you who can't imagine wasting beer on snails, try this home brew: Add 1/2 tsp. baking yeast and 1 tbsp. sugar to the water in each trap.


4)

CAFFEINE: recently, coffee has been used to get rid of snails in Hawaii. The caffeine in coffee causes heart rates to increase, and if exposure is long enough, the little buggers have a heart attack and die. The potency of the stuff they use in Hawaii is 2%, which is 125 times more potent than cola. You can use your leftover coffee, which is a 0.05–0.1% concentration. Also, using leftover coffee grounds as garden mulch works very well. My mom has been putting her old coffee grounds into the garden for a long time, and she has not had a problem with snails or slugs for years.
5)

EGG SHELS: grind up egg shells and spread the crushed up shells around the base of the plants. im not gona name the super intelligent garden guru that gave me this gyan but trust me its stinks and is way to messy.

The bizarre ways to control snails:
1)

SALT:Another garden veteran recommended salt, salt will kill most of the outer plants& mess up the ground for future planting.
2)

Get a duck/chicken. They eat snails...yeaa..but then again they eat everything that comes in their way.i had chickens in Mumbai... Maggie eating... noisy stinky...n hate the concept of a good nights sleep.

3)Eat the snails!:
Snails have been around for a very long time, and they aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Frogs, lizards, snakes, beetles, and even people love to eat them. So, maybe that's what we should be doing with all these garden snails. Eat them with a little parsley butter.

Word environment day...this just how we roll at VRIKSHA NURSERY.

India, the first time global host of World Environment Day, marked the occasion -- themed “Forests: Nature at your Service”. we at vriksha nursery decided to do our part to regenerate the ever diminishing urban forests in Mumbai.with the help of several dedicated co oprates and enthusiastic citizens we have managed to give out a massive ...wait for it....10,000 SAPLINGS IN DE LAST WEEK.

and thats not it we also helped save 19 trees from Axe wielding land hungry morons....while doing this i couldnt help but remember a line by the father of our nation who very rightly said "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed." im posting a video of the transplantation of a massive coconut tree we prevented from being felled  below.

the var of trees we helped saved were:
1) coconut -nos9 ht 17to 19ft
2)pisonia alba: nos 6 ht 12 to15ft
3)bahumia blackiana: nos 4 ht 12-15ft



The list of saplings is bigger and more varied...namely:

1)spathodia
2)jackaranda
3)fur
4)nilgiri
5)bhaindi
6)bobaab
7)caselpinia
8)ficus
9)babul
10)khaya
11)sisam.

im writing below the basic care tips for saplings...though i explained in great details to everyone who came down to the nursery a large number of plants were given to clients and employees of :zee cafe,idbi,hsbc, stranded chartered,vodaphone,titan,tanishq,LG,CMD,CMS.

The after care of the saplings till they reach a certain age and height is essential. Though lakhs of saplings are planted by our government each year, a lucky few blossom as big trees. Once the rains cease, the saplings need to be watered regularly, protected from cattle and pests and insects, given manure. It will definitely help if residents take up watering in their nearby areas.Depending on the type of tree, it may take from 1 to 2 years for the sapling to become self-sufficient

Aloe vera: A guest post by Sarita Remedios

Does the name lily of the dessert ring a bell? Maybe not, but I’m sure if I used its more common name ‘Aloe Vera’ it would need no introduction. In Thailand it is fondly referred to as Crocodile’s tail because of the leaf colour and shape which is thick, fleshy and green with serrated edges.

There are more than 300 species of Aloe Vera all over the world. It has been grown for ornamental purpose but more for its extensive medicinal properties. It’s a complete first aid kit - by cutting the leaf and removing the gel from inside it can be used internally & externally. This gel consists of more than 75 different key nutritional compounds which are either required or beneficial.

Some of the internal Benefits:
1)Helps blood circulation
2)Lowers blood sugar
3)Assists kidney, liver and gall bladder function
4)Helps cleanse the digestive tract
5)Strengths immunity
6)Helps viral infections
7)Cancer
8)Cholesterol
Some of the external benefits:
1)Relieves symptoms of fungal and bacterial infection
2)Its anti-inflammatory properties help decreases swelling, redness and pain
3)Acne
4)Rashes and boils
5)Sunburn
6)Cuts and burns
7)Dandruff
8)Varicose veins
9)Used as an aftershave

10)Remove stretch marks
Even Cleopatra used to this gel to keep her skin looking young and soft!! Legend has it that Aloe Vera grown in the kitchen can help guard against evil, prevent household accidents and I could sure as hell do with this last one – keep those burns and mishap away when cooking !


How do I grow Aloe Vera?
It grows best in tropical or sub tropical regions. Your plant will love warm weather conditions so let it get enough sunlight. Remember that Aloe Vera is a succulent plant and consists of more that 95% of water. Yet make sure you don’t forget to water it but never over water otherwise it can easily rot. Use moderately fertile and fast draining soil. The roots of the Aloe Vera are shallow and spreading so it’s good to use a wide planter with adequate draining.

About the author:Sarita Remedios an international banking graduate and one of the most imp people in my life...shes my inspiration for this blog and has always taken keen interest in knowing, researching, finding new ideas to help me (adorable i say) ...im so proud to say that she can identify 90% of the trees in the city and this awesome article shes written all by her self..id like to thank her for all the unrelenting support that shes offered to me through the years .I hope this little piece on this awesome plant helps you guys out there...

World environment day...in a city that loves the axe effect .

The other day i woke up to reading a realy disturbing article in the times of india which stated theres 1 tree for every 6 people in our city... what are we thinking..ist it high time we do something about it...We live in this concrete maze and land sharks and insensitive co oprate builders have destroyed the green cover .Our maximum city has lost over 25000 tree in the new decade an an incompetent/impotent tree authority( so called protectors of our green cover)and the utterly corrupt BMC have completely forgotten their duties towards these trees.. Civic data shows that the Tree Authority Committee, chaired by the municipal commissioner, while giving the permission, ordered the transplant of only 7,420 trees. The trees were chopped to make way for housing and other infrastructure projects.

According to the latest tree census, conducted in 2008, Mumbai has close to 20 lakh trees. That’s one tree for every 6.24 residents. New York, on the other hand, has three trees per person.

More than 25,000 trees uprooted to make way for developmental projects have not been replanted. This is because those who uproot the trees can't be bothered about replanting them, and those who are supposed to ensure that this happens do little by way of follow-up action.

The rules may appear to be tree-friendly but in fact are not. According to the Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Preservation of Trees Act, when permission for removal of trees is granted, the applicant has to plant three trees of the same or suitable species within 30 days from the date on which the tree is felled, or the time given by the tree officer, and must deposit at least Rs 2,000 for each tree felled.

The amount, which can even go up to Rs 5,000 depending on the species, is refunded within two years if the tree is deemed to be growing satisfactorily.

Data obtained under the Right to Information Act (RTI) revealed that the Tree Authority had collected Rs 9,24,19,000 for granting permission for removal of trees up to March 2006. Information obtained under the RTI Act shows the Tree Authority has collected over Rs 9 crore by giving permission for cutting of trees up to 2006. It means well over 25,000 trees have either not been planted or have not survived.

Almost every evening driving in the by Versova i see the rampant destroying of the marsh lands a beautiful marsh next to the 4 bungalows has turned into an ugly garment exhibition center and in an identical case in the very same area opp the gurudwara the marshes have given way to a metro station and a housing complex feel so hapless and sad that i cant do absolutely anything about it.

iv been flooded by orders for plants for tree plantation drives co-prates such as the zee group,tanishq,LG,CMD,CMS. Have taken keen interest to procure natives/ flowering/fruiting trees to hold massive tree plantation drives across our city .I also cot calls from a prominent event managment company who wanted to conduct a cheap tree plantation drive by planting tulsi and other 2 RS plants ....ANY PLANTS...id rather starve than do such moronic work.
COLLECT YOUR FREE TREE SAMPLES: We at VRIKSHA NURSERY are giving away free tree saplings and urge every1 to please specify the soil/sunlight conditions before collection the saplings so we can give you the perfect var suited to your place.If you live in a society you can collect 2 tree saplings and school/college students get 5 saplings each come along guys its time to do your bit for the environment...