Happy Thursday!

Here are 3 plant health tips, 2 thoughts of the week, and 1 question for you.

3 Plant Health Tips:

• …Aeration - You and I require oxygen to breathe and continue living on this beautiful planet of ours. Plants are the same way and more specifically the roots of plants.
   
  As plant parents we have all experience the cursed root rot. Root rot is simply from the lack of oxygen on soil and is generally caused by too much water being held in the root zone. Water can only hold onto oxygen for a short period of time before it either evaporates or is used up by plants/living organisms in soil. This is why it’s so important to have proper aeration in your soil which comes down to soil composition.
   
  For house plants, I like to make sure I always add a little extra aeration in the form of rice hulls, grow stones, perlite, etc. Tropicals like to be consistently moist but you need to make sure there is a balance of aeration to provide oxygen and also increase drainage. When it comes to outdoor plants like fruits and vegetables, it isn't as much of a concern because they have a short time period to grow and are absorbing water like crazy! 🤪

• …Mulders Chart - This is an interesting chart to study a bit and have on hand.
   
  It shows the relationship between different nutrients that plants need to sustain health growth. We touched a bit on this in last weeks email but I want to dedicate one of our tips this week to it.
   
  I have included the link below to the chart.
   
  You’ll see how each nutrient interacts and how some nutrients can prevent the uptake of others, or encourage it. This is vital if you are ever diagnosing nutrient deficiencies because in some cases you may think you have a nitrogen deficiency, but in reality it's a calcium deficiency preventing the uptake of nitrogen.
   
  >> https://www.nutriag.com/mulderschart/

• …VPD - Vapor pressure deficit is a very interesting component to plant care. It is generally  hard to control unless you have a greenhouse cabinet or a grow tent with some climate controls but none the less, is super important to know!
   
  Air has a pressure that changes depending on the temperature and amount of moisture present. This is why air pressure changes so much around the world and why some people may get brutal headaches when travelling!
   
  To explain the effect it has on plants we first have to touch on transpiration.
   
  Transpiration is the release of water vapour from your plants leaves. At least 90% of the water your roots absorb will be released by your leaves. But the amount they can release is dependant upon the VPD (pressure of the air). If your humidity is too high and temperature too low, there will be a higher pressure on your leaves and won’t allow them to release as much moisture which means the roots cannot take up as much water.
   
  We all know that the more water plants can uptake, the faster and healthier plants grow!
   
  By checking this chart out and understanding the relationship between temperature and humidity on your plants, I promise it will make you a more conscious grower all around.
   
  >> https://pulsegrow.com/blogs/learn/vpd-charts-in-fahrenheit-and-celsius-with-leaf-temperature

2 Thoughts of the week:

• …Habits
   
  Habits are like creation.
   
  The mind manifests an idea, the emotion the body feels around that idea creates a response and depending on the environment, that thought & emotion become a habit formed as quickly as the universe itself.
   
  In the beginning it is conscious but after a short period of time it evolves into a concrete habit, unconscious and all consuming at the drop of a pin. This is where habits can be a double edge sword. If it's built from fear, the unconscious nature of this habit can be dangerous. The beautiful thing about habits is they can be deconstructed the exact same way as they were constructed.
   
  By being fully conscious of your thoughts, feelings, and the environment around you. The difficult part is that thought becomes belief, and belief can be hard to change.
   
  You must first see yourself as someone else before you can become who you desire.