Listen To Your Plants
On this week’s radio show and
podcast, I touch on plant communication, present an update on the damaging
effects of road salt, and also describe a few new introductions for 2010. In
the movie Avatar, the forest is one giant network of communing organisms. That
may not be farfetched. Plants can “talk” to each other – chemically – for
example when one plant is attacked by an insect and sends a message through its
roots in the soil to a nearby plant that there may be danger ahead.
Recent reports tell of
danger from elevated levels of salt being found in our drinking water. Intake
of salt has been linked to high blood pressure. Road salt melts ice and carries
water to street drains and nearby waterways. Salt can
poison soil and be deadly
to plants, or burn them when it is splashed on their foliage. Road salt also
damages concrete and steel in bridges and cars. Just look at the salt on the
black asphalt road in front of my house shortly after a light snowfall
(left).
There are alternatives:
If you miss the physical
aspects of gardening in winter, you might welcome manual shoveling and ice
chipping on paths.
You can keep two fifty pound bags of sand inside
your trunk over your rear tires to help improve their grip, and you will have some
at hand if your car gets stuck. A spreading of sand will improve traction on
paths, but it won’t melt ice.
Calcium
chloride melts ice and is good for plants providing an essential nutrient
(calcium). The product’s superior efficiency means better results using less
than you might with salt. Magnesium chloride is less corrosive than salt, and
provides 
magnesium to plants for chlorophyll production. In areas where
temperatures do not fall below freezing for long periods, potassium chloride
works well, and is best applied before the snow falls. Potassium chloride is
used in manufacturing plant fertilizers.
On this show I also introduce some of the new ornamental plants for
2010. To my surprise, one that caught my eye is a pink petunia edged in
chartreuse — in spite of its cutesy name — “Supertunia Pretty Much Picasso”
(right, photo courtesy www.provenwinners.com).
Click on the small black arrow at the left on the bar below to start
listening, or click on the MP3 link to download the show into Windows
Media Player or iTunes: