Skip to main content
URI Outreach Center

Perk Up Your Plants!

Plant Pro

With the cold, wet spring behind us, the cooler soil temperature has delayed nutrient movement from the roots to the leaves of plants in many of our home gardens. There are multiple ways to help perk up your plants. We were joined by Master Gardener Rudi Hempe in the URI Vegetable Garden to give us some helpful hints.

Foliar Spray

Foliar Sprays are often used in times of critical periods such as slow growth periods, flowering, heat stress, or injured root systems. When deficiencies show in your plant, you can use this spray for a "quick boost". Application is done through the use of a pump spray in which you thoroughly wet all leaf and green stem tissue. The best time to foliar feed your plants is early morning or dusk, once a week. Often, this foliar feed is made of seaweed or fish food extract. If your plants are lacking certain nutrients you can buy more nutrient specific sprays such as copper, calcium and iron sulfate foliar sprays.

Benefits:

  • Acts as a biological catalyst which results in vegetative growth and more successful harvests
  • Helps in developing resistance to pests and disease
  • Increases photosynthetic activity through increasing chlorophyll production making the leaves greener and healthier
  • Aids in root development and soil absorption

Compost Teas

Steeping compost in water, aerating, and straining creates compost tea. It can be applied as a mist using a pump spray, used through irrigation systems or drip irrigation. The goal in creating a compost tea is to brew a tea rich in microorganisms that will be beneficial to your plants health and growth.

Benefits:

  • A tea highly oxygenated and aerated dramatically eliminates plant-disease causing bacteria, plant-toxic products and suppresses foliar diseases.
  • By using compost tea you distribute good bacteria into the soil and leaves to consume bad bacteria, and compete for food and space.
  • Reduce need for fertilizer
  • Undo previous harm humans have done to the soil with chemical based fertilizers and pesticides

Renewable Energy Siting Partnership Stakeholder Meeting #4

When: December 1, 2011, 6pm - 9pm
Where: Hazard Rooms @ URI Coastal Institute Bldg, Narragansett Bay Campus
Details: The focus of this meeting will be presentations on the acoustic impacts of wind turbines and project economics. Attendees must RSVP to Amber Neville at 401.874.6106 or amber@crc.uri.edu due to space limitations.
Directions

The meeting is open to the public, and all are welcome, as the goal is to have a diverse and well-rounded stakeholder process. A light dinner will be provided from 5:30-6pm.

- - - - -

Holidays in the Park

When: December 10, 2011, 11am - 2pm
Where: Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, Providence RI
Details: Admission-free with donation of a nonperishable good to be donated to RI Food Bank

Escape from the cold outdoors and join us in celebrating the holidays! Activities will include demos on do-it- yourself decorations just in time for the holidays, exciting educational crafts for kids, live music, gifts for every gardener, a raffle and more surprises to come.

- - - - -

Renewable Energy Siting Partnership (RESP) Wind Resource Assessment Lecture

When: January 24, 2012, 6pm - 7pm
Where: North Kingstown Free Library
Details: URI researchers will present their current work related to the wind resource assessment component of the Renewable Energy Siting Partnership.

- - - - -