I have been doing some reading and research on a couple of topics that I believe might be an asset to my growing program. The first is mycorrhizae, both endo and ecto. The next is humic and fulvic acids. And the last is the use of fish by products, seaweed, and kelp in a growing pgogram. This last summer was really rough with the record low temps in July, which is usually prime growing weather for me. In my zone 6 climate I must take advantage of every opportunity that I have for additional grow for my nursery stock. I am still reading and taking notes, but there seems to be real advantges to using fungi, fish and marine life in your growing plan. I will be discussing what I have learned and the result I am seeing in the grow room soon. I have started using a regiment that includes fungi, and marine based fertilizers. The results are still out but as soon as I have enough info I will share the results..

I have been busy working on some projects since the last entry. One which is perfecting the germination of lotus seeds. I had tried this one before with a couple ofseedlings that had already been germinated. This time I have preformed the whole process myself. The seeds (2) germinated in just five days, which is rather quick according to all of the research I have done on the subject. I was growing the in deep pots that I had purchased some waterlily in, but the were growing so rapidly that I transplanted them into four inch net pots and placed them into a fifteen gallon aquarium. As I continued to do research I learned the the four inch net pots would not be large enough once the rhizome began to develope and grow. If the rhizome is crowded then you will discover that the lotus plant will not develope properly. On Saturday Nov. 28th I transplanted both seedlings into net pots that are about 6" in dia.

I was fooling around testing if I could post pictures to my blog off of my phone and this is what happened:


<A href= http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=25532&size=1 border=0></a>

This is a picture of my Musa Zebrinas 2009 season which I posted to the bananas site.

I have made a new discovery today while on Google. I found a site called Green Culture Singapore. I am new at the site, so I haven't had a chance to really dig in yet. What I have been able to see so far is that it might be a golden opportunity to gain knowledge about gardening from a different cultures perspective. I grow many different plants that are native to Asia. so I think this may be a very unique chance to learn new techniques in growing tropicals. On a side note I have the ladang musaceae site up and running. This is a very exciting time starting something from scratch with some knowledge and insight from starting the midwest aquatics and exotics site. This is a new passion and desire of mine. The MAAE site is undergoing updates and modifications, this hasn't been tossed to the curb. I will be adding to the store inventory soon, the biggest problem with the store is that right now in this economy the products and shipping prices are constantly changing. It's hard to keep up with this and try to grow my plants, and do the planning required to build the business.

It is November now and all of the nursery stock is in, protected from the winter cold that is soon to be here. We have already had several light frosts. The older I get the more I hate winter! I have several bamboo that were planted in the yard back in Aug/Sept, some of them have had damage due to the pesky deer. Fortunately they either don't like the taste of the Henon, or they just haven't discovered it yet. I tend to believe that they don't like to eat it for some reason, they are quite domesticated and have been as close as 5-6 yards from me in the past. I might be working in the yard and look up and there they are! They don't over run the place, but they don't mind sampling anything that looks like it might taste good. I have some nursery updates to pass along. I will continue to grow Plumeria, that was announced several months ago. I will also grow Bamboo, and Bananas. This is a new decision made just recently. I have already set up an additional domain to market the bananas on. I want them to have a stand alone identity. As for how I will market my bamboo, for now it shall remain under the Midwest Aquatics and Exotics site. In the future they may get their own site, but I don't want to stretch myself too thin. Right now the question being pondered is what will I grow under the Aquatics part of the company? I have contacts that want me to purchase lotus and lillies from them. Right now I need to maintain diversity in the things I grow. My niche has been to grow and sell what other local nurseries don't grow and sell. It has always worked until this season when some of the banana varieties I grow showed up on the shelves at The Home Depot. That was like a firm punch in the stomach, it really took the wind out of my sails! I operate this nursery out of passion, not necessity. Honestly my life would be easier if I didn't run it (or it run me, I'm not sure which). I could enjoy the Fall season without dreading the growing season coming to an end. The cold weather might not even be so bad, maybe. It's a passion, and hopefully be my legacy I leave behind; that I was a good nurserymen, businessman, but most important husband and father.

Michael