How To Harvest Plums

A plum or gage is a fruit which can be eaten fresh after picking. This can also be dried and eaten as dried plum or commonly known as prune. A plum fruit is sweet and juicy. It can also be used in making jams for filling. You can also preserve this and make pickled plums. This is good for your health because it contains antioxidants.

Prune kernel oil is another product that you can get from plum. This is also rich in fiber which is best for your digestion. A plum fruit has different sizes and colors. There are red, white, green and yellow plums.

The weather should not be too dry or too wet for the plum tree for you to be able to pick good plum fruits. If it’s too wet or the fruit becomes overripe, fungi will develop on it. If that happens, you will not be able to eat the fruit anymore. If the weather is too hot, plum fruits will fall from the tree even if these are not yet ripe.

After planting a plum tree, it usually takes four years before it will start bearing plum fruit. The tree can grow up to twenty feet high. Plum fruits are usually harvested when spring season ends up to the time when summer season ends. If you have a plum tree in your garden you need to make sure that you pick the fruits on the right time so you can eat these or produce other products from these.

Here are the steps on how to harvest plum.
Check if plum is ready to be picked. There are different ways to check if plum fruit is ready for harvesting. If you know what type of plum tree you have, you will be able to determine the harvesting time based on the months. European plums can be harvested about two months after summer. Japanese plums can be harvested two months after winter and American plums can be harvested during summer.
You can also pick a plum fruit and check the taste. If the plum is a bit soft and the taste is sweet, then it’s ready for harvesting. You can also check if plum fruit is ripe by holding it. Press the fruit gently with your fingers. If the fruit feels soft, then it’s ready for harvesting.
Harvest plum fruits. You can start harvesting your plum fruits. Make sure to wear garden gloves when picking fruits. To pick the fruits, twist the fruit gently so that you can remove it from the stem. If the fruit is ripe, this will easily snap off the stem.
Put plum fruits in the container. Put plum fruits in a paper bag or any container. If there are rotten fruits, make sure to remove these immediately from the container so that these will not damage the other fruits.
Put the ripe plums in the refrigerator so these can stay longer. If you were able to get plum fruits that are not yet ripe, place these in a paper bag and put these on a cabinet or dark place so these will continue to ripen.

How To Identify Pine

Pine is an evergreen tree, present throughout the world and with plenty of uses. Identifying the different species of pine can help you.

Here are some tips of identifying pine:

    Look for needle-type leaves. If you've seen a Christmas trees, you know the leaves are made up of needles protruding from a single stalk.
    Count the number of needles per bundle. All pine trees can be categorized by the number of needles they grow per bundle. They can be two, three, four or five needles per bundle. Those with single needles can be categorized as spruce or fir. You can also look at the length of the needles: the Longleaf Pine grows the longest needles in groups of three, reaching up to eighteen inches.
    Inspect the pine cone shape and size. Pine cones contain the seeds of the trees. You can pick up these cones around a tree or climb up to pick a fresh one.
    Determine the location where the pine is growing. Pine trees can be further limited in the area they occupy around the world.
    Establish the height of the pine. The Sugar Pine is the largest of its kind, growing up to sixty one meters in height. Other pines have the range of height upon maturity that aids in identifying them. Use rough measurements and trigonometry to establish a particular tree’s height.

    Smell the bark. Notable for creating a fresh pine scent that’s commonly marketed among air fresheners, some pines carry odors distinctly their own. For example, the Ponderosa Pine, usually found in western North America, has a bark with the fragrance of vanilla.
    Bring a pine tree reference book in your travels. These reference books should contain images of different pine trees, their needles and cones. While they can be hefty, the comprehensive one will contain most types of pines. You can also try an electronic book reader that displays the same information in digital form, which makes for a lighter load.
    Consult a pine expert from a forestry institute. Major forests have forestry stations manned by rangers, who are versed in the different types of pine trees as well as other plants in the region. Look for such stations while roaming the forest and talk to the personnel for assistance in identification. Some field researchers can also help you determine the type to pine tree you're focusing on.
    Consult the Web. The Web has plenty of sites which are dedicated to pine trees and their characteristics. There are also forums visited by hobbyists and experts where you can consult regarding particular trees. Upload images of the tree, cone and leaves and be ready to describe the location where you found it. These pine lovers can readily identify pine types or point you in the right direction for proper identification.


Pine trees can be a source of food, lumber, fuel, resin or decoration. Each type contains particular characteristics that make it preferable for some tasks, so make sure to identify the pine correctly.

How To Grow Lenton Roses

Do you know that there are flowers that grow during winter? They are popularly called Lenton or Christmas roses. These are evergreen plants that grow as wide and as tall as 18 inches and reproduce nodding flowers of different colors such as pink, white, purple, crimson, lime-green and even mottled. Some are more volatile to grow compare to others. It is best if you get Lenton roses that are appropriate for USDA (US Department of Agriculture) areas 4 to 11. If you decide to plant Lenton roses, below is the guide to help you make them grow efficiently.

    Look for the appropriate site to plant. Lenton roses prefer soil with spotted sunlight like under evergreen trees or with areas that are partially shaded. This kind of area makes the soil rich making it very effective for the normal growth of Lenton roses.
    Know when to plant Lenton roses. Start to plant them during winter from April until May. But first you have to cultivate the soil. Try to find out if the soil needs much enrichment so that you can add organic and natural matter. Make sure you create a deeper hole more than the Lenton roses’ bare roots. Hold their roots straight up and cover them immediately with soil. Gently fill them down to eliminate water and air bubbles to make the soil sufficiently rich.

    Have a regular water system. Water them regularly to make the soil humid especially for Lenton roses that are recently planted, and during extended or dry seasons. During spring cover them with mulch, compost or manure and adopt a comprehensive plant food. Be sure to spray fungicide to prevent the Lenton roses against leaf blotch that can really cause great harm to plants. If slugs and aphids attack your flowers use some pesticide.
    Observe the growth of your Lenton roses. Usually they bloom from the middle of winter to the early days of spring. By this time, regularly check the status of your plants. As much as possible do not do anything to your flowers except when you need to trim down their dead stems and leaves.
    Divide fully grown Lenton roses immediately after flowering. Just pick them up and divide them gently. Replant them eight to twelve inches apart. In addition, Lenton roses may also grow directly from seeds but this method takes three to five years before the flowers bloom. Nevertheless, their seedlings produce remarkable shades.


Lenton roses show excellent growth if you plant them in containers especially during wintertime to create attractive cut flowers. Double check the return policies and guarantee agreements of the places or the areas where you buy your seeds and plants such as the nursery, catalog, gardening center or website. Be sure to purchase them to areas that have at least a year guarantee that require your receipt or shipping label. That is why it is a must that you keep all your receipts complete for you guarantee policies.

Follow these steps and you will have fully bloomed Lenton roses in your area in no time.