Easy Adenium (Desert Rose) Grafting - Wedge Technique

In this article we'll explore a grafting technique called Top Wedge Grafting or, simply, Wedge Grafting as it's known with adeniums (desert rose). We chose an ordinary adenium to be the stock plant.

Ordinary or common adeniums are very hardy, robust, and would make a good choice as the stock. For the scion, we'll be using the beautiful triple-petal Thai variety called Rung Arung. Shown below in the inset is the Rung Arung adenium variety.

Homemade Bird Trap - Making the Carrying Handle and Restraints

The Carrying Handle of the homemade bird trap allows you to conveniently carry and move the cage with just one hand. Even though lightweight, the bird trap housing is a bit bulky to hold with both hands without the carrying handle.

As the homemade bird trap weighs only about 1/4 of a kilo, the carrying handle too is light and thin. It can hold up the cage even with five trapped sparrows inside.

The carrying handle easily swings to either side. Because it is thin, you can lay it flat on the top panel and stack another homemade bird trap on top of it. This feature comes in handy when you have several traps and need to store them.

Homemade Bird Trap - Making the Access Hole

Primarily, the bird trap access hole allows you to retrieve the trapped birds safely and effectively. Although other trappers simply sprinkle bait food inside the cage (like I do), it could also be your access to put in water or bait food in containers.

The access hole also allows you to clean the inside of the bird trap as necessary. Debris, such as dried leaves or grass that may have entered the cage may be removed through the access hole. When the bird trap housing is completed and closed, the access hole is your only means for doing repairs or maintenance on the inside of the bird trap cage.

Homemade Bird Trap - Making the Funnels

The secret for trapping small birds in this kind of a bird trap is the funnel. Hence, it's called a Repeating Funnel Trap. It is "repeating" because the trap doesn't need to be reset after trapping a bird. It is a passive trap that can catch multiple birds.

The funnel must allow the bird to pass through easily without much restriction coming in from the outside. As a funnel, the entrance outside is taller and wider. It gradually narrows toward the exit inside the bird trap cage.

Homemade Bird Trap - Building the Housing

The first step for making the bird trap is to build the housing. For simplicity, stick to a rectangular box design. A rectangular box design is easy to build and has minimum corners. Minimum corners give trapped birds more space inside. This design is easy to clean. If you have several of these rectangular bird traps, then they're also easy to stack and store.

Homemade Garden Plant Labels or Markers

Garden plant labels or markers can become important as a gardener propagates more plants and grows more seedlings. The common practice of labeling seedling bags with masking tapes is quite easy to do. It basically does the job in a quick manner and inexpensively.

However, with the need to reuse seedling bags as well as the impact of long term use, masking tape labels may not be the best way to label garden seedling bags. Here are a couple of problems this gardener has experienced with the use of masking tapes as labels for garden plants.

Steps for Air Layering or Marcotting

When I was in high school, a team of plant technicians from the Bureau of Plant Industry visited our school. They were to show a demo on various plant propagation techniques. I no longer remember what school subject that was, but like any other kid I was just happy we were in the audio-visual room for a change, instead of the usual classroom.

I remember the technicians supposedly show how you can make identical plants from an existing one. They had a live potted plant on a demo table and proceeded to show air-layering (or marcotting) and propagation from cuttings. I was incredulous of course. But I was a bit doubtful also especially after the technicians said it will take a few weeks or months before the marcots or cuttings would actually take root.

Many years, nay, decades later, I'd learn air layering is so easy to do and yes, it works.

Easy Homemade Fish Emulsion Fertilizer

I've read with much interest from the internet how folks prepare homemade fish emulsion and swear by its effectiveness. There are so many articles saying how simple the process is in making fish emulsion. I suspect though that many of these how-to articles just parrot each other.

There is little material thus far, however, by way of photos and/or videos that illustrate the processes involved in this so-called simple procedure - as of this writing, anyway. So this article will illustrate, by pictures, just that.