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Posted by Admin at 11:08 PM,Wednesday, January 28, 2009

A Machine to End War --- by Nikola Tesla, February 1937

Forecasting is perilous. No man can look very far into the future. Progress and invention evolve in directions other than those anticipated. Such has been my experience, although I may flatter myself that many of the developments which I forecast have been verified by events in the first third of the twentieth century.

It seems that I have always been ahead of my time. I had to wait nineteen years before Niagara was harnessed by my system, fifteen years before the basic inventions for wireless which I gave to the world in 1893 were applied universally. I announced the cosmic ray and my theory of radio activity in 1896. One of my most important discoveries--terrestrial resonance--which is the foundation of wireless power transmission and which I announced in 1899, is not understood even today. Nearly two years after I had flashed an electric current around the globe, Edison, Steinmetz, Marconi, and others declared that it would not be possible to transmit even signals by wireless across the Atlantic. Having anticipated so many important developments, it is not without assurance that I attempt to predict what life is likely to be in the twenty-first century.

Life is and will ever remain an equation incapable of solution, but it contains certain known factors. We may definitely say that it is a movement even if we do not fully understand its nature. Movement implies a body which is being moved and a force which propels it against resistance. Man, in the large, is a mass urged on by a force. Hence the general laws governing movement in the realm of mechanics are applicable to humanity.

There are three ways by which the energy which determines human progress can be increased: First, we may increase the mass. This, in the case of humanity, would mean the improvement of living conditions, health, eugenics, etc. Second, we may reduce the frictional forces which impede progress, such as ignorance, insanity, and religious fanaticism. Third, we may multiply the energy of the human mass by enchaining the forces of the universe, like those of the sun, the ocean, the winds and tides.

The first method increases food and well-being. The second tends to bring peace. The third enhances our ability to work and to achieve. There can be no progress that is not constantly directed toward increasing well-being, peace, and achievement. Here the mechanistic conception of life is one with the teachings of Buddha and the Sermon on the Mount.

While I am not a believer in the orthodox sense, I commend religion, first, because every individual should have some ideal--religious, artistic, scientific, or humanitarian--to give significance to his life. Second, because all the great religions contain wise prescriptions relating to the conduct of life, which hold good now as they did when they were promulgated.

There is no conflict between the ideal of religion and the ideal of science, but science is opposed to theological dogmas because science is founded on fact. To me, the universe is simply a great machine which never came into being and never will end. The human being is no exception to the natural order. Man, like the universe, is a machine. Nothing enters our minds or determines our actions which is not directly or indirectly a response to stimuli beating upon our sense organs from without. Owing to the similarity of our construction and the sameness of our environment, we respond in like manner to similar stimuli, and from the concordance of our reactions, understanding is barn. In the course of ages, mechanisms of infinite complexity are developed, but what we call "soul " or "spirit," is nothing more than the sum of the functionings of the body. When this functioning ceases, the "soul" or the "spirit" ceases likewise.

I expressed these ideas long before the behaviorists, led by Pavlov in Russia and by Watson in the United States, proclaimed their new psychology. This apparently mechanistic conception is not antagonistic to an ethical conception of life. The acceptance by mankind at large of these tenets will not destroy religious ideals. Today Buddhism and Christianity are the greatest religions both in number of disciples and in importance. I believe that the essence of both will he the religion of the human race in the twenty-first century.

The year 2100 will see eugenics universally established. In past ages, the law governing the survival of the fittest roughly weeded out the less desirable strains. Then man's new sense of pity began to interfere with the ruthless workings of nature. As a result, we continue to keep alive and to breed the unfit. The only method compatible with our notions of civilization and the race is to prevent the breeding of the unfit by sterilization and the deliberate guidance of the mating instinct, Several European countries and a number of states of the American Union sterilize the criminal and the insane. This is not sufficient. The trend of opinion among eugenists is that we must make marriage more difficult. Certainly no one who is not a desirable parent should be permitted to produce progeny. A century from now it will no more occur to a normal person to mate with a person eugenically unfit than to marry a habitual criminal.

Hygiene, physical culture will be recognized branches of education and government. The Secretary of Hygiene or Physical Culture will he far more important in the cabinet of the President of the United States who holds office in the year 2035 than the Secretary of War. The pollution of our beaches such as exists today around New York City will seem as unthinkable to our children and grandchildren as life without plumbing seems to us. Our water supply will he far more carefully supervised, and only a lunatic will drink unsterilized water.

More people die or grow sick from polluted water than from coffee, tea, tobacco, and other stimulants. I myself eschew all stimulants. I also practically abstain from meat. I am convinced that within a century coffee, tea, and tobacco will be no longer in vogue. Alcohol, however, will still be used. It is not a stimulant but a veritable elixir of life. The abolition of stimulants will not come about forcibly. It will simply be no longer fashionable to poison the system with harmful ingredients. Bernarr Macfadden has shown how it is possible to provide palatable food based upon natural products such as milk, honey, and wheat. I believe that the food which is served today in his penny restaurants will be the basis of epicurean meals in the smartest banquet halls of the twenty-first century.

There will be enough wheat and wheat products to feed the entire world, including the teeming millions of China and India, now chronically on the verge of starvation. The earth is bountiful, and where her bounty fails, nitrogen drawn from the air will refertilize her womb. I developed a process for this purpose in 1900. It was perfected fourteen years later under the stress of war by German chemists.

Long before the next century dawns, systematic reforestation and the scientific management of natural resources will have made an end of all devastating droughts, forest fires, and floods. The universal utilization of water power and its long-distance transmission will supply every household with cheap power and will dispense with the necessity of burning fuel. The struggle for existence being lessened, there should be development along ideal rather than material lines.

Today the most civilized countries of the world spend a maximum of their income on war and a minimum on education. The twenty-first century will reverse this order. It will be more glorious to fight against ignorance than to die on the field of battle. The discovery of a new scientific truth will be more important than the squabbles of diplomats. Even the newspapers of our own day are beginning to treat scientific discoveries and the creation of fresh philosophical concepts as news. The newspapers of the twenty-first century will give a mere "stick" in the back pages to accounts of crime or political controversies, but will headline on the front pages the proclamation of a new scientific hypothesis.

"It will be possible to destroy anything approaching within 200 miles. My invention will provide a wall of power," declares Tesla.

Progress along such lines will be impossible while nations persist in the savage practice of killing each other off. I inherited from my father, an erudite man who labored hard for peace, an ineradicable hatred of war. Like other inventors, I believed at one time that war could he stopped by making it more destructive. But I found that I was mistaken. I underestimated man's combative instinct, which it will take more than a century to breed out. We cannot abolish war by outlawing it. We cannot end it by disarming the strong. War can be stopped, not by making the strong weak but by making every nation, weak or strong, able to defend itself.

Hitherto all devices that could be used for defense could also be utilized to serve for aggression. This nullified the value of the improvement for purposes of peace. But I was fortunate enough to evolve a new idea and to perfect means which can be used chiefly for defense. If it is adopted, it will revolutionize the relations between nations. It will make any country, large or small, impregnable against armies, airplanes, and other means for attack. My invention requires a large plant, but once it is established it will he possible tb destroy anything, men or machines, approaching within a radius of 200 miles. It will, so to speak, provide a wall of power offering an insuperable obstacle against any effective aggression.

If no country can be attacked successfully, there can be no purpose in war. My discovery ends the menace of airplanes or submarines, but it insures the supremacy of the battleship, because battleships may be provided with some of the required equipment. There might still be war at sea, but no warship could successfully attack the shore line, as the coast equipment will be superior to the armament of any battleship.

I want to state explicitly that this invention of mine does not contemplate the use of any so-called " death rays." Rays are not applicable because they cannot be produced in requisite quantities and diminish rapidly in intensity with distance. All the energy of New York City (approximately two million horsepower) transformed into rays and projected twenty miles, could not kill a human being, because, according to a well known law of physics, it would disperse to such an extent as to be ineffectual.

My apparatus projects particles which may.be relatively large or of microscopic dimensions, enabling us to convey to a small area at a great distance trillions of times more energy than is possible with rays of any kind. Many thousands of horsepower can thus be transmitted by a stream thinner than a hair, so that nothing can resist. This wonderful feature will make it possible, among other things, to achieve undreamed-of results in television, for there will be almost no limit to the intensity of illumination, the size of the picture, or distance of projection.

I do not say that there may not be several destructive wars before the world accepts my gift. I may not live to see its acceptance. But I am convinced that a century from now every nation will render itself immune from attack by my device or by a device based upon a similar principle.

At present we suffer from the derangement of our civilization because we have not yet completely adjusted ourselves to the machine age. The solution of our problems does not lie in destroying but in mastering the machine.

Innumerable activities still performed by human hands today will be performed by automatons. At this very moment scientists working in the laboratories of American universities are attempting to create what has been described as a "thinking machine." I anticipated this development.

I actually constructed "robots." Today the robot is an accepted fact, but the principle has not been pushed far enough. In the twenty-first century the robot will take the place which slave labor occupied in ancient civilization. There is no reason at all why most of this should not come to pass in less than a century, treeing mankind to pursue its higher aspirations.

And unless mankind's attention is too violently diverted by external wars and internal revolutions, there is no reason why the electric millennium should not begin in a few decades.


Edited on: Thursday, February 05, 2009 8:29 PM
Categories: For Scientists and Engineers


Got this comment from a web visitor:

"Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:30:24 +0000: Dear friends, On this web site you will find information about the campaign: ‘Gold for the Kogi’. www.kogi-gold.com The web site is in English, German, Spanish, Dutch and French. With the donation of the golden objects we want to show respect to the Kogi for there work for Mother Earth. The goal of this campaign is getting attention for the message of the Kogi: The way we treat the earth will lead to big disasters. Live with respect for the earth. How you can help: Tell your friends and family about this site or give them a printed version of the call. Put this web site on you hyves/face/link/whatever-friends site. You can donate gold. Tell your dentist about the campaign. They often have old golden teeth or fillings. Contact the press about this campaign: Perhaps you know journalists who might be interested. We can arrange interviews with the Kogi when they are in September in Holland. The press can use the text, pictures and videos from this web site. The press can contact us if they want to use the pictures and videos from the web site, if they want interviews and if they want more information. mail to: oro@antenna.nl Warm greetings, Arno and Jan-Frank Sender: jan-frank IP Address: 84.86.74.93 Reference: Gold for the Kogi "


Categories: Your Comments


Posted by Admin at 10:46 PM,Friday, January 09, 2009

pH preference of various plants

Plants have their own soil pH perference. If they are not grown on soil of the correct acidity, the amount of nutrients available for their absorption will decreases. The following list summarizes the soil pH preference of different plants. However, this is not an exclusive list.

Flowers, Ornamental Trees, & Shrubs

  • Abelia 6.0 - 8.0
  • Acacia 6.0 - 8.0
  • Acanthus 6.0 - 7.0
  • Aconitum 5.0 - 6.0
  • Adonis 6.0 - 8.0
  • Ageratum 6.0 - 7.5
  • Ailanthus 6.0 - 7.5
  • Ajuga 4.0 - 6.0
  • Althea 6.0 - 7.5
  • Alyssum 6.0 - 7.5
  • Amaranthus 6.0 - 6.5
  • Anchusa 6.0 - 7.5
  • Androsace 5.0 - 6.0
  • Anemone 6.0 - 7.5
  • Anthyllis 5.0 - 6.0
  • Arbutus 4.0 - 6.0
  • Arenaria 6.0 - 8.0
  • Aristea 6.0 - 7.5
  • Armeria 6.0 - 7.5
  • Arnica 5.0 - 6.5
  • Asperula 6.0 - 8.0
  • Asphodoline 6.0 - 8.0
  • Aster 5.5 - 7.5
  • Aubrieta 6.0 - 7.5
  • Avena 6.0 - 7.5
  • Azalea 4.5 - 6.0
  • Beauty Bush 6.0 - 7.5
  • Bergenia 6.0 - 7.5
  • Bluebell 6.0 - 7.5
  • Broom 5.0 - 6.0
  • Buddleia 6.0 - 7.0
  • Buphthalum 6.0 - 8.0
  • Calendula 5.5 - 7.0
  • Camassis 6.0 - 8.0
  • Candytuft 6.0 - 7.5
  • Canna 6.0 - 8.0
  • Canterbury Bells 6.0 - 7.5
  • Carnation 6.0 - 7.5
  • Catalpa 6.0 - 8.0
  • Celosia 6.0 - 7.0
  • Centaurea 5.0 - 6.5
  • Cerastium 6.0 - 7.0
  • Chrysanthemum 6.0 - 7.0
  • Cissus 6.0 - 7.5
  • Cistus 6.0 - 7.5
  • Clarkia 6.0 - 6.5
  • Clianthus 6.0 - 7.5
  • Clematis 5.5 - 7.0
  • Colchicum 5.5 - 6.5
  • Columbine 6.0 - 7.0
  • Convolvulus 6.0 - 8.0
  • Coreopsis 5.0 - 6.0
  • Coronilla 6.5 - 7.5
  • Corydalis 6.0 - 8.0
  • Cosmos 5.0 - 8.0
  • Cotoneaster 6.0 - 8.0
  • Crab Apple 6.0 - 7.5
  • Crocus 6.0 - 8.0
  • Cynoglossum 6.0 - 7.5
  • Daffodil 6.0 - 6.5
  • Dahlia 6.0 - 7.5
  • Day Lily 6.0 - 8.0
  • Delphinium 6.0 - 7.5
  • Deutzia 6.0 - 7.5
  • Dianthus 6.0 - 7.5
  • Dogwood 5.0 - 7.0
  • Edelweiss 6.5 - 7.5
  • Elaeagnus 5.0 - 7.5
  • Enkianthus 5.0 - 6.0
  • Erica 4.5 - 6.0
  • Euphorbia 6.0 - 7.0
  • Everlasting Flower 5.0 - 6.0
  • Firethorn 6.0 - 8.0
  • Forget-me-not 6.0 - 8.0
  • Forsythia 6.0 - 8.0
  • Foxglove 6.0 - 7.5
  • Fritillaria 6.0 - 7.5
  • Fuchsia 5.5 - 6.5
  • Gaillardia 6.0 - 7.5
  • Gazania 5.5 - 7.0
  • Gentiana 5.0 - 7.5
  • Geum 6.0 - 7.5
  • Gladiolus 6.0 - 7.0
  • Globularia 5.5 - 7.0
  • Godetia 6.0 - 7.5
  • Golden Rod 5.0 - 7.0
  • Gourd 6.0 - 7.0
  • Grass, Bent 5.5 - 6.5
  • Grass, Clover 6.0 - 7.0
  • Grass, Fescue 6.0 - 7.5
  • Grass, Meadow 6.0 - 7.5
  • Grass, Pampas 6.0 - 8.0
  • Grass, Rye 6.0 - 7.0
  • Gypsophila 6.0 - 7.5
  • Hawthorn 6.0 - 7.0
  • Helianthus 5.0 - 7.0
  • Helleborus 6.0 - 7.5
  • Holly 5.0 - 6.5
  • Hollyhock 6.0 - 7.5
  • Honeysuckle 6.0 - 7.5
  • Hyacinth 6.5 - 7.5
  • Hydrangea, Blue 4.0 - 5.0
  • Hydrangea, Pink 6.0 - 7.0
  • Hydrangea, White 6.5 - 8.0
  • Hypericum 5.5 - 7.0
  • Iris 5.0 - 6.5
  • Ivy 6.0 - 7.5
  • Juniper 5.0 - 6.5
  • Kalmia 4.5 - 5.5
  • Kerria 6.0 - 7.0
  • Laburnum 6.0 - 7.0
  • Laurel 5.0 - 6.0
  • Lavender 6.5 - 7.5
  • Listris 5.5 - 7.5
  • Ligustrum 5.0 - 7.5
  • Lilac 6.0 - 7.5
  • Lily Of The Valley 4.5 - 6.0
  • Lithospernum 5.0 - 6.5
  • Lobelia 6.0 - 7.5
  • Lupinus 5.5 - 7.0
  • Magnolia 5.0 - 6.0
  • Mahonia 6.0 - 7.0
  • Marguerite 6.0 - 7.5
  • Marigold 5.5 - 7.0
  • Molinia 4.0 - 5.0
  • Moraea 5.5 - 6.5
  • Morning Glory 6.0 - 7.5
  • Moss 6.0 - 8.0
  • Moss, Sphagnum 3.5 - 5.0
  • Myosotis 6.0 - 7.0
  • Narcissus 6.0 - 7.5
  • Nasturtium 5.5 - 7.5
  • Nicotiana 5.5 - 6.5
  • Pachysandra 5.0 - 8.0
  • Paeonia 6.0 - 7.5
  • Pansy 5.5 - 7.0
  • Passion Flower 6.0 - 8.0
  • Pasque Flower 5.0 - 6.0
  • Paulownia 6.0 - 8.0
  • Pea, Sweet 6.0 - 7.5
  • Penstemon 5.5 - 7.0
  • Paeonia 6.0 - 7.5
  • Periwinkle 6.0 - 7.5
  • Petunia 6.0 - 7.5
  • Pinks 6.0 - 7.5
  • Polygonum 6.0 - 7.5
  • Polyanthus 6.0 - 7.5
  • Poppy 6.0 - 7.5
  • Portulaca 5.5 - 7.5
  • Primrose 5.5 - 6.5
  • Primula 6.0 - 7.5
  • Privet 6.0 - 7.0
  • Prunella 6.0 - 7.5
  • Prunus 6.5 - 7.5
  • Pyracantha 5.0 - 6.0
  • Pyrethrum 6.0 - 7.5
  • Red Hot Poker 6.0 - 7.5
  • Rhododendron 4.5 - 6.0
  • Rose, Hybrid Tea 5.5 - 7.0
  • Rose, Climbing 6.0 - 7.0
  • Rose, Rambling 5.5 - 7.0
  • Salvia 6.0 - 7.5
  • Saintpaulia 6.0 - 7.0
  • Scabiosa 5.0 - 7.5
  • Sea Grape 5.0 - 6.5
  • Sedum 6.0 - 8.0
  • Snapdragon 5.5 - 7.0
  • Snowdrop 6.0 - 8.0
  • Soapwort 6.0 - 7.5
  • Speedwell 5.5 - 6.5
  • Spiraea 6.0 - 7.5
  • Spruce 4.0 - 5.0
  • Stock 6.0 - 7.5
  • Stonecrop 6.5 - 7.5
  • Sumach 5.0 - 6.5
  • Sunflower 6.0 - 7.5
  • Sweet William 6.0 - 7.5
  • Syringe 6.0 - 8.0
  • Tamarix 6.5 - 8.0
  • Tobacco 5.5 - 7.5
  • Trillium 5.0 - 6.5
  • Tulip 6.0 - 7.0
  • Viburnum 5.0 - 7.5
  • Viola 5.5 - 6.5
  • Violet 5.0 - 7.5
  • Virginia Creeper 5.0 - 7.5
  • Wallflower 5.5 - 7.5
  • Water Lily 5.5 - 6.5
  • Weigela 6.0 - 7.0
  • Wistaria 6.0 - 8.0
  • Zinnia 5.5 - 7.5

Fruits

  • Almond (resistant to drought, cold temperatures and high soil pH) 7.90 - 8.50
  • Apple 5.0 - 6.5
  • Apricot 6.0 - 7.0
  • Avocado 6.0 - 7.5
  • Banana 5.0 - 7.0
  • Blackberry 5.0 - 6.0
  • Cherry 6.0 - 7.5
  • Cranberry 5.5 - 6.5
  • Currant, Black 6.0 - 8.0
  • Currant, Red 5.5 - 7.0
  • Currant, White 6.0 - 8.0
  • Damson 6.0 - 7.5
  • Gooseberry 5.0 - 6.5
  • Grapevine 6.0 - 7.0
  • Grapefruit 6.0 - 7.5
  • Hazelnut 6.0 - 7.0
  • Hop 6.0 - 7.5
  • Lemon 6.0 - 7.0
  • Lychee 6.0 - 7.0
  • Mango 5.0 - 6.0
  • Melon 5.5 - 6.5
  • Mulberry 6.0 - 7.5
  • Nectarine 6.0 - 7.5
  • Papaw 6.0 - 7.5
  • Peach 6.0 - 7.5
  • Pear 6.0 - 7.5
  • Pineapple 5.0 - 6.0
  • Plum 6.0 - 7.5
  • Pomegranate 5.5 - 6.5
  • Quince 6.0 - 7.5
  • Raspberry 5.0 - 6.5
  • Rhubarb 5.5 - 7.0
  • Strawberry 5.0 - 7.5
  • Watermelon 5.5 - 6.5

Houseplants & Greenhouse Plants

  • Abutilon 5.5 - 6.5
  • Acorus 5.0 - 6.5
  • Aechmea 5.0 - 5.5
  • African Violet 6.0 - 7.0
  • Aglaonema 5.0 - 6.0
  • Amaryllis 5.5 - 6.5
  • Anthurium 5.0 - 6.0
  • Aphelandra 5.0 - 6.0
  • Araucaria 5.0 - 6.0
  • Asparagus Fern 6.0 - 8.0
  • Aspidistra 4.0 - 5.5
  • Azalea 4.5 - 6.0
  • Begonia 5.5 - 7.0
  • Bird Of Paradise 6.0 - 6.5
  • Bishop's Cap 5.0 - 6.0
  • Black-eyed Susan 5.5 - 7.5
  • Blood Leaf 5.5 - 6.5
  • Bottlebrush 6.0 - 7.5
  • Bougainvillea 5.5 - 7.5
  • Bromeliads 5.0 - 7.5
  • Butterfly Flower 6.0 - 7.5
  • Cacti 4.5 - 6.0
  • Calceolaria 6.0 - 7.0
  • Caladium 6.0 - 7.5
  • Calla Lily 6.0 - 7.0
  • Camellia 4.5 - 5.5
  • Campanula 5.5 - 6.5
  • Capsicum 5.0 - 6.5
  • Cardinal Flower 5.0 - 6.0
  • Castor Oil Plant 5.5 - 6.5
  • Century Plant 5.0 - 6.5
  • Chinese Primrose 6.0 - 7.5
  • Christmas Cactus 5.0 - 6.5
  • Cineraria 5.5 - 7.0
  • Clerodendrum 5.0 - 6.0
  • Clivia 5.5 - 6.5
  • Cockscomb 6.0 - 7.0
  • Coffee Plant 5.0 - 6.0
  • Coleus 6.0 - 7.0
  • Columnea 4.5 - 5.5
  • Coral Berry 5.5 - 7.5
  • Crassula 5.0 - 6.0
  • Creeping Fig 5.0 - 6.0
  • Croton 5.0 - 6.0
  • Crown Of Thorns 6.0 - 7.5
  • Cuphea 6.0 - 7.5
  • Cyclamen 6.0 - 7.0
  • Cyperus 5.0 - 7.5
  • Dieffenbachia 5.0 - 6.0
  • Dipladenia 6.0 - 7.5
  • Dizygotheca 6.0 - 7.5
  • Dracaena 5.0 - 6.0
  • Easter Lily 6.0 - 7.0
  • Elephant's Ear 5.0 - 6.0
  • Episcia 6.0 - 7.0
  • Eucalyptus 6.0 - 8.0
  • Euonymus 5.5 - 7.0
  • Fern, Bird's Nest 5.0 - 5.5
  • Fern, Boston 5.5 - 6.5
  • Fern, Button 6.0 - 8.0
  • Fern, Christmas 6.0 - 7.5
  • Fern, Cloak 6.0 - 7.5
  • Fern, Feather 5.5 - 6.5
  • Fern, Hart's Tongue 7.0 - 8.0
  • Fern, Holly 4.5 - 6.0
  • Fern, Maidenhair 6.0 - 8.0
  • Fern, Rabbits Foot 6.0 - 7.5
  • Fern, Spleenwort 6.0 - 7.5
  • Fig 5.0 - 6.0
  • Fittonia 5.5 - 6.5
  • Freesia 6.0 - 7.5
  • Gardenia 5.0 - 6.0
  • Genista 6.5 - 7.5
  • Geranium 6.0 - 8.0
  • Gloxinia 5.5 - 6.5
  • Grape Ivy 5.0 - 6.5
  • Grevillea 5.5 - 6.5
  • Gynura 5.5 - 6.5
  • Hedera (Ivy) 6.0 - 7.5
  • Heliotropium 6.0 - 8.0
  • Helxine 5.0 - 5.5
  • Herringbone Plant 5.0 - 6.0
  • Hibiscus 6.0 - 8.0
  • Hoya 5.0 - 6.5
  • Impatiens 5.5 - 6.5
  • Iresine 5.0 - 6.5
  • Ivy Tree 6.0 - 7.0
  • Jacaranda 6.0 - 7.5
  • Japanese Sedge 6.0 - 8.0
  • Jasminum 6.0 - 7.5
  • Jerusalem Cherry 6.0 - 7.5
  • Jessamine 5.5 - 7.0
  • Kalanchoe 6.0 - 7.5
  • Kangaroo Thorn 6.0 - 8.0
  • Kangaroo Vine 5.0 - 6.5
  • Lace Flower 6.0 - 7.0
  • Lantana 5.5 - 7.0
  • Laurus 5.0 - 6.0
  • Lemon Plant 6.0 - 7.5
  • Mimosa 5.0 - 7.0
  • Mind Your Own Business 5.0 - 5.5
  • Monsters 5.0 - 6.0
  • Myrtle 6.0 - 8.0
  • Never Never Plant 5.0 - 6.0
  • Nicodemia 6.0 - 8.0
  • Oleander 6.0 - 7.5
  • Oplismenus 5.0 - 6.0
  • Orchid 4.5 - 5.5
  • Oxalis 6.0 - 8.0
  • Palms 6.0 - 7.5
  • Pandanus 5.0 - 6.0
  • Patient Lucy 5.5 - 6.5
  • Peacock Plant 5.0 - 6.0
  • Pellionia 5.0 - 6.0
  • Peperomia 5.0 - 6.0
  • Philodendron 5.0 - 6.0
  • Piles 6.0 - 8.0
  • Plumbago 5.5 - 6.5
  • Podocarpus 5.0 - 6.5
  • Poinsettia 6.0 - 7.5
  • Polyscias 6.0 - 7.5
  • Prayer Plant 5.0 - 6.0
  • Punica 5.5 - 6.5
  • Rubber Plant 5.0 - 6.0
  • Sansevieria 4.5 - 7.0
  • Saxifraga 6.0 - 8.0
  • Schizanthus 6.0 - 7.0
  • Scindapsus 5.0 - 6.0
  • Selaginella 6.0 - 7.0
  • Shrimp Plant 5.5 - 6.5
  • Spanish Bayonet 6.0 - 7.5
  • Spider Plant 6.0 - 7.5
  • Succulents 5.0 - 6.5
  • Syngonium 5.0 - 6.0
  • Thunbergia 5.5 - 7.5
  • Tolmiea 5.0 - 6.0
  • Tradescantia 5.0 - 6.0
  • Umbrella Tree 5.0 - 7.5
  • Venus Fly Trap 4.0 - 5.0
  • Weeping Fig 5.0 - 6.0
  • Yucca 6.0 - 7.5
  • Zebrina 5.0 - 6.0

Vegetable & Herb

  • Artichoke 6.5 - 7.5
  • Asparagus 6.0 - 8.0
  • Basil 5.5 - 6.5
  • Bean 6.0 - 7.5
  • Beetroot 6.0 - 7.5
  • Broccoli 6.0 - 7.0
  • Brussels 6.0 - 7.5
  • Cabbage 6.0 - 7.5
  • Calabrese 6.5 - 7.5
  • Carrot 5.5 - 7.0
  • Cauliflower 5.5 - 7.5
  • Celery 6.0 - 7.0
  • Chicory 5.0 - 6.5
  • Chinese Cabbage 6.0 - 7.5
  • Chives 6.0 - 7.0
  • Corn, Sweet 5.5 - 7.5
  • Cress 6.0 - 7.0
  • Courgettes 5.5 - 7.0
  • Cucumber 5.5 - 7.5
  • Fennel 5.0 - 6.0
  • Garlic 5.5 - 7.5
  • Ginger 6.0 - 8.0
  • Horseradish 6.0 - 7.0
  • Kale 6.0 - 7.5
  • Kohlrabi 6.0 - 7.5
  • Leek 6.0 - 8.0
  • Lentil 5.5 - 7.0
  • Lettuce 6.0 - 7.0
  • Marjoram 6.0 - 8.0
  • Marrow 6.0 - 7.5
  • Millet 6.0 - 6.5
  • Mint 7.0 - 8.0
  • Mushroom 6.5 - 7.5
  • Mustard 6.0 - 7.5
  • Olive 5.5 - 6.5
  • Onion 6.0 - 7.0
  • Paprika 7.0 - 8.5
  • Parsley 5.0 - 7.0
  • Parsnip 5.5 - 7.5
  • Pea 6.0 - 7.5
  • Peanut 5.0 - 6.5
  • Pepper 5.5 - 7.0
  • Peppermint 6.0 - 7.5
  • Pistacio 5.0 - 6.0
  • Potato, Sweet 4.5 - 6.0
  • Potato 5.5 - 6.0
  • Pumpkin 5.5 - 7.5
  • Radish 6.0 - 7.0
  • Rice 5.0 - 6.5
  • Rosemary 5.0 - 6.0
  • Sage 5.5 - 6.5
  • Shallot 5.5 - 7.0
  • Sorghum 5.5 - 7.5
  • Soybean 5.5 - 6.5
  • Spearmint 5.5 - 7.5
  • Spinach 6.0 - 7.5
  • Swede 5.5 - 7.0
  • Thyme 5.5 - 7.0
  • Tomato 5.5 - 7.5
  • Turnip 5.5 - 7.0
  • Watercress 6.0 - 8.0

Note:

1) If the soil is overly acidic, lime or lime compounds (ground limestone, marl, hydrated lime) should be added to raise the pH or reduce the acidity of the soil.

2) If the soil is overly alkaline, sulphur or coffee should be used to lower pH or increase the acidity of the soil. The PH of coffee is anywhere between 4.9 to 6. I personally prefer coffee as a soil amendment, because it is one of the most convenient sources of nitrogen.

3) Whilst different plants have different PH preference, most garden crops will do well with a soil pH of 6.2 to 6.8.

4) A pH of 6.5 is found to be the most favorable for the availability of all plant nutrients [1].

Reference [1]: http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/resmgmt/publist/600series/637100-1.pdf 


Edited on: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 2:15 AM
Categories: Go Green


How to grow sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes are relatively easy to grow. They can be grown indoor in a container. They are started from slips or a cut sweet potatoes.. You can either order sweet potatoes slips from Internet or grow your own slips from store bought sweet potatoes. What follows is a procedure for planting sweet potatoes and sweet potatoes viines.

Part I: Sprouting and growing sweet potato vines

Follow the following steps:

1) Buy a sweet potato from the supermarket. Make sure the sweet potato you bought is not a cooked one.

2) Use toothpicks to hold the sweet potato in place. Then, immerse the sweet potato into a jar of water.

4) In about one month's time, if the ambient temperature is not way too off, the sprouts will emerge. The sprouts are called slips. Each sweet potato can produce up to 50 slip sprouts! The slips will eventually go to soil, from which they eventually grow new sweet potatoes.

Sweet potato vines can be eatened as ordinary vegetables. In case you just want to eat the vines, you don't need to grow new sweet potatoes unless you want to propagate your sweet potatoes. The vines are also very tasty.

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Part II; Planting sweet potatoes slips to grow new sweet potatoes

Once your sweet potatoes have sprouted, the vines can be eaten as ordinary vegetables. At this stage, you are also ready to plant the slips to grow new sweet potatoes. To do this, follow the following steps:

1) Carefully cut the slips off the mother potatoes. Each of the slips should be about 6 inches long. If any of the slips is too long, just cut it into two halves and plant both.

2) Submerge the slips into a shallow jar of water.

3) In about one week, new roots will be formed. When the roots are about one inch long, the slips should be ready for planting in soil.

4) Finally, plant the slips in soil. Dig holes on the ground first. Then, insert a slip onto each hole. Finally, fill the hole with sand or sandy soil.

Sweet potatoes are pretty drought resistant. They do not need too much watering. According to my experience, watering once a week is more than enough.

Part III; Harvesting sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes should be ready to harvest in about 3 to 4 months, depending on the ambient conditions. They prefer temperatures above 50F at night and below 90F during the day. Any temperature outside this range will hinder their growth.


Edited on: Monday, April 26, 2010 8:45 PM
Categories: DIY Library, Go Green


Posted by Admin at 1:31 AM,Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Index of Happiness

The following is so-called the Index of Workplace Happiness done in 2004 by a British organization called City and Guilds. According to the index, care assistants, hairdressers, plumbers and chefs are in general the happiest people at work. No matter why those engaged in care profession always smile. The index also suggests that the most miserable workers in the workplace are those estate agents, media workers, pharmacists and accountants. This is something hard to understand.

1. Care assistants 40% (very happy)

2. Hairdressers 32%

3. Plumbers 32%

4. Chefs 30%

5. Florists 20%

6. Chartered engineers 18%

7. Lawyers 16%

8. Mechanics 14%

9. IT specialists 14%

10. R&D scientists 14%

11. Architects 8%

12. Electricians 6%

13. Accountants 4%

14. Pharmacists - 4%

15. Media workers - 4%

16. Estate agents - 4%


Edited on: Saturday, March 07, 2009 1:43 AM
Categories: News Archives


Posted by Admin at 8:07 PM,Monday, January 05, 2009

Self-watering planter from recycled soft-drink bottles (膠樽廢物利用, 不用日日淋水,慳水環保種植方法 ) - Updated on 10 December 2009

What follows is a way for making your own self-watering planter. This self-watering planter uses the well-known capillary effect to maintain a steady stream of moisture for the plant growth. With this self-watering planter, you don't need to water your plant every day.

This planter is not difficult to understand. Basically, it comprises a water reservoir and a soil container. Between the water reservoir and the soil container, there is some type of wicking structure that wicks water out of the water reservoir. The wicking action, together with the evaporation effect due to the sun heat, draws the water from the water reservoir up into the soil. As a result, the soil contines to be wet without running into a waterlogged situation.

1. Materials required: a pair of sissors, a wire cutter, a soft-drink bottle, a plant, a few pieces of kitchen towels, a few cotton strings.

2. Use a pair of scissors to cut the soft-drink bottle into two halves --- that is, the upper half and the lower half. Be careful, don't cut yourself.

3. Use the wire cutter to create an opening on the bottle cap. This opening should be large enough to accommodate a wicking structure, which, in this case, is a piece of kitchen towel.

4. Insert about two cotton strings into the mouth of the soft-drink bottle. Herein, the cotton strings is referred as wicking structure.

5. Position the bottle cap in a way that the side opening of the bottle cap fits the wicking structure. Then, screw the bottle cap on tightly.

6. Use a thumbtack to puncture as many holes around the bottleneck as possible. This step is highly important, because the root system of your plant will need to breath. Without enough holes around the bottleneck, your plant can die of lack of oxygen and get root rot.

7. Pour water to the lower half of the soft-drink bottle to 1/2~1/3 full.

8. The next step is to turn the upper half of the soft-drink bottle upside down and place it onto the lower-half, with the bottle cap pointing downward. Now, the wicking structure should be partially immersed into the water.

9. Before filling any soil, add another piece of kitchen towel into the upper half of the soft-drink bottle. At this stage, you can even cover the base of the soil container with compost teas dry leaves and other dry kitchen wastes.

10. Add some soil or purchased potting mix:

11. Sow your seed or transplant your plant.

12. Fill the planter with more soil, trim off the rest of the kitchen towel which remains on the edge of the planter and soak the soil with water:

32. There is no need to water the plant unless the water reservior is running out of water. If there is not enough water left in the water reservoir, then add some water onto the soil. The excess water as a result of over-watering will eventually drain off into the water reservoir, but most of the fertilizers and other important minerals will not get carried away. After serveral days, the wicking structure will draw water up again.

Notes:

a) The cotton strings absorb water through capillary action. The capillary action that moves water up into the soil is subjected to the resistance due to the gravity. It is important to plant your plant as deep as possible so that the root can readily access the moisture. However, planting your plant in too deep will encourage stem rot.

b) If you don't have any platistic bottle, then find one from the nearby rubbish bin.

c) If you don't have any cotton strings, then use kitchen towels, shoelaces, pieces of scrap cloth, old newspaper or whatever similar.


Edited on: Monday, April 26, 2010 4:11 PM
Categories: DIY Library, Go Green


Posted by Admin at 7:30 PM,Thursday, January 01, 2009

How to cure diarrhea naturally?

To cure diarrhea, just eat pineapple. It works for me very well. I got this trick from HERE . Pineapples contain bromelain which is a mixture of protein-digesting enzymes. According to a study, bromelain can prevent diarrhea in piglets infected with pathogenic E. coli. The study suggests that, in about 30 hours, bromelain blocks receptors on gut endothelium necessary for successful invasion by the bacteria and apparently directly interferes with bacterial toxins.

Thanks to the NDEr who offered such a simple but effective trick.


Edited on: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 2:16 AM
Categories: DIY Library, For Scientists and Engineers, Health