Grow your own Cotton

Cotton flower

We all wear cotton clothes and we know about cotton fields, and there are even old songs that talk about picking a "bale of cotton," but what a lot of people don't realise is that the plant the fibre comes from has an attractive flower and leaves and makes a very unusual ornamental plant to grow as a houseplant or in your garden.

Cotton species
Species of the Cotton Plant grown and harvested commercially are Gossypium hirsutum (90% of world production), G. barbadense (8%), G. arboreum and G. herbaceum and they are all in the Mallow family or Malvaceae.

Cotton described

The Cotton Plant is a shrub or bush and can grow to as high as 3 metres, depending on the species and the growing conditions. Cotton species are subtropical or tropical plants but can be grown indoors as houseplants in colder climates.

Cotton comes originally from Africa, India and the Americas. The plants need a fairly good soil and plenty of water to grow well. Cotton plants start off with two fairly large seed-leaves and then start to develop the proper leaves, which are palmate in form. The plants can grow fast and will eventually produce pretty flowers in shades of yellow or pale orange and these are followed by the bolls, which contain hard seeds covered in the fluffy cotton fibre.

Parts of the Cotton plant

Pests

Cotton plants can be attacked by several insect pests including thrips, whiteflies and caterpillars. There is a species of moth caterpillar known as the "bollworm." Surely the best way of dealing with pests is the old-fashioned way or by using biological controls?

Monsanto

Genetically modified cotton has been produced by the bioengineering global company Monsanto. This form is known as BT Cotton and contains a pesticide from a gene in its artificially manipulated DNA.

It is successful in combating some insect pests but not all and in India has caused terrible problems for farmers there who bought the seeds from Monsanto. Faced with failed crops, a need for irrigation, herbicides, and buying new seed from the company, many farmers have found themselves unable to afford the costs and have actually committed suicide. This is yet another tragedy brought to the world by this powerful global company that has also given us Agent Orange, a dangerous defoliant used in the Vietnam War, and Aspartame, the toxic artificial sweetener that is found in a disturbing amount of food and drink products today.

Organic Cotton
There has also been a move towards growing organically-produced cotton and plenty of such products on sale. Many people prefer to have cotton clothes as a natural product as opposed to artificial fibres but they would also prefer a natural product free of pesticides and herbicide residues.

Cotton growing in a  flower border

Tenerife
I first came upon a Cotton Plant growing as a bush in a shrub border here on Tenerife. I picked a boll off the plant and found that the seeds it contained germinated very easily. I have also seen plants of cotton in a row on a shrub border in the village I live in where I assume they have been planted by a member of the local community.

Cotton bolls

If you have enough land and live in a warm enough part of the world you could grow your own field of cotton but I grow my Cotton Plants on the balcony. Cotton makes a very unusual and attractive plant to grow and I can certainly recommend it.

Copyright © 2012 Steve Andrews. All Rights Reserved.

Hot stuff – growing Capsicum Peppers

Green Bell Pepper

Many people enjoy eating hot spicy dishes such as curries, and also like growing their own plants, and this is where the many species of Peppers (Capsicum) are ideal for both purposes. Chilli Peppers and Sweet Peppers are very easy to grow and you can use their fruits too.

There are so many to choose from. There are the very hot Chilli, Cherry and Cayenne Peppers, and many varieties and cultivars available within these groups, and there are the much larger Bell or Sweet Peppers that are not hot to taste and are eaten in many ways.

In fact there are over 1,000 cultivars grown in the world with a very wide range of colours, shapes and degree of pungency. Most cultivated Peppers are either of the C. annuum var. annuum or C. frutescens species.

Pepper groups

Peppers can loosely be included in five separate groups. There is the Cerasiforme Group (Cherry Peppers), with small and very hot fruit, the Conoides Group (Cone Peppers) with erect and cone-shaped fruit, the Fasiculatum Group (Red Cone Peppers) with thin red and very hot fruit, the Grossum Group (Bell Peppers, Sweet Peppers and Pimientos), with large sweet fruit that are green and ripen to red or yellow, and finally the Longum Group (Cayenne and Chilli Peppers) with drooping, very hot-tasting fruit that are the source of Chilli Powder, Cayenne Pepper and Tabasco Sauce. There are books about Peppers such as The Whole Chile Pepper Book that comes with over 180 hot and spicy recipes using them.

Growing Peppers

The Peppers are all annuals or short-lived perennials and grow easily from seed. They are all frost-tender so need to be grown in greenhouses or indoors in temperate zones and countries like the UK. They grow fine outdoors in subtropical and tropical areas of the world as long as they have enough water.

I have personally grown them well in pots on a balcony in Tenerife and in my house when I lived in Britain.  My good friend Chris Fowler, who lives in Cardiff, became so involved in his hobby of growing Peppers that he has been successfully cultivating many different varieties, and set up a small business selling his produce. He has posted lots of photos of his Peppers at his Facebook site.

The plants do best in well-drained nutrient-rich soil and germinate easily enough. I have grown Peppers from seeds I have taken from fruit I have bought or been given but you can, of course, buy named varieties in packets of seed commercially available. Most Peppers form bushy plants with small white flowers that turn into green fruit that change colour as they ripen and grow larger.

Cherry Peppers

History of Capsicum Peppers

Capsicums were first introduced to Europe and the Western world after being brough from Mexico following Columbus’s voyage of 1942. A doctor who had sailed with him and noticed how the Native Americans used the fruit for flavouring food and as medicines, such as toothache remedies and pain relievers. It is said that the Portuguese then took Peppers to Africa and India.

Medicinal uses and properties

The bitter alkaloid Capsaicin has been established as a pain-killer.  Peppers are also antibacterial and contain vitamins A and C, as well as minerals. Hot varieties increase blood flow, stimulate sweating and are good for the digestion. Capsaicin can be made into an analgesic cream used to treat rheumatism, arthritis and aching joints.

Culinary uses

Sweet Peppers can be eaten raw in salads or cooked as vegetables. They can be stuffed or added as ingredients to other mixed dishes such as sauces for pasta, for pizzas and in soups and stews. Hot Chilli and other very pungent Peppers are added to pickles and chutneys, as well as providing their hot spiciness for Indian, Thai, Mexican and other cuisines of the world.

Chilli Pepper

And finally...

From this short introduction to Capsicum Peppers I am sure you will see many reasons why they make excellent plants to grow, but a word of warning: the hot Peppers can cause painful inflammation if they are brought into contact with mucous membranes. So if you have been handling Chilli Peppers do not touch your eyes or other sensitive parts of the body or you will regret not washing your hands first!


Copyright © 2012 Steve Andrews. All Rights Reserved.

Basil is an easy herb to grow

Flowering Basil

Basil (Ocimum basilicum) is a very popular herb used in Mediterranean cuisine. Although it originates in India and needs a subtropical or tropical climate to grow outdoors, it can, nevertheless, be grown in the UK in the summer and as a potted plant or under glass.

Pesto Sauce

Basil is a very aromatic herb and is best used fresh but the leaves can also be dried for storage. It goes very well with tomato dishes of any type and is excellent as a herb used to add flavour to pizzas and the sauces for pasta. It is the main ingredient for Pesto sauce. This popular sauce used to be made with a pestle and mortar to grind up the ingredients but today a blender or food processor makes the job much easier.

Growing Basil

Basil grows well enough in pots and window boxes and can be bought as small plants or started from seed. It will reach as much as 2 ft under ideal conditions but is usually a lot shorter. Basil is a half-hardy annual. It produces spikes of small white flowers that are carried in whirls. The leaves of basil are bright green and release their perfume if lightly brushed. There are plenty of great books available about growing herbs.

A culinary and medicinal herb

Basil is one of many culinary and medicinal herbs from the Sage and Mint family or Lamiaceae.  Indeed, besides being a valuable herb for using in the kitchen it also has its uses in herbal medicine because it has antidepressant, antiseptic and soothing properties. The fresh leaves are said to be a remedy for insect bites and stings too. An infusion of the plant taken with honey is a treatment for colds. The essential oil of Basil is used in perfumery and in aromatherapy.

Vishnu and Lakshmi on Garuda

Lord Vishnu

Coming from India, it is perhaps not surprising to find that Basil is regarded as sacred to Lord Vishnu in the Hindu religion. It is often planted in temple gardens and offered at holy shrines to the god. Basil is also used in funerals when a leaf is placed on the chest of a corpse after the head of the dead body has been washed in Basil water. In Asian countries it is often planted and scattered on graves.

Basil varieties

There are many varieties of Basil, such as Dark Opal with purple leaves and cerise-pink flowers, and Purple Ruffles with purplish leaves with crinkly leaves. Bush Basil (O. b. Var minimum) is also known as Greek Basil. It is a short and bushy plant not growing higher than 12 inches in height but it has very aromatic foliage and tiny white flowers. These varieties hybridise readily if not kept apart.

Basil was first brought to Britain in the 16th century and it was used then as a strewing herb, due to its strong aromatic properties. Today Basil is one of the most commonly grown herbs and is very easy to grow from seed. It is a great choice for a kitchen herb garden. If you are thinking of growing your own herbs then Basil should definitely be on your list.

Copyright © 2012 Steve Andrews. All Rights Reserved.

Exotic pets in captivity – the good and bad side

Panther Chameleon male

There is a definite attraction in keeping exotic pets but whilst there is a booming trade supplying these animals there is both a good and a very bad side to the business. What is positive about this is that many people really do love and care for the creatures they have in captivity, but this comes at the expense of all those millions that die after being captured in the wild and are kept and transported in very bad conditions. The ones that end up on sale are often a minority that survived, although many are captive bred which is fair enough.

The appeal of tropical and exotic animals is often because they are very colourful, unusual or just plain cute to look at. Chameleons come into all these categories. The number of people interested in these strange reptiles can be seen by the millions of views videos on Youtube get for the creatures. The Panther Chameleon (Furcifer pardalis) from Madagascar is one of the most popular species, coming as it does in dazzling shades of vibrant blue, brilliant red and vivid green. These strange reptiles have become so popular there is a range of books about them.

It is all well and good if people look after their exotic pets but so often this is not done. Even with the best intentions many tropical animals are very hard to keep in captivity and many grow very large.  Some reptiles such as alligators, iguanas and snakes, such as pythons, end up getting released into the wild. In some cases non-native animals set up breeding colonies and become invasive species at the expense of creatures that are already living there. There are many examples of this. The American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) is a notable one because it eats smaller creatures including endemic species of frog and other amphibians.

Slow Loris female

Some species of exotic animal are actually being brought close to extinction due to the demand for them. The Slow Loris (Nycticebus coucang) is one such creature, and it is usually subjected to horrific cruelty too. The animal has a venomous bite and so to make them safe collectors and dealers pull out or clip out their teeth using no anaesthetic and leaving the terrified animals bleeding badly and subject to infections. All of this, just because they look ‘cute,’ and can make some money for some poor villager in Indonesia or other part of Asia where they live.

Many species owe their survival to being kept in captivity where they are successfully bred. Such is the insanity of the modern world that it really is true that some types of animal are safer in the care of humans than living in the wild.

Zebra Pleco. Photo by Birger A

Habitat destruction is a major threat to so many animals and plants today. The black and white Zebra Pleco (Hypancistrus Zebra) catfish from Brazil is one fish that may end up surviving only because of its looks that have made it popular with tropical fish-keepers. It lives only in a limited area of the Xingu River and if the Belo Monte Dam is built the conditions this fish needs will be destroyed.

Père David's Deer (Elaphurus davidianus) is a deer from China that only survived because of a captive herd that all living animals of this species are descended from. It is extinct in the wild.

It is very easy to say that all wild animals belong back in the wild but it is not that simple. In some cases, such as the deer mentioned above, the species would no longer be alive if they had not been kept by humans. 


Copyright © 2012 Steve Andrews. All Rights Reserved.

Is the "Chemtrail era" about to end? JazzRoc thinks so!

Contrails above cloud as seen from a plane

Like me, you probably wish we could return to the days gone by with blue skies and white fluffy clouds and none of this white hazy sky that is caused by the trails planes leave behind? You have probably heard about the conspiracy theory that claims that persistent contrails are “chemtrails” and you may even believe this. Millions do!

These trails are said by chemtrail-believers to contain all manner of toxic substances, and many think they are part of some Secret Government plot to cull the human population. It is said that the elements Barium and Aluminium/Aluminum are in these trails. Well, I have just had some wonderful news from my good friend Tony Duncan aka JazzRoc, who says that the ongoing debate and all the hoopla associated with it will be coming to an end. Tony explains it this way: 

"Finally, the "chemtrail era" is about to END. The next generation of air traffic control equipment will be IN EVERY PLANE. This means that aircraft will exchange information about the HUMID AIR (which is the cause of persistent trails in the first place) in order to be able to ROUTE THEMSELVES AROUND IT. And that'll be the end of that.”


William Thomas and Clifford Carnicom
JazzRoc is a scientist and former aviation engineer and knows what he is talking about. Several years back He got involved in a big way on the Internet because he was posting on many websites and forums debunking the term chemtrail. It was him that got me to see how crazy this belief system was and is. Yes, I admit that I used to believe in the chemtrail conspiracy. I was accepting what I had read in NEXUS magazine and elsewhere and believing what people like William Thomas and Clifford Carnicom were saying. 


In recent times a film by G. Edward Griffin entitled What in the World are They Spraying? has been doing the rounds and adding to the worldwide fear and paranoia about chemtrails and a Secret Government. But I can understand why people accept this propaganda. I believed my own eyes that were showing me the skies messed up by trails that lasted hours and that crisscrossed and ended up spreading into a whitish haze.

Sun Halos
I had also witnessed sun halos in the white cloud mess the skies often became. This was a new atmospheric phenomenon I had not seen before. I blamed it on chemtrails. But then JazzRoc asked me if I knew what made up the halos around the Moon. Of course, I did. I knew they were created by water vapour that can form minute ice crystals. It was a moment of realisation. I joined the dots and saw that halos in the day must be caused the same way. Not by particles of Barium or Aluminum but by ice crystals, by frozen water vapour. This was what was in the trails, which were contrails all along, and not chemtrails.

Sun Halo

HubPages and Myspace
I announced that I had changed my belief about this matter at HubPages and at Myspace and was met with a barrage of chemtrail-believers and conspiracy theorists trying to reconvert me to this belief or making ridiculous claims about me saying I had been “got at,” “drugged,” or “hypnotised.”  In the meantime, JazzRoc had been deleted from YouTube and there were all manner of crazy claims being circulated about him saying he worked for the CIA, was a "Secret Government employee" and a "disinformation agent".  At that time he was working part-time as a community gardener in the Tenerife resort of El Médano. I knew the truth but the ‘true-believers’ persisted in their delusions not just about Tony and myself but also about the contrails they call chemtrails.

Bard of Ely in 2007 with Stop Chemtrails t-shirt

No more Chemtrails
And so if JazzRoc is right, after many years of arguing about this matter with chemtrail-believers who hold onto their belief as avidly as an ardent member of a cult or religion, I will be really delighted if this is true and the day will dawn that we will no longer be seeing our skies messed up by the air traffic that causes the trails and cirrus cloud to form. Imagine that - no contrails, no chemtrails, no more arguments! Chemtrails will have been stopped! 

Copyright © 2012 Steve Andrews. All Rights Reserved.

The Death’s-head Hawk Moth is a very strange insect

Death's Head Hawk Moth

You may have seen the Death’s-head Hawk Moth (Acherontia atropos) in Silence of the Lambs. Because of its scary appearance and reputation this very large and very strange insect was included in publicity for this very successful thriller starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster

.

You see, this massive hawk moth has the spooky image of a skull on its thorax, and its horizontally banded body reminds us of the ribs of a human skeleton. Add to this the fact that the Death’s-head hawk Moth can squeak when alarmed and that its huge caterpillar can make clicking sounds, and it is not surprising that there are many superstitions surrounding this insect.

These moths are migrants from southern Europe and North Africa and sometimes arrive in the UK, where although it’s a very rarely seen species, it sometimes breeds and lays its eggs on potato plants. The Death’s Head Hawk Moth also lives in Tenerife and on the other Canary Islands.

 Death’s Head Hawk Moth caterpillars can also eat plants in the Solanaceae or nightshade family and often feed on Datura species such as the poisonous Thornapple (Datura stramonium). Plants in the Verbena family, including the subtropical shrub Lantana (Lantana crocea), can also be eaten, as can the Tulip Tree (Spathodea campanulata) and other shrubs in the Bignoniaceae.

Death's Head Hawk Moth caterpillar (yellow version)

The finger-length caterpillars come in three different colour variations. There is a brown form that matches the colouring of twigs and woody stems, a yellow caterpillar with purplish stripes on its sides and a green larva with striped sides too. If disturbed the click their mandibles.

Death's Head Hawk Moth caterpillar (brown type)

The caterpillars pupate in soil and leaf litter and hatch out after a few weeks in warm conditions. In Britain it is too cold in the winter months for the pupae to survive and so the moth is not resident in the UK. 

Pupa of the Death's Head Hawk Moth

The adult moths only have short proboscises so cannot feed from many types of flowers and instead they take tree sap and also steal honey from beehives. It is said that the moth’s scent deters the bees from attaching them when the insects are carrying out a raid. The hawk moths squeak when feeding on honey too. Perhaps they make this noise because they are enjoying their stolen food or maybe to scare off the bees? 

You can find out much more about hawk moths in the excellent book Hawk Moths of the World.


Copyright © 2012 Steve Andrews. All Rights Reserved.

Help frogs, toads and newts with a garden pond

A pair of Common Frogs 

Do you like frogs? I do and have done since I was a little boy. In my childhood days, tadpoles were a common sight in ponds in parks, gardens and in fields in the countryside but sadly that is not the case today.

Most amphibians are presently under threat with fast declining populations. Habitat loss, pollution, pesticides and herbicides, Climate Change, deaths caused by traffic on roads, and the chytrid fungus are all taking a heavy toll. So we all need to do what we can to help in the conservation of frogs, toads, newts and salamanders.

Most amphibians need water to breed in. They gather in ponds, lakes, canals and wherever they can find enough freshwater suitable for their needs. This means that if you have a garden then you can make a significant contribution in helping the local populations of frogs, toads and newts by having a garden pond.

Ely

When I lived on the Ely estate in Cardiff I made a pond using an old bath that someone had thrown away. It had been thrown out and into a rubbish skip in the street I lived in but I saw a use for it so salvaged it. I dug a big enough hole in the lawn area of my back garden and put the bath in place. I got a plug to stop water getting out, filled it up, added some large rocks so that anything that fell in could climb back out, and got some water plants from a local pond.

Common Frogs

Within just a few years I had a thriving colony of Common Frogs (Rana temporia) and Palmate Newts (Lissotriton helveticus) using the home I had given them as a place to breed. It was wonderful seeing them gather there each spring. I know my efforts inspired others to have a go too because as many as four families in Ely that I know and that knew about my conservation efforts, now have ponds in their back gardens, all of which have frogs and newts breeding in them.

Pond in my friend Jane's garden

If I could achieve this with just an old bathtub, think what can be done with a proper pond! You can buy ready-made pools from garden centres or create a pond using waterproof sheeting to line it.  The bigger the pond you make the better it is for attracting and supporting amphibian species.  


Great Crested Newt
In the UK, the very rare and endangered Great Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus) only uses very big ponds or lakes, and the Common Toad (Bufo bufo) also likes larger sources of freshwater to breed in.

Having a pond in your back garden is likely to attract pretty Dragonfly species as well. The larvae or nymphs of these insects are predators and will eat tadpoles and baby newts but no need to worry about that. There will probably be too many this is nature’s way of keeping the balance.

A pond becomes a place that will provide a focal point in your garden and is a real help in the conservation of amphibians and other aquatic and semi-aquatic wildlife. Why not get a good book on Backyard Wildlife and find out what else you can do to create you very own nature reserve?

Find out how to build a frog pond here at the Save the Frogs website. 


Copyright © 2012 Steve Andrews. All Rights Reserved.