Sledge Hammer
Yucca glauca is our local native yucca. The common name is Soapweed, because native Americans used the roots to make soap. Harlequin’s Gardens has been using an extract of Yucca schidigera, Mojave Yucca, in our plant production for 30 years. Yucca roots are high in saponins which are plant chemicals that are both water and fat soluble. In nature, the saponins enhance nutrient absorption and serve as antifeedants to reduce pest damage.
The yucca product that we carry for our customers has the terrible name ‘Sledgehammer’, because it breaks down salts from high fertilizer use. We offer it for its natural function to release the surface tension of water which greatly helps water absorption into the soil and into the roots and through the cell walls of plants. These effects are particularly useful in helping seeds to germinate and helping drought-stressed plants absorb water and more quickly recover from dehydration.
The label says that Sledgehammer is just yucca. Use it at two teaspoons per gallon of water in normal watering.
We routinely use yucca extract as an emulsifier and ‘sticking’ agent whenever we are applying any kind of spray to plant foliage. This includes foliar feeding, horticultural oil sprays for pest management, or liquid kelp spray for toughening the leaf cuticle to block disease spores.
Mikl figured that if yucca helps with water absorption, then it could help with dehydration that comes with working outside and forgetting to drink water, so he takes one yucca capsule (made by NOW) a day. Yucca has the added benefit of improving nutrient absorption and reducing joint pain. It is said to improve digestion and support gut health.
Fine Woodchip Mulch: Mats tight to prevent blowing by the wind, and lets less light get to weed seeds, has more nutritive potential than cedar or redwood, decomposes rapidly against the ground.
The Soil Food Web is an important component for healthy plants. This concentrate has not only outstanding Mycorrhizae but also carriers of Biochar, kelp and worm castings. Improve water and nutrienet uptake, root growth and plant growth while reducing transplant shock and drought stress.
This is a water-absorbing gel that absorbs 200-400 times its density in water. It is used as a soil amendment to increase the water-holding capacity of soils, reducing watering frequency by 20-40% in the ground and 50-75% in containers and hanging baskets. It greatly aids establishing of young plants, and improves soil structure, staying effective for 8 years. It has been used to help trees in drought and to reduce the water requirements of lawns. I have used this product for 12 years in producing plants from seed and found it very useful, needing very little in the soil. It is a synthetic polyacrylamide polymer that has been determined nonhazardous by OSHA, but has not passed organic standards by OMRI.
Myke has two different blends of mycorrhizae to help when transplanting. One for vegetable gardens in the green bag and one for tress and shrubs in the blue box. Both stimulate root development and phosphorous uptake while reducing watering needs.