Tag: water

Modular app-controlled vertical garden stacks greens indoors or out

Italy’s Hexagro has launched a new vertical garden designed to bring a splash of green to the home. Designed for folks with limited space, the Clovy offers growers the choice of hydroponics or aeroponics, the setup can grow taller as their green thumbs develop, and it features pods made from recycled materials or agricultural waste.

Thanks to an IoT irrigation system, folks don’t need to concern themselves with daily watering as the automation technology takes care of that, with fine control available via a companion mobile app – which includes an “AI-powered cultivation assistant” called Hexbee that helps guide users through plant care and maintenance.

“With the IoT system, you can schedule specific times and days for irrigation, adjusting the amount of water delivered,” explained the company. “This flexibility allows you to optimize water consumption, reduce waste, and promote responsible water resource management. Moreover, the irrigation system features two electrical

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Nutritional garden boost for Mberengwa villagers

The Chronicle

Raymond Jaravaza,[email protected]

WHEN the Government joined hands with development partners to establish a nutrition garden in Ward 33 in Mberengwa District, many villagers took it as a place to just fetch clean tap water.

Those from Chingechuru Village who were used to walking long distances to get clean and safe water, rejoiced more when 10 taps with running water were established.

Two years later, after a nutrition garden was established in the village in 2021, women like Mrs Doreen Mathela now understand the true value of a nutrition garden.

“At first most of us were just happy that we had clean and safe water closer to our homes but didn’t fully understand the benefits of a nutrition garden,” she said in an interview.

“Because we were used to fetching water from rivers, we saw the garden as a place to just fetch clean water and go home.

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Gardening for You: DIY ollas

The nifty water delivery system of an olla was introduced in last week’s Gardening for You column (July 19). An olla (OY-yah) is a porous clay pot that supplies water directly to a plant’s root zone. Water molecules pass through the pores of the clay into the surrounding soil; it is passive movement, not requiring an external energy input.

Small, medium, and large pots can be made into ollas by plugging the drain holes and fitting terra cotta saucers for lids. Small ollas are suitable for container-gardening, medium and large pots for raised beds and in-the-ground gardens.

Small, medium, and large pots can be made into ollas by plugging the drain holes and fitting terra cotta saucers for lids. Small ollas are suitable for container-gardening, medium and large pots for raised beds and in-the-ground gardens.

Water moves from a higher concentration in the pot to a lower concentration in the soil, seeping slowly into the soil until the water concentration in the pot is the same as in the soil. Water movement ceases when this equilibrium is reached. As surrounding soil dries, water movement from the pot resumes.

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Gardening for You: Ollas: Nifty hydration system

In last week’s Gardening for You column (July 12) were some water principles to consider for optimizing growth and development of crop plants. In today’s column is a nifty water delivery system that keeps plants hydrated on hot July days.

Traditional water delivery systems that supply water to plants include sprinklers, soaker hoses, hand watering, and drip. But there is an ancient method to keep plants hydrated that plant growers in arid parts of the globe have used for centuries: the olla.

An olla is being used to deliver water to a tomato plant. Only the neck and lid is visible as the large clay water reservoir is buried under the soil surface. The narrow neck reduces evaporation at the soil surface.

An olla is being used to deliver water to a tomato plant. Only the neck and lid is visible as the large clay water reservoir is buried under the soil surface. The narrow neck reduces evaporation at the soil surface.

The word “olla” (OY-yah) is from the Latin meaning “pot”. In fact, an olla is just that – a clay pot.

The olla hydration system is simple. A

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Water supply | Fresh breach hits water supply to large parts of Behala, Garden Reach and Maheshtala

Water supply to large parts of Behala, Garden Reach and Maheshtala was disrupted after a repaired portion of a pipe breached again early on Tuesday, officials of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) and police officers said.

The leak, near Jinjirabazar on Budge Budge Trunk Road, was so big that some of the shops and homes along the stretch got flooded.

Those whose shops and homes were flooded blocked the road in the afternoon, disrupting traffic to and from the city.

Senior CMC engineers said the leak developed in a 900mm-diameter pipe, which supplies potable water to large parts of Behala, Garden Reach and Maheshtala.

“Ten to 12 wards in Behala were affected. It is not that they did not get any water,but the pressure was farlower. The volume of water supplied to these places was much less than usual,” an engineer said.

Dulal Das, chairperson of Maheshtala Municipality, said the

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Plainview, Garden City, Jericho water districts get millions in grants to improve water quality

Three Nassau County communities are among eight locales statewide awarded a piece of a $40 million grant package earmarked for water infrastructure improvement, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced this week.

The grants, including $5.399 million for the Plainview Water District, $5.336 million for the Village of Garden City and $3 million for the Jericho Water District, are part of $40.3 million for projects in what the governor’s office called the latest action to safeguard New York’s drinking water supplies, as well as upgrade water and sewer systems and reduce water pollution.

In Jericho, the funding will go to construct a “packed tower aeration system” needed to treat concentrations of Freon-22 at Wells No. 6 and No. 16 — two of the 25 wells, some approaching 700 feet deep, that draw from the Magothy and Lloyd aquifers. 

The refrigerant, which is being phased out nationwide, for years served as the choice hydrochlorofluorocarbon

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When purchasing bulbs, don’t grab from bottom of barrel

Q. For many years I bought narcissus bulbs at local nurseries, put them in a bulb vase filled with water and watched them grow. Some years I would do 10 or more as gifts. Now they don’t grow — they just sit there with bottoms touching the water and do nothing. I’ve tried the last three years (and bought bulbs from different nurseries) and now I’m curious as to what has changed. So far nothing, so now I’m really going to give up. — Julie Brock, Virginia Beach

A. I assume you are referring to the paperwhite, Narcissus papyraceus, a species of perennial bulb native to the Mediterranean. It is the easiest bulb to force and is thus popular to grow indoors in winter, particularly during the holidays.

Bulbs often need chilling — “vernalization” — before they are forced, with eight to 15 weeks at 35 to 45 degrees

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Iraq’s Garden of Eden now ‘like a desert’

To feed and cool his buffaloes, Hashem Gassed must cross 10km of sunburn land in southern Iraq, where drought is devastating swathes of the mythical Mesopotamian Marshes.

The reputed home of the biblical Garden of Eden, Iraq’s swamplands have been battered by three years of drought and low rainfall, as well as reduced water flows along rivers and tributaries originating in neighboring Turkiye and Iran.

Vast expanses of the once lush Huwaizah Marshes, straddling the border with Iran, have been baked dry, their vegetation yellowing. Stretches of the Chibayish Marshes, which are popular with tourists, are suffering the same fate.

“The marshes are our livelihood – we used to fish here and our livestock could graze and drink,” said Gassed, 35, from a hamlet near Huwaizah.

Southern Iraq’s marshlands were inscribed as a Unesco World Heritage site in 2016, both for their biodiversity and their ancient history. But now, beds

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Gardening: Deep watering can help plants through the heat

The heat is hanging on a little longer than usual this summer and that has added stress to our garden plants.

Because of the cool wet spring, most plants put on extra growth and now they are struggling more than normal to maintain that growth. What can you do to help them?

First, even drought-tolerant shrubs and plants are showing signs of water stress. Leaves are drooping and curling, and some plants drop excessively during the heat of the day. All this means that water is not getting deep enough to supply the roots with what they need.

An easy test to do to confirm this is to dig a 6-inch deep hole in the plant’s root zone. If the soil at the bottom of the hole is dry, then you need to up your watering schedule and then do some selective deep soaking.

This time of year, both our

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civic issues – Kolkata Municipal Corporation water supply pipe explodes at Garden Reach

A 15ft long section of a 1200mm diameter water pipe inside the Garden Reach water treatment plant in southwest Kolkata burst and broke away from the supply line disrupting water supply in and around the city on Wednesday morning.

Engineers who were restoring the broken section said that water supply would remain normal on Thursday. The accident happened around 7am.

A senior engineer of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), the custodian of the plant, said that the line burst and broke open the soil and concrete surface above it, such was its impact.

“We are still working on the repairs. We are hoping that the water supply will remain normal from Thursday morning,” said the engineer on Wednesday night.

Another engineer said that supply to the affected line was stopped to enable repairs and the water was diverted through other pipes.

Large areas of Kolkata, including entire Behala and

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