Lobelia is a genus of flowering plant comprising 360–400 species, with a subcosmopolitan distribution primarily in tropical to warm temperate regions of the world, a few species extending into cooler temperate regions. English names include Lobelia, Asthma Weed, Indian Tobacco, Pukeweed, and Vomitwort.
Lobelia is an ideal plant to be grown in containers, after all, the extremely beautiful blue or white petals cascading over pots and out of windowboxes give a great look. Lobelias are profuse summertime bloomers. Try these compact plants as border edging, along creekbeds, in containers, or in windowsill planters. They look great in hanging baskets, too. As a matter of fact, these cool weather flowers will bloom all the way to frost. They are a popular, easy to grow annual (grows only for one year) flower native to a wide range of regions in North and South America. There are many varieties, some of which are perennials, but the most used ones in gardening are annuals. It grows 4-8 inches high and sprawls over the ground or over the sides of containers.
In terms of sun, Lobelia plants like full sun to partial shade and the plants prefer cool weather. In terms of soil conditions, Lobelias like rich, wet soil. Lobelia plants will thrive in moist to wet soil along creekbeds and streams, or in natural wetlands. Avoid frost conditions.
Established plants need very little attention. You need to keep the soil moist to wet, and if there are dry spells, water frequently. For peak performance, add a general purpose fertilizer once a month. Around mid-summer, your plants will begin to produce flowers, and will continue to do so up to the first frost. You do not need remove dead flower blooms, except for appearance. When summer’s heat or humidity causes lobelia to stop blooming, just shear the plants back by half. As long as you keep the soil moist, they’ll bloom again when cooler weather hits.

How to grow from seed: 2 ways. First method is very simple and non-time consuming, all you need to do is to scatter the seed in the area that you wish for them to grow; or you could raise them in seedling trays. Raising them in seedbeds is the best way to get uniformity of plant and also you are more able to control exactly the position that they will grow in, but takes more effort.

Medical Uses: Native Americans used lobelia to treat respiratory and muscle disorders, and as a purgative. Today it is used to treat asthma and food poisoning, and is often used as part of smoking cessation programs. It is a physical relaxant, and can serve as a nerve depressant, easing tension and panic. The species used most commonly in modern herbalism is Lobelia inflata (Indian Tobacco).
Because of its similarity to nicotine, the internal use of lobelia may be dangerous to susceptible populations, including children, pregnant women, and individuals with cardiac disease. Excessive use will cause nausea and vomiting. It is not recommended for use by pregnant women and is best administered by a practitioner qualified in its use.

Trying to grow some juicy tomatoes ? Can’t resist the temptation to have some bright red juicy tomatoes growing on a vine and then to cut them in your kitchen, savoring the pleasure ? And of course, you really don’t have the outdoor space to grow tomatoes properly in soil ? Well, fear not. There are plenty of resources dedicated to helping you grow tomatoes even though you do not have soil on the ground and would like to grow them in containers. Here is the link to an article that provides many more details on what you should do to get such a garden:

* Plant tomatoes such as cherry or Roma varieties that have smaller fruit, which do best with the upside down hanging tomato growing method.
* If you don’t like the look of a five gallon bucket, you can also purchase planters specifically made for hanging tomatoes.
* Be sure to pick a solid place and use a good strong hook or other means from which to hang your tomato plants; each planter will weigh between 35 and 40 pounds.
* Plant your hanging tomato plants in spring (between late April and early June depending on how far north you are located) so that you can enjoy fresh tomatoes all through the growing season.

The article takes you through details on how you can set up your container for growing the tomatoes, get the required soil (with the additives that you would need for this purpose), and so on. And of course, you can go and search for more details on how to grow tomatoes in containers (also refer to previous articles on this site).

Growing vegetables in 5 gallon buckets is a good option for people who have constraints or do not have space for a regular kitchen garden. A whole lot of items can be grown in 5 gallon containers (or other sized containers) similar to growing in a kitchen garden easily. So, for example, the following are a sample of the vegetables that can be grown in containers:
- Vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers will readily adapt to growing in containers.

What is the process you should use:
- Stab a dozen holes in the bottom of your five-gallon bucket with a nail or screwdriver, then pour in a couple of inches of mulch in the bottom; mulch will help keep the water drained properly and prevent rot.
- Fill up the rest of the bucket with potting soil, leaving a two- to four-inch space at the top.
- Since the roots of the plants will be confined, be sure to water the plants as often as necessary to keep the soil from drying out.
- Get yourself a sturdy stake and embed it into the soil at a good enough depth that it will be able to hold up the weight of a fruit-laden plant. If necessary, set up small wire frames to provide support.
- They also sell “tomato cages,” which replace the stake with a metal mesh that fits in the top of the bucket and rises up into a cone, given the tomato plant more room to vine.
- Sprinkle a layer of mulch over the top of the exposed soil.
- If you’re growing indoors, select vegetables better suited for modest sunlight.
- Keep an eye on them for diseases and other such problems, including pests (although if you have pests inside your house, then you have bigger problems)
- If growing tomatos, choose determinate-type tomato plants rather than indeterminate ones. Determinate tomatoes will reach 3 to 5 feet high, where indeterminates will continue putting on new growth all summer.

While growing plants, watering these plants is a very necessary process. But you need to make sure that you remember to water them regularly. Failing to do so means that your plants could suffer and not grow like you would like them to grow. In addition, different seasons and different plants require different watering conditions.
So, you must be thinking “Why could we not have a system where plants could get water as and when required; why should I have to know the peculiar conditions for watering depending on the plant and the weather?”. There is actually a solution to this problem in the form of something called “Self Watering Container” (SWC).
Self Watering Containers obviously cannot generate water by themselves; however, they solve the problem of ensuring water when required by setting up a bottom chamber that is a water reservoir and above which is the potting mix along with the roots of the plants. The roots pick up water by osmosis, ensuring that water is drawn when required; leading to an improvement in the growing abilities of most plants. Read this article that explains this in more details (link):

You can make SWCs out of many different types of containers, including kitty litter buckets and 5-gallon buckets, which are, of course, smaller than the 18-gallon storage tubs but will serve nicely for a pepper plant, one of the smaller varieties of eggplant, and other plants.
# If you are growing vegetables in containers anyway, then the SWCs make life much easier: you only have to water every few days rather than every day (or even multiple times per day in the case of large plants in traditional containers).
# An even-better reason for using SWCs rather than traditional containers is that the vegetables grow very much better in them. I’d say that – per square foot of container surface – SWCs give you at least twice the yield of traditional containers, and probably even more.

Read the whole article to understand the advantage (as well as disadvantages) in more detail.