December 15th, 2007 by admin
As winter sets in, you usually start getting worried about the plants that you have in your garden because they might not be able to fight the frost or resist the chilly winds. This holds true especially for herbs because they are delicate. Indoor herb gardening is the answer to all your worries regarding your garden. And you don’t even have to renovate your home to start growing herbs indoors. A widow that faces the South or West direction and allows sunlight for 5 hours in a day will suffice your need for indoor herb gardening. If you are staying in a high-rise apartment and the only greenery that you get to see is the distant park, then indoor herb gardening is good for you and your apartment too.
Thyme, rosemary and mint are good options as starters for your indoor herb garden. You can grow them from cuttings or buy them from a florist. You can get these plants from a supermarket as well. If you want to start your indoor herb garden this way then you need to initially grow the herbs in a soil-less mix of perlite, peat and vermiculite. You get the directions for use on the package or the greenhouse from where you bought the mix.
If you prefer staying away from all that shopping, then you can start your indoor herb gardening with the seeds. To start, you need to get some pots in which you can grow your herbs. A pot with good drainage, especially terracotta or a clay pot is preferable. Small pots of 6″ diameter are perfect for indoor gardening as they are small enough to grow compact plants and allow enough growth as well.
You should have pots of same material, shape and size to bring symmetry in your indoor herb garden. The contrast that you desire can come from the colors and shapes of herbs. Also you should plant different herbs in different pots, rather than 2/3 in the same one so that mint and basil do not taste the same. Herbs that can be directly grown from seeds are basil and Greek Oregano. You need to be careful while choosing the seeds. Buy the ones that are specified as ‘compact’ as the regular ones are difficult to grow indoors because of their size.
To grow your herbs indoors from seeds you need to fill the pots with potting soil that you can get from any florist or greenhouse. Then tuck the seeds in soil to a certain depth as specified on the packet and spray them with water. These pots should be kept on the window shelf facing the southern or western direction to soak up enough sunlight. You should also keep the soil damp, especially if you live in a dry or overheated apartment. You should not over-water your herbs once you see the sprouts, as the roots may rot.
If you have started your indoor herb gardening with cuttings or via transplant, you should allow the soil to dry out a slightly. Your indoor herb garden should get plenty of light but should not be exposed to extreme heat.
Tracy Ballisager is stays at home mum, who loves gardening. To read more about gardening tips and idea go to http://www.gardening-tips-idea.com
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A group of Chinese researchers find that radix linderae (wu yao) may be used in treating rheumatoid arthritis because radix linderae is found to be able to suppresses inflammation and protects joints from destruction. The study was done by scientists at the Department of Pharmacology of Chinese Materia Medica, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
Radix linderae, the dry roots of Lindera aggregata (Sims) Kosterm., is frequently used in traditional Chinese medicine. It contains alkaloids, volatile oils and sesquiterpene esters.
What are contained in radix linderae? A nets aporphinoid alkaloid, trivially named linderaline (1), along with eight known isoquinoline alkaloids as (-)-pallidine (2), protosinomenine (3), laudanosoline 3?,4?-dimethyl ether (4), boldine (5), norisoboldine (6), laurolitsine (7), pronuciferine (8) and reticulline (9) were isolated from ethanol extract of the dried root of Lindera aggregata (Sims) Kosterm. Their structures were established on the basis of the spectral analysis. Compounds 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 were found from the plant for the first time.
In the present study, researchers investigated the therapeutic potential and underlying mechanisms of the total alkaloids from Radix Linderae (TARL) on collagen II-induced arthritis in mice.The results indicated that TARL (50, 100 and 200mg/kg), orally administered on the same day of an antigen challenge for 20 consecutive days, alleviated disease severity in a dose-dependent manner, while it did not significantly affect body weights.
Researchers also found that the TARL treatment reduced the serum level of anti-CII IgG (IgG is the most abundant form, or class, of antibody in the blood), and suppressed the delayed type hypersensitivity.
What is hypersensitivity? Hypersensitivity refers to undesirable (damaging, discomfort-producing and sometimes fatal) reactions produced by the normal immune system. Hypersensitivity reactions require a pre-sensitized (immune) state of the host.What is delayed type hypersensitivity? This is the only class of hypersensitive reactions to be triggered by antigen-specific T cells, which are linked to inflammation. This type of hypersensitivity is often called “delayed type” as the reaction takes two to three days to develop. Unlike the other types, it is not antibody mediated but rather is a type of cell-mediated response. T cells belong to a group of white blood cells known as lymphocytes and play a central role in cell-mediated immunity. Antigen-specific T cells provides the immune system with “memory” against past infections.
TARL also protected joint destruction based on the evidence of reducing the histopathological scores (which are the total scores based on the sum of peribronchial, perivascular, interstitial, and alveolar inflammation).The researchers thus conclude that TARL is a potential therapeutic agent for rheumatoid arthritis that suppresses inflammation and protects joints from destruction.
[J Ethnopharmacol. 2006 Dec 13]
I’m a Vancouver-based newspaper editor. I have long wished to build an info website about evidence-based Chinese medicine. Chinese Medicine News is an info weblog dedicated to reporting evidence-based studies and research on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). With the growing interests in alternative medicine from the public around the world, it is important for them to get informed of the validity and reliability of the herbs they want to take / are taking. For more information please visit: Chinese Medicine News.
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