Permission is given to reprinted these tips in any publication on plants in the Gesneriaceae family. Referencing www.africanvioletbooks.com as the source is required.

Considerable news coverage has been given to pesticides and how they damage the delicate balance of nature. Seldom do you hear about the millions of human lives saved throughout the world because pesticides were used to combat the insects which transmit some of world’s most deadly diseases.
Many areas of the world have seen diseases reduced and even totally eliminated when pesticides were used. Conservative estimates by the world health officials place the number of lives saved in various parts of the world at five million by controlling diseases, such as: malaria, typhus, yellow fever, and sleeping sickness.
Presently (2007), malaria strikes 300 hundred million people every year. In one tiny Southeast Asian nation, Sri Lanka, 540,000 people contracted malaria in a single year. 
In 2007 malaria will kill one African child every 30 seconds. Do the math and that’s 1,051,200 every year! At one African health clinic 300 children with malaria arrive everyday. Doing the math again, that’s 109,500 per year at just one of hundreds of clinics throughout Africa!
Another estimate has stated approximately sixty to eighty million human lives have been saved in the last fifty years by the use of DDT to control the insects which transmit malaria.
One of the famous arguments against the use of pesticides is how they accumulate in the food chain, eventually becoming concentrated enough in the lower orders of animals (worms, insects, mice), causing some of the larger predator animals in the wild to suffer and even die. While I can feel sorry for the occasional bird or coyote which dies from pesticide poisoning, somehow my sympathy leans towards the sixty to eighty million humans on this earth who owe their lives to the fact a pesticide was used which helped to control some of the serious insect-borne disease, giving them a change to enjoy life on earth.

When is the best time of day to water a lawn? The best time is early in the morning when the wind is calm and the grass is already wet with dew. Usually the water pressure will be higher in the morning. Remember that keeping the grass wet for long periods of time during hot weather incubates diseases.
While morning watering is the best time slot for seeing to your lawn’s needs, you should be aware watering can be done anytime. In some cities and states, laws dictate the time of day and the day of the week you can water your lawn.

            Nutrient requirements vary for different plants. African violets, roses, and lawn grasses will be used to demonstrate the different nutrient requirements of plants.
            African violets, as young developing plantlets need nitrogen to promote rapid growth and maturity. Once they have reached maturity these plants only require small amounts of nitrogen to sustain adequate growth and to promote flowering. Excess nitrogen inhibits flowering of mature African violets. Roses prefer a high quantities of nitrogen to promote the abundance of blossoms the grower is seeking. As cool weather approaches the level of nitrogen in the soil should be at its lowest. Lawn grasses are similar to roses in that higher amounts of nitrogen promote a dark green lawn and one in which damage areas heal more quickly. With grasses it depends on what type you have in your lawn. Bermuda grasses require approximately 1.0 lb. of actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet/month during the growing season. Kentucky bluegrasses require between 4 to 8 lbs. of actual nitrogen /1,000 square feet/year. The exact rate of application will be determined by the climatic conditions of your area.
            Having a basic understanding of the plants you are growing and their nutrient requirements will greatly influence your ability to achieve your goals of becoming the “Green Thumb” expert in your neighborhood.

            Your out in the garden enjoying a beautiful sunset. Suddenly, you notice several of the leaves on various plants have turned yellow, with the green stripes running through them. These stripes are actually outlining the veins (piping or distribution system) in the leaves. You wonder, what is the problem and how to fix it?
            When the leaves are yellow and the green veins in the leaves stand out, the plant is boldly announcing the need for a special fertilizer, one which contains all of the micronutrients (plant food). The micronutrients are: iron, manganese, copper, zinc, chlorine, and molybdenum. Of these the iron and manganese are the ones which will return the leaves of the plants to a healthier dark green color. This assumes you are also  feeding the plants adequate nitrogen which keeps the entire leaf green.
            The reason the green veins are prominent when iron and manganese have limited availability to the plants is they are not very soluble in water. This means as the availability becomes limited these nutrients become concentrated in and close to the veins. The insolubility prevents them from moving out into the rest of the leaves, thus causing the leaves to turn yellow and the veins to remain green.

              When you are selecting flowering plants for your outdoor garden consideration as to whether they are annuals, biennials, or perennials is important. You should also know the time of year the plants will flower. This topic will be discussed in Tips # 11, 12 & 13.
            Understanding the life span of your flowering plants influences your gardening budget. If living in a colder climate, where extremely low temperatures and snow occur then choose winter hardy perennials and plants which produce flowers early in the spring from bulbs (crocus, tulips, hyacinths). As weather warms up visit the local garden centers and purchase bedding plants for instant flower color in your garden. A few of these plants are perennials but because of the colder winter temperatures that kills these  plants, they are grown as annuals.
Annual: A plant whose entire life cycle  is completed in a single year. These plants grow from seed, mature, flower, produce seed for the next years planting, and then die. Partial list of annual flowering garden plants: ageratum, alyssum, begonia, impatiens, marigolds, petunia, salvia, snapdragons, and zinnia.
Biennial: These plants require two years to complete their life cycle. During the first year vegetative growth occurs, building up food reserves for the next year. In the second year the stored food is used to produced an abundance of flowers. Plants die at the end of the second year after seed has formed and cold weather arrives. The best known biennial flowering bedding plant is the pansy.
Perennial: Plants which live year after year and produce flowers each season, often living for ten or more years and should be the mainstay of any flower garden. Partial list of perennial plants: bleeding hearts, chrysanthemums, columbine, coral bells, delphinium daylily, four-o’clocks, iris, peony, phlox, Shasta daisy, and sedum. It should be noted the woody perennials are not included in this list nor or flowering plants produced from bulbs (see Tip # 11).