How do you save a dying indoor bamboo plant?
I doubt you're referring to a true bamboo since they're in the Poaceae (grass) family and can't be grown indoors. There simply isn't the amount of sun needed. So I'm assuming you're referring to lucky bamboo which isn't even remotely related to bamboo but just a catchy name given it. Does it look like this?If it does, it's Dracaena braunii known as lucky bamboo.What part is turning yellow? The leaves or part of the stem? If you add fertilizer to the water, you've probably added too much and/or too often. It needs very little fertilizer (at 1/10th dilution that's normally suggested for houseplants) and only about 3 times a year and not at all in winter. Yellow leaves are almost always caused by too much sunlight, or if you’re keeping it in a very dark place, too little light. They need bright light but best no direct sunlight.If the stem is turning yellow, cut the bottom yellow part off and reroot in clean unfertilized water. The best water for lucky bamboos is rainwater. Tap water generally has too many chemicals, including fluoride added to it for the plant to do well. The plants are very liable to fluoride tip burn which is why it's important NOT to use tap water. Chlorinated water is also hard on all Dracaena.Check the roots to see if they look mushy. If they are, the yellow is from the plant dying from rotting roots and it's best to cut off the dead part. They should reroot easily. Every couple of weeks, change the water. Remove the plant, wash the vase and rinse very well. Refill with clean water - rainwater or failing that, distilled water is best. Do you know anyone who has an aquarium? Ask if you can have about 1/4 cup of the water from it. It's good to add to your water as fertilizer and it won't burn your plant.Keep it away from air conditioners and drafty spots as they like an even temperature similar to most plants. If your plants suffered from fluoride damage, it'll continue to be a problem for a while since it takes a while for the fluoride to clear from the plant. I don't know of any stores that use distilled water on them. They use tap water so plants can show damage shortly after you buy them. Be patient and it'll clear up in time. You can always cut the brown or yellow leaves off when it starts to send out new healthy green leaves. But wait till then.
Wood: How does one oil an Ikea oak kitchen worktop?
IKEA sells something called Behandla that polymerizes to some extent, but I prefer to use mineral oil. Mineral oil does not polymerize at all, it just soaks in. That does mean that your countertop will absorb a phenomenal amount of it and that you'll be oiling over and over again for a considerable amount of time. But once it's saturated, there's no sticky buildup to contend with. It's odorless, colorless, and tasteless, and it doesn't go rancid.You simply put it on very liberally with a rag or brush, and once it's soaked in, you add more. Since it doesn't polymerize, as mentioned, you can keep using the same rag or brush.Whatever you do, don't use "boiled linseed oil" from the hardware store. It contains cobalt salts to help it dry. It's great for oiling your patio furniture, but cobalt isn't something you want on your food.
Which are the best places to visit in India in September?
India is a predominantly tropical country and is deeply impacted by the monsoon. Due to this a lot of places in India will receive a lot of rain during the month of September. However, there are a few places that you may chose to visit:Kerala: God’s own country on the south western tip of of the Indian Peninsula, is an ideal destination to visit in September. The peak tourist season commences from September and goes on through March.Visit Kerala for the backwaters of Kumarakom or the rolling hills of Munnar.Goa: visit Goa to see what its splendour is like in the rains. The beauty of the dense greenery and the mighty dudhsagar falls in full flow is truly a spectacular sight.Himachal Pradesh: The hills of Manali are worth visiting this time of the year.Ladakh: From Manali you may proceed on via road to Ladakh or you may take a direct flight from Delhi to Leh as well. Visit Leh this time of the year for clear skies, great weather and adventure sports such as river rafting.Lahaul Spiti: The Spiti valley is a quaint valley tucked away in the north eastern part of Himachal Pradesh bordering the Tibetan Highlands. Extreme cold makes this valley inaccessible for a majority of the year, and September would be ideal to visit the valley.For a customised trip to any of these destinations, get in touch with me at Offbeat Tracks.[1]Footnotes[1] Offbeat Tracks
If Christmas was a pagan holiday, why do most Christians celebrate this?
Many Christian traditions are really European Druid or pagan traditions, adjusted to conform to the Christian world view. But the changes were made so many centuries ago, that to most Christians, it just seems sacrilegious to try to throw out those traditions now. though some have tried.You might have observed that Christmas, Dec. 25 is suspiciously close to the Winter Solstice — the shortest day of the year, and well known in pagan religions to be the day that the sun stopped retreating and finally started coming back again. In fact, if you account for changes in the calendar, what is now Dec. 25 was more like Dec. 22, and therefore fell right on the Solstice or just afterward, when the Druids noted the days finally getting longer again.(Note that anything based on the seasons is much more natural at European latitudes than near the equator… in places like Saudi Arabia, the seasons are hardly noted, while the phrases of the moon are much more important. But after the conversion of Constantine, Christianity became more and more associated with Europe.)But to answer the question, this was all by design. The Emperor Constantine had been a Sun worshipper; before his conversion, he worshipped Sol Invictus, the Roman sun god. This had been an extremely popular pagan cult.And that was the genius of it. Christianity caught on much faster when it incorporated elements of local culture and just absorbed that culture into the Christian world view…And so Sunday, the day of the Sun, became dedicated to the Son of God (Jesus). This necessitated moving the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday, but clerics justified that little change by stressing that Jesus rose on a Sunday.Likewise, Jesus’ birthday could have been any day for all they knew, but by picking Dec. 25, the Romans under Constantine made it easier for a Roman to convert to being a Christian. Instead of celebrating the rebirth of the Sun on Dec. 25, you celebrated the Son of God. But you still decorated a pine tree — an old pagan tradition that celebrated immortality and long life, because pine trees are green year round.