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By Craig Desmier
A person who is said to have a green thumb is considered as a good gardener. Green thumbs are persons who have a special knack for making any plant grow well in any type of soil. Having a green thumb is extremely beneficial to people such as farmers who grow plants to earn a living. Having a green thumb will also benefit people who do gardening at their own homes.
The term ‘green thumb’ is a figure of speech that refers to people who are good in growing any type of plants. The word green thumb was coined due to the green stains that are left in the thumbs and forefingers of gardeners as they pinch or handle plants by hand. The green stain comes from plant chlorophyll which is the natural green pigmentation of plant leaves. Chlorophyll is important for plants because it helps the plant manufacture their own food through the process of photosynthesis.
There is a debate that tries to answer whether the green thumb trait can be passed on from parents to their children or from generation to generation. There are two different schools of thought here.
Green Thumb is Hereditary. There are a lot of families that grow plants for a living. Vegetable farms, vineyards, and orchards are often passed on from generation to generation and it is said that children of great farmers who inherited their parents’ farms are successful in running them. Testimonies of individuals who run successful gardening businesses attribute their successes to inheriting their green thumb from their parents.
Green thumb heredity however, cannot be determined just through testimonials alone. In order to determine whether green thumb is a trait that is inherited, genetic scientists should conduct studies for this. As of now, there are no extensive studies that seek the truth regarding green thumb heredity.
Green Thumb is not Hereditary. The green thumb trait is not hereditary. For a trait to be considered as hereditary, that trait must manifest itself through the parents’ offspring. For example, both parents with blue eyes as a dominant trait will produce an offspring with blue eyes.
Most experts say that the green thumb trait is not hereditary but is just a familial skill. Familial skills refer to skills that are learned by an individual through close association with the skills of his/her parents or the skills that were used in the family’s ancestry. In the olden times, young men and women learn skills by watching their parents go about their trade. This is known as apprenticeship. Young men and women will often stay with expert craftsmen to learn their trade. Most often than not, the children of a blacksmith will be the ones to learn the trade so that they can continue their family’s business. It is said that the gardener’s green thumb is achieved by children not through heredity but by learning gardening skills through the apprenticeship process.
There are a number of people who states that there is no such thing as a green thumb and that any person who wants to garden can. Any person can be a successful gardener if he or she is willing to get up of the couch and plant something in the backyard. Any individual who attempts his or her hand in gardening can be successful at it if he or she has the basic plant wisdom which includes the following:
— Water. All plants need water to grow. However, the amount of water needed by the different types of plants vary and therefore a neophyte gardener should know how much water is needed by the type of plant that he wants to grow in his/her garden. Cactuses for example have a greater tolerance to dry weather and may not need to be watered regularly unlike other plants. Knowing the water requirements of different plant species will help you become a good gardener.
— Soil and Nutrients. Although soil is needed by plants, it is not really necessary for plants to live. Soil is only used by plants as a medium for roots to get the necessary nutrients for plants to grow. Soil can easily be replaced by other media. Hydroponics for example, is the science of growing plants without the use of soil.
— Light. Different plants need different amounts of sunlight. Some plants can live under shaded areas while others need to be placed under direct sunlight.
— Temperature. Just as plants have different light requirements. They also need different temperatures. There are plants that will thrive in tropical climates while wither in temperate ones.
Whether or not green thumb is hereditary, one thing is for sure. Gardening is a skill that can easily be learned by anybody who really wants to garden.
About the Author: Article by Craig Desmier of OutdoorSofa.com, a website with the largest selections of
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