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Showing 811 - 840 of 19913 comments

Watermelon 08 May, Anonymous (USA - Zone 6b climate): Each vegetable here has a planting guide for each climate zone. Find your zone in the top bar and check the planting calendar for watermelon.
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Strawberry Plants 29 Apr, Nick Sloan (USA - Zone 8b climate): what exact soil would you reccomend, should i put in it direct sunlight? and is it okay to water the leaves if it’s on a tier planter? thank you so much for your time
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Strawberry Plants 08 May, (USA - Zone 6b climate): Any good soil, direct sunlight, water low or in the morning.
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Capsicum (also Bell peppers, Sweet peppers) 28 Apr, (USA - Zone 10b climate): What is the difference between planting it in trays and sowing it
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Capsicum (also Bell peppers, Sweet peppers) 08 May, Anonymous (Australia - sub-tropical climate): A tray probably means a seedling tray. To sow is straight into the soil.
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Capsicum (also Bell peppers, Sweet peppers) 30 May, Jacq (USA - Zone 9b climate): Thanks! I had same question.
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Cardoon 27 Apr, Lorraine Harla (USA - Zone 8a climate): I use to live close to the Saw Mill Parkway in Westchester County in New York..I am looking for the Cardoon seeds that grew in that area. I notice there are several varieties. I would like to know where to purchase these seeds.
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Brussels sprouts 26 Apr, Lynda (USA - Zone 8b climate): I am a first time gardener with brussels sprouts. I live in zone 8B in Texas. We are at the end of April and the Google play said I can still direct sow the seeds and get a crop. Is this true?
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Brussels sprouts 08 May, Anonymous (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Plant now. It's worth a try.
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Jerusalem Artichokes (also Sunchoke) 26 Apr, Denise (USA - Zone 5a climate): An old timer told me if you wait until after the first frost to harvest the tubers they cause much less flatulence. He said before the first frost they call them fartichokes. : ) Planting for the first time this year and will definitely apply this advice.
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Beetroot (also Beets) 23 Apr, (Australia - temperate climate): I live in Geelong. I have various results with growing beetroot. At the moment the bulb size is very small. What can help with this?
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Beetroot (also Beets) 07 Jun, deidre (Australia - arid climate): Beetroots fill out more in warm weather. Other reasons for size variations include planting too close together or not enough phosphorus in the soil. Sowing a green manure crop will remedy nutrient deficiencies. Good luck!
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Beetroot (also Beets) 08 May, Anonymous (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I grow from seed, plant out when 3-4 leaf stage about 5-6
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Artichokes (Globe) 21 Apr, Cathy Krasnianski (USA - Zone 10b climate): Zone 10b. First year growing Green Globe & Violet de Provence. Both are doing very well. Not sure if necessary to prune down in late Fall, as our winters never go below 30 degrees. Haven’t found this info anywhere on the Internet.
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Artichokes (Globe) 02 Nov, Colleen (USA - Zone 10b climate): I'm also in 10b and I find they get really shabby looking if not pruned back. (I've never grown a hybrid variety, though...maybe they're tidier?)
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Artichokes (Globe) 21 Apr, SoCal BYGarden (USA - Zone 10b climate): I chop mine 2"- 3" above the base after they start turning brown late summer. They come back staring in Oct-Nov. Harvest starting February, last crop in May. Avoid year was pathetic just a few. 3rd year on I started giving them away because I had plenty.
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Garlic 20 Apr, Carol (South Africa - Semi-arid climate): Hi Feb to April is that the only time to grow Garlic in south africa Or is there another time slot Thanks
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Garlic 08 May, Anonymous (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Probably yes. If you could grow it other times it would say so. Plants need certain soil temperature to germinate and climate conditions to grow and mature.
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Savory - summer savory (also 'Bean Herb') 20 Apr, Jamal (Australia - temperate climate): How can one propagate summer savory from cuttings and when in Victoria, Australia.
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Savory - summer savory (also 'Bean Herb') 04 May, (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Google how to do cuttings of annual plants.
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Potato 20 Apr, Benjamin Chapman (Australia - temperate climate): I understand that "non specific" potato varieties don't need the soil to be mounded up as they grow. Where can I find a list which shows "specific" and "non-specific" potato varieties.
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Potato 06 May, Celeste Archer (Canada - Zone 5a Temperate Warm Summer climate): Technically you don't HAVE TO HILL any variety of potatoes. Here's how it works: you plant the seed potato (which is an extra small potato saved/stored from last year's harvest -- or a piece of a larger potato that you stored/saved from last year) -- the DEPTH THAT you PLANT that SEED POTATO determines your LOWEST POINT -- GENERALLY, and I do mean GENERALLY (like 95% of the potatoes) the potato plant will not create tubers LOWER than the depth you planted the seed potato at (so your seed potato is the BOTTOM of the plants tubers/potatoes). Which is why some people think the very bottom potato always rots, when in reality it is the seed potato and is expected to grow and will appear rotten. Which means if you don't hill up as your potato plant grows and you planted the seed potato shallow, there is not that much ROOM for the potato plant to put it's tubers, and larger tubers will usually "pop" out of the soil and turn green due to sun exposure. If you don't want to hill up, plant your seed potato deeper than recommended -- yes it will be fine -- the reason you plant shallow and mound up is because the potato plant will be able to get leaves into the sun sooner if it's seed potato was planted shallow, which means it will grow quicker because it is collecting light sooner -- then you mound up to offset that you planted the seed potato shallow, but you always leave lots of leaves exposed to the sun so the plant can collect sun and grow. It's a lot of extra work work to mound up soil-- and maybe speeds up the process "brings in the harvest" by 10 days or so.... My experience is planting seed potatoes a foot deep ((30cm) is fine -- yes the plant takes a little longer for it's leaves to surface -- but it's fine and you should not experience any problems - provided the soil is nice and loose. (hopefully that makes senses). I think in the future I will plant two potatoes side by side -- one deep, one using the mound method and record the progress and final outcomes... I have never done a tandem planting -- BUT I HAVE had potatoes spring up from deep down Once as I dug out one of these "self planted potatoes" I realized it was down about 30" (70cm) -- it was in a potato planting tower (old full size garbage can full of 3" holes all over) which I dumped and collect the potatoes from the year before, then just put the soil back, week by week, as I composted kitchen scraps directly into the soil... so no surprise that a potato was so deep -- it grew -- it put out potatoes and it's crop was average good... it spent a lot of energy growing up -- and perhaps I harvested too early based on the other potatoes-- but it made it and did OK, good size potatoes, good quantity. I would not recommend placing your seed potatoes that deep, but a foot (30cm) should be fine.
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Potato 03 Nov, Scott (Australia - sub-tropical climate): The other reason to hill potatoes is that the plant gets quite tall and top heavy. This makes it susceptible to getting blown over by wind. This will cause the plants to die off early. If you hill it mid season you stop the plant from blowing over and you increase the size of the potatoes as they have had longer to grow and mature.
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Potato 13 Nov, Christian (USA - Zone 7b climate): I heard that the potato will stop sending nutrients to the tubers if the stalks are bent. One of the most successful potato harvests I have ever seen was a large container grown project where he used several layers (think of a layer cake) of horizontal plastic fencing and t-posts at each corner to hold the horizontal fencing to keep the stalks from bending at all and support them as they grew. They were able to get an absolutely massive yield with that method although he was sick all summer and didn't care for them or water them at all. I am not sure that the container growing was as pivotal in the results as just keeping the stalks from bending over. I have container grown before and will try it again this spring as well as ground growing using his methods to keep the stalks upright. I think another often overlooked issue is either too much or too little phosphorus and potash in 10-10-10 fertilizer. I think 'balanced' fertilizers can present real problems for root crops since they don't need or want balanced inputs. You will always have too much of something and too little of the other. Also there is a time delay on phosphorus while it stays in the upper part of the soil, so you can apply phosphorus to increase tuber formation, but it takes 3 months to disperse into the soil, while nitrogen sinks like a stone through soil an becomes almost immediately bio-unavailable (or runs off into the environment via water). So if you are using 10-10-10 you are going to end up poisoning your plants in order to get one or another nutrients available in the correct quantity. Plus factor in the time delay to bioavailability. I think it is better to thoroughly prepare soil before you put your garden to bed in the winter than prepare it in the spring (actually I have revived some fruit trees that were very old and no longer producing by fall fertilizing; I got almost $700 worth of organic pears and even more than this in apples last year through fall fertilizing). I also heard (and studied it last year in my own garden) that potatoes grow between the seed potato and the surface. If you bury them deep you will increase yields as there is more space for them to grow above the seed potato. But if you plant them shallow, they have a very narrow area to make potatoes in, significantly reducing production. This means in container gardening you need to put them at the very bottom of a 1'-6" (0.45 meters) tall container to get a full yield. I tried this method last year and doubled my production. I was putting them very close to the surface before last year. Also, potatoes need cool roots and won't produce anything at all if their roots are too hot in the container during the summer. Afternoon/evening shade is a must in Southern US zones or other hot environments. Or you could insulate or shade the container.
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Potato 11 May, dz (USA - Zone 10a climate): I live in Southern California Zone 10A and grow potatoes year-round in bags and containers, anywhere from 5 to 15 gallons size. I have found what works well for me is to put about 4-6 inches of good soil in the container, lay a few seed potatoes on top so the slips are pointed up, about 12 inches apart, then cover them with about 4-6 inches of soil, and water moderately or they will rot. These potatoes will only produce new tubers in the soil about 6-12 inches above the original seed potatoes, so when the plants are about a foot above the soil, if I have any new add seed potatoes and the container has enough room, when I add more soil I may consider adding a few more seed potatoes that will produce "baby potatoes" above the older tubers, then cover them with another 6 inches of soil that will also bury more of the new growth of the first seed potatoes. Doing this stimulates more growth, and I may even add even more soil as the plants get taller depending on the depth of the container. I don't always add the second layer of seed potatoes, but doing this produces a few larger potatoes below (Baked Potatoes!) and a lot of smaller potatoes above them, and they are all excellent eating. I am growing Russet, Golden, and Red potatoes in containers, but I think they are all determinant varieties since they are all started from potatoes purchased in grocery stores, and each plant only produces tubers in the area near the seed potato, but do not continue to produce tubers as the plants get taller no matter how much more soil is added. I am still learning as I go, such as "location, location, location!" is making a noticeable difference on how successful my efforts are, and I would like to find an indeterminant variety potato that will grow well in Zone 10A.
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Potato 06 May, Benjamin Chapman (Australia - temperate climate): I have been told that the terms I used (specific and non-specific) could be wrong. Someone else has said the terms are "determinate" and "non-determinate".
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Potato 08 May, Celeste Archer (Canada - Zone 5a Temperate Warm Summer climate): I'm not certain if the initial question is using the correct terminology or not... there are so many different ways to categorize things. If it is determinate verses indeterminate -- then it is like tomatoes -- the indeterminate are like a vine, and continue to grow - which means they CAN BE towered ( but don't have to be) and they will continue to put out "layers" of tubers as you hill up. However, indeterminate potatoes can be grown as determinate.... you DON'T HAVE TO tower or hill up -- so long as you plant the seed potato deep enough. You can get more potatoes per square foot of real estate out of the indeterminate type of potato, but it does take longer. So you need to think about - time verses space verses growing methods.
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Onion 15 Apr, Mike (Canada - Zone 3a Temperate Short Summer climate): Growing onions from seeds What kind should I grow? When? Can I start then before winter, or do I start the seeds in January indoors?
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Onion 26 Apr, Erin (Canada - Zone 5b Temperate Warm Summer climate): You need a long day onion, you can start seed ahead of time indoors, do not save seed packets, they're only good for a year.
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Onion 19 Apr, (Canada - Zone 3a Temperate Short Summer climate): Read the planting guide at the top of the page and plant the variety you want to eat.
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