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Cape Gooseberry (also Golden Berry, Inca Berry ) 11 Feb, Anonymous of Bundaberg (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate): You need better soil than clay. It is like anything, the better the preparation the better the result. A shovel load of good soil will have better results.
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Yacon (also Sunroot) 07 Feb, Dylinda Matiga (Australia - tropical climate): The title of this blog is 'growen yacon in tropical Australia I am in tropical Philippines I thought tropical is tropical I am confused. Soil temperature here is never 50 degrees FH, nor do we get Frost's My question is... How would l grow it in a Frost free tropical climate where the soil temperature rarely drops lower than 85 farenhite As we don't get frosts, will it die off or produce flowers and yacon all year, Can it even grow in a Frost free tropical climate. How can I treat it like an annual and a perrinial everywhere else I just bought one and ? Thanks to whoever can helpme
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Yacon (also Sunroot) 08 Feb, John Mauger (Australia - tropical climate): If you refer to the growing notes for Yacon on this site you will find your answer. Yacon should grow in the Philippines The temperature guide can be read in Fahrenheit or Celsius. Just click on it for one or the other. All the best.
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Yacon (also Sunroot) 07 Feb, Mike (Australia - tropical climate): Tropical climate describes certain weather conditions whether it is Australia, China or Asia. Look at the planting guide April to July. Then read the article - warm/hot climates it is perennial. read the notes here.
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Watermelon 07 Feb, Laura g Gatt (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Hi hope you can help me, I live in Sydney. I have huge Vine of watermelon lots of flowers but no fruit very few bees thanks regards Laura
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Watermelon 08 Feb, John Mauger (Australia - temperate climate): Watermelons, cucumbers, squash, and zucchini's all have both male and female flowers on the same vine. For some unexplained reason some plants produce lots of male flowers and few female flowers. The male flowers have a longer spindly stem and the female flowers have an unformed fruit at the base of the flower. If you have female flowers and fruit are not forming it would indicate a lack of pollination by bees or other insects. If you pick some male flowers and remove the petals you can hand pollinate the flowers by putting the male flower, minus the petals, into the female flower to transfer pollen and fertilise the flower. You could use a couple of male flowers with each female flower to ensure that the pollen is ripe. leave a few male flowers on the plant for subsequent flowering. If there are few or no female flowers you can only wait and hope that some appear. Trust this helps.
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Watermelon 07 Feb, Anonymous of Bundaberg (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Read up about hand pollinating. Have to do in the morning before lunch.
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Brussels sprouts 06 Feb, Novene Manley (USA - Zone 8b climate): First time growing Brussel Sprouts. Is it o.k. to cut off the larger outer leaves if they are yellowed or otherwise damaged? Will that affect the sprouts in any way?
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Brussels sprouts 21 Mar, GodsChild17 (USA - Zone 9a climate): Did you read this article? It said yes we should absolutely cut off any discolored or damaged leaves, the same goes with EVERY plant in the garden. The reason is because the plant will focus all of its energy on trying to fix its damaged leaves so you should avoid it wasting energy like that and chop them off!!! You want the plant to focus ALL of its energy on growing the actual fruits or whatever it’s supposed to grow.
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Brussels sprouts 07 Feb, (USA - Zone 4a climate): You could take them off..
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Parsnip 05 Feb, Carolyn (Australia - temperate climate): I know parsnip seed should be fresh and have successfully grown parsnip from my own seed . I have let some parsnip go to seed for bees and seed this year but next to them is the fennel which also went to seed . Does anyone know if they cross pollinate? I don't want to waste space if this is so.
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Parsnip 07 Feb, John Mauger (Australia - temperate climate): fennel is in the Apiacea family. parsnip is from the Pastinaca family. There isn't any evidence that they can cross pollinate even though they are Umbelliferous plants. (flowers in umbels, like an umbrella). Trust this helps.
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Parsnip 23 Feb, Carolyn Dixen (Australia - temperate climate): Thankyou, I will try my seed and hope the parsnips don't taste like fennel.
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Basil 03 Feb, Douglas Pearce (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate): Best month to sow chickpeas in Johannesburg?
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Potato 03 Feb, michelle (Australia - tropical climate): How can I grow potatoes and carrots in year round tropical climate
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Potato 04 Feb, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Check the planting guide here for these crops. Most vegetables are seasonal. Basically you need certain temperatures to grow different crops. Do some internet research about growing vegetables.
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Tomato 03 Feb, Steven Winner (USA - Zone 9b climate): What are the best Beef Stake Tomatoes that grow well in Zone 9b?
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Tomato 24 Feb, Cynthia M. (USA - Zone 9b climate): I live in The IE, zone 9B, and Kelloggs Breakfast tomatoes do really well for me here. All of the warm season veggies I grow in full sun, I put up sun clothe over the top of the beds, once it starts staying in the 90's F.
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Tomato 11 Feb, Theresa (USA - Zone 8a climate): Im in 8A and my fall tomatoes did nothing I planted only 6, different varieties , no one tomato, Too HOT. the blooms just fried and fell off. My neighbor planted under a big shade tree, and earlier, had beautiful tomatoes, hope that helps.
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Lettuce 01 Feb, Raymond Rich (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate): Will it be to late to sow Lettuce seed in Johannesburg region in February. Have a well protected area from early cold and can provide sufficient water when rainfall reduces from March.
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Lettuce 02 Feb, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Try it.
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Sweet corn (also corn,maize) 30 Jan, Margaret Hefner (USA - Zone 10b climate): Everything wonderful to you and yours for 2022 and following! Wow, I was getting frustrated to find an endeavor that produced something that I can read, use, understand, not mis-understand... y'all are my new champions (as if champions ever get old). Welcome back, and glad to discover you, Margaret in Baja January 30! I have the whole year to be able to appreciate you!
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Tomato 29 Jan, Ash (New Zealand - temperate climate): I sow tomatoes in Nov. the tomatoes are still green. Should I leave them on the vine and let them ripen indoors?
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Tomato 31 Jan, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Just let them ripen - it takes awhile.
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Asparagus 27 Jan, Lori (USA - Zone 9b climate): I planted Asparagus last year. It has done very well and I fertilized,mulched when need to , or cut ferns when need. My question is, at the end of December, a few Asparagus began popping up, and tips purple. Is it ok for them to pop up that early?
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Asparagus 28 Jan, Anonymous of Bundaberg (Australia - sub-tropical climate): You generally cut ferns off end of Winter and pick new spears for 2-3 months in the Spring, then let the ferns grow again to feed the crown for the following year. If the weather is warm enough they will keep sending up new spears until end of Autumn. I just cut mine off for a quick feed over the last month of summer. Mine are 5-6 years old. I'm in Australia - sub tropical.
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Lettuce 25 Jan, (Australia - temperate climate): Hi, when you say lettuce needs sunlight, does that have to be direct sunlight or can it be under a patio shelter that has a clear plastic roof? My veggie patch is in full sun, a very hot spot and they always bolt quickly, so I would like to try them out of direct sun, but in a bright area and easy access for keeping on top of the watering. Do you think this would still work? Thanks.
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Lettuce 28 Feb, Rob (Australia - temperate climate): Get some short garden stakes and peg some thick shade cloth to them. On really hot days, this saved ALL of my lettuce and only cost a few dollars.
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Lettuce 04 Feb, Celeste Archer (Canada - Zone 7b Mild Temperate climate): Most clear plastic is considered direct sunlight - unless there are special filters in the plastic. That is to say, if the only thing between your lettuce and the sun is regular clear plastic, you should be fine. As and FYI there are multiple categories: 1. Direct sunlight - some plants require direct sunlight on their leaves 2. BRIGHT shade; for example when I lived in a Condo, my balcony had no direct sunlight, but because the buildings beside my building had huge glass windows I had VERY bright shade and could grow most full sun potted plants. This also applies to living near the water, where the sun gets reflected-- MOST full sun plants are fine with REFLECTED light but not all. This could also be a a very sunny field, with shade cast from one building, chances are good that would be very bright shade 3. Sun/Shade with all its variations 4. Light shade and 5. Deep shade like the middle of a dense forest. I see no reason why you could not grow SOME of your veggies in the bright shade. I find that many plants labelled full sun, are not. For example: strawberries are generally labelled full sun. However, strawberries TEND to grow naturally in the shade of other plants: woodland or forest floor, in meadows shaded by other plants. I've noticed that any of my strawberries that get full sun tend to have burnt leaves, and the best yielding strawberry plants are in a cool predominately shady areas. I suspect that planting your plants that tend to bolt in a cooler shadier area would be very helpful. I've even grown cherry tomatoes in very bright shade with great success.
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Lettuce 28 Jan, Anonymous of Bundaberg (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Without sunlight plants become thin weak and spindly. There are varieties to grow in summer and others to grow in Autumn Winter. I generally don't grow things from end of Nov to end of Feb because of the heat and summer conditions - heavy rain and wind.
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