All recent comments/discussion

Showing 1981 - 2010 of 20165 comments

Kale (also Borecole) 26 Mar, Frank Williams (New Zealand - cool/mountain climate): Eating Kale flowers I had a period where there was not much to eat out of the garden and everything was going to seed, especially the Kale. So time to get creative... what I learnt was that the Kale flower stems, before the flowers emerge, make an excellent dish. Colourful, tasty and with such a nice texture on your plate. They are also good after the flowers emerge, but the early flower stems are best. Try it, I think you'll agree...
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Onion 26 Mar, Heidi (Australia - temperate climate): I have some onion sets left over from last year and want to plant them. All the articles I have seen thus far talk about growing them from seed/seedlings. Ours is a temperate climate, so when is a good time to plant them?
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Onion 19 Apr, Graham (Australia - temperate climate): Sets . Another word for seedlings. If they are still fresh and viable they should be OK. In saying that, I am surprised that they are still OK from last year. (Gardenate : 'sets' are usually small onion bulbs with brown, papery skin)
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Onion 29 Mar, Anonymous (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Check the top of the onion page.
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Beans - dwarf (also French beans, Bush beans) 26 Mar, Annette (USA - Zone 8a climate): I am interested in planting my bush beans in a 3ft tall 5ft wide planter. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you
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Beans - dwarf (also French beans, Bush beans) 29 Mar, Anonymous (USA - Zone 4a climate): Plant in rows. Plant and water well then don't water for 3-4 days. Then lightly. Leave until they germinate.
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Parsley (also curly leaf parsley or flat leaf (Italian) parsley) 25 Mar, Pete (Australia - temperate climate): I planted a bed of parsley about 9 months ago, it grew well and bushy. I have been harvesting the parsley for months and now it is turning yellow and sems to be collapsing. I was under the impression that parsley would last for 2 seasons. Apart from the fact that it has veen pretty wet does anyone have any idea why this is occurring? Thanks and cheers Pete
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Parsley (also curly leaf parsley or flat leaf (Italian) parsley) 29 Mar, Anonymous (Australia - sub-tropical climate): The wet could be the problem. I had a ripper about 8-10 years and in Sept it just died in a week.
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Sunflower 24 Mar, Pete (USA - Zone 8b climate): What ph is required for sunflowers. Im guessing 7.0. Do they benefit from composted chicken droppings?
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Capsicum (also Bell peppers, Sweet peppers) 23 Mar, Brenda (USA - Zone 10b climate): New to growing capsicum I am zone 10 what soil should I prepare to transplant seedlings too and what do I feed them with please Many thanks
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Capsicum (also Bell peppers, Sweet peppers) 29 Mar, Anonymous (USA - Zone 4a climate): If you start with good friable soil that has had some compost/composted manures in it that should be all that is required.
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Rosella (also Queensland Jam Plant, Roselle) 21 Mar, C J Graham (USA - Zone 8a climate): When is it safe to transplant my rosella in zone 8a?
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Rosella (also Queensland Jam Plant, Roselle) 29 Mar, Anonymous (USA - Zone 4a climate): Don't know your climate but after frosts I would think. It likes warm climate.
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Zucchini (also Courgette/Marrow, Summer squash) 20 Mar, Graham (Australia - temperate climate): I have grown trombone zucchinnis this year in amongst butternut pumpkins. Can anyone enlighten me as to whether they will cross pollinate.
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Zucchini (also Courgette/Marrow, Summer squash) 26 Mar, Anonymous (Australia - sub-tropical climate): yes they can.
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Zucchini (also Courgette/Marrow, Summer squash) 22 Mar, Celeste Archer (Canada - Zone 7b Mild Temperate climate): I think that your trombone will be ready to harvest in about 60 days (from seedling to harvest date - called a summer squash) -- and I think that butternut squash (pumpkins) take closer to 120 days (from seedling to harvest date - called a winter squash) ==> my best guess is they will not be flowering at the same time; so no cross pollination will occur. If for some reason you staggered the planting so they were to flower at the same time; my best guess is YES they can cross pollinate -- squash seems to cross pollinate with other squash easily....however, this is just a guess based on what I know about other squash.
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Zucchini (also Courgette/Marrow, Summer squash) 22 Mar, John Mauger (Australia - temperate climate): Tromboncino and butternut are both Cucurbitus moschato so would cross pollinate. As Cucurbits are pollinated by insects you would need to have a substantial distance between them (a few house blocks) to avoid this happening. If you want to save Tromboncino seed you would need to remove ALL of the male flowers off the butternuts as they appeared. The Butternuts would then be hybrid but the Tromboncino's should be pure. Check the botanical names of all pumpkins, squash, marrows, zucchinis, etc. before interplanting. If the specific name comes up with both, they will cross pollinate. Trust this helps
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Rhubarb 20 Mar, Wayneman (USA - Zone 9a climate): I live in zone 9a and have had success growing rhubarb. I have it in planter boxes and it seemed like it would not make the first summer but it is beautiful this spring. I keep in in partial shade during the summer.
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Rhubarb 31 Dec, Steven Walker (USA - Zone 9a climate): What kind of rhubarb did you purchase? What special precautions did you take to grow rhubarb?
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Ginger 20 Mar, ron (Australia - sub-tropical climate): bought some youngish ginger at the bundy markets today if i plant now 21/3/22 will it still grow over winter.thetemperature never goes below 8to10 degrees centrade
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Ginger 26 Mar, (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Plant Oct to Dec.
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Garlic 20 Mar, Bella Lopez (USA - Zone 9b climate): How often do we water garlic?
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Garlic 21 Mar, Anonymous (USA - Zone 3a climate): Put your finger in the soil if it is dry below 1 inch, add water.
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Ginger 20 Mar, Dee (USA - Zone 8b climate): I have been growing edible ginger in a large 16” pot for the last three years from organic store-bought ginger root. I live in SE Alabama where summers can get extremely hot, so I make sure they get partial shade. I harvested the rhizomes in November when the canes were turning brown and the rhizomes were large & plump. It is now mid-March and temperatures are ranging from mid 60s to upper 70s, so I will break apart some of the rhizomes and let them scab over and replant in fresh soil in the next week or two.
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Pumpkin 19 Mar, Elizabeth Koch (Australia - sub-tropical climate): My pumpkins 2 Queensland blue have grown to about 6inches across, but now are starting to die. Lost a lot of smaller ones, about 2 to 3 inches big. Doing all the right things I think. The butternut have no problems.
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Pumpkin 02 Apr, marco (Australia - tropical climate): pumpkin trick is to deep plant the pumpkin from the start .dig a 1 foot plant in that, do not fill hole full of ground . let plant grow . when the plant is well above hole fill hole with soil .find the path u want the plant to grow and dont move . as the plant grows take out the runner branches .let grow for 3 to 4 meters then let 2 or 3 runners grow .when you have about 3 pumpkins nib any new runners ,keep pumpkin off soil use timber or tile .also as the plant grows the plant wants to grow up ,just put trowel on the growth ,this keeps it low to ground .why u grow 3 meters is because the leaves collect sun make plant strong for pumpkin to grow .also growing low to ground roots can appear at each branch that helps plant .i look at my plant at least once a week in growing time because u need to control its growth .i grew 3 big pumpkins for the first time and its worth all the attention .if u let it go wild the flowers just fall off or a pumpkin dies after a week or so and u end up with nothing
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Pumpkin 07 Jun, Meghan (Australia - sub-tropical climate): marco. you dig a hole and plant pumpkin seeds? don't you plant in a mound? can you plant seeds now?
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Leeks 19 Mar, Dionne (Australia - sub-tropical climate): We grown American Flag with great success. We mostly direct seed and sometimes transplant. We always broadfork a bed before planting and add a little ag lime (especially pre-seeding with alliums). We don't let them get gigantic like you see in the shop. You can, but that requires transplanting into a small trench and then hilling up to blanche. We find the bunches of baby leeks just as popular as the large ones. Leeks with asparagus are so wonderful on pizza with a good French sorrel and parsley pesto base! Leeks can handle more water than you realise.
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Cucumber 18 Mar, Gina (USA - Zone 8a climate): I planted my cucumber plants 3-4inch apart in about a15 inch space. At the end of a elevated garden. I took hog or pig wire made a arch off the end of the bed. Trained the plants to climb up and dow the arch. The wire was so spaced I could put the cucumber in the holes in the wire to support the vegetable. It loved it
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Sweet corn (also corn,maize) 18 Mar, Elise Blanchard (USA - Zone 7b climate): Is it too late to plant corn here in zone 7b?
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