texts: Is it true that some plants can reduce air pollution?

texts: I'm six weeks pregnant and I live in a 7th floor apartment in Mumbai, India. My apartment complex is on a busy road with 24/7 traffic and traffic jams in the morning and evening. I'm worried about the developmental neurotoxins from automobile emissions.  In my house, the fan exhausts in the kitchen and bathroom are open to the outside so outdoor air readily flows into the house. I was reading that NASA has done some research on indoor plants which can reduce air pollution. I was wondering if someone could recommend plants that are 1) easy to grow (I'm a novice gardener), and 2) removes the pollutants found in automobile exhaust?  What types and how many plants should I buy?


texts: I have a hill beside my house with an approximate 25% grade.  What steps can I take to get a new lawn planted on this hillside, without it being washed away with erosion?  Would I need to put some kind of straw-like covering over it and secure that to the ground with stakes, or should just planting the seeds, fertilizing and watering be enough?


texts: What is this round neon-green fruit with a bumpy surface?

texts: I have a vague recollection that this is called some kind of "apple" as a nickname.  But I just couldn't retrieve the exact name from memory.


texts: How to remove spikes from Echinacea purpurea seeds?

texts:
In order to collect the seeds from a stem I have to remove the spikes. Wearing gardening gloves doesn't work because I can't take a grip on the seeds when wearing the gloves. With my bare hands this is less gardening and more of a medieval torture method.

That's why I started using a plier to pull out the spikes. Although I grip only the spikes, some of the seeds came out too and this way I was able to free an area and to expand it with my fingertips while getting stung less. The problem is that the neighbouring seeds are damaged by the plier.

How  can I remove the seeds without damaging them? The pink circle is an area vith damaged seeds and the red one is an area from which I have removed the seeds and the spikes.


texts: What plant is this? Is it a variety of fern?

texts: A few of this plant is growing in our front yard. Though the leaves look like fern they don't grow like a fern. You can the small ones that just sprouted in the background.


texts: Why does my holiday cactus have a three cornered stem segment?

texts:
I noticed some new growth on my Schlumbergera, and when I looked at it, I found a three cornered stem segment. The segments are normally flat. with only two wings out from the stem. This segment has three.

Is that a disease, a sign of nutrient deficiency, or a genetic defect?


texts: can anyone tell me what this plant is. It is low growing, has medium sized leaves that are rough in texture and robust stems.


texts: Help identify this unknown seedling please

texts:
I'm not familiar with this plant and want to know so i can decide if it lives or not (mostly based on safety of my dogs) i was thinking hibiscus but someone else suggested a type of mulberry, it gets moderate shade at different times of the day and its surviving 116 degrees in gravel landscaping..i water it when i water the hibiscus its in between (every other day) it grew wild either wind or bird poop probably
!(https://i.stack.imgur.com/FrDTf.jpg)!
the older it gets it looks similar to a strawberry but not quite


texts: Identification of tree with trilobate leaves

texts:
Can somebody help me identify this tree found in Sicily?

It is a fairly big tree (8-10 m) with a broad canopy and trilobate leaves. Fruits are also shown in the picture.

thanks!


texts:
I've got a ficus which dried out this summer. The roots seem to be alive and well - multiple suckers are growing without issues.

This photo was taken a week ago and the suckers continue to grow.

I read that is possible to regrow the tree from one of them as long as it's not grafted. (I don't think it is, the leaves on suckers look the same as the trees next to it)

My main questions are:

Should I cut the old tree immediately, or wait longer?
Should I select one sucker and cut the rest, or is it better to cut the small ones off over time?

Anything else I should pay attention to while trying to revive this tree?


texts:
During winter time there comes smog to my town, consisting of:

Carcinogenic Benzo[a]pyrene
PM2.5 (fine particulate matter)
PM10 (respirable particulate matter)
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide)
SO2 (sulfur dioxide)

Mechanical air purifiers use a combination of filters (including HEPA13) to remove particles and other substances but are pretty expensive. I am looking for a cheap alternative: plants that I could grow at home and that would purify the air from the mentioned substances.

Could you recommend any?


texts: How did black-eyed Susans get their name?

texts:
Rudbeckia hirta, commonly called black-eyed Susans, are a native wildflower here in the US.

Typically, when it comes to naming animals and plants, their common names stem from either the name of the person who discovered it, where it was found, or by their attributes. For example, pitcher plants hold water in them, much like a pitcher.

How did the name "black-eyed susan" come about? Was it discovered by a blonde lady named Susan who had a black eye at the time, and thought the flower resembled her appearance? Or maybe that it would resemble her if she had a black eye?


texts: Identify tree with bright magenta flowers and grayish leaves

texts: Blooms around May in the Pacific Northwest.


texts: I am planning a raised bed vegetable garden for my Southern California backyard. my current design was going to use 3'x6' cedar boxes, 7-1/4 inches high, until I read that that this shallow dirt would not accommodate many deep rooted vegetables. I read that Tomatoes can have 7 foot roots. A raised bed box for that would look like a skyscraper! What depth is required for a raised bed vegetable in Southern California?


texts: Would like to identify this plant. Which has appeared in my garden and,has grown very fast.I am unable to identify it can someone help.Thank you.


texts: Is there a risk of rot with plastic lining in a raised garden bed?

texts:
I'm considering lining the walls (not the bottom) of my soon to be raised garden bed with some heavy/medium duty plastic. I've read that this helps the wood last longer by preventing contact with the moist soil.

My one concern is that if water/moisture of some kind got between the wood and the lining. Wouldn't this be pretty bad?

Is there any risk of lining the walls of my garden be with plastic?


texts: My friend’s pepper plant has some odd leaf lesions

texts: It looks like the leaves are being distorted by whatever these lesions are. Any ideas? Viral disease?


texts:
This is my first time posting on this stack, so excuse any ignorance! I have been growing Espelette Peppers in Paris (France) under a grow light during the colder days and hardening them off to our sun-baked south facing terrace. It’s been slow growing, but one plant did particularly well under my inexperienced guidance. However, it now has a sort of purple rash on it’s leaves. I’ve googled and googled and googled, but so far nothing.
Anyone have an idea of what I’m looking at? Or how I might treat it?
Thanks guys!


texts: Is this plant that smells like mint actually a mint?

texts:
We have moved in to a new home and the flower bed is overrun with what looks and smells like mint.

Am I correct in assuming this is an edible mint plant which can be used in cooking?


texts: Does my hemlock tree have wooly adelgid?

texts:
A few months ago, in March, I learned about the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid, and the damage it's doing to trees in my geographical region, which are primarily Eastern Hemlock, Tsuga canadensis. They're also endangering the Carolina Hemlock, Tsuga caroliniana, however that tree is not as common in the Northeastern United States.

Someone who was looking at my backyard pictures from the previous summer thought they may have seen it on one of my trees. After reading about the adelgid, including very important ongoing research over the last view decades, at the Harvard Forest here in Massachusetts, I became concerned. According to what I read, this adelgid is decimating hemlock forests in many states. In fact hemlocks are under quarantine in Maine and New Hampshire.

I called a local ecologist/naturalist/arborist, and he came right away. The tree which I had suspected was actually fine, but when he did a thorough examination of all the trees in the yard, he found wooly adelgid on my other hemlock. That tree is about 30 feet away from the other, in a totally separate part of the yard.

He explained that a wooly adelgid infestation is identified by appearance of white masses that look like cotton balls on the twigs and the base of the needles. Each one indicates the presence of an adelgid, who, while laying eggs, secretes it and uses it to cover their bodies. Those eggs hatch, and the next batch begins feeding, By the time those masses have grown larger, and they've become white and wooly, damage has already occurred. Over time the adelgid grows larger, causes widespread damage, and eventually death, to the tree.

He said my infestation was in a young stage, and didn't cover a large enough section of my tree to be doing major damage. He recommended removing the affected branches and keeping an eye on the rest of the tree as we came into the spring and summer. (We discussed various control methods, in case we needed them. The least aggressive one is a localized application of horticultural oil designed to kill only the adelgid and not the tree and other vegetation. The other is a chemical application, usually Imidacloprid or permethin. He doesn't like those, especially permethin. Treatment is always a last resort, because eco-systems all rely on each other, and even dead trees are important homes.)

We removed the areas where there was visible adelgid at varying stages of life. It's now the first of July, and what's left of the tree looks fine. There's plenty of new growth and I don't see anything suspicious, so we're not going to do anything at this point.

We've left the bare branches for the birds and other animal visitors to use. I'm glad we did, because many small birds hide there, and it's a great place for our baby squirrels. The woodpeckers are having fun too!

We liked the arborist very much, especially because of his attitude towards preservation. He spent a lot of time examining trees and bushes in our yard, and educating us, at no charge.

I'm posting this because I know that there are several tree experts here on the site, and would like another professional opinion please. I'm also hoping it will cause other people to examine their hemlocks.

I apologize that some of my pictures are blurry. They're a pretty good representation of what was happening at the time of the diagnosis, which was this past March, 2017.

Click on photos for larger view.


texts: Planting mounds - is it ok to flip grass, till, and pile container mix?

texts:
I'm planting three sisters and am preparing mounds 3' diameter and 1' tall. To begin I cut and flipped grass with a nursery spade then tilled it with a hoe. I then laid container mix on top. I'll use a fork or spade to loosen up soil deeper below container mix and flipped grass.
Is the flipped grass ok, or how is the ground usually prepared? On the one hand I understand the grass decomposing can reduce available Nitrogen because biota are using it up to decompose grass. On the other hand I have used cardboard and mulch on top of bare grass and have had great success planting that way.
Come to think of it, for my next mound I'll try cardboard. As the base below a pile of container mix and mulch.


texts: Can trees be propagated from cuttings without roots or leaves?

texts:
It's well known that many tree species can be propagated by taking stem cuttings.

It's also well known that many tree species can grow new stems and leaves after having the trunk cut.

My question is: can a tree be propagated by cutting a section from the trunk? This would effectively be planting a rootless, leafless cylinder using standard cutting propagation techniques.

I understand this would have a few challenges - notably, the water absorption challenges of a rootless cutting.  I'm looking for strong documented sources saying it can't be done, or for anecdotal successes.


texts: I've caught unknown insects in my sticky trap. Do I need to take any action?

texts:
What have I caught and do I need to take any action?

This is the result of one of my sticky traps. I lay them flat on top of the soil. The trap is 2 sided which is why you see the shadows of other insects.

In addition to (I think fungus gnats) I have caught these critters. Out of the 4 places where I placed sticky traps only 2 have these. And only 1 is covered in these things.

The picture I took is from the most infested trap. This particular trap is about 10cm/3" square. It puzzles me since they appear to be wingless.

My plants sit in pots on my balcony. There is no other foliage around.

Update:

I set new traps today. As an experiment I set the traps vertically rather than laying them down on the soil. Minutes later I started to see these small insects jump onto the bottom of the traps. So they are definitely not dropping from somewhere.

This small section is representative of the entire trap. It's literally covered in them.


texts: Can I make my own potting soil with what I have?

texts: I have miracle grow gardening soil as well as Hoffman and Espoma cactus mixes. Can I mix these two (part cactus mix part gardening mix) together for potting geraniums and lobelia? I'm out of general potting mix and am curious if mixing the two together would be an OK alternative? If not, what is the harm or reasons not to?


texts: Anyone have idea what does this plant called? Thanks in advance.


texts: what is this weed - touching caused an itch and allergic skin reaction

texts: I brushed my wrist against it a little bit when I was cleaning this area. It caused me an itch and allergic reaction on the skin. There are two plants in the image, but I think I brushed against the big/darker green one. The location is San Francisco Bay area, California, USA).


texts:
An aloe plant I have on my table now has leaves with yellowish ends and I'd like to somehow address it. I Googled for a while and found that in case of aloe this may be a sign of either underwatering or overwatering.

The plant is about 120 millimeters tall with diameter about 250 millimeters, the pot is about 120 millimeters tall with diameter about 100 millimeters filled with ground almost to the edges. I water it once a week pouring about maybe 20-40 milliliters of water.

How do I know if I water aloe right? How do I know if I'm underwatering or overwatering it?


texts: I planted a Sego Palm too close to a sidewalk . After years of trimming, I finally cut off at ground level . The trunk was about 42" , so I dug a 36" hole and planted it.  This happened last fall , the 5 big fronds are green and look healthy, but it did not put out any new growth ( New growth is in May for Zone 9). So I wonder if it skipped a year of growth or is dying ?


texts: I just heard about the yaupon holly, and would like to plant some. Where can I plant them to get my caffeine fix?


texts: Can you graft onto the stump of an established apple tree?

texts:
I have some well-established Bramley apple trees - 5 of them which is 2 more than I need, so my plan was to remove 2 ad plant other varieties.
But is it possible to graft a new tree onto the existing root system? It would save a hard digging job. It's not your normal graft to cut down an entire tree and put a new one on, is it feasible? If so what would I graft on and how would I do this?
My existing trees are I think about 15 years old with trunks 5-6" diameter. They are presuambly themselves grafted onto the rootstock.


texts: How do I prepare a chili plant for a second year's growth?

texts: I have finally managed to make one of my chili plants (variety unknown) live into its second year! I've kept it indoors so far this winter. As it will be spring in a couple of months (I'm in the UK), what should I to prepare it for next year? Should I prune it back and if so, how? Should I change the soil?


texts: Hey everyone! I’ve recently been placed in charge of caring for this Arizona native cacti.  A friend of mine is travelling abroad for 8 months and I want to take good care of this little guy while she’s away. we recently had to propagate these 4 cacti pups but the “mom” is looking a little blah afterwards. Can anyone provide some tips and tricks to help me get everyone happy and healthy?


texts: Climbing roses -zone 5a or 6 (Canada) -how do I prevent them from dying back ? I want them to ...climb!

texts:
OK this is their second year and I noticed that in the previous year the stems froze and they turned dead in spring

TThey are almost 4 feet now with a spectacular growth in August September, and I want to save that for the next year

How do I protect roses over winter so they can resume the growing from where they stopped the previous year ?

update: here is the picture, the fence is 6'+


texts: How should I deal with tree root pushing on brick retaining wall?

texts:
We have a Mt Fuji, Prunus 'Shirotae', tree with a total diameter of about 8 meters (26 feet). We only have a small garden but love this tree. It's planted next to a brick retaining wall (goes down to our driveway). For a long time it's been fine but it finally started pushing out the retaining wall with a large root. The trunk is about 20cm (8in) in diameter and the root must be about 10-15cm (4-6in), so it's a major one. I'm sort of okay to just leave it and let nature take its course but an alternative would be to slice out the outer part of the root which is against the retaining wall. How bad would this be for the tree?

Overview of area:

Problem root:

Looking in more detail, I now see that the tree itself is probably pushing a bit now on the retaining wall. I think the only solution is to actually remove the retaining wall and perhaps rebuild it to suit the tree. Suggestions?

Retaining wall:


texts:
I planted an avocado plant from seed about two years ago. It grew to about 1.5 meters with some leaves. But suddenly, it started drying from its middle. I truncated and pruned it from that point but the drying continues. It has some little buds that didn't change from the time that the drying started.

Is there any solution to recover it?


texts: Are there any websites related to publish own's garderns' images/videos?

texts:
I would like to know if there is any web which offers us to upload our gardens' content, and even more, if there are any gardens contest where you could submitt your material via photos or videos and compete!

Thank you for your time.


texts:
I had an Aloe plant that had grown to about 10" tall, in the shape of a miniature Christmas tree. It was potted in a small 8" pot with two other succulents. Last night our cats broke the plant from the pot, leaving the roots in the pot and a small part of the stem. The plant is full and green.

Is there any chance of saving the plant or the roots or both?


texts: How do I get rid of insects on fruit trees?

texts:
I have an infestation of aphids on my citrus and pomegranate trees. The bugs are being "farmed" by ants. I read they might actually be bringing the aphids to the trees.

Is this at all a problem? Can my trees still produce good fruit while they're infested?

If not, how can the problem be controlled? What safe insecticides suitable for fruit trees can be used?


texts: How do I prune the broken branches of my plum tree?

texts:
I have a plum tree that's about 8 years old. For the first time last year, it produced a bumper crop, having only given a few the previous years. Not realising it was a good idea, I never pruned it.

The problem was that the weight of the fruit was too much for some of the branches, and three of them broke. They remained attached enough for the fruit to survive, so I left them as they were.

From what I've read, now is the time for pruning, and I would like some advice as to how I should deal with this tree. Obviously, I want a healthy tree that's going to give me as much fruit as possible.

Here is an overall shot of the tree...

(sorry, looks like you need to tilt your head to see this picture!)

As you can see, due to my lack of pruning, the branches are quite long. Two of the branches broke close to the main stem (just in front of the green post in the middle of the picture), and they look like this...

The other branch that broke is a bit harder to see, but is in the middle of the clump of branches that goes off to the right.

Anyone able to advise how I make the most of this tree? In case it makes any difference, I'm in North-West England.

Thanks


texts:
I’m no gardener nor do I have a “green thumb”. I found this pit inside an avocado that I cut the same day that my 8yr old son brought home, what looked to be, a successfully germinated pinto bean from science class so I got inspired. I named the pit Seymour and went online. The Internet said peel the skin off the pit but there were so many white strings on it I didn’t take all the skin off. One end had a stick coming out of it so I put that end up thinking it was a tree and the other end had thick white tentacles with tiny white things on them so I put that end in the water. The white strings outside the pit were drying so I covered them with wet paper towels every day. The little white things, that were on the big white thick tentacles, were turning brown and the stick wasn’t doing anything - but the thick tentacles in the water were drinking almost half the jar of water every day and at was exciting! But nothing else was happening -
Thinking I confused the ends of the pit, I flipped it. The end of the stick was dark black and dry so I trimmed it to where I could see a little lighter color dot in the middle of the stick, I took off the rest of the skin and cut off the strings that were completely black and dried up. I put the stick and the strings in the water, and the tentacles up in the air.
Still not much is happening with Seymour - He’s drinking but not as much as when his tentacles were in the water. The excitement of adding so much water to the jar every day is gone; some days the tentacles have a slight light greenish appearance as if they will start turning into a “branch” then they go back to being white. The little white dots that were all over the tentacles are dark brown.
Is Seymour slowly dying or dead? Am I confusing which end to put in the water? Or is Seymour, the seed itself, confused? I’ve uploaded some photos but I’m not sure if they added or not.
The only thing I haven’t tried is to drop the entire seed in the water - HELP!


texts: Should a root-ball always be loosened when transferring a potted plant/tree into the ground?

texts:
I've always thought that the right way to transfer a plant/tree to the ground is to dig a hole twice as big as the root-ball, free the roots that have been growing in a limited space, and set it level with the ground. This way, the roots are free to branch out and establish themselves in the surrounding soil.

However, I recently saw landscape workers just directly transferring a tree with its root-ball still looking like the shape of the container†. Wouldn't this slow down the growth of the roots and make the tree more susceptible to uprooting in strong winds?

Are there tangible advantages to freeing the roots, or have I been doing it wrong (or unnecessarily) all this while?

† It is entirely possible that the workers were lazy and didn't do it knowing fully well that they were going to get paid anyway. The question still remains though.


texts: How do I repair my lawn this late in the year?

texts:
It's mid-November and we just had our driveway expanded.  Now the lawn in the region is absolutely thrashed.  Re-reading my contract with the driveway crew, they were very clear that the landscaping would be my responsibility.

I'm a total novice at lawn care.  How do I repair a lawn?  Is there anything urgent I should do before the freezing weather comes?

photo of my lawn:

There are more photos in my imgur album) with more details.


texts:
I am a newbie to caring for plants.

I have recently planted coriander seeds indoors with a grow light (as I do not get much sunlight). My coriander had been sprouting well for first 2 weeks. Now it is starting to droop. What am I doing wrong?


texts: I have a tomato plant that is resulting in blossom end rot tomatoes. Can I cut off the bottom half of the tomato and eat the rest or is this not recommended?  I don't know if blossom end rot disease is a viral or physical disease to know the implications of consuming it


texts: Worm/Caterpillar identification and control. white webs

texts:
I found these buggers growing on a peach tree in my yard. This is located near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.

Identification?
Are they harmful?
If harmful, effective control measure.


texts: What type of edible mushrooms can I easily inoculate in logs and grow in USDA zone 4a for full sun?

texts: I'm currently building a home fungal/crop garden, and am wondering what types of mushrooms can inoculate fresh cut oak logs with that will grow in full sun next to tall grass on one side, and a wood chip bed on the other side. It will be cooking at about 160 all winter long (2'-3' X 20' X 100' so mycelium will be "running").


texts: What is this low-growing bush with variegated leaves and red berries?

texts: Does anybody know what plant this is? I'd like to make sure the berries aren't poisonous for my cat.


texts: Does water with 0-0-5 fertilizer help Ficus cuttings to develop roots faster?

texts:
Will adding 0-0-5 fertiliser (high rate of potassium) to the water in which I'm keeping cuttings of Ficus help them develop roots faster?

How much is too much?


texts: I want to have success with Lion's Mane. I tried Oak logs some years ago and got nothing.  I need info on using wood pellets and plastic bags (I have a large basement). This sounds like a faster way to get results than logs. Put me on to a link if you can or share your ideas.


texts: Spindly shrub in Pacific Northwest with green and purple leaves

texts:
Trying to figure out what this tall shrub is in the front yard.

Any ideas? It looks like it probably needs pruning, but I want to figure out what it is before cleaning it up.


texts:
What I did is simply inserting the pomegranate cuttings in the pot with potting soil after soaking in the water for a day. What should I do after that? How often should I water the cuttings and what temperature is suitable for rooting?

Many thanks!

Updated:
All 5 cuttings I grow are all have buds now after planted in soil for 3 months. However, none of the cuttings has roots.


texts: Is 1' x 8' cedar thick enough for raised beds

texts: I found some pretty reasonably priced 1x8 knotty cedar (.75" x 7.5" ), And I'm looking to make some raised beds using it and wondering If i brac it every 5 feet or so, if that will be think enough to hold back the soil.


texts: Is it true that having only one fruit per vine makes it taste better?

texts: I had noticed how expensive square watermellon is and apparently the reason for that is because often times farmers will only grow one watermellon per vine as opposed to the normal four or five per vine because the logic is that by cutting off the other growing watermellons, you are saving the nutrients for the one watermellon thus making it taste much better and whatnot. Is this true? And if so, is it really that helpful to do so, because I would imagine that if a plant weren't able to handle that many fruits growing at the same time, they simply wouldn't grow at all, so simply cuting some off doesn't make all that much a difference?


texts: can someone please identify this plant for me?

texts: Found this plant growing in my garden. Do not know what it is. Can someone please identify?


texts:
I've a plant growing in my garden, that I'm hoping somebody can identify.  I live in zone 5b or 6a, on the Plant Hardiness Zone Map.

It's about 2-3' tall, has dark red leaves,

gets little white flowers in the spring,

and has a dark colored bark.

What is this plant?


texts: What plant is this? Maybe a bell pepper plant?

texts:
This plant grew next to my avocado shrub. It's been there for quite some time (>6 month). I recently started to grow bell pepper plants and they look a bit similar (the longer first two leafs (one being covered in the picture) and the other leafs being wider).

I like it and will probably put it into its own pot, but it would be good to know the species before.

Here's a picture:


texts: What would cause branches in the middle of a pear tree to die?

texts:
I had a really nice pear tree. Last year I saw a dead branch in the middle of the tree so I cut it. But this year there are a lot of dead branches in the middle of the tree. I'm afraid I'm doing to lose my tree. Is there anything that could cause this problem?

Update

Seems like my question got popular. I ended up paying someone to inject product in the soil to help the tree grow. I removed a lot of ants and made small hole to help with drainage. I cut down the dead branch and the tree is growing better than ever.


texts: Can I build a soil-based garden on a concrete balcony?

texts:
I have a fairly small balcony that I don't use, but my apartment has no garden. Would it be possible to cover the balcony in a tarp and then add some soil, moss, plants, etc?

It's a solid construction, made of concrete and treated wood. I was thinking of starting a little biology project there, nothing heavy. Is this feasible?


texts:
Photos

I'm pretty new to growing plants and this is the first plant that i care about.
I did bought this plant about a month ago and it was delivered as it is in the photos.
I've been watering it two to three times per week with about 1.5 liters (about 50 ounces) of tap water.
I live in the capital of Brazil, Brasília, which is very dry (10% to 40% humidity) and hot (18° to 35°C / 66° to 95°F) during the day.
The palm gets direct sun between 3 to 6 pm.
What may be causing the dry leaves?

Thanks!


texts:
I live near Vancouver, Canada, USDA zone 8a. Our summers are fairly mild, only becoming consistently hot from mid-July to end of August and maybe the beginning of September. I want to grow karela (the warty Indian bitter melon) or the Chinese bitter melon (smoother and larger). I have no idea whether the hotter part of our growing season is long enough.

I've saved some ripe seeds from some karela and I have 3 plants started - about 2-3 inches tall now. They're right against a south-facing window. I know a trick to get heat-loving vegetables to grow well in a garden and plan to use it. What I need to know, though, is how long from planting till the plant will set fruit. Like other Cucurbits, the first flowers will only be male.

Has anyone grown karela or bitter melon in this area and been successful? If you have, could you please share any info that could help me?


texts: Why have my tomato leaves started yellowing at the base?

texts:
One of my tomato plants (Better Boys if that matters) has a few leaves that have started yellowing on the lower branches. Not sure if they aren't getting enough water, or if they are diseased or what.

What is causing this? If it's a disease how can I prevent it from spreading to the rest of my plants?


texts: Need advice to save a couple mesquite trees in my backyard

texts:
A couple years back, my wife created a "walking bridge" between two trees in our backyard using high-tension straps for a child's birthday party.  No one ever removed them.  (I wanted too, but I was met with resistance because apparently the thing is fun to climb on.)

Yesterday I noticed that the part of the tree above the strap was "discolored."  I (finally) removed the strap, and the bark of the tree under the strap doesn't look too happy.

These are large, established trees.  They're attractive & provide a lot of shade.  I don't want to mistreat them or loose them.

Here's a picture...

Please advise me on how to undo the damage.


texts: Will a 6' circumference tomato cage work?

texts:
In my past experience with growing industrial sized tomato plants I need oversized tomato cages, so I use concrete mesh to grow my tomatoes, but I cut some a little too long, so now I have 2 tomato cages that have a circumference of 6'. Will these work to support tomatoes? For the type of tomato cage think of the ones made out of concrete mesh.

parts of a circle


texts:
I am wondering if it is ok to let the spiders I have in my plants live?
The plants seem happy, going about its day (its a maranta leconeura and a calathea orbifolia)
Both plants don’t seem to have any illnesses or pest and they are giving me many new leafs.
I’ve read somewhere that letting the spiders (regular, not spider mites) live in peace in the plant is healthy and helping me keep the pests and flies away.
Is this true?


texts: How to fix Young Eucalyptus Pauciflora Niphophila bending over?

texts: I planted this Eucalyptus pauciflora niphophila last Autumn when it was about 2 m tall. It is very healthy and has grown about a metre in the first year. It is straight up to about five feet high and then it bends over as the photo shows. Can this be corrected, maybe by pruning, or should it be corrected?


texts: Is it really beneficial to put papaya seeds in the sun for a few minutes before planting?

texts:
My friend tells me I should place papaya seeds in direct sunlight for about 20 minutes just before putting them into the soil. She says this will be beneficial to germination, among other things.

Is there any truth to this, or is it just a myth?


texts: What is this bushy plant with serrated leaves and small yellow flowers?

texts: I bought a house that had a garden, and this plant popped up by itself.  It's growing quickly and starting to produce soft green pods that are full of white seeds. The pods are shrouded in a papery flower.  I live in eastern California in the high desert.


texts: How can I support Birdhouse Gourds without nailing anything to my fence?

texts: I have birdhouse gourd vines growing up my fence. I started with a river cane trellis pushed into the soil in the tubs the gourds are growing in. This initial trellis can not support the new growth. I don't want to use any more river cane. What is the best way to trellis my gourds to the left and right along the fence without using nails?


texts: Why don't you want to put mint in a compost pile?

texts: A video by UC Berkeley on YouTube said that you don't want to put mint in compost. Why not? He also said no Bermuda grass, but I know why this is the case, essentially due to one of their other videos.


texts: What are the most fragrant non-double peonies?

texts:
Old-fashioned peonies are among my favorite perennials, easy to grow, spectacular in flower and awesomely fragrant. The old fully double varieties, however, have a serious weakness: a single rain storm while they are in bloom will completely trash them. The flowers will fill with water until they weigh a couple pounds each and crash to the ground. No amount of staking or support helps much. (Some examples from around the web: Georgia, Michigan, and Illinois.)

The newer single, semi-double, and anemone-flowered peonies are better in this regard. The less congested petals of these types let the rain water drain out, so these flop much less. Unfortunately, in experience, they are also either completely scentless or only very lightly scented.

I wonder if anyone can suggest the most fragrant varieties from among the single, semi-double, and anemone-flowered forms.


texts: Identifying/operating an automatic watering system

texts:
I recently bought a house built circa 1970 in France, and it came with an automatic watering system (date of setup unknown, so any time between then and now), controlled by this:

I've been unable to find any kind of instructions on how to operate the triple cogs systems on the web, searching for "flash" or "flask" (whatever that brand is) doesn't yield anything.

Would anyone know (ideally) what's this model so that I can find instructions, or at least have an idea on how to operate the cogs?


texts: What is this prickly weed found in Pennsylvania?


texts: My indoor Monstera plant has this weird, lumpy yellow growth around the roots, can anyone tell me what it is and how to treat?


texts:
Almost three years ago I bought a smallish cyclamen from IKEA to decorate my second bathroom. I fully expected it to be "produced as disposable" and to bloom for a bit and then .... whatever.

Since then it has been blooming constantly for three years(!) and I have become very fond of it.

From all cyclamens I or my mom ever had or that I read about, they are "supposed" to drop all leaves and go dormant during summer, pushing out new foliage and flowers when you start watering them after that. I always found mine to indicate the beginning of their dormancy phase with the end of flowering and leaves turning yellow and consequently reduced and stopped watering.

But not this one. Yes, a few leaves shrivel up and die and the number of flowers once went down to "only" five, but at the same time it pushes up new leaves and there are dozens of flower buds in various stages of development under the dense foliage. It never had that "slightly scraggly" look I have always associated with the onset of the dormancy phase.

So I've been wondering:

Does a cyclamen need the dormant phase for its long-term health or can I continue caring for it the way I do and enjoy it year-round?


texts: What is this plant which looks like chives?

texts:
Found in West Michigan zone 5b.
It tolerates cool and heat well. It emerges about the same time as chives but it does not have a single hollow stem like chives. It has an occasional leaf that comes off the stem like grass.
The stem is very skinny like grass, but strong and tall, it's 24" tall now.
Stem does not appear to be hollow.
Flowers look a lot like chive as they appear at the end of a stalk in a bunch when it's still cool, when temps in the mid-60s F.
Now the flowers are gone there are seed-like structures on top each with a long skinny chive-like green "stem". "Seeds" are brownish red.
When breaking a stem it does not smell like onions or garlic.
It grows among other grasses near a fence in full sun.
It comes back every year on its own even surviving harsh Michigan winters.
Could it be some type of reed?
I'm familiar with equisetum (aka rushes, horse tails), chives, onions, leeks, garlic and it's none of those. I even have top onions and it's not that either.
I thought it might be a corkscrew rush but it's not cork screwy (unless that happens later in summer). Besides it thrives in dry sandy soil.

Better pic:


texts: How to minimize rot when building raised bed from sleepers?

texts:
I am building a raised bed for vegetables out of pressure treated sleepers and I need to put them over concrete.

I live in UK and there is more than enough humidity so I do want to prolong their life and I wonder if I should put some kind of spacers between the sleepers and the concrete so they could dry easier.

I plan to put a lining of landscape polypropylene to keep the soil from washing out into wood or concrete below but I doubt this would help too much with humidity. I already red that putting non-permeable sheets could do more damage than benefits, so I suspect that could be a decent trade off.

I am going to put ~5cm (2in) of gravel on the bottom for draining

My big question is about the sleepers themselves which are 20 cm x 10 cm and I will mount them so the walls will be 10 cm wide. If they stay directly on the concrete there will be almost permanent wet there as my garden does not have very good drainage. After heavy rains it takes two hours for the pool to drain into the concrete.

Should I put some spacers, how high and of which nature? The raised bed is going to be quite big (260 cm x 70 cm).

Please note that this is for growing organic vegetables, so picking the right materials can be tricky.


texts: How deep are the roots of a Dwarf Southern Magnolia tree?

texts: How deep do the roots of Dwarf Southern Magnolia tree go? I understand they are quite shallow. Is this correct?


texts:
I noticed some brownish spots on a couple of my jade plant leaves? Is this serious? I water the plant once ever 6-10 days depending on the weather (When the soil is dry). The plant gets lots of indirect light and a couple of weeks ago I fertilized it with some cactus/succulent specific water soluble fertilizer.

If you are wondering why the jade has so little leaves it is because it used to look like this: What is wrong with this Jade Plant? (Yellowing Leaves, Spots, White powder)

I decided to pick off most of the damaged/yellowing leaves and let the plant start over. I know its probably not the best choice but the plant has been doing significantly better and is growing very fast.


texts:
I noticed about 4 days ago that leaves on one of my peppers got soft and started to hang down a little. I thought that it just needs some water so i watered it along with my 2 other peppers. Today the same pepper looks like it again needs more water, while the other 2 are in pretty much good shape. I inspected the plant and found out that a lot of leaves from its top half are completely dry and basically dead. The rest of them is either normal (young and small leaves look the best) or seems to be attacked by an insect (or a disease?) i can't identify by myself.

Attacked leaves can have small dry areas and strange little spots on them (maybe eggs of an insect):

And others look like they have been bitten (backlight for better visibility):

I have also noticed one tiny white/yellow bug walking on the plant. I couldn't take a clear picture of it, because it was to small.

Are these symptoms caused by an insect or is it a disease?
If it is an insect, how can i get rid of it?
Are my other plants in danger?


texts: I am redoing the landscaping around my house and there are always tons of deer nearby. What types of plants are deer resistant but still look pretty(flowering). Location is in Wisconsin. The landscaping will get moderate sunlight.


texts: Unknown houseplant -- what is the one on the LEFT?

texts: That's pretty much it. I need to care for this unknown plant. What is it?


texts: Can young sunflower transplants take a light frost?

texts:
I realize that sunflowers can grow easily from direct-seeding, but to get some earlier sunflowers, I thought I'd try starting them early (since I've heard that works well, too).

I've heard that sunflowers can be sown up to two weeks before the last frost (although they recommend after the last frost if your season is long enough), but what about transplants? Is the same true for them, or do you definitely want to wait until after the last frost to transplant them if you want the plants to survive? I'm just wondering if the young plants can take a light frost.


texts: Looking to ID the type of Mint this is, it is for my tortoise. I got it from my local grocery store, it's branded as Compliments Organic Mint.


texts: Which soil should be used with Aloe Vera Barbadensis Miller, Stockton variety?

texts:
The question Is this soil appropriate to plant this succulent baby? is relevant to some unknown Aloe but this question is specifically related Aloe Vera Barbadensis Miller, Stockton variety that has most nutrients, most healing power proven of all Aloes by the video. I want to understand the usage of soils for the Aloe.

The point 31 min may be answering this, sandy soil with rocks is optimal soil for the adult Aloe? Now we need verification for this.

Which soil should be used with Aloe Vera Barbadensis Miller?

Which soil should be used for potting the new Aloe baby? Watered nutritient-rich soil? Which NPK nutrition profile in the fertiliser? Fertilization needed?
Which soil should be used with the adult Aloe?
What is the purpose of rocks in growing the Aloe? Only landscaping?


texts: Is it normal for plant leaves to droop at night?

texts:
I have an avocado plant that I grew from a pit. I have noticed that in the evening the leaves begin to droop down, and then in the morning  and day they come back up to where they normally are. Is this normal behavior?

Here's a picture of the plant during the day:

During the night the leaves go down towards the plant, I guess you could say that they curl in towards the plant.


texts: Identify this plant that's taking over my yard

texts:
What is this plant?  This is slowly taking over my yard.  You can see from one of the pictures that it's a vining plant of some sort.  It will lay roots and then spread out.  It came in to my yard a couple years ago from a bad batch of top soil and it's been spreading ever since.

Follow up question... how do I kill it?  It did not respond to Scott's Weed and Feed.  I've been pulling it out by hand and overseeding with grass, but it's a battle I'm losing.  I need a better approach but I don't know what I'm up against.

For a climate reference, I live in western Pennsylvania.

enter image description here


texts: Plant identification - Dracena White stripes?

texts:
I've recently bought this plant but I don't know what it is. I googled with some image searches and it looks like Dracena White Stripes.

Does anyone have an idea what it is?

Thanks!

Plant image


texts: What is a suitable depth for planting a bulb?

texts:
It always puzzles me when websites say we should bury bulbs under the soil about 2 or 3 times the height of the bulb.

For example, a nice post about planting hyacinths recommends putting the bulb 5 cm beneath the soil, while all the planted mature, ready to flower, hyacinths I've seen on the market have about two-thirds of the bulb above the soil.

If I've seen the bulb growing a bud, should I bury the bulb?


texts: Growing tomatoes from seed in grow bags?

texts: Is there any reason I can't just plant tomato seeds directly into grow-bags, without bothering with all the potting on palava?


texts: What is this extension of my Mango Tree? Is it weed or is it helpful for it?

texts:
My 3 year old Mango Tree has some kind of extension on it. What is it?
Should I remove it or let it stay?


texts: Does it matter if my cabbage forms its heart some way off the ground?

texts:
My cabbages have been growing strongly, but until recently mostly big loose leaves, not hearts.

Now they're beginning to heart up, but some way up the stalk and off the ground (about 12-15cm up the stalk, possibly more [photo probably shows the most extreme example]).

They look like decent hearts.

But is this a problem? In a lettuce (which I am more used to growing) this would look like a plant that had started to bolt. And also, archetypal illustrations of healthy cabbages always show tight balls close to the ground.

Edit:
Further thought: Could it be connected to overcrowding and/or being shaded by nearby beans and broccoli? Are these guys reaching up for more light?


texts: Are there any varieties of Elephant Ear that are hardy enough to withstand a zone 6b winter?

texts: When I look at Elephant Ear varieties in plant catalogs, they all say Elephant Ears are hardy in zones 9-10, sometimes 7-10. But I see people in my area, zone 6b, growing them outdoors without winter protection. Are they growing special varieties or are most catalogs being overly safe?


texts: Why is my basil doing poorly after I split it a month ago?

texts:
About a month ago I split my basil plant in half since I wanted to give some basil to a friend. I had never split a plant before.
During the summer and fall months I kept my plants outside on my balcony, but since it has been getting colder I brought it inside about the same time that I split it. I have been noticing that both of my plants are losing lots of their leaves and wilting over and starting to lay down. I placed them in front of my window, but I am not sure how much sun they get since my window faces east and I am gone most of the day. I also am watering my plants about every other day. What am I doing wrong? Is there any hope in saving my poor plants?


texts: Help me diagnose my tomato plant's stem problem!

texts:
I'm a beginner gardener, and growing tomato plants for the first time. I need help diagnosing a problem on my stems!

I regrew my three plants from seeds of a small heirloom tomato that I came across last year. All three plants are still indoors and small-ish. I labeled them in the below pictures as A/B/C. Sadly, the stems are all showing signs of deformity, though leaves don't have major issues (maybe a light yellow spot or two, which I plucked off). Plant C's stem was looking healthy until recently, and now it's starting to get that scabby look and lose its hairy quality in the affected area. Is this early blight? Bacteria?

Plant C was healthy looking until recently. Should I separate plant C from the others, or is it too late?

I've learned a lot already through this process and in hindsight probably should've heat treated those seeds. Would love help in diagnosing in the meantime. Thanks!


texts: Advice on planting a bed of wildflowers on a hillside in zone 7?

texts:
I know almost nothing about gardening and landscaping so I can really use some advice. In our backyard we had a hillside that was covered with ivy and weeds for years. I finally had it cleared this week and I plan to seed it with wildflower seeds in an effort to draw butterflies and hummingbirds. I haven't measured but I would guess it's about 50' long by 20' deep, and it faces south.

Right now the hillside is just muddy dirt. There's a bit of tree cover overhead, so about half of the hill will be partial shade, the other half will be full sun. The soil is dark brown so I assume it's good for planting.

So I have a few questions for anyone willing to help out:

how should I 'plant' the seeds? should I just toss them around and rake them in?
when should I 'plant' the seeds? do they need to sit in the cold dirt for a few weeks to be 'activated'? or should I just plant them when I'm ready for them to grow (this spring)?
I see on the website where I'm going to order the seeds, the various species have a 'spacing' - usually something like 18". Does this mean I'm supposed to put down one seed per 18"? that seems strange, I want the hillside to be covered in wildflowers
any suggestions on keeping the weeds and ivy from returning? it was cleared using hand tools so I suspect roots etc are waiting to regrow as soon as the weather warms up.
the website I'm ordering from has flower seeds which I can purchase individually, but they also have pre-packaged bundles of various flowers. That seems nice but I was surprised to see the bundle I want (for attracting hummingbirds and butterflies) is 50% grass. Is this wild grass somehow beneficial? should I go for that, or just put down 100% flower seeds?
any suggestions on types of wildflowers? Right now my list is:

Garden phlox (Phlox paniculata)
Blanket flower (Gaillardia)
cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Aster novae-angliae (New England Aster)
Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower)
Rudbeckia fulgida (Orange Coneflower)
Monarda didyma (Red Bee Balm)
Aquilegia canadensis (Wild Columbine)
Salvia coccinea (Scarlet Sage)
Salvia farinacea (Blue Sage)


texts:
We live in Georgia. This young shade tree is about 3 years old. Last year I noticed that by July of last year I had lost most of my leaves (they turned all the way brown and fell off). This spring I’ve provided better drainage, and added mulch. It is only May and already had 4 leaves turn brown and fall off the tree. I’m afraid I’m headed in the same path as last year. I did notice a severe problem with what I think it is leaf spot. I attached a picture. Is this why my leaves are falling off? Something else? Overwater?underwater? (I don’t water at the foliage by the way) I have sprayed Neem oil. How often should I treat it w this? How else do I treat it? I’ve read I cannot kill leaf spot... thank you for any suggestions.

[![enter image description here][1]][1]

[1]: https://i.stack.imgur.com/ftHzg.jpg


texts: What is this plant with the unusual Leaf

texts: We live in NSW Australia and was given this plant by a friend, very unusual.


texts: I recently noticed several of these bugs on one of my backyard trees. It seemed to be feeding at a wound in the bark. It appears beetle-like with a shell covering its wings. They range in size from about a quarter inch to three-quarters o an inch. I live in West central Florida.  Does anyone know what it is and whether it is harmful?


texts: What are some low maintenance evergreens for an east facing partly-shaded bed?

texts:
I've just had a bunch of shrubs taken out from an east-facing partly-shaded bed against a house wall -- Viburnum Tinus and Aucuba Japonica. The situation suited them perfectly, to the extent that they were difficult to manage as they grew like topsy and needed cutting 2 or 3 times a year to control the height; also the viburnum tinus and the bed underneath was infested with viburnum beetle that we'd tried for 10 years to control without success.

I'm looking for a low maintenance evergreen (or near evergreen) option to replant that bed (we're working our way around the garden to reduce the workload as neither of us are getting any younger or healthier.) Ideally, it would have some fragrance as the bed borders the path to the front door. We want to plant through weed membrane and pebbles to minimise the weeding needed (and not have to deal with leaf drop on the pebbles which always discolours them). I want low/medium height stuff to make the garden look more open than it did with the oversize shrubs).  I'm not bothered about flowers, certainly don't want to dead-head regularly.

The bed is partly shaded and sheltered by a hedge 130cm (4.25ft) high and 7m (23ft) away. Soil is clay, but we've had success with plants needing better drainage by adding a lot of grit, and we're willing to do that here.  Climate: Gloucestershire/Wiltshire borders in the UK, so plants need to be hardy to -5° C. (23°F). (We've had worse, but not often). The bed is 4.5 meters (15 feet) long and 1.2 meters (4 feet) deep, so I'd like some variety in the planting.

Current thoughts are a mixture of English lavender, prostrate rosemary and euonymus, but it seems uninspiring.

What options should I be considering in the mix?


texts: How can I control erosion on a steep trail?

texts:
I have a trail about 10' wide going down a hill in the woods behind my house. This particular section has a ~10-15% grade. It receives regular foot, tractor, and log skidding (i.e. behind the tractor) traffic, so there's not much that grows in the pathway (and planting some kind of turf grass won't work). The soil is gravelly under the duff layer. The area receives minimal light since this is going through the woods. The edge of the trail is a mix of brush, saplings, and large trees -- more the latter than the former.

When we get heavy rain, parts of the trail wash out. It can be repaired, but I prefer prevention over cure.

What are my options for preventing erosion on this trail?


texts:
Is an olive tree frost resistant? I have a small olive tree planted in a flower pot.

There are small flies that put their larvae into the soil. Usually they are gone when the flower is outside for several days, but it's currently getting colder every night.


texts:
I know there already is a question answered about which crops to grow in the late summer (August): Late summer vegetable garden in SoCal?.

But I'm wondering if there are recommendations for crops to grow during the early summer (now, June-ish).

I am a first-time gardener, and here's what I'm thinking:

sunflowers
zucchini
basil
green beans

For context, I am in coastal California and I have a raised bed for a year. I am also unsure whether I should start with seeds or using seedlings (transplants) for some of these crops.


texts: How to protect strawberries from "predators"

texts:
I'm starting to prepare my gardening year and I'm wondering what the most efficient and organic way is to protect strawberries from birds and slugs.

I'm not at all against sharing a part of my fruit with the wild-life in my garden, but last year it was more like they have shared some 20 per cent with me.

For birds I was thinking about some meshed-cover but I'm worried that this will stop insects from doing their job because they won't be able to see the flowers.

For slugs I had the impression that wood-ash was blocking them. I sprinkled some ash over the bed in April and the first slugs only appeared in June.

EDIT: It worked. I built a wooden frame over which I stretched a 1.5x1.5cm meshed net in a way that a bird should be able rebound - insect could get inside doing their job.

Regarding the slugs I tried to put large garden snails inside because I was told they are eating the eggs of slugs. Maybe works a little bit... Also I planted shallots between the - which seemed to have no effect.

EDIT 2: The shallots have an impact which is that the slugs seems to prefer their leaves instead of the strawberry fruits.


texts: How best to connect multiple water butts?

texts:
I've just come into possession of two 120L water butts to connect up to my shed on my allotment plot, but as it is a pent roof I need to connect the water butts together as there is only one downpipe.

From what I have read there are two methods of linking them:-

Connect at the top so the first overflows into the second when full.

or

Connect at the bottom so the water is evenly distributed between the
two containers.

What are the benefits and downsides of these methods and how best to connect them?


texts: Can I force a dormant forsythia branch to bloom by bringing it inside?

texts: I live in Massachusetts, where we have approximately three feet of snow in the yard, and the temperature has been well below freezing nearly every day for the last two months. In an article in yesterday's local newspaper, a horticulturist wrote that even though our forsythias will likely flower later than usual this year, a branch can be forced to bloom now by bringing it inside. Is that true? If so, what would be the proper procedure?


texts: What is this awful leafy plant that's taking over my lawn, and how to get rid of it?

texts:
Over the last few years, an aggressive, leafy weed has gradually taken over the grass of my back yard in Northern California. It spreads its roots horizontally and occasionally sprouts up purple flowers on a short stalk.  It smothers and outcompetes the grass in areas where it grows.

Here's a close-up photo of the flowers:

And here's the plants growing back a few weeks after I thought I'd ripped them out by the roots.

I've never seen this plant anywhere else other than our back yard. No idea how it got there, but it's slowly but surely eating every square foot of our yard. By next summer there probably won't be any grass left. ;-(
I've tried to rip it out by the roots and it just grows back times 100.  The roots seem to grow horizontally underground and when the top parts are removed (along with at least some some of its roots) then new sprouts proliferate from the remaining roots I didn't find.  It's not like dandelions which sometimes come back in the same spot. It's more like a hydra (the mythical kind, not the plant) where you chop off part and it comes back even stronger.
Our gardener tried weed-n-feed which didn't kill it. Now he's suggesting that I'll need to kill the whole yard with herbicide, wait a few months to make sure the weeds are really dead, and finally re-sod it. Are there any alternatives?


texts: Perlite causing tip burn in spider plant?

texts:
I've recently repotted my spider plant (chlorophytum comosum) to a slightly bigger pot with better drainage. I potted it in a mix of normal potting soil and perlite to aid drainage. I recently noticed that some of the tips in the lowest leaves have burnt. This is something that hadn't happened before.

My questions:

Could the perlite in the new mix have caused this?
Should I repot the plant into fresh soil?
Is this condition a threat to the health of my plant?

I have uploaded an album on Imgur with the pictures: http://imgur.com/a/8MexW


texts:
I have a sadly neglected peach tree that with some spraying and pruning might continue to produce for a few more years.  It has excellent peaches, and when the time comes, I'd like to replace it with the same kind of peach.  How do I tell what kind of peach it is?

The fruit is very juicy and has a very good sweet peach flavor.  It is a free stone, and it gets ripe in early July (instead of late August/Sept like most peaches in northern North America).  When the fruit is ripe, the skin pulls off easily.


texts: Will reflected light, from a mirror, work on plants?

texts: There is a space in our house where we would like to put plants in, however, the closest window is about 15ft away and only from one side. I was wondering if adding mirrors, to the darker side to reflect the light, would help.


texts: ID request, please. For a friend in Ventura, CA. Unknown volunteer plant

texts:
Update 6/11/2017: Here is the last picture. Since nobody responded after I added 2 pics nearly a week ago, I am answering my own question.

Update 6/5/2017: My friend took more pics today! I have added two up top, and am hoping for a more specific ID, please. She said that it is a deep red in there under the yellow petals (if petal is the right word for it). Thank you, all. My original post is below.

My friend has been trying to ID this volunteer plant for months, now. She lives in Ventura, CA. She raises butterflies, and is very environmentally conscious, and helpful to all. But, it is not a host plant for anything that she knows of, and none of the butterfly/moth sites could ID it. Yet, something kept eating it down nearly to the ground. So...she eventually put Diatomaceous Earth on it just so that it could grow enough for ID. She sent me these pics, and the white substance is from the DE sticking to the fuzzy leaves. Thanks for any help. lol I am in VA on the other side of the country, and am clueless about this one.

UPDATED: Added pictures with buds. 5/28/2017

r.com/8ZBYS.jpg


texts: What sort of planting layout should I follow to cover a fence with a hedge?

texts:
I'm planning on planting around 500 ft of evergreen hedge in Tennessee, partly in the sun and partly in shade. I talked to a local landscaping company who recommended one of the following:

Manhattan Euonymus
I'm leaning towards Manhattan at the moment, because it's fast growing and doesn't look bad, but I'm concerned because the person at the landscaping place mentioned that the leaves of the ones out in the sun will probably turn a lighter green than the ones in the shade, which would definitely not be what I want. I'd like 500 ft of uniformly colored hedge. She also said that if properly fertilized, the leaves should stay the same color. I'm looking for other opinions!
Osmanthus fortunei
I was considering Osmanthus but was concerned that they get much taller than I want, which might lead to a leggy appearance at the bottom if I shear them at 4 ft tall.
American Boxwood
Boxwood is quite slow growing in comparison to the others, and I'm fairly certain it offers no real benefits to me.

I'd like the hedge to be about 4 feet high at the most, but very thick. I will be putting up a fence behind the hedge, and would like the hedge to cover the fence, and I'm wondering what sort of planting structure I should go for.

I'm planning on planting them 6 ft apart and the Osmanthus/Manhattan plants are already about 3ft tall. Should I plant them all on one side of the fence, or alternate fence sides, or add another set of plants on the other side of the fence?


texts: What is wrong with my trees? The bark on one side is cracking, splitting, and peeling off

texts:
I had 5 trees in the strip between my sidewalk and the street.

Last year the bark on one of them started to peel (and was exasperated by some kids physically peeling it off). In the fall, it snapped and fell over about 2 feet above the ground during a wind storm.

Now the other four are also peeling.

The odd thing is that for all of them it's only happening on the west facing side (that faces the street). The east side seems perfectly fine.

I believe they are all some sort of maple trees. This doesn't seem to be healthy at all. Is there a way to save these trees? Any idea what might be causing this?

Trees are located in Utah, Zone 7a.

Trunk of tree 1

Base of tree 1

Trunk of tree 2

Trunk of tree 2

Trunk of tree 3

Trunk of tree 4

Base of tree 4

East side of tree 3

East side of tree 1

Full view of trees

Full view of trees from across the street

Replacement tree


texts: Can aloe be grown indoors, in an office with artificial light only?

texts:
I came across a very beautiful aloe in a shop a few days ago, which I would like to plant in my office next to my computer. However, there is no natural light (sunlight) and only fluorescent light, which hangs 2 m (6 ft) above the table, is available.

Can aloe grow healthily in such conditions?

The aloe is a small one, with an 8 cm diameter (~4 inches) pot


texts: Why would a broccoli plant have grey patches on only a single leaf?

texts:
I'm making a temporary garden for a client at home to move to the landscaping location. He requested his garden contain broccoli which is the plant I'm worried about currently. It seems to have grey patches on a single leaf at the moment.

I'm living in Australia and we are currently going through winter, minimum 2° celcius (35° fahrenheit) nights and 8° celcius (46° fahrenheit) days.

Here is the broccoli leaf:


texts: What is this plant growing in my backyard?

texts: I have this plant growing in my backyard near Houston, TX (UDSA Zone 9a). I been letting it grow because I have no idea what it is. It starting to look like just another weed. Can anyone identify this please?


texts: Paint dumping to kill tree stump, will it affect my nearby arborvitae or raspberries?

texts: My neighbor must be advising her home painters to dump their leftover paint, for several days now, on a tree stump that she just last week said might need a pick axe to remove.  This stump is along our property line, 3 feet from my newly planted arborvitae, and 5 feet from the raspberry patch my granddaughter likes to help herself to.  I don't know what kind of paint this neighbor is using for the outside of her home, but, first day I noticed the paint, it was covering the stump that had a hole dug around it about 2' x 2' -- at that point I didn't know what this green goo was, but yesterday I actually saw the painter dumping in the hole! Will this kill my arborvitae, or the raspberry patch 5 feet away?  Will it be safe to eat these raspberries?


texts: Why are the leaves on my Peace Lily turning yellow and brown?

texts:
Several leaves of my Peace Lily are turning brown directly, or after first turning yellow. I'm pretty confident I'm watering it the right amount, but the hot weather started here in Madrid about 10 days ago, and I haven't humidified the leaves in the last few days. The problem started while I was humidifying it regularly, but it has worsened quickly since the weather got warmer. Should I humidify it every day? Would more than once a day be better? Is the humidity even that important, or could another issue be causing the problem?

It doesn't look like it needs to be repotted, and it's not receiving direct sunlight. Since my room is very hot, do I need to move it to a different room? I hope not, since it's where I spend my time working!

Also, some weeks ago I put some fertilizer in water and used that to water it 3 or 4 times in a row over a period of about 16 days. It was growing nicely, but then the problem started. Was that a bad idea? Could it be related to its present state?

How can I keep Peace Lily alive and growing?

Adding pics of roots in case there's anything wrong with them or the soil...


texts: What are these small black flecks on my brussels sprouts?

texts:
I've been battling aphids all summer and they were ruthless to all my brassica plants. It's the beginning of October and they seem to have backed off of my kale (what's left of it), but I've still been finding them on my brussels sprouts. I was out of town for a couple days and this morning when I went out to do my morning routine of squishing and squirting away aphids, I instead found these mysterious black speckles. They don't move, and I'm pretty sure they're not a larva or insect egg because they kind of crumble when I brush them with my finger. They seem more like dirt or tiny turds.

Interestingly, I don't see aphids where I find those black fleck. I do see a lot of earwigs all of a sudden. The earwigs are usually hiding inside the top leaf ball right where the aphids usually infest. I know earwigs are considered a pest, but I suspect the earwigs are eating the aphids, so I'm trying not to mess with them at the moment. Are the black flecks earwig poo? Or is it something else I need to be concerned about?


texts: What is the optimal cutting height for a reel mower?

texts:
What I think I know

I understand that the recommendations for lawn cutting height are based on rotary mowers, and because of a combination of their design and the way they hack & tear at the grass that it was supposed to be cut to around 3 inches tall, preventing damage to the grass.

I have also been led to believe that a reel push mower that cleanly cuts the grass is supposed to be capable of a 1.5 inch height without harming the grass.

Question

What is the correct height to cut grass to with a reel mower for optimal lawn health?


texts: What are some good combinations of plants & practices for raised beds to maximize efficiency/output?

texts:
As an example of what I am asking I provided one answer:

  Lettuce/spinach grow well in the empty spaces around the base of
  pepper plants. Pepper plants don't grow too tall and aren't
  particularly dense so light does pass though. In addition, the pepper
  roots like to go deep while lettuce/spinach typically do not (until
  they start to flower anyways). The height of the pepper plant also serves to shield the
  lettuce from heat, which is often desirable (to avoid early flowering).

Are there other combinations that make the most use of available soil and act as good 'partners'?

Are there other dynamics at play that might be useful in making the most of a raised bed?


texts: Do you know the ecological consequences of the removing of all grass from the soil in the urban area?

texts:
I understood that the stack-exchange has no site about ecology so I decided to post here. I am sure that in the childhood you all have read a lot of fairy tails and fiction about imaginable countries where absolutely weird things happen so perhaps you will be able to help me.
I live in Ukraine where officials decided to gradually remove all the grass from the soil in the urban areas. They do it by non-stop cutting the grass with gasoline trimmers and of course they do not water the lawns at all. This happens everywhere in this country for 3 years. In some areas there are no any precipitation at summer at all so the grass already started to disappear, say for about 50% ~ 70% of surface. Before artificial overgrazing we had high grass everywhere in the town, 100% surface was green.
So these actions are equivalent of the process usually called "overgrazing". I think there are a lot of scientific articles that describe how overgrazing leads to desertification.
What I need now is the scientific article that describes the consequences of such urban desertification. But if I use this phrase for search I get something related to social problems.
The question is what will happen to the environment in terms of dust, temperature and humidity and how these changes will affect humans and trees. Thus I simply ask for help, please recommend me some ecological article or some keywords for this situation.
Illustrations for the situation are here:
https://travagrass.wordpress.com/desertification_en/


texts: How to best/safely store my lawn mower outdoor without garage or shed?

texts:
Now I just park my lawn mower (gas) outside in the backyard and cover it with heavy duty tarp so it prevents rain reach the unit.

I don't have a garage or a shed, I wonder if there is a better way to (relatively) safely and effectively store my lawn mower outdoor in my backyard in such a way rainy or harsh weather doesn't damage the unit?


texts:
I just germinated some mini sinningia from seed and the seedlings are very small. When I water the soil, the soil mixture just floats on the water because some of them are perlite. The perlite and water crashes into the seedlings and I thought "oops, they are going to die.". I can't separate the soil from the seedling ( without using a toothpick/needle ) and I can't just watch them die.

How do you water in such case? I think that the water will be too much if I use a spray.


texts:
We recently inherited a yucca plant that looks like it might be struggling.
The only healthy growth is at the very top of the highest branches/trunk, and the ends of the branches where it has most recently been cut back are an odd shape (you can just about see this with the closest branch in the photo below). The tips of the leaves are also blackened and dry.
Is there any way we can encourage more growth, particularly lower down on the plant, as we're concerned if all the growth is high up, then it will quickly become unbalanced? What can we do to revitalise him? How quickly should we be expecting it to grow at this time of year in the UK?


texts: What's wrong with my fairy castle cactus?

texts: My cactus used to be really thick and dark green but now it's so much skinnier and starting to shrivel up. Some of the arms are turning a dusty kind of brown and they're all leaning away from the stem and drooping. I have checked for root rot which there is none the stem is perfectly healthy. I gave it more light but it's only getting worse I don't know what to do anymore.


texts: How to revive my bay tree after heat wave / drought?

texts:
We live in London and went in holiday for 2 weeks and London had a heatwave. Now my bay tree looks like this, how can I recover it?

Update:
To update you all, I ended up leaving it a bit longer and eventually it started to regrow. It's a bit of a monster at the moment but I'm hoping with time it will recover.

Thanks Bamboo and Musser for your help!


texts: Does anyone know what this is on my plum tree?

texts:
We've moved in to a house with an established plum tree, and have noticed this white growth on the side. Does anyone know what it is? Birds seem to like pecking at it.

Many thanks!


texts: I have watered it, just trimmed all the really bad ones off, but it still has black on edges of leaves. What can I do?


texts: How can I improve the soil in a new allotment, which is covered in wild grass?

texts:
I am in the process of getting hold of a standard style UK allotment, 10 poles or about 10x25m (2722.5 sq. ft., .052 acres) The plot will be covered mostly in wild tall grasses, and is likely to have been that way at least 6 months to a year.

The plot is the Bucks area, which is South Central England and the climate is temperate.

Will wild grasses have an impact (positive or negative) on the quality of the soil and it's minerals/nitrogen? By the time I've cleared out areas ready for planting it will be autumn. I'm thinking perhaps the best thing would be to plant a cover crop, like clover, over the majority of the plot and turn it over ready for planting in earnest in spring.

Would this make sense, or is the soil as good as it's going to get (using natural nitrogen fixing methods) right now?

Any thoughts? My aim is to fertilize the soil naturally using cover crops, compost and liquid feed (hopefully from a wormery). I will be growing squashes, root veggies and salad greens for the most part. Nothing too difficult, just simple vegetables that I would actually eat.


texts: How to improve container gardening on a concrete surface

texts:
While visiting a restaurant next to where I work (to get scraps/waste for my chickens) I was shown their gardening attempt behind the restaurant.  Their goal was to have some produce for the kitchen right out the back door.

The location has full sun and they are using a collection of different containers to grow

herbs (basil, rosemary, lemon balm)
tomatoes
eggplant
peppers
cucumbers
some other things - not sure of

(5 gallon pickle buckets, some commercial bins about 4x4, various other things)

It looks to me like most of the plants are suffering from the heat.  And I suspect the soil, roots and containers are being baked.

I suggested to them to fill the voids around the containers with straw/hay to moderate the temperature.

The containers have between 12" to 24" of soil in them.

Again, their little "garden" is on cement which is surrounded by blacktop.  I'd say they have about 100 to 150 square feet of garden space.

This is in southern NY/Long Island

I'll take a picture when I can to show the issues of the plants.

Does anyone have suggestions on how to improve the container gardening?  They want to have access to some produce right outside their door.

I suppose one piece of advice is to just stick with herbs - they have a better chance of succeeding in that environment.


texts: How to give my Stapelias a healthy compact look?

texts:
I currently have none in my collection, but I think of re-introducing them into my garden, as either potted plants or grown from seed.
My experience is as follows: In a shaded location, they grow sparsely, with offsets wide apart, and lax stems. This happens even when there is bright but indirect light. In sunny locations, they are more compact, but pretty much scorched and with a barky texture (with Stapelia Grandiflora being the prime example). They still grow but they appear very stressed. When I buy them, they are mostly compact and healthy. This problem is the same with the smaller genera, like Orbea, Huernia and Caralluma. Here is a Stapelia PIC1, and a smaller species PIC2 from different websites. That's how they look when I buy them, but overtime, they grow differently, one way or the other.
So how are they kept that way? What other factors to consider?


texts: What's in eggshells that makes a good fertilizer?

texts: I would like to know why eggshells are good for flowering plants!


texts: How long does chemically fertilized grass remain poisonous?

texts:
Here's my situation: I have a lawn that I've refused to use chemicals on because I have a dog who likes to graze. The lawn is now a mess of weeds and very thin grass. I've tried organic fertilizers with no luck. So I've investigated, and many chemical fertilizers claim to be safe for pets and children after a specific period of time. I'm assuming that means that after 2 days (or whatever is on the bag) the product will not topically transfer onto bare feet and/or paws.

However, as I said, my dog grazes like a cow. Once the fertilizer soaks into the ground, does the grass then soak it up through the roots, so that the grass itself becomes poisonous to eat?


texts: Can you substitute Turface for Vermiculite?

texts:
I had a recipe for some seedling potting soil that called for vermiculite.  I didn't have vermiculite.  I did have Turface, so I used it instead of the vermiculite.  I figure since Turface & vermiculite both hold lots of water and they both have flat surfaces that I could use Turface instead of vermiculite.

Will I run into any additional challenges growing my seeds with Turface than I would with vermiculite?

To be fully transparent, I found two recipes that I liked;

One was just;
*peat and perlite.
The other was; *peat, perlite and vermiculite.
I made a mix with; *peat, perlite & Turface.

I figured this would hold more water than peat and perlite alone, similar to the recipe with vermiculite.  It would have the advantages of still having the good drainage that peat & perlite alone would have over the peat, perlite & vermiculite.

Do you see any problems with using Turface in this manner?


texts: Office plant identification and care - my 2nd plant

texts:
Since my previous question about the plant at my office is so well received, I thought it would be nice to get some information about another plant at my office.

A picture of my plant can be seen below.

So, by that, I have the same questions from my previous:

What's the name of this plant?
What is the best way to take care of this plant?


texts: Black Hills Spruce Leader Drooping and Brown

texts:
I have a black hills spruce tree, about 8 feet tall. It was planted a year and a half ago. The leader has new growth at the top, but parts of it are drooping and browning (to about 1 foot down from the top). The rest of the tree looks healthy, no browning. Should I prune the leader?

UPDATE - I pruned the leader. Should I spray for insects? If so, any recommendations on when and what to spray?


texts:
On this Wikipedia web page:

https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parque_periurbano_La_Barrosa

I found this photo:

Can you explain the reasons for such shape of this trunk?


texts: Can I keep a succulent plant on my office desk?

texts:
Can I keep a succulent plant on my office desk where there is no direct sunlight?
If yes how often should I water it?


texts: Is it time to thin these cilantro seedlings?

texts:
I planted 2 cilantro seeds in the same bed a few weeks ago... now I've got 3 distinct seedlings coming up in close proximity. I want to grow the cilantro for culinary use and planted multiple seeds assuming I'd eventually have to thin them.

Is now the time to choose two of these to thin out? One of them (all the way in the back) is starting to develop it's first cilantro-looking leaf.... so maybe keep that one and get rid of the other two?

And to thin, I just get a scissor and cut the seedling a little above the soil?


texts: What's wrong with my ornamental grape vine?

texts:
For the last 2 years my (10 yr old) grape vine has developed a disease which I believe to be powdery mildew.  Last year I sprayed early with Bayer Fungus Fighter a few times but no improvement. This year I've been spraying very 2 weeks but it's looking even worse than usual at this time.  Any thing I can do apart from ripping it out?

The photo is typical of the entire plant.  Brown patches on leaf edges, white bloom on new leaves, curling leaves, deformed shape, leaf colour dull green etc.

More photos:

Background info - location Cotswolds SW England.  It's an ornamental vine but don't know specific variety.  I bought the house 3 years ago, neighbour reckons vine could be 10 yrs old.  It grew vigorously first 2 years but got mildew both years and lost leaves in early August.

Soil by house not great so have added compost, mixed with some miracle grow, to base of plant in mid May and have been watering regularly


texts: Will galvanized hog paneling hold up vegetable and fruit vines?

texts:
I noticed that hog panel fencing is a lot cheaper than pipe fencing, and was wondering will the hog panel fencing hold up the weight of different vegetables ranging from kiwiberry to cucumbers (maybe a small watermelon)?

How should I determine how many t-posts I need?


texts:
I received theses flowers and I would like to succeed growing them.

Would appreciate your help identifying them and tips for raising them! :)


texts: I put down grass seed April 20th and covered it with straw I'm in zone 5b. Before I did it I checked the 10 day forecast and we were not supposed to get any temperatures below 40. Yesterday we got snow and the overnight temperature dropped to around 30-32. None of the seed has sprouted yet, do I need to redo?


texts:
What fruit is this? It looks like apple in its early stage. It even tastes and smells like apple (but sour). It was hanging in bunches in the tree.

EDIT: From the comments, I have concluded its crab apple.


texts: What is the proper way to plant a bush under an established fruit tree?

texts:
Established Tree: Apple
Planting Bush: Blueberries
Goal: not damage apple tree root system
Question: How do I plant a blueberry bush under an apple tree without damaging the roots of the apple tree?


texts: What kind of shrub should I plant at this place

texts:
I have this spot at my home and I dont know what to plant in it in the future. I used to have roses but I didnt like how it looked. This year I planted four types of flowers but I still dont like how it looks. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions. I'm looking for flowers that grow 2-3 feet and are perennials. This place is exposed to sun all day and we get hot summers, up to 100 degrees, and cold winters, down to -5 degrees.
I'm looking for some type of flowering shrub ideal to the conditions I described.

This is how the place looks

Thank you in advance


texts: A small corner of my lawn has gone bare (see attached picture). I wanted to know if I should wait it out hoping that adjacent grass will start growing in spring and slowly cover the patch. Or should I put seeds there to grow the same grass variety or do something else. Note that I live in the San Francisco area where we had a drought last year and had to cut down on watering.


texts: Should I use a mycorrhizal inoculant when transplanting 4.5" caliper white oaks?

texts:
The site is on the east end of Long Island. Zone 6b. It is actually a re-vegetation of a forested area from which we removed over 40 mature pitch pines that had succumbed to some pine beetle. There are currently some small black and scrub oaks in the area, among other things.

Would these white oaks benefit from one of the commercial inoculants available, or does the reasonably undisturbed soil contain all that will be needed for good acclimation?


texts: What kind of soil do potted sensitivity plants need?

texts:
I bought a sensitivity plant (Mimosa Pudica) and noticed it was planted in an unusual looking soil.  I want to transfer it to a larger container, so I would like to know how to buy or prepare a suitable potting medium.

According to this site:

  The University of Oklahoma Department of Botany and Microbiology's
  website Plant of the Week recommends using a potting mixture for
  sensitive plant that consists of two parts peat moss, two parts loam
  and one part sand or perlite, a formulation used to successfully grow
  this plant. This mixture provides the good drainage that sensitive
  plants need to thrive.

Is such a potting mixture or reasonably equivalent available for purchase?  If not, are the components readily available in stores?


texts: How should I care for a new Mimosa tree growing out of an old Mimosa stump?

texts:
We lost an old Mimosa to borers and it fell over in a wind storm. This spring it started a new growth out of the cut stump.It looks healthy but is growing RAPIDLY and it does not have much space. We put a wire fence around it to hold it in place and tied some of the branches together to keep it steady. It is a parkway tree and butts into the sidewalk now.

Is this a losing battle? How can I prune this tree to survive in this space and when do I trim?

I'm located in Southern California.


texts: Can a string trimmer be used for a whole yard or thick grass?

texts:
I'm building a house right know and there is some thick grass that I need to cut down. Since I'm going to need to maintain about 100 m2 (about 1000 sq ft) after the house is completed, I thought about buying a string trimmer like the GH1000 from Black & Decker.

Can it be used for the thick grass during construction and for general maintenance after the grass is installed? I'm also thinking about buying a reel mower (since the area isn't that big) for a better result with the grass.


texts: Will flattened hostas recover and regrow?

texts:
We are faced with a devastating unexpected and unavoidable dig-up of our front yard due to sewer repairs. Our front gardens are large and established, and on Monday morning a track hoe is going to destroy half of it. We have two days to dig up and move what we would like to save, including some small shrubs.

The garden is ringed by large, mature hostas and some of them fall in the area that's to actually be dug out. We'll move at least some of those to save.  However, the whole garden is bordered by similar mature hostas. The crew intends to drop plywood over part of the garden away from the trench on which to place excavated soil. If we allow the plywood to go down over the existing hostas in mid summer, can we hope or expect that they may return next spring, or will flattening by several yards of soil completely kill them?


texts: Can the bulb of the gloxi split into two by cutting it?

texts: Would i want to know if the two bulb halves will still shoot?  Both bulbs sprouted!


texts: Identification - Plant growing next to my bonsai?

texts:
I bought a bonsai (exterior one) some weeks ago and a plant is growing just next to it. I have some questions about it.

Is someone able to identify what kind of plants it is ?
Is this plant can cause trouble to my bonsai ?
(bonus) In the second photo, could someone identify the really small sprouts?

Thanks a lot for your help.


texts: How can I get the most produce out of my allotment with limited time each week?

texts:
I have recently acquired a new 33 x 33 ft plot in the West Country (south west England). I was just wondering with a new baby and limited time, what would be the best vegetables to grow, to maximize the output. Do you have any time saving ideas or advice?

The soil is pH 7, loamy and only slightly weedy.


texts: Can I plant sod over a drip irrigation system?

texts:
I've pulled out some plants that we don't really like, and we're trying to figure out what to do with the space of land. I'm thinking the easiest solution would be to go out and buy a few pallets of sod and just pack it down to extend the yard space.

My question is, what can I do about the irrigation lines? I don't want to pull them up, since they're pretty extensive and would likely cost several $100 to replace if we needed to. I'm not sure if drip irrigation is enough to water sod though?

If it's not enough, we can replace the heads on our sprinklers at the edge of the bank so that they spray 180 instead of 90 degree (currently they're only spraying the existing sod) and increase the length of time they're on -- so that's not an issue. If we go that route though, can we just lay the sod on top of the irrigation lines, or do I need to pull them up and cap them off somewhere before laying anything down?

The sod I'd be laying is St. Augustine. I'm in Florida, USA.


texts: What is causing the leaves to develop brownish patches between the veins on my tomato plant?

texts:
My tomato plant's leaves are turning brown in some places (photo).

Zoom in

It seems to affect mostly older leaves, but not all of them, as you can see in the image. It starts with a few small brown spots that grow larger over the space of a week or two and eventually most of the leaf turns brown, as shown in the upper left. The plant is otherwise fine, blooming, yielding fruit and producing new shoots.

This particular plant is kept indoors on a windowsill, and therefore not exposed to rain and shielded from many parasites and diseases (this particular window doesn't even open).

The symptoms don't seem to match early blight or late blight.

What could this be?


texts: What is causing brown spots on my Alocasia Black Velvet?

texts:
About two months ago I bought an Alocasia black velvet for on my desk. My office has a large window and the plant stand at a distance of around 3 meters from the window, so not in direct sunlight. I water it twice a week, letting surplus water drain from the bottom. Recently the plant's leaves are showing brown spots, shown in the picture. I've tried watering the plant less but then the leaves tend to hang a lot lower.

Can anybody tell me what I'm doing wrong?


texts: How to balcony garden in a pot without drainage holes?

texts:
I plan on using containers of various sizes (10L, 20L, 200L, 1000L) for growing vegetables for fun but have impediments to providing drainage holes, such as:

no large enough tray available
pot material too fragile to drill
container needs to be repurposed after 1 season.

Can this work?


texts: How to prolong Cauliflower growing season, harvest?

texts:
I love fresh cauliflower, but it's so terribly temperature / light sensitive that I might as well just pick it all and freeze it if I actually want to eat it.

Is there anything I can do to ensure Cauliflower stays good in the garden for at least two or three weeks - or is it necessary that I just pick it all at once when it looks delicious, even if the heads aren't as big as I'd like?


texts: Why are pots typically wider at the top than at the bottom?

texts:
Recently I needed a pot with a shape that would make it as stable as possible so that it's unlikely to tip over and fall from the shelve. I was looking for a pot as close to a cylinder as possible.

I had to search many shops before I could find a suitable pot, almost all pots are wider at the top than at the bottom, they are usually of truncated cone or rounded at the bottom form.

I'd like to know why the cylinder shape is so rare. Does having a less stable form than most pots have give any advantages?


texts:
I have a pair of large (roughly 30' tall I guess) cherry trees. They're mossy. They don't produce well (at least not for the 2 seasons we've had them for). What they do produce is so high that I can't net or harvest the fruit safely. The branches are a mess.

I don't know the age (we've only owned the home for a year and a bit), and I get the impression from our neighbors and the overall state of the yard that the former owners weren't all that concerned with upkeep.

The birds get most of the fruit now, but the few cherries that are low enough to harvest are delicious.

Can I aggressively prune them? When, how, and how much? Am I hoping for too much to want to get the trees down to about 15-20 feet tall?
Is the moss a problem? Should I just pull it off, or do I need to treat it with something?


texts:
I’ve been reading conflicting articles on how to germinate jujube seeds. Some say to crack open the husk to extract the seed. Some say to plant the entire husk in the ground. I'll try both methods.

I cracked open a few of my jujube seeds and they were hollow inside. There was no dark colored seed. My question is are these seeds duds and will they actually germinate?

These were extracted from me eating fresh jujubes. I'm not sure of the variety, but they were bought in a Chinese supermarket.


texts: What causes these brown ruaty spots on my hardy kiwi plant?

texts: I have noticed my kiwi got some brown leaves. It's on the front side of the leaf, back or both. Recently I have moved it to sunnier location could that be it? there is no sign or any creatures.


texts: What is this perennial that has accordian-pattern flowers with pink and purple tips?

texts: What is this beautiful perennial that has flowers that turn purply pink as it cools? The flowers have rows in an accordion-type shape, for lack of a better term.


texts:
Over the years, I bought/was given a few succulents and cacti, which I basically let grow by themselves because they had a great position in the Sun (a Southern-facing window without blinds, in Northern Italy), simply working on replanting them or cutting off parts that would then grow in other pots.

They grow fast and well, but I would like to take better care of them. That includes (but is not limited to):

Right shading
Optimal soil composition
Propagation
Times of the year for cloning, replanting, etc.
Flowering (Only one or two bloom, so I can't use flowers for identification)

I could take pictures of each and post them here, but I would like to do my own research and resort to that for those I cannot properly identify. I have look around but many suggested websites are about wild plants or plants in the ground, which I'm guessing grow a little differently than succulents in a pot.

Which resources can I use to identify succulents?


texts: Stalk on healthy aloe plant getting too long

texts: I have a healthy aloe plant whose stalk is getting so long that it’s beginning to bend over. What’s the best solution here? To repot in a larger pot so I can plant it lower? Or should I just stake it? Should I cut the stalk down a bit (knowing that it will take some time for the roots to return)?


texts: How do I compost lots of grass clippings?

texts: I find that grass clippings tend not to compost well on their own, however we have lots of grass clippings to compost – so what do we do?


texts:
I saw these taking over a balloon plant in the area of South Bay, LA (Redondo Beach, CA).
Are they beneficial insects?


texts:
A few months ago I got three snake plants from my school. My horticulture teacher was going to throw them in the garbage, since they weren’t really needed and they were a little on the unsightly side. I decided to take them home and try to help them recover, but despite my research and experiments with them, I can’t seem to get them back to full health. I’ve tried watering more and less, I’ve tried more and less sun, I’ve repotted them all but they just aren’t doing well. I certainly don’t have a green thumb, so i wanted to see if someone who did would help me out! I’ve included a picture of one of them. It’s the smallest and in the worst condition, having all the issues the others are. The leaf tips have almost all browned, there’s one big leaf that’s turned yellow, and the new growth seems to be dying. I’m terrible with plants and feel so bad about the condition of these, especially with their reputation of ‘unkillable.’ I do keep them inside, if that makes a difference, because we get a lot of rain here and it’s currently winter. I would appreciate some help! I’ve never used this website before so let me know if the picture isn’t working correctly. Thank you!
(https://i.stack.imgur.com/syRPf.jpg)


texts: What kind of houesplant is this and in what climate does it best grow in?