texts: Improve drainage of lawn and boggy border

texts:
The lawn at the front of my house slopes down to where it meets with my neighbours half. Running down one side of it and in front of the garage is a border.

In one of the photos you can see the end of border. The border at this end is really wet and boggy and it stinks when it's particularly wet. Where the border and the grass meet, the grass is incredibly wet and boggy.

Does anyone have any advice to improve the drainage of both? I would also like to put some plants in the border but I'm not sure what would thrive in this wet area.

For info, it gets sun from midday and we're in the north of England so it's typically rainy.

Here is a photo from the road to show the drop.


texts: What do I need to do to turn a branch into a tree?

texts:
Long story short, I have obtained two branches from a small tree (might have been 8 feet tall, no thicker than  that was stripped of its branches by the snow over the winter. I would like to regrow them to replace the tree (if it doesn't survive on its own), but do not know what to do.

One of the branches is about 4 feet long, the other 1 foot.

I stripped the bark from a few inches at the bottom of each and placed them in water. The larger one sits outside, and the smaller one inside, under a bright light (on a shelf for growing plants).

It's been a few weeks, and the buds on both branches turned to leaves, but they have begun to turn yellow and wilt, especially on the smaller branch. I think this would be because of a lack of nutrients. On the advice of a biology teacher at a local school, I put 3 drops of a liquid fertilizer in the water of the smaller branch, but it had no noticeable effect.

I've heard that there is powder that can be used to stimulate growth of roots. I think this might be what I need, but I have no if it's the best idea, what else I'll need to use it.

What should I do to save these branches?


texts: Can someone identity this succulent pictured

texts: This plant looks like a sedum of some kind to me and I would like to know if it is a sedum. It has hairy type tentacles rising about 10cm and has a tendancy to flop.


texts: What is this plant with yellow flowers that keep reaching up and up and up?

texts: Can someone help me identify this plant please the shoot with pretty yellow flowers keep going up and up? It's a very nice plant that's growing in a small pot on my kitchen window sill? I've got seeds while out and forgot to mark the seeds.


texts: Nutsedge nightmare. Is there an organic solution that will rid my lawn of ever spreading nutsedge?

texts:
I have been battling purple nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus) and yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus) as long as I've had a lawn. These weeds grow from tubers. The tuber networks are connected by a baby hair fine root system--ordinarily too fragile and deep to extract without snapping. Whether just a myth or not, I'm told that each connection I break will eventually bring forth three more terrible tubers.

I live in the southwestern part of the United States. The year we re-sodded the front lawn, I spent hours over the summer digging for tubers anytime something vaguely appearing to be nutsedge sprouted. Every year since, though, the nasty buggers return.

I'm familiar with chemical approaches to selectively controlling nutsedge in a lawn (see table 1. Controlling Nutsedge with chemicals, here); hoping someone has discovered an organic solution. I'd prefer something that didn't require me to spend every summer camped on my front lawn with a bucket and spade.


texts: Does an Amaryllis plant *need* to go into dormancy?

texts: I have an amaryllis plant that has nearly run its course and I want to replant it again. I'm growing it inside, so I have a year-round growing season. Once I cut the leaves and roots off for the bulb to grow again, do I need to let it be dormant for a period of time, or can I just replant it?


texts:
What is the upper limit on the light intensity for growing plants indoor in a hydroponic system?
Except my electricity bill off course :-)
e.g. Are 1000W HPS light per sq.m. ok, as long you can keep the heat under control?
Or what happens when I add too much lighting?

I'm trying to grow thai basil (horapa and krapao), bird eye chili's and thai eggplants at a high as possible efficiency because we use them at our restaurant.


texts:
I was adding root stimulator to my orange tree today and noticed this spot on the stem.  Can anyone tell me what it is?

Edit:


texts:
Lapageria, a forest native of southern Chile, prefers acidic, organic, damp, shaded, cool, well-drained soil.

I wonder if there's a suitable native groundcover to match. What smaller plants grow around Lapageria in the wild?


texts: Young rhododendron with yellow and brown leaves

texts:
I have a fairly young rhododendron (at least two years). We planted it in the spring. For the past 2-3 months the leaves have slowly been yellowing and turning brown in spots.

The soil is acidic, but to what degree I am not sure. I have not fertilized beyond mulch and a bit of old coffee grounds. The plant gets partial sun (mostly hot afternoon sun), and it hasn't rained for about 6 weeks although I water it every other evening.

Is this a "wait and see" type of problem, or is there something I can do to make it healthier?


texts:
I have Mandevilla plants in containers outdoors in Northern California.  They are 5 years old and each spring and summer, leaves in the middle of the vine turn yellow and drop off.  I've repotted them twice in new soil and larger containers over the years in case there were soil issues.  These containers are 13" H x 25" W x 11" D. This didn't seem to fix the issue.  They are insect free and get drip irrigation watering daily at 9am on a timer.  The tips of the vines seem to be growing and there are plenty of flowers, but when so many leaves turn yellow and fall off it looks a little sad.

Is this normal growth pattern for this plant?  If not, are there other things that I should try?


texts: How effective are non-chemical controls for non-biting midges?

texts:
For the second season in a row, a number of our clients in one particular neighborhood are plagued by non-biting midges. We are talking virtually complete coverage on some surfaces, and when disturbed the clouds of insects are a choking hazard.

Due to the proximity of wetlands and our insistence on organic landscape care, we are considering cultural or other non-chemical controls as outlined by NC State. The one that interests us most it the use of "bait lights" to draw the flying adults away from activity areas on the property.

But how well do these work?


texts: Is it possible to plant iris seeds in early spring?

texts:
I've saved seeds from my irises from last spring with the intention of planting them. However, most of the guides I've read have suggested planting them in the autumn.

Is it possible to plant the seeds in the spring? If so, how should I go about this?

Notes: I live in the UK.


texts: What is this long-leafed indoor plant with one stem per leaf?

texts:
I've had this plant for a while and lately it's been getting really brown and crispy tips. The problem is that I don't know what species it is so I can't search for what it needs.

Does anybody know?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What else besides calcium deficiency could be causing tomato blossom end rot?

Each year my tomatoes develop a brown rotten area on the bottom of the fruit. I always add steer manure, sweet lime, bone meal, epsom salts, and time-released fertilizer to the soil.  Is there something I am missing?


texts: Why do many landscapers put gravel around the base of buildings?

texts: Where I live, I've noticed many buildings have a stone/gravel barrier between the building foundation and the lawn or flower bed. Why is this? Does it prevent insect or pest infiltration of the structure?


texts: In gardening, especially container gardening, you will run into the phenomenon called a 'Perched Water Table' (PWT). What is a perched water table, and how does it work?


texts:
Everybody knows that plants need light for photosynthesis, to grow and remain healthy; but do they require (or benefit from) sleep/darkness; or can they be bathed in light 24/7?

I'm not talking about a need to shelter from the weather, UV & IR radiation, etc. Just the visible light spectrum.

For instance: I have some moss growing indoors, under a bright LED light. Is it okay to leave it on constantly, to maximize growth; or should I rotate 12 hour shifts?


texts: I found a plant in my garden that I am unable to Identify

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What is this plant with long sharp leaves? Is it a weed?

I found this plant in my garden that I can't identify. I've asked a few people and they don't know either.

It's pretty tall, probably around 1ft, and has long, thin leaves and a darkish, green colouring.

The stem is thin, but sturdy.

Here is a picture:


texts:
I'm wanting to grow some sweetcorn (Its mid spring here, so I believe I should have enough time).    My concern is that the sweetcorn is going to be grown very close to the home of my wifes free-range chickens - so I have a couple of questions -

If i plant the sweetcorn 3 cm below the soil, are the chickens likely to
find and consume it ?
Is there a simple way to germinate sweetcorn in a controlled environment
such that I can get it to a size where I can plant it without having it
be of interest to the chickens ?   (inside or outside, maybe in a
plastic container ? )


texts: Found this cotton like mold in areca palm in earthed plant

texts:
Found this in my areca palm trees planted in ground. The place is moist and recieves lesser sunlight.

Should this be treated with some fungicide or just a raking of soil  would do ?

It is winter here with 8-10 degree centigrade.


texts: Early action needed for whiteflies and aphids?

texts:
While pruning my tomato plants last night, I came across some early signs of whiteflies.  I saw just a few mature whiteflies crawling around; I hate them.  I have battled them off and on through the years with various crops.  While looking at the underside of some of the leaves, I only noticed a few spots where eggs were attached and also a few pink soft aphids I thought.  I cut those branches off of the plants to dispose of the eggs.

I have a raised garden bed housing just some lettuce, peppers, and tomatoes; maybe 40 square feet.  Do I need to go into full "kill mode" and spray for these pests or is a certain amount of infestation just expected to occur?  I don't want a full blown attack from these pests but I also don't want to jump the gun if it is not needed.

On the same topic: I raised tomato plants from seeds this year for my first time.  They are so much healthier than purchased plants and I am very pleased.  What are the odds that these pests just showed up on their own?  The pepper plants were the only plants purchased from a nursery.  The lettuce was also grown from seed.


texts: Mounting Air Plants and commonly used terrarium substrate safeness

texts:
I'm wanting to put together air plant (Tillandsia) terrariums and hanging decor for gifts. I'll be making 8-9, and want each one to look different. I read on a Google search you can use silicone glue/sealant to glue them onto wood and rocks. Is there a type of wood that works best?

Any suggestions on glues? And will the silicone based kind damage or harm the plants in any way? If so, is there a safe plant based option, or DIY kind you can make?

I also see decorative and colored sands and dried moss used quite often. Will either option be safe to use? Or is it only sustainable for a short period of time (meant for temporary decor)? What's the best way to go about making them in a manner that whomever I give them to has the least amount of care possible; Not having to transplant, weeks or months later, but still appear decorative and colorful?


texts:
I think I have black bugs on my plant since last year and I worked on it for months and then I thought I killed it. I used soapy water and when it did not work I used pesticide. It almost killed my plant but somehow I recovered it.

This year, they are back again and have infested another plant too. One of my other plant now has green colour aphids. Another one has mealy bug ( which I just found out after googling)

I have tried soapy water but it seems to harm the plants and the leaves drop off. I thought I had put too much so I washed the plant in shower with cold water but they are still falling off and the bugs are spreading.

I am not able to understand why my plants are getting infested so often and what can I do to heal them.


texts: What are some deer resistant edible plants?

texts: I was browsing a gardening store online, and I came across a berry that it advertised as 'deer resistant' (the purple beautyberry). This made me laugh (gladly; not mockingly), because nothing seems to deter deer from what I've heard, and I've never seen a fruiting plant (or any plant) marketed as deer resistant before. We don't have deer problems where I live, but just for the record, what are some more deer resistant edible plants? (Some might not consider the beautyberry berries to be edible, but they technically are supposed to be, and I've read they make great jelly. It should be noted that beautyberry is not squirrel or mockingbird resistant, however, but it's supposed to repel mosquitos and the leaves may stun fish.)


texts: What's the most hardy red fleshed apple for the Pacific Northwest?

texts: I had two wonderful red fleshed apples in Birch Bay, Washington.  We've moved to St. Helens, Oregon and I can't find any here.  I'd love to replace them.  Does anyone know where I might find these and which ones would be the most hardy for this area?


texts: How do I propagate onions from an onion bulb?

texts:
I am trying to grow an onion plant from an onion bulb after learning vegetative propagation.

I do in this way:

Phase 1: Put the onion on a piece of wet tissue, wait for it to grow a shoot with a leaf.
Phase 2: Put the prepared onion into a box with soil.

However, I never manage to get the onion to grow a leaf. Grey rot appears on the onion after a few days and flies soon dance around it.

Any suggestion of how to not get rot on the onion or any method for the onion to grow a new leaf?


texts: Poison warnings for Lupinus perennis and Consolida ambigua seeds

texts:
I was shopping for seeds online and saw a flower seed mix which looked appealing: Butterfly and Hummingbird Mix. It has a poison warning which gave me pause. I'm not much of a gardener so I don't know how serious this is. I bought them anyway as I have no children or pets in the household but then I wondered if I would be murdering the squirrels or something . . .
Is this warning just a "don't do stupid stuff" legal disclaimer or do I need to be concerned about what I may plant nearby which may be edible (e.g. cucumbers, etc.) or about putting out bird feeders (aka "squirrel feeders")?


texts:
We purchased our camellia in the middle of March this year and it was flowering till late April. Few weeks ago it started having brown spots on the fresh leaves.
What do you think might cause this?
This camellia is in a large pot with ericaceous compost. Once a month we add some coffee ground on top as we heard it is beneficial for plants that love acid soil. We never fed it with any fertilizer.


texts: I’ve got a wattle that I was told only lives a couple of years. Wondering if it’s possible to tell it’s current age and how much life it has remaining? There’s a two story high house behind, to give an idea of height.


texts:
Folks,
I'm trying to measure soil and compost for use in home gardening of vegetables and herbs.  My goal is to use compost primarily, and augment it as necessary.  The compost is mostly vermicompost, though I do have some residual of the other kind.

Aside from sterilizing the compost, I'd like to measure it and make sure my seedlings get a nice home.  I have a electronic pH test kit, and would like to measure NPK.  Is it possible to get a numeric reading that I can make sense of?  My problems is that I'm color blind, and matching a color to a number is really difficult for me.  Oh, and I'd prefer it to be under $50, but would settle for under $100.

Thanks,
Ben


texts: Can I save these hosta leaves by putting them in a glass of water?

texts:
As previously posted I am having issues with my hostsas
One of them looks like this

I cam across this article that says the leaves could be saved if cut and set in a glass of water like in this article. Is this true? Can I propagate hostas this way?
https://www.hometalk.com/3899783/you-can-save-that-hosta


texts: What are these fragile green plants with small yellow blooms in Santa Fe?

texts: We are having cold Winter temperatures below 10 °F at night and I find a thick patch of these fragile green plants, some with small yellow blooms, all in a part of the yard that we do not water.  I'm in Santa Fe, New Mexico, so we have a limited number of plants available.  Photos show clump of plants.


texts:
I bought this from a nursery a few days ago, and noticed the leaves are turning black. Is this normal?

Water: Last watered two days ago, top of soil feels damp but not dripping
Light: It's on a shaded area, maybe 4 hrs direct sunlight + 8 hrs indirect
Bugs: No sign of any
Soil: Did not change

This is my first time with a fern and I'm worried. Is this normal?


texts: Is it possible to grow bell pepper from store-brought bell peppers?

texts:
I was wondering if it is possible to grow bell pepper plants from the store brought bell peppers. Of course, I googled it it says that we have to dry the seeds first and then plant them in potting mix/ use paper towels, but my first attempt of the green bell peppers did not work. I am planning on trying with the red and yellow ones, which are ripe. Please give me some advice on ensuring better germination rate. Average temperature here is 26°C. Also, is it really necessary to dry them if we are planting them right away?

Here was my previous question on my first attempt, which was a failure.
Are my Bell Pepper seeds showing signs of germination?


texts: What is this fruit tree that looks like lime and orange?

texts: Can't remember what these are. They are no limes. They have a sweet sour taste. You can peel them and eat them, they are so good. Around December they turn yellowish orange color. Not oranges. Any ideas?


texts: How do I prevent my mung bean sprouts from turning green and developing too many roots?

texts:
I am sprouting mung beans to eat.

I sprout them in a clear plastic container with the opening covered in a mesh.

I place the container, opening down on the kitchen counter covered in one of those blue cleaning cloths.

Everyday, I cover the sprouts in water, drain them and put them back on the counter.

They grow quite well, but around day 3/4 they start putting out more roots and turning green.

How do I keep the sprouts white?

Update:
In addition to completely covering the sprouts, I read that weighing them down was important for fat sprouts. To do this I used a plastic bag filled with rice so that that my weight would fill any shape bowl I used. I am not sure if this was beneficial. But it certainly didn't hurt.

I also used a plastic colander. This had too many holes. Extraction of the sprouts was annoying.


texts:
I have several potted plants, and just today I noticed I have an infestation of small earthworms.

I’ll be washing and repotting all these plants with fresh soil, but I don’t know what to do with the soil I have now.

Can soil with earthworms be reused in pots, even if it’s with decorative plants? Is it possible to “clean” the soil for reuse?

Or should I just throw it away?


texts: What is this flowering fern-like plant called?

texts: Here's a photo of the plant. I've tried plant id apps but no luck.


texts: What to do when an animal dies inside a hollow tree?

texts:
We have a beautiful Shag Bark Hickory next to the house with a large hole about 18' up.  A family of raccoons moved in a few weeks ago and had a litter.  Recently we've seen a lot of domestic disturbance going on as the mother fought off the father.  Well, I can only assume he's gotten to the kids and killed them.  The tree is starting to smell and we see flies around it.

I don't want to cut down the tree, it's beautiful.  I know it's hollow.  It won't last forever but I still don't want to cut the tree.

What do we do about the scent?  Is there a way to not have to endure it?  Concrete?  Flesh eating beetle?

What advice, please?


texts:
If possible I would like to move part of a hedge. I am not sure whether it is common hornbeam or common beech (both "Buche" in German).

The individual plants are approx. 20 cm apart
Height is 200-250 cm
Diameter of trunk up to 5 or 6 cm
Diameter of plant 100-150 cm, I trim regularly
The plants have been standing there for at least eight to ten years

The ~10 plants I would like to move have no other plants on one side but are close to a rose on the other. The rose grows over a pergola and is also 200-250 cm in length.

Should I try moving them at all?
If so, when?
How? Is the straw method described here https://gardening.stackexchange.com/a/21801/20049 applicable?
I have access to a small excavator, should I use it?
How can I make sure not to damage the rose?


texts: How much coffee grounds should I add to my compost (and how frequently)?

texts:
I have been reading that spent coffee grounds can be used for fertilizer and/or composting and also came across this question on this site.  I have a compost pile in the yard that holds roughly two 33 gallon trashbags full of uncomposted leaves (i.e. freshly raked leaves from the yard).

Can I take my spent/wet coffee grounds out each morning and add it into the compost pile (I drink about 2-3 cups/day)?  How much coffee grounds should I add so that there is a balance between other stuff in the compost pile? If adding it daily is too much, should I limit my composting of the spent coffee grounds to less frequent intervals (once a week, once every two weeks, etc)?


texts: Why use potting mix instead of natural soil?

texts:
Being a layman who is thinking of starting to garden in the yard I have a question in mind. Why does one need to buy potting mix and why not use natural soil for  gardening? I live in Melbourne Australia and I cannot understand why mostly smaller plants or seeds are in potting mix but on the other hand I saw trees and many other small to medium plants planted in soil.

Your guidance will help me growing more greenery on earth :)

Thanks for your guidance, help and time.


texts: Solar driven LEDs to offset electricity for mass growing in a basement

texts:
I want to grow vegetables in my basement year round.  I live in zone 3b, in a rural area and I'd like to start selling produce as well as providing food for my family as well.

Ideally, I'd like to build a DIY LED setup, with affordable 100watt LEDs from amazon, boosters, or maybe just opt to buy the rig if the price is right.  However, I noticed that the boosters draw 3amps each.  That means I can only hook up 5 100 watt LEDs per breaker, and I want to grow much more than that.

1 kwh is 10.9¢, so at 16 hours a day, 10 of these would cost $1.75 per day, on two breakers.  The first year I'd be paying over $600 for electricity alone.

I would like to augment this with solar panels and batteries to reduce cost over time.  Is there a cost effective solution to mass growing in a basement with high powered LEDs?


texts: What is this succulent plant with clumps of small yellow flowers above large leaves?

texts:
I just got this succulent plant as a gift. It has small four-petal yellow flowers in large clumps above the large leaves.

Can some one please tell me what it is?


texts: How can I get rid of weeds in my garden?

texts:
Obviously it is my first time gardening and I have weeds taller than my tomato, pepper, basil and mint plants. Is there any chemical I can use without hurting my plants or any solution?

Also it has been a month or so. I can see tomatoes now but pepper plants are just getting taller but I don't see much pepper so far, is this normal? I have cayenne, jalapenos, garden salsa and bell pepper. I see two cayenne getting red and one garden salsa getting red.


texts: Will this 20,000k LED bulb function as a grow light?

texts:
I see a 20,000k (color temperature) 12 watt LED E27 bulb designed for coral, aquariums and such. 7000k is supposed to be full-spectrum light, I hear. So, I imagine a 20,000k would be even more full-spectrum.

I realize 12 watts isn't going to be as powerful as sunlight.

Anyway, how effective is this going to be as a grow light for vegetables compared to blue and red LED 12 watt grow lights? Will it have infrared and UV rays?

Here's a link to the product if you're curious. (select the 20,000k option)

They also have a 10,000k bulb.

Since they're marketed for helping coral to grow, I imagine there's more to it than merely giving the appearance of 20,000k light, but I could be wrong.

EDIT: I ordered one bulb, and a blue one from the same seller. So, I guess I'll be able to answer this question within a month or two (granted there's no red in the light to compare in that regard).


texts:
About 2 cm (when I found them). They are olive green. They have a black head, and black dots on the side, around the spiracles. They are not hairy.
If I counted right, they have three pairs of prolegs (fake legs).

I found them in a spindle (euonymus), and it seems it's the only plant they like. The spindle is close (within 1 yd) to a sunflower, an acer japonica, a hawthorn and a couple of other plants, all of which are untouched.

The caterpillars are in groups of about 20 nesting and eating at the ends of the fresh branches. They have spun a spiderweb-like nest around them, although it seems they are not pupal yet, and they are still eating away. I've found about 4 of these 'communities' in what is yet just a small bush (about 2' high).

I have got quite a lot of sparrows, tits and other birds in my garden, but so far they haven't seemed to take a liking to these larvae. I'm in the Netherlands (zone 7).


texts: Do my tomatoes have aminopyralid herbicide damage?

texts: Photo below of my tomato plant. This was planted in 3 inches of miracle grow with composted horse manure below, sourced locally. Everything was fine for about 2 weeks, then this morning I noticed that all of the new plant growth  at the top has this aggressive curling. Is this herbicide contamination from the horse manure compost?


texts: Why are the leaves of my Peace Lily wilted and black?

texts: I recently bought a flowering house plant. I may have watered it too much, me thinks. Since my apartment gets little natural light, I put it outside on the patio the other day in direct sunlight, only for a couple hours. When I returned, my plant which was once dark green, had black, wilted leaves. Did the sun kill it? Or did the water? Usually, I give it indirect sunlight, so that seems to be the culprit.


texts:
I have flat cedars/Arborivitaes in front of my house planted 5’ above the road and 5 ft back from the road stand 30’ h.  Recently the town redid our blacktop road by heating and relaying the top layer, in doing so they severly burnt the entire side of the trees.  Will they grow back?
I tried to post pictures but your site says too large.  Is there another way I send pictures?


texts: Should I bag lawn clippings from a crabgrass-infested lawn?

texts: I know all the recommendations are to NOT bag the lawn (assuming a mulching mower), however, given a crabgrass-infested lawn (approx 50% surface coverage is crab grass), is it better to bag the clippings and dispose of them rather than let them cover the ground? Our community has a weekly grass pickup.


texts: How do I encourage my plum tree to produce fruit?

texts:
I have a victoria plum which I planted almost 3 years ago and hasn't produced any fruit.

Last year (1st summer) it produced a small amount of blossom. This year it produced a lot of blossom but no fruit but it has gone into a growth spurt. I haven't lost any blossoms due to winter freezes and I didn't "dead head" it. I'm in Manchester and we did have a dry spring.

I gave it some garden compost last winter and I've fed it every 2 weeks with a general fruit & vegetable feed (I do not remember the brand/contents). I watered the garden every other day with a hose pipe. I watered the ground around the tree for 20-30 seconds until surface water started forming and then moved on.

Is there anything I could do to encourage it to produce fruit next year? It is supposed to be self fertile.


texts:
I'm doing soil improvement work in Santa Fe, NM.  I've dug down ~24" in an area ca. 2'x 6', creating an empty pit sort of like digging a grave and mixing back in the native dirt in ~4-6" layers with copious amounts of spent coffee grounds, very generous amounts of peat, wetted & diced dried alpaca manure, as well as some fire ash & sawdust.

It's very, very dry here, so I've been wetting down the finished product when I've completed a layer.  The mixture can get seriously hot in very little time --when I stick my hand down into the "soil" approx. 4 or 5 inches, it's often too hot too leave there for more than a few seconds, & I'm an Aries who's used to playing with fire & traversing hot coals.  (I'm repeating this process in adjacent spaces.)

I'm guessing that the heat is generated by some sort of chemical reaction within the ingredient mix.

So I have two (2) questions:

Is this high heat excessive i.e. can it do any damage to the soil amendments & therefore be counterproductive?
do you see any serious imbalances in my additive program?

The soil here tends to be pretty alkaline, & the soil I've started with is poor-- a clay & sand mixture with many smaller stones, which I've removed.


texts:
I've planted some wisteria and am trying to encourage it to grow up a wooden column. I put some nails into the column and have slowly wound the wisteria around the column on the nails and attached with twine. My plan is to wait until the wisteria has reached the top (where there is more to wrap around) and then remove the nails.
I've read a lot about wisteria but most of the articles about pruning it describe pruning to encourage flowering. I don't care at all about it flowering until it's very well established; instead I'd like it to grow as quickly as possible and as focused in growing up the column.
What should I do to encourage growth of the plant?
Should I be pruning away the secondary vines and only leaving leafs on the main?
Should I regularly fertilize?
Extra watering or less water?
Thanks!
edited: I've added 5 photos. I don't know the variety of wisteria unfortunately.
1 The mature vine I have now. Trying to get the same effect.
![The one that I have now][1]
2 Here's my new plant
![The new plant][2]
3 The nail / tape system I'm talking about
![Nails][3]
4 Here's the end of the vine. If you look you can see tiny leaves.
![End of the vine][4]
5 Finally, I have a third plant that's less happy about growing up. As you can see it has a lot of sideways growth and new growth but the main stalk isn't growing.
![One more plant][5]


texts: What is this African shrub with spikes of brilliant blue flowers?

texts:
A friend of mine is currently abroad in Africa, and she took this photo of a brilliantly-colored flower in Malawi:

I'd love to have something at home so brilliant, but obviously I have no idea what it is. My first thought was of some kind of lupine, but the gradual shift from brilliant blue to muted pink and the shape of the petals seemed uncharacteristic of any of the lupinus flowers I've seen.

The only other information I can provide is that this was taken somewhere near Dedza, in Africa, and that it appears to just be the flowering tip of a larger plant or tree.


texts: When would fruit trees start bearing fruits if they're propagated with the layering method?

texts:
Many fruit trees take years to bear fruits. For example, apple trees can take two to seven years depending on their rootstock, and up to around 10 years if seed grown. Another interesting example is Monkey puzzle trees as they take between 30 and 40 years to start producing!
One advantage of the air layering propagation method is that you can root branches old enough to have fruit spurs. In this video, they successfully rooted a 3" thick maple tree branch!
https://youtu.be/p1z7O4JQOIA?t=45
Let's say I air layer a tree with the right ages of fruit bearing branches, would it be able to bear fruit immediately?


texts: Can I grow coffee outside of tropical climate zones?

texts:
Sure enough, botanical gardens do grow, for instance, Coffea arabica in hothouses, and, according to Wikipedia, its growth conditions do not seem impossible to achieve in a European or Northern American backyard:

  C. arabica [...] does best with 1.0–1.5 meters (about 40–59 inches) of rain, evenly distributed throughout the year.[...]
  The plant can tolerate low temperatures, but not frost, and does best when the temperature hovers around 20 °C (68 °F). [...] C. arabica prefers to be grown in light shade.

I have never heard of people having them in their garden and actually harvesting coffee beans. It does make sense to me that it may not be economical to have commecial plantations in Hamburg or Berlin, but say I had a little waste heat and a glass house I could divert that to, are there any requirements that I can't fulfill in the moderate latitudes?

In fact, to me, the above description sounds like you could easily have those trees in lobbies and canteens indoors.


texts: How can I control/remove unwanted grass in flower beds?

texts:
I have a flower bed with some ground cover, daffodils, tulips and a few shrubs. Lately grass has been growing pretty much everywhere, including through the ground cover.

I tried an herbicide called "Over the Top" which is supposed to kill grass without harming other plants, but its effects were pretty negligible.

Other than or in addition to pulling it meticulously, what's the best strategy to remove grass from my flower bed and then keep it from coming back?


texts:
I've never been totally successful in waiting till the exact opportune moment to till my garden and I don't suppose that I ever will be.

I usually till my garden once or twice and when I'm ready to plant I am greeted with tremendous dirt clods (more than my 2 year old son has the tenacity to smash with a hammer).   I could till it again, but generally part of the garden is OK, so I plant a few rows and then find that I've got really bad conditions in the rest of the garden. So I get out the mantis and do what I can.

What can I do after I've screwed up everything besides find a new part of my lawn to decimate? What I'd like would be some sort of soil amendment that can magically unclod my dirt as easily as I could do with a pitchfork or hammer after a good rain.


texts: I've gotten this bonsai tree 2 days ago and I'm having trouble identifying this tree

texts: I have searched all bonsai tree related websites and still have not found the type of bonsai it is because of the color and shape of the leaves


texts: Quick experiment to replace pavers with grass lawn

texts:
I am a total newbie here when it comes to gardening and lawn.
I have a backyard made of paver tile which has gone bad over years, in the sense, too much weed is growing between tiles.

To fix this, last year, at one part of the back yard, I removed all tiles, put landscaping fabric underneath and put the tiles back, finally sealed the gaps with good polymeric sand. That part is still looking good this year, no weeds.

For the rest of the bad area of backyard (almost 700 square feet), I was planning to replace with grass lawn. As an experiment, I took out tiles from a 17 feet X 2.5 feet rectangular area, and looked under, what appeared was mostly gravel, mixed with crushed stone and dirt. I put no effort to take out the gravel or put any additional material (top soil, etc). I just used a manual hand shovel and hand tiller to dig up 3-4 inches of the compacted bed material repeatedly to loosen up the bed and then raked it. Then I put some fertilizer and spread seeds 2 days ago. Has been watering it since then 3 times a day (morning, afternoon, evening). No signs of germination yet. Do you guys think this will actually work? The concerns I have regarding why it may not work
1. Not enough depth (I put a screw driver in and without considerable effort I can go 5-6 inches deep), so is that enough or I should have loosened up more of compacted bed underneath
2. When I was digging up, beneath the gravel and dust layers, I stumbled upon a layer which felt like clay, reddish in color and sticky in nature, not sure what is that and is it a friend or foe
3. Not enough nutrients, I did put fertilizer but not sure if that will help
4. Birds are eating seeds...is that a big problem?

Please help me out folks! I am so looking forward to my cute experimental lawn :)
Any help or advice appreciated.

I am attaching a couple of  picture of how it looks like

Thanks
Souvik.


texts: Growing healthy, bushy, dark green redwoods

texts: I’ve recently planted some redwoods (coastal redwoods).  I’ve noticed that some redwoods in my area (Sacramento) are gorgeous, dense (thick with branches), and are dark green.  Others in this area are skinny, straggley, and lighter green.  I very much want my redwoods to be the former.  But how do I make that happen??


texts:
I'm growing a monotub of reishi. The tub is well colonised but it looks like there's a couple square inches where the reishi myc isn't growing and I noticed a small patch of brown eaten into the mycelium.
I just cut it out with a sterilised spoon but is there anything chemical I can do to mold if it appears ?

thanks in advance


texts: About three weeks ago I bought a very healthy looking Peace Lily with a moist soil.  When it's leaves started to droop a little, I gave it water but since then it has drooped completely and looks as if it is dying.  Why and is there anything I can do to revive it?   Thank you


texts: Retaining wall and water management in a tight space

texts:
I'm buying my first house very shortly, and as expected it has some problems. One of the big ones is water management around the garage. There is already water damage inside the garage so I want to tackle this as soon as I take possession of the house, but since I haven't yet all of the numbers below are eyeballed.

The garage is freestanding, with no gutters. To the left of the garage and behind it, there is roughly level ground for about a foot all around, before sharply climbing at a slope of probably 50+ degrees. The slope begins towards the front of the garage, but by the back of the garage it's about 3' tall. To the left of the garage, the top of the slope is almost right at the edge of the property, where the neighbor has a fence.

Here's a quick Sketchup to illustrate, because I'm sure that's as clear as mud.

The previous owner had filled that trench in between the slope and the garage with sandbags in a failed attempt to keep the water out.

What I'm thinking about doing is constructing a retaining wall to clean up that slope and hopefully gain me a few inches, and then run a curtain drain (or French drain, there seems to be some terminology disagreement here) along the side of the garage, sloping towards the front of the property, and draining into a narrow bioswale or similar in between my driveway and the neighbor's property. I would also like to install gutters, and pipe the downspout on the left side down into the curtain drain.

In the back there's a good bit more space, but that hill runs the entire width of the property.

Here I'm at kind of a loss. My inspector recommended constructing a ditch that ran behind the garage and then down the contour, directing the water to the right of the garage. That would dump the runoff pretty much right where I was planning on making a garden, which is less than desirable. I had considered constructing a swale on contour instead to hold the water and encourage infiltration, but my understanding is that would be detrimental to the retaining wall I want to build to prevent erosion and for aesthetic reasons.

Is this feasible to pull off in such a tight spot? Would it actually work? Do you have any better ideas? What additional things should I consider?


texts: Are (water) re-grown spring onions worth it?

texts:
Spring onions (or scallions) can be re-grown in water by saving the roots and placing them in water and, as the article in the link suggests, these re-grow in to full spring onions within a matter of days.

My questions are:

Are spring onions grown in this way as nutritious as those grown in the ground (because they may have less access to nutrients as they are not grown in soil)?
Are they thought of as being as tasty?


texts: What are these abnormal tomatoes on my tomato plant?

texts:
I have a few tomato plants growing in a raised bed.  I grew them from seeds. For some reason a few of the tomatoes don't look normal (see pictures). Also the size of the fruit is much smaller than I expected. These are heirloom beefsteak tomatoes. I am in the San Francisco region.

Additional information - I am following crop rotation.  I have 3 raised beds and last year I grew tomatoes in one of the adjacent beds.  Also, these plants were started from seeds indoors and later transplanted to a larger pot and eventually to the raised bed.


texts:
Many homesteading / simple living / sustainability blogs suggest farming mealworms as a protein source for chickens.

Mealworms aren't part of my garden ecosystem and I am interested in knowing what the likely impact would be if a reasonable number escaped my hungry chickens and established themselves in my garden?


texts:
Help me choose the best grafting knife, right know i have the draper 76777 (the first photo) but it is a single edged knife. I am between those grafting knives in the photos, if you recommend something else let me know! Also should i sharpen the blades of the knives? The knife will be mainly used to graft fruit trees like citrus. Is it worth to give $40 for the victorinox in the last photo?

Or one of these?


texts:
I bought a Cactus from the local garden center. Unfortunately the guy that I bought the plants from was a novice so he didn't know the plant's name.
Can you tell me its name plus some advice about taking care of it?


texts: What is a non invasive, large, structural species of Bamboo?

texts: I just purchased some property, and I'm interested in growing bamboo to use for various projects on the property ( hoop houses, tripods ).  So I'm looking for fast growing, large, non - invasive species that is suitable for some structural application. Does anyone know a species that fits that criteria.


texts: How can I effectively grow plants from peach, nectarine or plum pits?

texts:
I have a few plum, nectarine, and peach pits from locally grown fruit and I'd like to try growing them, mostly indoors in pots. I'd also like to try one or two outside. What's the best way to go about doing this?

I looked around online and found some conflicting advice- some instructions said just put the stone in the ground outside, some insisted that stratification (in the refrigerator) was essential, some said it was optional but would just improve chances of germination. Some sources suggested that I break open the stone and plant the seed only, some said to plant the whole thing. What methods will bring me the most success for both indoor and outdoor locations? I'm not doing this to get delicious fruit- I know that's unlikely- this is more for fun and experimentation.


texts: What is this tree with red seeds in france

texts: On a field trip in Strasbourg france I noticed this tree.  What is it?


texts: I just got this plant yesterday and I'm wondering if I should cut off that yellow part of the stalk to help it grow. Please let me know and thank you so much!!


texts: How often should I fertilize vegetables?

texts:
I only ever add fertilizer after I remove a previous crop and break up the soil a bit, but should I be adding fertilizer to vegetables that take 10 or so weeks to grow, such as zucchini?

How frequently should I add fertilizer?
Are there particular types of fertilizer that are good to add while a vegetable plant is growing?
How can I add fertilizer if I am using mulch such as hay, should I just sprinkle it on top and water it in?


texts: What is the best way to automatically water my garden?

texts:
I am in the process of starting a small garden (6'x9'). My current sprinkler system doesn't do a great job of covering the area where I have placed the garden, so I would like to tap off of my existing system to add a head dedicated for the garden.

How tall should I make the head for this garden? Should I place it several feet above the ground so that it is able to get over some of the taller plants, like tomatoes? Also, is it better to place one single head for the whole thing or a few heads with less pressure around the garden? Or is there some better method for automated watering of this garden? I would like to have most everything underground while having to perform minimal amounts of digging to get it underground.


texts: What is the ideal temperature for growth within an Aeroponic Garden?

texts: What is the ideal temperature for growth for an Aeroponic Garden?


texts:
I have a 1m x 1m x 0.6m compost heap. I was turning the heap yesterday and was surprised to find that most of the heap hadn't really decomposed, and was in fact quite dry.

Should I be regularly adding water to the heap to encourage composting?


texts:
What's this gash on a Maple tree?

It seems almost "infected" compared to the "normal" splitting I see on the other Maple tree right now.  NOTE: It's been raining all day.

That second photo is showing sites where the tree was pruned, or cracked a bit from wind stressing the branches above.


texts: My jalapeño plant has been doing great so far, with no problems. It’s even growing two jalapeños. However, I’ve noticed recently on some of the newer flowers that after the flowers bloom, the stem turns yellow and eventually falls off. What is the reason behind this?


texts: Is this a fremontodron vine or flannel vine and what is the zucchini looking things growing from it?

texts: This is a vining plant with leaves similar to a maple and has yellow flowers and something that is long and green hanging from it.


texts: How to control onion aphids in aquaponics?

texts:
I always seem to get black onion aphids in my deep water culture, and flood and drain beds affecting my green onions and garlic chives. They also attacked my terrestrial garlic.

The deep water culture floating raft ones I can blast off with a strong spray of water (but they come back quickly), but I can only wash them into the grow media (hydroton) in the grow bed as pictured and they bounce right back.

Neem and soap are no good for my gold fish. What else can I use that is fish friendly?


texts: I have a small tree on my property that looks likes its a bit overgrown to me. Does this need pruning? Any recommendations on how I should tackle it? Does it need a light pruning or a heavy pruning?


texts: Why is my cactus turning brown and getting crusty stuff on it?

texts:
[![brown base getting bigger ][1]][1]browning cactus- crusty near crown I have had these for about 5 or so years.  I noticed the brown near the bottom for quite some time but thought it was normal. This year I see yellow in the creases and some type of crusty stuff on the crown of one.  I don’t see any bugs, or black spots. It is kept outside in the summer and inside in the winter.

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


texts: How can I save an insect-damaged Gardenia?

texts:
It is a Gardenia. Insects infested the soil so I added diatomaceous earth to it, but maybe I was too late. The plant continued dying, so I pulled it out and set it in a bath filled with water to which I added Bayer brand insecticide. But as you can see, the plant continues to die.

How can I save it?


texts: How to grow an avocado successfully from seed

texts:
I have tried half a dozen times to get an avocado pit to grow. Does anyone have a secret I don't for how to sprout this obtuse seed?!

Thank you!


texts:
I am new to garden and I have a tomato plant that is infected by fungus.

I would like to ask how fungus infects the plant? Does the disease affect the soil, plant or both?


texts: What is this yellow mold or fungus in my container?

texts:
I found this yellow looking patch underneath the branches of my rosemary plant. I did not see it near either of the other 2 plants in the container. I dug the yellow stuff up, it seemed surface level, but the soil underneath where it was seemed very light in color.

I am a total newb gardener here. What is this thing and how do I make sure it doesn't come back?


texts: Hardy plants for wind break in the Rocky Mountain West?

texts: Here in Montana, high winds are a common cause for both gardening problems and poor energy efficiency in homes (as well as maintenance issues). Can anyone recommend some low-maintenance plants that would shelter both other plants and the side of a leaky house from frequent high winds? I suspect evergreens would be best, but which ones? They need to withstand temperature extremes from below -30F to over 100F and winds that often gust over 30mph (50 possible) and be tall enough to serve as a wind break for at least a single-story building.


texts: Growing hot peppers indoors on the West Coast

texts:
Is it practical or possible to grow hot peppers on the West Coast in North America? It seems they require a ton of sunshine, and that's not exactly something we get in abundance. I'm a rookie with gardening, and all I've ever had to manage is some spider plants and cacti.

I'd like to try growing ghost peppers and scotch bonnets, but I'm not quite sure where to begin. Also, I don't want the local hydro company thinking I'm growing marijuana, so I'm trying to figure out the power requirements for indoor growing of something that requires so much sunshine.

Is this something I could reasonably accomplish?

Thanks.


texts: How do I know when and how much to aerate my lawn?

texts:
I have a section of my lawn which seems prone to standing water, grass that doesn't grow very quickly, and seems very hard-packed. I think it's probably in desperate need of aeration.

What is the proper way to know when and how much to aerate? Also, since I have a small lawn, is there such a thing as a small lawn aerator and will it get the job done?

Edit:

As it turns out, there is a small aerator, like this one:

I purchased one recently and it works rather well. Obviously not a good choice for a sizable lawn, but for my small lawn this worked extremely well. I'm seeing some improvement already in the grass gradually becoming more green.


texts: Why aren't my young chili plants growing?

texts: I planted chili pepper plants about four weeks ago along with other vegetables. All the vegetables are growing, even the seeds that I planted, but the peppers have grown slightly but seem to be at a standstill now. They are only about 2 inches, they are green and look healthy, but no growth. What do I need to do?


texts: Can I grow a rose bush from a healthy store-bought flower?

texts:
Recently my fiance brought me home the most beautiful rose from the gas station and it has been alive for about two and a half weeks with no wilting. I didn't take it out of the plastic wrap. I just put it in a small case with spring water.

Now it has a new growth growing at the bottom up the side of the stem. Is this plantable? How would I maintain this since I live in Ohio and fall is upon us? I would love to have a bush of these roses is this possible? I have pictures but not sure if I can post on here. I'm new to roses and how to grow them. Any info please?


texts: Could anyone tell me how to save this tree? I am in planting zone 9b, so I know it is not the climate. When I had it in a pot outside and neglected to water it, the leaves turned brown too. I started watering it better and it completely recovered. Now that it is in the ground, it is doing it again, but worse.


texts: Can I cover an evergreen shrub in winter?

texts: I have a small evergreen shrub that gets frost burn in winter. I had been told to use tar paper on it over winter, but I was concerned that since it is a broad-leaved evergreen it might need light in winter. Is there a good way to cover it that doesn't set it back?


texts: Need help identifying this plant in zone 9b

texts: Anyone know what this plant is?  I am in usda zone 9b


texts: How kill bugs/eggs on beans for planting

texts:
The beans (pole beans) that I save to plant the following year always end up with multiple holes from bugs by the time spring rolls around. The beans still sprout and grow fine, but I'd rather not have the bugs. I gather up quite a few beans at the end of the season and stash them in an envelope in the garage over the winter (mild calif. temperatures). No pests are visible when I put away the seeds in the fall, so I guess the eggs are hiding in the beans from the beginning.

From the internet, it seems that they might be "weevils".  Many internet sites on how to save seeds, but I haven't seen one that tells how to stop bean bugs. Have found advice to put seeds (in general) in freezer to kill pests, but they also mention beans in specific may be harmed or killed by freezing unless extremely dry. (Dry enough to "shatter": I don't think mine ever get that dry).

Any tips how to get my seed beans clean & bug free? Just to be clear, I am not trying to get rid of any kind of infestation in the garden while it is growing. I just don't like the aesthetics of opening my seed envelope in the spring and finding the beans riddled with holes and a thick layer of insect droppings, powdered bean dust & maybe dead bugs at the bottom. Even though the beans do germinate and produce just fine, and I don't see the bugs alive in the garden during the summer.


texts: How do I prune the roots of a rootbound plant?

texts:
This answer talks about pruning the roots of a plant when it has become rootbound.

How easy is it and how do you go about it?


texts: I have a dracaena that is extremely tall (36 and 48 inches in height below leafy section). Can I cut it shorter without killing it?


texts: Is there a way to keep a carrotwood tree from bearing fruit? Something similar to a solution used for olive trees?

texts: Want to find a way to keep a carrotwood tree from bearing and dropping fruit


texts: Right container size for two eggplants together

texts:
I have planted two eggplant plants together (8 inch apart) in a 16 inch container as shown in the image below. Just wanted to know if this would be a problem when they grow bigger and affect the yield?

We do not have much space in our patio, and fortunately for us almost all the seeds we planted, grew into very healthy seedlings. So, we thought may be we should try two plants in one container and see if this works. And so far, the two plants next to each other have grown very rapidly compared to the ones that are still in smaller pots.


texts:
I live out in a bit of a rural area, so maintaining roadside ditches is something I'm going to have to do. Mostly making sure they don't get overgrown or end up clogged with plants or dirt.

I just got through using a weed whacker to hit the ditches, but that took forever and almost burned out the poor thing's engine. Is there a better tool for maintaining the ditches (and no, fire isn't a great answer), or do I just need to get a more heavy duty trimmer?


texts: Can you recommend any short, large-seeded sunflowers?

texts:
I'm wanting to grow a lot more sunflowers (Helianthus) for food, these days, but one of my concerns is they get really tall, and sometimes I like shorter plants.

If you know of any sunflowers just like the giant ones (e.g. Mammoth Gray Striped, Mongolian Giant, and Black Russian), except with shorter, stockier stems (I'm thinking maybe one to three feet tall), that would be great. If they have smaller heads with the same large size of seeds, that's fine, too, but I prefer larger heads if possible.

I don't know if such sunflowers exist, but it seems like breeding them could be pretty possible, if not (granted my neighbors grow sunflowers that would probably cross with mine). If they grow multiple flowers, but still have large seeds and maybe also large heads, that's even better.


texts: What is this small plant with broad leaves and 5 petal purple flowers?

texts:
In Chicago. The flower and leaves look different from periwinkle. Also the color seems to be a deeper purple. It spreads quickly and the plants only grow up to a few inches high. It blooms in April.
Roots seem to be short, and each plant appears to have a few leaves and 1-2 flowers at most (so the picture actually shows multiple plants bunched next to each other)
Related questions did not look the same.


texts: How do I use tree roots as a landscaping feature?

texts:
I'm sure I saw a site on the Internet that showcased using excavated tree roots as a landscaping feature. I was inspired by the idea of "recycling" a tree stump and its rootball
into a rockery garden by dumping a lot of soil onto it which forms pockets of soil between the roots where plants are able to grow. But I can't find anything about this method.
Did I dream about this or does anyone know what I am talking about?

I'm having a tree root extracted from my driveway and would like to try this idea, but would like to research more about how to best go about it.


texts: I have a new 3 foot tall artichoke plant in a roomy pot on my sunny deck in zone 17.  If I leave it in full sun, it wilts by midday.  Can I keep it in semi-shaded area and expect it to bud?


texts:
Was wondering if you could put non-water plants onto a fish tank so that their roots grow inside the fish tank. What are the chances of the plants being dangerous to the fish?

I read that the fish and plants are beneficial to each other and if it would be good for them why not?

PS: I do have real water plants in the tanks too, just figured it might be interesting to do and my rooting plants love my fish tank water :)


texts: What do my pepper plants have damaged, curling, and yellow areas on the larger leaves?

texts:
I planted peppers from seeds a few months ago, and they have been doing great. Recently I noticed some damage to some of the larger leaves, as well as some curling and yellow areas on them. Any advice on what is going on, or what I can do would be much appreciated.

Click on the pictures for larger size.

(Image source)


texts: Areca palm growth stunted after repotting it in a larger pot since last 6 months

texts: I repotted Areca palm in a large pot 6 months ago. During repotting some small roots were damaged. However, since then the growth of my Areca palm has stunted. I applied compost, liquid chemical fertilizer, humic acid and epsom salt. However, nothing seems to be boosting the growth of the plant. The new leaves which started appearing also looks deformed. What should I do?


texts: I got these plants at a nursery and I’m trying to figure out what they are called there are 3 of them in this bowl


texts: Is there a guild between tomitillo, and purple orach?

texts: I noticed my green Tomitillo and Purple Orach took off well together after I planted the tomitillo next to it. Is that a well known guild?


texts: What's causing my pepper plant leaf to curl downwards?

texts: This is grown indoors.  No insects except fungus gnats.  The plant's color is a healthy green with no spots or yellowing.  The bottom set of leaves were also curling downwards when the plant was about 8 inches tall in the beginning but have flattened out.  I'm guessing it's due to too much water but I'm wondering if it's a viral disease.  The bumps you see are not bug eggs by the way.  It might be edema.


texts: What part of a blackberry bush do I plant to make a new bush

texts:
I have a breed of blackberry bush in my backyard that is unlike any other blackberries I've had in the past and I'd very much like to plant more just like it. What part of the plant do I need to plant to make a new bush and what's the best way to do this?

Added photo as requested:


texts: What exactly term 'companion plants' means?

texts:
I would like to find out what exactly means that two or more plants (more specifically vegetables) are good companions and could/should be planted together?

Does that mean plants just tolerate each other or there are other beneficial factors involved?

How someone determines which plants are good companionons?


texts: What causes garlic leaves to grow through each other splitting them?

texts: It's my first time growing garlic, and it seems like the first cloves I planted have leaves splitting leaves apart, why is that?


texts: How to obtain seeds from an already harvested daikon radish?

texts:
I have in my kitchen a daikon radish of about fifty centimeters whose tops, shortened to 1 cm at the time of purchase, start to grow again even though it is no longer in the ground. They are today 8 cm long and look vigorous.
Do you think it's possible to make it go to seed before the root is completely depleted, and if so, how?
I'm considering putting it back in the ground or in a mix of sand and potting soil, after perhaps one night in the water, but maybe there is a better way.
The goal is to get seeds from this particular specimen (several species of daikon radish exist and obviously the supermaket is unable to say which it is), but also to succeed in the replanting experiment.
Note: I am in a temperate climate where there is no risk of frost until mid-December.


texts: Methodology and resources for planning a perennial flower garden

texts: I'm new to landscaping and completely unfamiliar with different types of flowers and bulbs. What is the best way to plan a small perennial flower garden? Is there a website with charts comparing common flowers, bloom times, sun requirements, height, etc? I've looked online but haven't found anything comprehensive. Am I even going about this right? What is the best way to learn and plan?


texts: Why does my cauliflower plant have leaves which are damaged and full of holes?

texts: See attached picture of my cauliflower plant in my raised bed. Other plants are healthy but this one does not look as healthy. What could be the reason?


texts:
What kind of tree is this?  Blooming now in central Missouri, USA.

Some trees look like this (more bush-like), while others look more tree-like.


texts: Daisy like plant with multi-color dry hard petals?

texts:
When I was a kid, someone had brought us some flowers looked like multi-colored daisy. The petals felt dry, hard. When we sowed its seeds, to our surprise, many of them grew with no care. I'm surprised these flowers are not everywhere. They are like instantly preserved, without drying effort.

List of characteristics:

daisy-like
multi-color
petals feel hard & dry at touch
easily sowed again from its seeds
easily preserved without drying effort

I would like to grow them, but I newer saw them again. Do any of you seen such flowers? If yes, are they poisonous or something? Why are they not more prevalent? What is its name?


texts: The stem has about 8 inches without leaves.  When I repot can I have this bare stem in the soil or would the stem rot.


texts: How to plant a Yoshino Cherry Tree successfully?

texts:
I purchased four Yoshino Cherry Tree saplings. I want to know the best way to ensure their growth success in my region.

I am located in midwestern Indiana (hardiness Zone 5a). I've read that I need to place them in an area with plenty of direct, unobstructed sunlight. It is also recommended to have them in a well drained, relatively acidic portion of my property.

Aside from watering regular over the course of the first year, what other best practices should I perform to ensure the trees are well taken care of during the early stages of soil prep, planting, wintering, etc.?


texts: Weed control 1 year before installing turf

texts:
I want to install irrigation and turf in my backyard sometime next year. Related questions have been asked, but the focus is mostly about soil preparation.

In my case, a variety of grassy and broadleaf weeds have been established for multiple years. I know from experience that the seed stock will remain in the soil and overtake the new grass.

What can I do this year to the weeds to give next year's grass the best advantage?

USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 9b (25-30°F).


texts: What are small plants for containers referred to as?

texts:
I have a balcony with a number of pots all of which are < 30cm in diameter. I struggle to work out what I should be putting in them. Most plants seem too big to go in these containers and are grown for gardens with a lot of space.
There are bedding plants, but these seem to spread out a lot. They also tend to be quite low. Is there a category of plants that are small but still have flowers are grow up? So I can search for the right things on garden centre websites.


texts: Can plants have too much light, or do they need night/rest?

texts:
Because we live in southern Canada, in the late fall, my mother likes to take as much of her garden indoors as she can fit, for the winter.

She usually brings in her potted palms, a few flowers, at least one pot of each of her dozen or so types of herbs, and before moving to a smaller place, she would also bring in as many pots of tomatoes as she could fit.

She arranges them all next to the window, waters them once a week, and plugs one or two lights into a timer that is programmed to turn on just when it’s getting dark, and off just when it’s getting light.

This has always made me wonder if plants can have too much light. I tried Googling it, but all the discussions I found were about burning from too much sun (ie, too much heat/UV/etc.) That is not the issue here since the light(s) are just 13W CFLs. My issue is more with the idea that as far as the plants are concerned, it is always day and night never comes.

When I was studying psychology in University, one thing I found very interesting was the study of sleep and circadian rhythms. I’ll never forget reading about various experiments on sleep deprivation and their effects. Moreover, in my biology courses, we learned how (most) plants have a two-phase cycle: an anaerobic one (i.e. “breathing” CO2) during the day, and an aerobic one (“breathing” O2) at night. These make wonder what effects having a constant source of light would have on the plants. After all; all day and no sleep make humans something something… what about plants?


texts:
We've recently bought our first home and I'm slowly getting in to the garden. I have a lot to learn, so starting small - amongst some basic composting and herb growing I'm also trying to fix our lawn.

I'd love a nice healthy lawn, but it currently looks like this:

The first photo is the sunny part of the lawn, and the second photo is the shady part. Obviously, the sunny part is looking a lot nicer, but does still have some bare patches.

We live in Melbourne, Australia - fairly unpredictable weather but generally cool apart from summer when we do get some hot days. So far, I've been watering the entire lawn regularly, and bought some PatchMagic (https://www.scottsaustralia.com.au/lawn-builder/patch-magic/) because it looked pretty difficult to get wrong.

The part where I used it to test is along the bottom of the second photo. It hasn't helped much but there have been some some tiny patches growing here and there. There have also been some new patches growing up along the left of the second photo.

I've been mowing - mainly in the sunny part - every few weeks or so, whenever the lawn starts to look a bit longer.

So I guess there's a few questions here:

How long should I be waiting to see results, before deciding that what I'm doing isn't working?
Should I even be trying in the shady area? Should I instead be looking into alternative uses of this part of the lawn and/or getting rid of the tree that's causing the shade?
Is there a better product I could be using rather than something that markets that it grows on concrete?


texts:
I have a peach tree that was weighted down with fruit this summer, so much so that the branch split.  The split is beyond repair, and I'm now chiefly concerned with the health of the tree.

I cut the branch off (with a chainsaw) a healthy distance from the trunk, where one would ordinarily prune it, but now what should I do, if anything to the remaining branch that is still split?

Does anyone suggest:

gluing the split back to the trunk
using a fastener, such as a screw
not attempting to re-attach the wood but covering the "wound" with something
...

I like to think nature is resilient, but this is right on the trunk, and nature is resilient enough to plant another peach tree -- something I would rather not do if I want to keep getting amazing peaches.

-- Edit 10/7/2015 --

Pictures, added, per request.


texts: What is causing yellow spots on my cucumber seedling's leaves?

texts: I planted these cucumbers last week, and yesterday I noticed the leaves have yellow spots and edges. Do I need to buy new plants?


texts: flower suggestion for outside the window

texts:
first of all I'm not a gardening expert so I don't know the correct terms.

I've recently put a pot outside my window and I've put some roses chinensis in it, but all its flowers fell off due to winds and also some of them dried out (the seller suggested me these flowers).

Now I need a flower for there, and I need it to be acid rain resistant (the air is polluted in here so sometimes we've got acid rains :D ), wind resistant, and highly resistant to high temperatures (42 degrees for example), and also sun hungry (here it's sunny most the time :D ).
the humidity is also not too high here (for example right now it's 12%).

thanks a lot.


texts: Should I re-pot an Aloe vera when it is still blooming?

texts:
My Aloe vera flower is in full bloom, and some of its petals are starting to fall. It also has some sprouts.

Should I wait until the flower has completely died down to re-pot the new sprout?


texts: Requirements for successful Blueberry bush planting

texts:
We tried planting Blueberries last year, and went 0 for 3.  We tried to follow the instructions:

Planted in a mix of 50/50 mulch and organic gardening soil
Watered infrequently but heavily (1/week, skipping if heavy rain)
Planted three bushes/trees about 10 feet apart (20 feet total, 3 different varieties)
Made sure the soil was somewhat acidic (though we didn't know about Magnesium, which we now do)
Planted them where they're in 3/4 or so sun - they should have direct sun at least 4-6 hours a day, more in the summer, and when they grow to their full 4-5 feet (the varieties I'm getting grow that high) will have closer to full sun.

Two of the three were smaller (probably about a year old when bought, maybe 12" tall) and didn't ever really do anything, and this year didn't produce leaves (so are presumed dead).  The third was more like 2-3 years old (2' tall or so) and did make some baby berries that year, but never really made it back this year - it had some leaves, but it was very weak, to the point that a relative removed it by accident while weeding (but it clearly was too spindly and dry to make it anyway).

This year, we bought two more, hoping to plant them with more success.  What should we do differently?  The general soil in our yard is fairly dense and lower quality (just grass for years and years), so one consideration is removing a much larger amount - but how much?  And replace it with gardening soil, or a sandier soil, or mulch/compost?  And what else can we do to encourage root growth so the bushes can make it through winter - if that's realistic at this point in the year (or should we try wintering them indoors and plant them in spring).

We live in  zone 5a/5b, which is supposed to be a good area for blueberries.


texts: Identifying a grassy plant from South Carolina

texts: I’m trying to identity one of a couple of grassy plants that grows throughout my lawn.  This one looks like a sand burr, but doesn't seem to dry out and get prickly like those do. I live about 40 miles from the South Carolina coast.


texts: Can this plant be identified even though its dead and all dried up?

texts:
Here are a few photos.

The thing is loaded with thousands of small black seeds. Right now, It's in an empty pot. It was originally planted outside a friend's house. I wanted cuttings but couldnt break even a single piece off cause the wood on it is extremely hard even though it's dead. Almost very rubber like despite being so thin. Thats when the friend pulled out the pruners and cut the whole thing off. It had dried up anyway. Other then that, i remember it having an upright habit and a very smooth and glossy appearance with bright dark green foliage. Very needle like but surprisingly super soft to the touch. If i had to make a comparison, I'd say that it looked very similar to a foxtail fern in terms of colour and texture but much bigger and more compact.


texts: Looking for advice on constructing a living fence, using trees or vine

texts:
I have a simple, old, rusted chainlink fence at the back of my yard.  In the future, we want to replace it.  Therefore, we have been looking for ideas.  We recently spotted a very interesting fence-like setup in our neighborhood, which uses trees trained along cables (see pictures).  It will be a couple years before we do this project, but I would like to do some more research on this idea now.  My first inclination is that trees would be a bad choice, ultimately, because they will get too big.  Therefore, what would be an ideal plant choice?  Maybe a vine?  For your information, there is plenty of space on both sides of the fence we want to replace, unlike in the pictures below.

If possible, I would like:
Good foliage all year long (evergreen - zone 6b, Boston), to provide privacy.
Relatively fast growing
Relatively long lived
Friendly to birds (optional)
Flowering (optional)

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

UPDATE:

After the helpful answer below, I've been able to find many examples of what I'm considering.  For those who may be interested, I've found using the general term espalier to helpful when searching. The Belgian fence style is particularly relevant.  As to the subject of selecting an ideal plant, I think I can narrow down some of the option.

Most important to me:
 Good thick foliage for a good portion of the year
Winter hardiness
 Moderate to low water requirements

What I do not want:
 No edible fruit bearing plants
 No thorny plants

Off the top of my head, I wonder if a holly might be a good choice.
I welcome any suggestions for me to explore.


texts: What evergreens will tolerate alkaline clay soil in USDA zone 4?

texts:
Although the area where I live is famed for it's white pine they grow in sandy soils. My garden has a thin skim of topsoil over six feet of compact alkaline (ph 7) clay.

My dwarf white pine is doing so poorly I think I may have to replace it.  Are there any evergreens aside from cedar that will tolerate alkaline clay with full sun?

Climate USDA zone 4 with lows to -30 degree Celsius and highs of +30 deg Celsius, full sun, large greedy cedar hedge close by, southern exposure


texts: Portulaca / Moss Rose losing leaves near bottom half of plant

texts:
I've had this portulaca for 6 months. I keep it indoors as temperatures get very hot where I live (104 degrees +).
I used to water it every 5 days, if it was still dry 2 inches below the soil. At times, it went 10 days without water, but looked fine.
Recently, the leaves on the bottom half of the plant started withering and falling off. It starts at the tip of the leaf, then spreads to the full leaf.
When this started happening, I began checking the soil moisture level every 2 days and watering only when dry. Sometimes the soil became dry within 2 days.
However, the plant is still losing leaves. Appreciate if anyone can give me any guidance here.
When I water, I don't add a specific amount, instead I keep adding water until it starts to drain from the bottom of the pot.
Attached 3 pictures: the whole plant, close up of the soil, close up of withered leaves


texts:
This guy has been growing like gang busters in a newly planted bed of ground covering sedums. It's actually kind of a nice ground cover but based on its rate of spread and the fact that I didn't plant it I'm thinking of yanking it all up.

It has oblong, almost jade-like leaves; grows from a ground hugging stem that sprouts radially from a rooted base. No flowers yet, but it spreads aggressively both in the garden and pavement cracks. Seems to prefer dry areas.


texts: Is it better to pick herbs from the top or bottom of the plant?

texts:
I have a basil plant in my garden that has plenty of leaves. Should I pick the leaves/stems from the bottom of the tree or the top?

Does this apply to most herbs like cilantro or parsley?


texts: Harvesting sunflower seeds and planting the same year

texts: I live in NY State and planted ~30 sunflower plants this year.  I started them very early indoors so had early blooms - I've had seeds on the faded flower heads for ~ 4 weeks now.  Is it possible to harvest the seeds, immediately plant them and have new plants sprout this year?  Are the seeds viable or do they need to be dried further (or aged)?  I have searched but haven't been able to find the answer to this particular question.


texts:
I am in the UK, midlands. Have these seedlings in a greenhouse and they were doing quite well. Almost getting ready to stick them in the ground for winter.

Almost overnight they have died. Can anyone note what the problem could be?

To much water? Not enough?

Temperature has been reasonable in the greenhouse, 16'C overnight. Warm days it can get up in the 30's but I open it up when its sunny to avoid it getting to hot.

I have been using a general feed for veg once a week. There is also a lot of slugs :/

Some pics, one thing that is strange is that it only seems to be the Brassicaceae family that is affected. The carrots in the second pic are still fine.

The third image is the same plants as the second image a couple days before.


texts: Standard cutting propagation for all hanger/climbers houseplants?

texts:
I've seen this video on youtube,

Propagation of Aeschinanthus

The idea is to cut the vine into segments, each with one leaf (for monocots) or two leaves (for eudicots), planting the cuttings in the soil with just the leaves sticking out.

Assuming my plants can be propagated by cuttings, would this method work for all cuttings? Do some plants require other factors, such as keeping the growth tip, using a longer segment, or a longer internode?


texts: How do I manage roots in a multi-plant planter?

texts:
I have a plastic, rectangular planter with a variety of plants. I recently added a new plant to an empty spot, and found that the region was already thick with root fibers from the other plants in the planter, and starting to cluster thickly around the edges.

I saw the question about pruning rootbound  plants, and don't want my planter to end up like that. But, since this is a planter, i can't just pull out the whole thing and prune the roots. How do I keep the roots of my plants from becoming overgrown and fighting with each other in a planter?


texts: Why is it so hard to find pure perennial ryegrass turf seed in Australia?

texts:
I recently bought 1KG of tall fescue from a hardware store but I have since realised that I would prefer perennial ryegrass. Why is it so hard to find this in Australia? It's easy to find cool-season seed mixes that contain perennial ryegrass but finding it by itself is proving very difficult. Is there some way of obtaining this? I'm not looking for a specific source but is there a way to obtain this seed before it is mixed into a blend and packaged for commercial use?

You might say that I should use a blend because a mix of seeds provides year-round growth, however I don't think it is necessary in my situation and after all,  pure tall fescue is available and it is a cool season grass. Surely there are people who use pure cool season grass seeds and don't want their lawn bastardised with 10 different grass types.


texts:
This well established Bramley tree had been left to grow wild for a few years until I pruned it strongly last year.

It's now throwing new growth up like crazy and I'm not sure if these are all water shoots, and if so what I should do with them.

I pruned the tree to a nice goblet shape, removing entire branches as it is tip fruiting. I understand I need to allow some new shoots to replace existing branches over the future years, but it seems all the new growth are these vertical shots and in not sure how to proceed. Clearly the tree is pretty vigorous because these are up to 2 feet long and all new growth this year.


texts:
I planted a flowering cherry this spring. A delivery of top soil ended up with it bend flat under a ton bag... After this was removed the tree wasn't smashed but is partially split where the trunk was grafted onto the rootstock.

How should I try to save this tree? 4 days on, leaves are still green... At what point will I know if it survived?


texts: Why are my calaloo leaves turning red, and are they still safe?

texts: I am growing my own Calaloo in Canada from seeds obtained in Jamaica.  As the plant matures the leaves are starting to turn red.  Has anyone heard of this and are they OK to eat after they turn red?


texts: Why are the leaves on my bell pepper plant starting to turn yellow?

texts: I've been noticing the older leaves on my bell pepper plant have started to turn yellow.  I'm growing them from a 1 gallon pot.  Any ideas or solutions how to keep them healthy if this is a cause for concern?


texts:
My recently lush windowsill sweet basil has gotten very leggy after having been stressed by underwatering for at least several days (might have been as many as 10). While it was not dead when I got home, it was quite wilted and subsequently most of the old growth leaves were lost. It had begun flowering but never reached the "bolting" stage. Many of the stems are now woody near the base.

By careful but aggressive pinching, pruning and frequent watering, I was able to restore some life to the plant, but it is still a skeletal shadow of its former self. There has been substantial branching and new growth, but it has been producing only small leaves. Am I over- or under- fertilizing? Any chance it will come back or has it reached the end of its life cycle?

The plants have been in this 18"L x 9"W x 9"D container about 8 months, transplanted from a grocery store purchased pot late last summer. Over the first 6 months, I pinched off top leaves regularly for light culinary use and harvested larger amounts from the top every few weeks for pesto.

The container sits in a south facing "greenhouse window" and gets 6-10 hours of good sunlight, depending on the season. The drying out/die-off happened in late January (it is now March). The room has good air circulation and is a pretty steady 70F.

The soil is Miracle Gro general purpose potting soil. After the plants dried out, I added a few pellets of Miracle Gro Shake and Feed fertilizer and watered heavily. About a month later (a week ago), I added a small amount (a cup or less) of doubly diluted liquid organic fertilizer.

The container has always been very thirsty and needed to be watered at least twice a week. I recently started using Hydrospike type automatic waterers with seeming great success to maintain a steady moisture level.


texts: What is this bushy plant with narrow leaves and white flowers?

texts: Can someone please help me identify this bushy plant? It has narrow grey/greem leaves and white flowers. It was found in the Calgary region.


texts: How to protect vegetable garden from pests (possibly squirrels or possums)?

texts:
I don't know if it's squirrels or possums or what, but some pesky varmints keep eating my produce.  How can I stop them from getting to it?  Since they can climb the fence around the yard, obviously putting a fence around the garden would not help.

Until recently they just took the tomatoes, but now they have figured out they can eat the edemame and lemons.


texts: What plant is this and how do I save it?

texts:
I've recently found this plant, which was already dying, maybe due to low temperatures, too much or too less water, poor soil...

Firstly, I'd like to know its name, in order to learn how to take care of it and how to reproduce it. My idea is, if possible, cut the upper part, which is still green, and make it grow apart. Lower leafs are almost dead, and they're not going to live anymore. Would this work? Should I put it first in water and maybe use some hormones?


texts: What is this plant with long fronds for leaves?

texts: I took this plant from a friend on a whim as he was going to throw it away, so I would like to know its name. The soil is red because I live in the Deccan plateau in India. The pot has a hole below to allow drainage, and I water it every morning.


texts: I have chosen to grow Calathea as an indoor plant, but how should I care for them? How should I overcome the problems that occur during their growth?


texts: Should I trim the flowers off a new blackcurrant bush?

texts: I bought a starter cutting for a blackcurrant bush - it's doing very well, looking healthy. The problem is that there are also some flowers developing, and a pamphlet that came with the cutting said I should trim any fruit that grows. Should I trim the flowers off so the young bush will put more energy into vegetative growth (nipping the fruit problem "in the bud")?


texts: My bird of paradise is showing signs of over watering (new leaf has brown and yellow edges) but one of my older leaves is dry, crispy and dead!


texts: How should I care for the rhizome of a small canna seedling?

texts: I had been hybridizing cannas in the summer and have a promising young plant. Should I store its rhizome in a basket in the basement like the big rhizomes or do mini plants need special care? The rhizome is a little lump 2" in diameter.


texts: Is it safe to grow food plants near the road?

texts:
I have been told that debris/pollution from the road will find its way into my plants, but I don't know how much to be concerned about this.

We have a nice porch which could be used as a vegetable garden, but it is near a side street. It is, however, elevated from the street by a good 10-15'. Should I be concerned about toxins in my food?

What about a planter that is much closer? My neighbors have a vegetable garden that is set back about 20' from a major road (45 mph), at ground level. Should they be concerned?


texts: Can I prepare 2000 square feet of soil for sod, by myself, in California?

texts:
I just bought a house and have a 2000 sqf yard that is currently just dirt.
I want to do the sod myself, but I am a bit unsure about how to prepare the soil.
I have been trying to read online and what what I gather I need to add 6 inches of soil on top of my current soil. (I may be digging in place to make the area even.)

However, every place I read tells me a different thing. Some say I need to add sand, others say that I don't, and only need 3 inches.

I am guessing this is based on different areas. I am in the San Fernando Valley, California, USA.

My questions are:

What mix of soil should I add on top of my existing soil
How many inches should I add
Do I need to compress the soil after adding it and before laying out the sod
Do I need to add fertilizer to the soil before adding the sod
I expect to add palm trees to my yard, and they need to be deeper then 6 inches. Do I also need to dig to add the soil for the palm trees or will they grow in the existing soil.


texts: How should I transition my Thanksgiving Cactus to artificial indoor light?

texts:
I have a Thanksgiving Cactus that is getting covered in flower buds but it is getting near the frost date. This plant was outdoors most of the year this year and it has grown like crazy. How do I keep it from dropping its flower buds in the transition from an outside shade location with a 45-75F temperature range, to an indoor location with fluorescent lighting?

Edit: It already has the flowers. My problem is the transition from outside to indoors.


texts:
I'm new in gardening and these stuff. So I planted some ipomoea seeds some time ago and at first they were growing nice and fast but suddenly they started to get wilted yellow and these brown spots appeared on them.
I water them daily (1 cup of water approximately). I use Perlite, Garden soil and Compost (Vermicompost to be exact) as my soil mix for their pot. they get 6 to 8 hours of full sun every day.
So where did I make a mistake? Is there anything that I'm missing?


texts: Raised bed on concrete that is sloping the wrong way and thus there will be a drainage problem

texts:
I am planning on putting raised beds on a concrete pad.  However the concrete slab is sloped so the runoff will end up in the wrong area.

Does anyone know how to put a bottom on a raised bed that will not rot too quickly and will counteract a slight slope?


texts: How do I water my full grown cherry tree?

texts:
I bought a house three years ago, the cherry trees appeared to be fruitless. This year they flowered and now have cherries all over them. They are very large adult trees.

Do I water them?
How often and in what way do I water them?
Do I spray the ground around them?
Do I dig a little ring around them in the dirt?
Do I just leave them alone.

I want to get the cherries and not destroy them. I live in northern California, just above Sonora at around 3000 feet.


texts: When should sunflower seeds be harvested?

texts:
I've got a few giant sunflowers that are hanging pretty low.  I peeled off a few seeds around the outside just to see what they looked like and they look pretty big.  They're fairly light though, not dark like the seeds I planted or the seeds you buy in the store, and the seed inside the shell was really flat and almost gooey.

How much longer do I have to go and when will I know they're ready to pick.  I'd like to roast them. Also, should I knock off the petals on the flower (does this help them not rot)?


texts: If I use synthetic oil in my lawn tractor, can I go more than a year between oil changes?

texts: I have a riding lawn tractor with a 460 cc Kohler engine. The manual says to change the oil every year. This year, I noticed the price of conventional and synthetic oil was about the same, so I wondered if I could buy synthetic oil and go perhaps two years between oil changes. Would that be wise? Are the any pitfalls in using synthetic oil in a lawn tractor?


texts: Is it safe to eat veggies grown in soil that has soured?

texts: If soil smells sour will it make garden vegetables inedible? the pot my peppers were growing in didn't drain well. I fixed it, but every time I water them it still smells sour. Are the peppers going to be safe to eat?


texts: How can I protect my plants from cows and goats?

texts: Tips needed for protecting my plants from animals like cows and goats.


texts:
The previous owners of our property planted a hawthorn hedge as screening from the road but it's clearly not been managed for severally years; they're now established trees 10+ feet tall.

Hawthorn is known to be resilient to pruning but does this ever get lost as it grows? If I radically prune my trees how will they respond?


texts: What should I do if my pepper plants got too strong of fertilizer and they are wilting?

texts:
Basically, I added too much fertilizer to my pepper plants unknowingly. I thought it would help them, but the ends of the pepper plants are starting to turn brown and their stems are weak. Also, one of them is wilting. I have three types (Chile Cayenne, Marconi, and Big Thai Hybrid). I was wondering if I should give them potassium, as that might help them. I need to get them outside in a month in my garden.
     I am trying to be patient with it, and see if the problem goes away but I don't see anything helping the matter at hand. I was wondering if there's anything that can help them?
      I have the pepper plants under grow lights in my room, and it gets bright in here.


texts: Chance for a tree to grow from common seed

texts:
There is a message being shared around on Facebook in Romania that basically asks the readers to keep the seeds and pits from fruit that they ate (fruit bought from supermarkets or local farmers) until they go to the countryside, for example, and find a place with no trees, where they could throw the seeds. The hope is that it would help in fighting the heavy deforestation going on here.

My question is: How likely is it that a tree would actually grow from such a seed? Is this worth doing?


texts: I've got some new raised beds, 16inch deep on top of gravel so not over soil, and am thinking of filling them with pure horse manure compost, a little top soil and small amount of sharp sand. Would using just manure compost make the bed too high in nitrogen? Or is it ok to fill up the bed with mostly manure compost.


texts: Do I need to divide my elephant ears to stop yellowing of leaves?

texts: My elephant ears has sprouted 4 bulbs and has grown a lot of leaves. However, even though its still producing new leaves, the smaller leaves keeps on turning yellow. I’m not sure if its overcrowded in the pot and might be the reason for the yellowing of some leaves. Do you think I need to divide and separate the bulbs put it in another pot?


texts: Can anyone identify this weed seen near Toronto?

texts: It was found in the Toronto area in Ontario, Canada. Here's a picture:


texts: Leaves of Alcea turning white after planting

texts: We grew about 100 Alceas from seeds and they did great. Two days ago we planted them and now some of their leaves are turning white. What could be the cause of this?


texts: Can I plant Forget-me-not indoor in June-Junly?

texts:
I am very new to gardening.

I am planning to start some Forget-me-not seeds.
Can anyone guide me for...

What is the suitable time for starting seeds of this plant?
If I plant them now (June-July), then will it bloom in Fall?
What is the usual time for flowers in this plant?
Can these plants be grown indoors?

Thank you so much!


texts:
I've moved the rosemary to this pot a month ago, and where I live, the temperature is around 28-30 degrees celsius these days and usually i water them on a daily basis.
Everything looks just fine and even great, except for the color. Is it a soil problem? What nutrient is lacking?


texts: What are the best planting conditions for primula seeds?

texts:
Can anyone help me how to plant these primula seeds? I live in Cincinnati, Ohio. They will be in a greenhouse and this is what I need to know.

What size trays do I need?

Should I cover them?

What time is best for planting?

What should the temperatures and the humidity be?


texts:
I am not entirely sure they are hemlock trees. They were not doing so hot when I moved in 2015, but it's getting worse over the past few years. They are located near Albany, New York State, US.

Photos are taken on Jun 3rd, 2018. There are growths on all green branches, but the dead branches are looking so dead, and there are branches turning red. The tree might be around 20 years old. Could someone tell the problem based on the photos?


texts:
I saw this flower in a building nearby. Can someone help me identify it?

Does it have seeds for replanting in a small pot? Or can I cut one of the flowers and plant it in a small pot?

Finally, do these survive 90+ degree temperature in very intense sun? We’re in the Caribbean.

Do they need lots of maintenance?


texts: My rosemary cutting had been growing normally for past few month but since last week, the new grown leaves are not as green as before and I have noticed that the young leaves are turning brown. I would like to know what is happening to my plant? I suspect there might be a fungi infection but it seems like the browned spots only happens to the new leaves. What can I do to deal with this problem?


texts: What are these woodlouse-like bugs and how do I kill them?

texts:
I have these black woodlouse like bugs that infested my whole back yard. They are eating through many of the leaves in our garden and wreaking havoc.

(Click to enlarge)

What kind of pesticide / approach can I take to eliminate them or reduce their number? Preferably I would like a non-chemical solution.


texts: I'm looking to transport some cuttings of a healthy Pothos plant (Marble Queen cultivar). I know that rooted Pothos can do ridiculous things like survive in darkness, but I don't know how hardy the cuttings are. The question: what is the safest way to transport a cutting of Pothos in airline luggage?


texts: What is this light purple flowering ground cover?

texts: The small flowers look pretty, although the green foliage's somewhat wild - could this be a weed?


texts: Will this spikey pear tree ever grow fruit?

texts: I brought this tree at least 7 years ago but have long ago lost any information on the variety. There is still no sign of any blossom or fruit, however it is covered in these nasty thorns which has left me wondering what on earth I've planted! Does anyone know if it will ever produce nice edible fruit or would it be best to cut it down?


texts: Small white flower used to decorate a cake, any idea what it might be called?

texts:
I'm trying to find what the name of this flower is called.

It's used to decorate a cake, shown in the show Anne with an E inspired from Anne of Green Gables.

It doesn't appear to have any colouring in the middle, and I can't seem to find anything when I search for flowers from Prince Edward Island or Canada.

I've found quite a few similar flowers but they tend to have something in the middle of the flower. Any help appreciated! Thanks.


texts: Can someone please help identify this euphorbia?

texts:
I purchased this euphorbia a few days ago and would very much appreciate an ID on it. It is in a 6" pot

here is a close-up for more detail
Close-up http://selva.cabal.mx/Pic.jpg

From the top
Close-up http://selva.cabal.mx/Pic2.jpg

It does exude sap when pricked
Close-up http://selva.cabal.mx/Pic3.jpg


texts: Can Aspergillus sp. or other fungi infect other species beside grains and legumes?

texts: I plant a peanut, lettuce, mustard greens, and spinach. After 3 weeks I noticed that my peanut have symptoms like yellow and brown dots on leaves. Several days later, the other vegetables get the same symptoms. But is it possible that the infection came from the peanut plant? Do fungi infect specific species or they can infect others?