texts:
This is from a tree growing in central WA state, but since it's in a yard, it could be from anywhere.  The small seeds look very much like acorns, so it appears to be an oak of some kind.  But what kind?

The leaves are about 4.5 - 5 inches long, at the longest, and the acorns are tiny.  The tree was tall, at least 50 ft, and the owners said it grew very fast: they pointed out a branch that was several feet long and said that was all from this year.  They'd like to know what kind of tree it is.


texts:
I was clearing out some of my tyre plants. ( A plant literally in a tyre.) and came across this lovely specimin who was on my hand.

I'm absolutely petrified of spiders but I have never seen one like this in the UK. I have shown to others and nobody has been able to identify her thus far.

For scale, front leg to back leg she's around 10cm long. Which I believe is rather large for the UK. The only thing I have come across that has been roughly the same size is the giant house spider but I've never seen one with such a brightly coloured abdomen.

There are videos that you can see of her here


texts:
When I grow radishes, I find that some of them don't swell up to form the globe I expect; instead the root stays thin.  These are planted in the same bed and at the same time as radishes that do swell.  I believe I'm doing everything right: cultivating the soil before planting, thinning the seedlings, keeping them well watered (when Mother Nature doesn't do it for me) and rotating crops from year to year.

What can I do to make all of my radishes plump and juicy?


texts: Banana Tree Sucker Has a Brown Blotch on New Growth

texts:
I recently separated this banana tree sucker into its own pot and it's been growing tall very fast. However, some of the growth is brown as shown. Does this indicate anything such as a lack of nutrients?
note: it's normally receiving partial sun.


texts: Should I earth up my radishes to prevent them from being eaten or should I pull them out?

texts:
My back yard lacks a bit of sunshine so things don't grow as fast, but they do grow.

I've recently planted radishes for the first time and they have already started pushing out of the ground, however they are not very large, maybe half the diameter of shop bought radishes.

The leaves are still growing healthily, but the tops of the radishes are getting nibbled at by something so I need to make a decision.

Should I:

Pull them up and eat them at the size they are?
Cover them with a bit more dirt and give them some time to grow larger?
Cover them with mulch to stop them being eaten?

I'm an impatient gardener and worry that they will get spoiled by being eaten by whatever has been taste testing them if I leave them the way they are, or they will rot if I leave them in the ground too long.


texts: What is this potted plant with small purple berries?

texts:
I bought this very tiny plant from a hospital.  I was visiting someone and it caught my eye.  It was about an inch or less high when I got it.  The person in the shop told me that it was an orange tree plant.  I was excited to think that one day I would have an orange tree plant so I nurtured this plant and re-potted it many times.  My father, who knows some things about planting, told me that it was not an orange tree plant, but he did not know what this plant was.

About two weeks ago, I noticed these purple berries growing.  I think that they are beautiful, but it really got me to thinking.  What kind of plant do I have?  Here I am.  Can anyone tell me what is this plant?


texts: Should I cut off some banana leaves before flowering?

texts:
I am growing a banana plant in my house. Some of my neighbors say that trimming or cutting fresh banana leaves from the tree before it has borne a fruit, would result in the banana tree not producing a banana at all. I need to know whether it is true, or if it's just a myth?

Also, if it's true, what is the reason behind it and how can I make the tree bear fruit?


texts: Biological degeneration due to inbreeding among plants?

texts:
Is there such a thing as biological degeneration due to inbreeding (incest) among garden plants?

For instance, if the quality in a bed of calendulas diminishes somewhat year-after-year, could this be due to too such genetic causes, or is soil depletion the likely only cause? If genetic degeneration is a relevant issue, are there specific signs when it occurs or recommendations how to avoid it?


texts:
I have a neighbor with lots of these horsetails in his yard. (Probaby  Equisetum arvense). Where possible I have put six inches of pool liner between his weeds and my garden but they seem unfazed.  They will send roots three feet in length under flagstone and come up through a well compacted bed of five/eighths gravel.

One year I couldn't stand it any more and used some roundup or glyphosate.  I crushed the stems and then sprayed.  It killed the growth but not the roots.

I live in eastern Canada (zone 5a) and have alkaline (ph 7+) soil due the amount of limestone around).

I spend a lot of time pulling the same plants over and over. Are there any effective control methods for horsetails?


texts: What is this big plant with long skinny green leaves?

texts:
I have this large plant that I have owned for over 2 years. What is it? can I have the common name as well as Latin name, thank you.  I am in northern Europe but that probably doesn't matter since it's an indoor plant. Here are a few photos:

Also is it normal for it to have brown spots on some of the leaves, as well as brown the the edges of the leaves?


texts: Our 4 week old Click & Grow Basil pods are sprouting nicely, and suddenly we have a tiny white bug infestation! How to get rid of them? Don't want to use chemicals as we plan to consume the basil, and cannot rinse under water faucet since the pods are encased in the Click & Grow housing. We live in CT and it's winter (about 12-20 degrees outside, and 67 degrees inside). Where did the bugs come from - non-sterile soil? Helpful tips appreciated!


texts: Is a blackish-green tint to a tomato plant still a healthy plant?

texts:
Does the darker tomato plant look healthy?

There is about an inch of coffee grounds on top of the new potting soil. The taller plant has a darker stem but the smaller one has lighter foliage.


texts: How should I "free" these trapped sprouts?

texts:
Look at the sprout on the right: You can see there is a clump of dirt and a little mineral thing stuck on its "head". Should I let it keep growing like this? Should I pick it off? I'm worried about damaging it.

These are Basil sprouts, in an indoor pot.


texts: Is it possible to avoid rain making my flowers and decorations look muddy?

texts:
I think this photo tells the story much better than words:

However, I will try words as well: It rained today, and earlier in the week, at times heavily.  As each rain drop landed within the flower box next to my front porch, it splashed a little.  When the rain drops were larger and falling more furiously, those splashes caused the topsoil to become a splatter of mud.

Now, as the sun is coming back out and drying things off, all of the things that should be looking pretty instead look muddy.  The dragon-fly on the "Welcome" rock, the stem of the solar light, even the lower leaves of the plants, all have a splotchy gray-brown film upon them.

Later, I will need to go back out and rinse things off with a more gentle flow of water.  Is there anything I can do to prevent this?  Any sort of ground cover, for example, or other tricks?

EDIT: In response to a comment, here is another photo (from a year ago) showing a wider perspective.  Total size is roughly 21" by 36".  The red rectangle shows about the area you see in the photo above.


texts: I made a LED setup with blue and red LED that is supposed to help me with indoor planting. I used total 4 LEDs (2 Red and 2 Blue) for one pot of Portolaca flowers. But I think it is not simulating the sunlight properly. How many LEDs am I supposed to use? How should I make the connection?


texts: I have a few yellow leaves with some brown spots. The rest of the plant looks ok, close to the window, water once a week (sometimes fresh water from tap, sometimes I let the water stay overnight before using it). Any ideas? I'm not very good with plants.


texts: Can I grow lithops from seed in the UK winter?

texts:
I just bought some lithops seed that I'd like to plant indoors in London, UK. Is this at all possible?
Do I need artificial light?
Do I need a heated propagator?


texts: What variety of tomato grows no taller than about 10 cm?

texts: I saw a very small tomato plant (I think less than 10cm) in a tiny pot, and it was producing tomatoes. What varieties of tomato grow like this?


texts: How to prevent creation of mold while sprouting wheatgrass indoors?

texts:
I'm sprouting wheat grass indoors and its growing pretty well. I've been following video's that I've seen on YouTube to sprout it.

The problem I have is that I've reached the stage that I remove the lid for the grass to start getting sunlight and I see white fuzz in/around the roots (I've been growing them on a white paper towel and on coconut coir (as an experiment).).

I know that healthy air circulation and managed humidity prevents mold but will adding in that air circulation now help kill off the mold to let the grass continue to grow?


texts: I planted some seeds a couple months back and they are doing really well but they haven’t even begun to grow heads I just have stalks and leaves I’m worried that I didn’t get what I ordered I have them in a mixture of peat moss and sand I water with rain water and the seeds are so tiny that I had to use tweezers


texts:
I bought about 300 Snake Plant (Sansevieria) seeds as they ship better than full plants typically.

I've been having a lot of trouble getting them to grow and have found very little information on doing it optimally as every resource assumed you have access to a fully grown Snake Plant.

How much water ?

How much light (lux) ?


texts: Why are my strawberry leaves turning brown at the tips?

texts: As you can see in the picture attached, the leaves of the strawberry plant are turning brown at the tips and I don't know why. While it has recently moved to a new home, it is always indoors by the window which receives plenty of direct sunlight. It is also watered every morning from the base (so that water seeps in from the saucer). Can anyone shed some light and help save the strawberry plant?


texts: Why do my newly planted arborvitae keep dying?

texts:
I planted arborvitae a year ago that died (five total). I replanted all of them (new trees) this year and three of them are now dying again.

Soil Conditions

The dirt up here is practically just sand and clay once you get 3-4 inches down. According to a geographical survey, soil in my geographic region is "clayey till, and sandy and loamy till, with areas of sand and gravel. Other deposits include lake clay, silt, and alluvium."

How I Planted Killed Them All The First Time

I dug a trench for them that was 12-16 inches deep (so the entire base of each tree would be below the ground).
I figured that since my soil was horrible I would need to give them fresh dirt in order to survive. So each tree was planted in and surrounded by fresh potting soil (with MiracleGro in it because I know nothing about trees!).
I watered them almost daily (I even paid a neighbor's daughter to water them while I was away for a short period of time).

Reflections on Death (Round One)

I was very surprised that all of the trees died in round one. So I talked to a landscaper and she told me that I made two major mistakes:

I drowned the trees in water (12-16 inches is too deep for these trees).
I 'shell-shocked' them with good soil as this was not their natural habitat (I should have let them grow into the natural soil from the start).

Round Two

Not having time to give my arborvitae swimming lessons, I created a berm and planted the trees on the berm so that only the bulb/tip of each trees' roots would be below ground level (at the recommendation of the previously mentioned landscaper).
I used mostly natural soil (I had to use some fresh dirt for berming, but I bought the cheap stuff which smelled like manure).
I have been watering every other day or so, but three of them (one on the end and one in the middle of two other trees) are starting to turn brown. I've exhausted my knowledge (which is zilch).
The berm soil has been eroding unfortunately.

Photos

All the trees:

A closeup of one of the browning ones:

Questions

Did the landscaper give me good advice? If not, what do you recommend?
Is there any hope for my browning trees in round two?

UPDATE

All the trees in round two have since died. I also found out that my neighbor had planted his four times and they died every time, so I'm wondering if our soil conditions are the culprit here. Anyways, both my neighbor and I have given up on arborvitae and he planted bushes (I just covered my holes with dirt and am actually now trying to sell the home—so I'll probably just put down grass seed). It's really unfortunate, because I have a warranty for five new trees—I just don't have time nor the patience to kill another batch. Unfortunately the advice I received here conflicted and no one fully answered my questions. If anyone knows how to make these grow in my soil conditions and can offer an authoritative and canonical response that fully answers my initial questions, I'll gladly accept the answer. But until then, I hope this post and its answers help someone else....


texts: Is there a bee hive that works with a tap?

texts:
I'm currently building a king stropharia bed, so I'm wondering if I could collect honey on a tap without really disturbing the bees as a function stacked on top of the mushroom function.

My neighbor is a beekeeper, but won't give me any free honey.


texts:
My house has both front and back lawns, but I'm not really a lawn fan (high resource use, low utility, ecological issues, blah blah blah). I want to do something else with that space; the question is what. Part of the space has a raised garden bed and a fire pit; for the rest, I'm thinking about some kind of meadow situation (non-manicured growth, flowers, trees, maybe a beehive).
My question is: how much work would that entail? Can I just stop maintaining the lawn and let nature reclaim my property (apart from planting new trees, obviously)? Or do I need to plow under all that turf grass and sow the entire plot with new vegetation? (If it's relevant, we're talking about maybe 3800 ft2 / 353 m2, plus the area in the front (which I haven't estimated), so this has potential to be a sizable project.)


texts: Need help identifying this volunteer plant

texts: I have a raised bed that I recently put home made compost in.  I have this volunteer plant growing and suspect it came out of a seed that I may have thrown in the compost bin. Unlike some of you I am not an expert on composting and don't think my bin is getting hot enough to kill the seeds. Any idea what this plant is?


texts: I have a lemon tree grown from seed that is about 2 1/2 years old. I thought from what I read that a very large branch growing from the base area was a water sprout(it grew faster, although it was about 5 and 1/2 feet tall it didn't have even one single branch growing on it, and the leaves were super huge in comparison to the other leaves on the tree). I cut it off at the base and since doing this the health of the tree has gone downhill. I see one tiny new branch forming (very slowly) near the base but other than that there hasn't been any new growth other than this. my question is do citrus trees grown from seed even get water sprouts or can anyone think of another reason it isn't doing well since being cut?


texts:
I have received some seeds as a present, it should be some kind of flowers, but now (after four months) it looks like that:

The seeds packing gave only the information that it should be a houseplant.


texts: I just got a nice sized dieffenbachia. After transferring it to a nice pot it has been suffering. I gave it plenty of water, more soil, and a pot not too big for the plant. It did get subjected to cold for about 20 mins. Now almost half of the leaves are black and most of those black leaves are now crisp. Should I trim off the black leaves and leave the healthy ones? Or should I trim it all the way back to the stems?


texts: Will it be too late to plant Daffodil bulbs after Christmas in Long Island, New York?

texts:
I've got a bunch of Daffodil bulbs for my mother who lives out on the tip of Long Island, New York (USDA zone 7). I'd like to give them to her for Christmas, and plant over the weekend (weather permitting).

Is mid-December too late already? Will it be too late 10 days from now at the end of December?


texts: We have this cactus that I believe was supposed to be red at the top but is just dried and shrivelled but the stranger thing is the weird extra cactus growing out the top. Any ideas what it is, I don't suppose it can be replanted?


texts: I’ve had this plant for 6 months and in those 6 months three leave shot up like crazy! They grew over a foot in length but the rest of the leaves have all stayed the same length. Is this normal?


texts: How to deal with invasive Ailanthus (Tree of Heaven)

texts:
My neighbors have a great tall Ailanthus (Tree of Heaven).  Apparently, before I moved into my house, so did our yard.  We now have an enormous stump and a bazillion new shoots that come up from hidden roots all over the back portion of our yard.  I call it my "weed tree", because no matter how often I try to pull out new branches, next week I'll find six new three foot high trees popped up.  I don't think I can remove the stump without machinery, and I'm not even sure what machinery to use.

Making matters worse, it's on a hill-side which is steep enough to make my working on it a pain in the neck, and potentially dangerous.  Eventually I plan to terrace and cultivate this hill, but that won't be possible as long as the Ailanthus is still there.

Should I just give up and hire a landscaper to rip up the stump and the entire portion of the yard that's apparently a dense network of Ailanthus roots?  Presumably that would make the terrace work easier for me as well.  Or is there some (cheaper) way to prevent it from growing?  Although my garden and yard care is entirely organic, I might be open to a chemical warfare approach only if it could be targeted to just the weed tree.


texts: Which are some good indoor plants for upside down planting?

texts:
Would like to grow indoor plans upside down, to save space...
Which are some good choice?
Would like those promoting more leaf growth?
Will the stem continues to grow at the same rate, as if it's planted straight?


texts: What is an effective organic pesticide to use against aphids or cabbage loopers?

texts: I have a vegetable garden that bugs just love. Since my family is going to eat these vegetables (and I'd prefer that the bugs do not), what organic pesticide is most effective? The main culprits are aphids and cabbage loopers (or inch worms) though any pesticide that targets critters that eat leafy vegetables would be helpful.


texts: Does the blue Japanese maple tree exist?

texts:
In my search of different kinds of bonsai trees, I have come across various websites selling blue Japanese maple seeds, usually with an image attached (most likely photo-shopped).

I personally don't believe that they can exist. Can anyone give any validating proof for  or against their existence?


texts:
I'm new to gardening as this is the first place we've moved to with a garden. I've managed to work out some of the plants that are present in the garden, however, they look like they have never been tended to in a loving way.

I have dogwood in the back gardenthat looks scarce underneath with loads of leaves growing wildly out of control on top, shall I prune this right back to the bottom and start all over again?

The Spirea and Lavender in the front, look like they are diseased instead of vibrant pink and purple colours they are dull and look a bit cobwebby, is this normal?


texts: I got these marigolds almost a week ago and the flowers has been turning brown and drooping down, they are only watered at night and they get sunlight in the morning. Any advice?


texts: Why does my Angel house plant produce some type of fluid?

texts:
I always move my plant to the sun everyday so it can get some sunlight during the day. When I touch the leaves, they feel wet. It's not in an area where its wet or can get wet unless I water it; but thats not the case.

What is this fluid that's coming from the leaves?

I took a close up pick off the fluid that's actually about to drip. And I also added a picture of how my plants looks.


texts: What variety of cedar is this in Puget Sound region?

texts:
Attaching three photos of of a grove of (I think) cedar trees, which are distinct from the common Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) which has a pyramid shape and uniform branches when standing alone.

These trees have a lot more 'character' to the overall shape, with gnarled branches that give it a more wind-blown look, though similar in foliage which forms in flat sprays of overlapping scales. These trees also don't seem to grow as tall as Western Red Cedar.

I wasn't successful on google looking for cedar trees that look like this, although this tree is very common in the seattle metro region.


texts: Paver bricks -- handling weeds without bad chemicals

texts:
I have paver bricks with this cracks between each brick and weeds.

Handling the weeds is a challenge for my wife and I.

Any suggestions?

Our strategy now is:

hand pick the weeds
use a power washer
fill the cracks in with locking sand


texts: Why are the new growths on my Sago Palm withering and turning yellow/vrown

texts:
I’ve had this sago palm for just over a week. When I bought it, the new growths were already a little bit sad looking, and they’ve since deteriorated. The older parts are healthy and green, and have no problems.

I’ve only watered it once so far, when the soil was dry, as I’ve learned my lesson with overwatering in the past. I’ve heard that this might be the result of a magnesium deficiency, or lack of other nutrients, but suggestions and ideas would be welcome, because I’m not quite sure where to start with fixing that, and I really would like this plant to thrive :) thanks so much!!


texts:
This is my plant and is dying. Although I tried a lot to make it survive its health status depleted with time. Now some of its leaves are still active while rest died (approx 20 percent alive).

This plant is really new to me and I need guiding to care for it. I have googled a lot but found nothing useful. What should I do now?


texts: Is my bougainvillea turning into a magic beanstalk?

texts:
I have a few bougainvillea plants around our house in Southwest Florida. Two are doing OK, the hanging one is bursting out in color with red bracts and white flowers, and there's this one...

This is the second time this year that there's been a single branch (?) shooting skyward like a magic beanstalk, and each time from a different part of the plant. On this one the bougainvillea-stalk is over 5 feet tall.

None of the other plants has exhibited such a behavior (a single branch growing way, way longer and higher). This 'stalk' hasn't shown any tendency to show any color.

Is this something normal? Is this plant trying to become a tree? Is it hurting the plant letting this grow so tall? Should I worry about a giant climbing down and messing up our pool?

Click on pictures for full size.


texts: What is going on with my cactus. Someone said miners but idk

texts:
my night bLooming cactus has its leaves eaten like this. I don’t see a bug on it. Ive Sprayed it with water etc and researched online but just two people answered and they said miners. I don’t know if it’s actually miners. Any help
Appreciated please.


texts:
And how do I get rid of it...
The beasts are about 2 cm long.
At first I thought there was a parasite in my plants since I only saw the poppy-seed-like excrement. Until someone mentioned it was caterpillar poop. I have been trying different methods.... including tobacco water, Pressured water and lately three applications of Take Down, spaced two weeks apart (at night to avoid collateral damage).
Still the pests are eating away!

Most of the moths I see are extremely small (1cm wingspan) and brownish. I've also seen some white (cabbage moths) but they seem to be visiting? I have no idea what plant this is BTW.... As it has not flowered from all the damage.


texts: How can we grow grass in our heavy clay yard?

texts:
My wife and I have been living in a new subdivision for the past two years and have been struggling with getting grass to fully take in our backyard. Our front yard is sod and has been doing fine, but the back is a heavy clay mix since the developers scraped off the top soil and sold it (so we've been told).

I have tried a fescue mix in the past, but it seems to die out rather quickly in Mid-July when the heat is at it's strongest.

Are there any specific seed mixes that work better in clay, or other techniques that can help us with our yard?


texts: Morels growing in planter pot: leave them alone, or extirpate?

texts:
We have a planter with a tomato plant and a bell pepper (capsicum) plant. A few months ago, during wet weather, many morels (specifically what appears to be Morchella rufobrunnea) started to appear next to the plants. Some research shows that the presence of this Morchella is quite common in our area and grows readily from wood chips in moist conditions.

While I'm not too upset by their presence (indeed they appear to be edible!), I'm wondering whether for the sake of the plants it's better to leave the fungi in, or to remove their visible parts.

Fungi seem to break down decomposing organic matter into components that the plants can perhaps use, but I want to be sure that 1) the fungi don't house other creatures that might harm the plants, or 2) that the fungi may affect the growth of the plants themselves.


texts: What is this shrub with 5-petal fragrant flowers?

texts:
I have seen this shrub in mid April in a park in Western Germany and I remember the flowers were quite fragrant.

Do you know what it is?


texts: Recently I've discovered something called peat pots. Why should I use them? Why wouldn't I just put the plant directly into the ground? Is there any advantage?


texts: What drainage can we do for the area with utilities lines?

texts:
There are an electric meter, a Dish TV stand, and other stuff at one side of my house.

The two downspouts are on that side. Both end with a splash pad to the ground surface. Over time, the lawn around the splash pads became rather soggy. I used some corrugated tubes to extend the downspouts to a farther exit from the house. But it is on the surface and the tubes are easy to be kicked away by passing people, like me.

What is a better design to add drainage to this area? Should I just dig trenches and lay tubes carefully, like with gloved hands instead of a shovel, to protect the utility lines? Or just keep this part of land untouchable, and get creative in downspouts redirection?


texts: Can electromagnetic fields from high tension wires affect a garden?

texts: We can get plants (tomatoes, blueberries, grapes, etc.) to grow but they will not produce fruit. We have tried all kinds of soil. We have planted in the ground and in plant beds and in pots. we will get small green fruit and then it falls off.


texts: How can I find out what's eating my chilli plants?

texts:
I'm in Sydney, Australia. I live in an apartment 3 stories off the ground floor.

My chilli plants are in pots on my balcony.

Recently (last 2 weeks) I have noticed that something is eating the leaves of one of the chilli plants. I have not done any sleuthing at night yet. Today is a Saturday and I have not seen any further damage during the day.

The pot with the most damage looks to be surrounded by droppings of the culprit. What could it be?

Update:
I went out in the evening with a torch and yep, it was 2 fat caterpillars. I thought I had checked the plant during the day, but I guess I wasn't thorough enough. I checked a few more times during the night and no more turned up. A lot of damage for just 2 caterpillars!


texts: How and when to separate a small tree from a plant

texts:
I'm doing some yard work for my grandmother and was asked to separate a small tree from what i'm told is a rose bush. the tree isnt particularly old, only about 3 feet tall, and thin enough that if i wanted i could just cut it down with some clippers. id prefer to be able to relocate the tree instead of killing it or the rose bush though.

i think the tree is a "spring snow crabapple tree" and it already bloomed for the year if that matters.

Appreciate the help, hurray for ignorance.


texts: Can anyone identify this plant/weed that has a curled-over top with little white flowers?

texts:
Asking from New Jersey. I have a couple of these little flowering plants growing in my front yard, one in a small area surrounded by stargazer lilies and another across the yard between some ivy and a tree. The flowers just opened up within the last few days (the lilies haven't opened yet). The leaves look similar to the lily leaves, so much so that I thought it was another, smaller lily until it grew that curled-over bud cluster. It's about 12 inches tall.

Here are pictures, some of the plant in its normal curled-over state (the surrounding, taller plant leaves are from stargazer lilies), and one with me holding up the flowers to get a picture.
EDIT: I added a couple pictures from other angles.


texts:
I'm new to composting, and about a week ago added cardboard packaging from freezer food (like an Eggo waffles box) - I shredded it up and mixed it into my compost bin. I've since learned that these boxes usually have a plastic coating to protect them from moisture and freezer burn.

How bad will this be for my compost, and is there anything that I can do about it short of handpicking each piece from the compost?


texts: Why can't you get organic fertilizers in powder form?

texts:
I'm just wondering why most of the organic fertilizer are in granules. Yes, fish emulsion is liquid but there are no organic fertilizer is in powder form.

Wouldn't it be easier if they crush the granules into powder so that we can simply mix them with water and pour them to the soil?

Although I can think of an exception of bone meal, which need to be mixed with the soil completely because it doesn't move around in the soil.


texts:
Please let me know what type of plant I purchased here? And how to take care of this.
He are some pics of it...


texts: Need advice for pruning indoor Avocado saplings

texts:
I have four Avocado "trees", which are now aproximately 1 - 1,5 years old. I did not prune them until now, because I did not know any better. I have read, that saplings should be reduced by half in height when they reach 20 - 30 cm. Three of mine are already 50 - 60 cm in height. Now the question is: where do I prune them? Some more information: plant #1 has a branch near the top of the plant, no other plant has. Plant #1 is also the prettiest of the four, with dark green leaves and also many of them, the pictures do it no justice due to the bad lighting. Plant #2 did not grow any new leaves at the top recently, however all of the leaves are located in the top third of the plant. Plant #3 is rather bushy and is currently developing new leafs at the top. Plant #4 still is very small (only 35cm), it did not grow for a long time, however it is now developing leafs again. All of them will be repotted soon, #2 and #3 are still in their starter "pots". I really appreciate your help and thanks a lot in advance! BR

[


texts: New turf left to grow too long - how best to fix?

texts:
I recently made a small (approx 7-8 sqm) lawn by laying topsoil and then turf.

It took hold nicely however I left it far too long before mowing and now have a problem!

I currently have a manual cylinder mower with is no good for the long grass (it jams and tears at the grass) and a strimmer which is also no good, I intended to cut it short enough to use the mower with this but it just flattens the grass (like crop circles) and does not cut it well.

As the grass has grown long, when short it does not look nice - yellowish and a bit sparse in places with small bare muddy areas.

What is the best way to fix this?
I assume I can borrow a powered mower to get the grass short, then sprinkle seed to fix the worst of the bare patches, then just wait and it will fix itself as it is still fairly new (couple of months) good quality turf.
Is that correct?  Is there more to it?  Does the type of mower matter?  I was thinking a small hover mower would be the easiest in my small awkward garden but not sure if that's best for the grass or if it matters at all.

Thank you :)


texts: What is this climbing plant with three-lobed leaves and furled petals?

texts:
The flower bloomed. Here it is. This is morning glory right?

The flower has not bloomed yet. This is the leaf:


texts: Will my tree survive after have a section of root cut off?

texts: I have a large ornamental tree in my garden. (I have just bought the bungalow). While I was out a large root (about a foot diameter) which was causing a wall to fall over was cut off. The leaves started to curl at the top of the tree and now further down. It was well watered that day-about a week ago. What else can I do? Will it survive?


texts: Should I clear rapacious vines from my garden?

texts:
My back yard is edged on three sides with something that was probably intended as a garden, but is now just an overgrown mess, with, e.g., lots of vines ensnarling everything. In the photo below you can see some of what I'm talking about (the lighter green leaves are the vines):

What is the vine?
Should I actually pull up all that stuff and let the intended plants breathe? Or does it create a healthy ecosystem or something to have all that stuff tangled up together?


texts: How can I prevent wasps from eating my apples?

texts:
Last year, as my apples were finally approaching ripeness, nearly all of them got eaten or burrowed into by wasps.

Is there anything I can do this year to prevent this from happening again?


texts:
I bought this plant a while ago. The shop assistant wasn’t sure what it was, there was only one left, and all I got is that it’s a succulent.

It’s not doing great, and I hope knowing what it is could help with research.

The small leaves you can see at the top are square-ish, and there are always two new leaves growing from each of them, together with a wilted little thing that looks like it could be a flower - although I don't think I've ever seen it look very flower-y.

Since taking this photo late last year, the plant has not been doing well, and lost most of the top branches with the square leaves. It has recently grown a whole bunch of new big leaves, though, like the ones growing from the stem.

Does anybody know what it is?

Update: The first answer to this question suggests that it's a Euphorbia succulent, so that should narrow it down a bunch - but trawling the internet and clicking through page after page of images hasn't resulted in a match yet.


texts: What useful things can I use shredded branches for?

texts:
I will be carrying out some heavy pruning of some over grown trees (mixture of deciduous, fruit and a few conifers) over the next few months.

I am already planning to save some of the thicker, straighter sections for woodwork, sculpture and log fires, most of the thinner stuff will probably end up going through a shredder.

I've read here that it can take a long time for the wood to decompose.

So My question is, what beneficial use could I put a substantial amount of chipped wood to? Mulch? Bottom layer of raised beds perhaps?


texts: How should I convert 5 gallon buckets into pots?

texts: I don't have some pots/room in the garden to plant elephant garlic into, so I was planning to plant in 5 gallon pots. What do you suggest I do to make them into pots, but can use them in the winter?


texts: What should I do about coarse, thick grass growing in my lawn?

texts:
This is my lawn.

For some reason lots of thick horrible coarse grass has started growing in lots of patches all over. Does anyone know why it would all of a sudden start to grow? Also, can anything be done about it? I have Green Thumb come 4 times a year....I would have hoped they would sort it out.

EDIT: I've been informed that it's couch grass, and the reason for its prevalence this year is probably because of the very wet winter we had in the UK.

Click photo for full size


texts: What is this bushy, yellow-flowering plant?

texts:
Can you help me identify this plant?

It is between a foot and two tall. It has a scent I can't really place. It doesn't seem strong enough for a mint.


texts: How should Muscari be kept  so that they grow well next year?

texts:
I planted some muscari and they flowered successfully with two flowers per bulb. Now the flowers have wilted. How should I keep them in order to make them grow next year? The leaves are still there and I've cut the flowers so that they don't drain energy anymore.

I am in Hong Kong which is a subtropical area. Please give advice for the sub-tropics as I know muscari originated from colder places which suit them better.


texts:
I recently planted a planted a passionfruit plant (grafted Nellie Kelly). It grew fast and seemed to be going well. A few days ago, I noticed that one of the leaves had fallen off. As the plant still looked healthy and it was just one leaf, I assumed it must have been wind or something falling on the plant. However, soon after that, the top of the plant disappeared and then yet another leaf fell off. I'm worried that the plant is dying but it still looks healthy to me. Any suggestions?

Notes

The plant still looks healthy, the leaves are not yellowing.
My suspicion is that it is the cold weather (Temperatures as low as 3-4˚C (37-39˚F))
Location: Canberra, Australia (going into spring)
Plant was transplanted about 4 weeks ago.
Plant is watered every second say and is mulched.

Photos (click to enlarge)

This photo shows a point on the plant where a leaf has broken off:

The photo shows the top of the plant, with the tip missing:

This photo shows one of the leaves that has fallen off:

This photo shows the whole plant (now):

This photo shows the whole plant (one week ago, before the leaf drop):

Any suggestions of what to do or comments on what is happening would be appreciated. If I have left out any vital information feel free to comment and I will add it.


texts: Does fish emulsion (or another foliar feed) work as a foliar fertilizer on needle leaved evergreens?

texts: I know how fish emulsion works as a foliar spray on deciduous shrubs, but will it work on needle leaved evergreens such as mugho pines and junipers? If not, what should be used for comparable result?


texts: Connecticut woodland plant with sticky seeds and stems

texts:
This plant was found in woodland in Connecticut, in the northeastern USA. It is about 2.5 feet tall (75 cm) and has a string of seed heads the size of small capers growing along a single stem. The seeds and stems are very sticky and attach themselves to clothing or dog fur; when pulled, the stems break away from the seeds leaving them firmly attached.

What is this plant?

Click on photos for full size


texts: Is this Fusarium Wilt or nutrient deficiency or something else?

texts:
My basil plants have recently started spotting on the leaves with a couple yellow leaf drops and streaking on stems. Is this a disease or some other issues?

Full Gallery of photos

A few details:

Hardiness Zone 4a to 3a
6 - 8 hours of direct sunlight.
Not a significant amount of leaf drop. Here and there.
Some curled and deformed leaves.
Plant trying to flower like crazy.
Only water when soil feels dry.


texts: Is it a good idea to add sugar or other things to the water for cut flowers?

texts:
Mostly for future reference, is it helpful to add sugar or other things to the water meant for cut flowers?

There seems to be conflicting data from different sources. See How can I preserve a bouquet of flowers for two days before gifting them?

I've heard that the sugar:

feeds beneficial bacteria
feeds the plant (which I know to be wrong, plants don't metabolize sucrose)
helps prevent air bubbles

But none of this has been satisfactorily been shown true for me. My experience says 'use plain water', and then masteragardeners.org tells you to add all kinds of things to the water. Some people even say a copper penny helps.

Let's get this straight once and for all.


texts: can anybody help me with some advice on how to revive this calathea? Since autumn [here in the UK] it hasn't been doing so well. It's in a fairly bright spot, an hour or so of fairly direct light. I have a humidify running for an hour a day too. I'm not sure if I am over watering or underwatering, I water it roughly when the top inch of soil is dry. Some a lot of the leaves come out brown and dry, some don't un-roll at all and all the stems are weak too, the can't support the weight of their own leaves, they droop, bend and eventually break. Thanks!


texts: How to proper dilute virgin Neem oil as pest control?

texts:
I had a recent infestation with Fungus Gnats on my houseplants, and one recommendation was to use Neem Oil as a natural pesticide for these pests.
I bought cold-pressed, unrefined/virgin Neem Oil, but failed terribly trying to dissolve in water to spray my plants. As it's a thick and semi-solid product, I tried using warm water ~40c, it worked for 1-2 minutes, but as soon that the water temperature dropped a bit, it formed solid again on the water surface, making it impossible to spray.
How to propper dilute/emulsify virgin Neem Oil into the water to spray it?


texts: What are these black spots on white splotches appearing on my tomato seedling?

texts:
Here are pictures of the infected leaves.  I cut them off the plant as soon as I saw them today.

Click for full size

Here are close-ups of the most infected leaf:

Click for full size

What can I do to prevent this from happening to the rest of the plant?

Edit
I may have found the culprit.  I found the what looks like a fruit fly right beside a new white patch.  I am not sure if it was snacking or had just finished laying eggs.  I am actually not sure if it was a fruit fly at all.  Here are some pictures:

The first two are the bugs in action.

Here is a close up of a bug I caught while cleaning the leaves with soapy water.

Can anyone confirm this is a fruit fly and that it is the bug responsible for the white mess?


texts:
Can anyone identify this seedling?

I bought (what I thought were) baobab seeds online. When they arrived they looked nothing like I expected, small and brown and glossy, resembling apple seeds (see picture).

One of the 10 seeds germinated and is growing well - I’m not sure it’s a baobab though! 2 thick starter leaves and some fern-like fronds which open in the day and close at night. Seems like a very cool plant!!

Any one have any idea?

Cheers


texts: Is there a rule of thumb for what size of a pot you need to keep a plant in?

texts:
I keep quite a lot of potted plants around my house, and usually I just move them to a bigger pot when I notice that they're looking like they need more space.

It would be kind of nice to be able to judge the size of pot I need as soon as I'm getting a plant, so I was wondering if there was a sort of rule of thumb for what size pot might be needed for a plant based on it's size it grows to?


texts: Can frog droppings be used as fertilizer?

texts:
In the context I am thinking, I would essentially be mixing the droppings into the topsoil in a plant bed.

How much would be too much? How much would be too little to make a difference?

Nutrient breakdown?

Is Salmonella a risk?


texts:
I live in northeast Georgia, USA, and I have a large fir tree growing in my backyard. Over the past month or so, I've noticed some of the needles along the branches are turning yellow. I have no idea why, or if this is normal for this kind of tree. We bought this house about 2 years ago, and in that time I haven't seen it turn this shade of yellow before. It definitely didn't last October. Should I be concerned about this? Thanks in advance for the help.
Here are a few pictures of what it looks like:


texts: How can I compost oak leaves and sawdust?

texts: I have the enviable problem of having several (6 or 7) cubic yards of both oak leaves and oak sawdust from having logged off and making cabinet lumber from many oak trees that once grew where our house now stands. Many oaks still stand and give their leaves every year and I plane and saw the oak lumber into wood products. Where I dump the leaves and sawdust there does not appear to be active composting and no worms for fishing. Is there an acceptable way to jump start composting in acidic leaves and saw dust from oak? Both red and white strains.


texts:
I guess another way to ask the same question: Can compost be used as soil?
The question comes up as I have just removed a tree stump and would like to plant grass instead. So right now there is a hole I need to fill somehow. I have lots of ready compost.
So can I use the compost I have to fill the hole and then plant grass, and not run into the issue that the compost decompose over time and the grass will sink?


texts: What is this tree with blue and white flowers and long strap-like leaves?

texts:
While I was walking, I found this tree with amazing blue and white flowers and am really curious to know its name. It also has long strap-like leaves.

What is its name?

Click on picture for full size.


texts: approximately how much compost does a foot of wood chips compost down to?

texts: I'm heavily composting my garden with arborist wood chips, and was wondering how much compost I get from a square foot of wood chips. I'm using Stropharia Rugosoannulata to break down the wood chips.


texts: Is it safe to consume fruits from plants grown in metal cans?

texts:
We drink a lot of coffee in our house so we have tons of these aluminum (?) cans (about 10cm in diameter):

I would like to re-purpose these cans as growing containers for some hot peppers (Capsicum X). I can imagine any acids in the soil can dissolve the metal of the can, despite it probably having some inner coating. Is it safe to eat fruits harvested from a plant that grew in a metal container?


texts:
I just moved into a new house and have a couple of these in the back yard. Not sure if it is a weed or an ornamental.

Anyone recognize it?

Bay Area, CA (usda zone 9a/b)


texts:
I saw a violet flower with six petals. One petal is significantly longer. What will be the explanation for that?

Location: Ontario, CA


texts:
I have an area of about 650 sq ft that I planted several small trees and about 10 shrubs last year. I put a light amount of mulch in the area but grass has covered most of it back up.

I want to do the mulching properly so I see two options:
- remove all of the existing sod and add 4" of planters mix.
- put down cardboard / weed barrier on top of the sod and add the 4" of planters mix.

Which one of these will be the least disruptive for the existing plants and or the better long term solution?


texts: Palm plant wilting/drooping (pics added)

texts:
UPDATE: Found some white dots that are extremely tiny. Not sure if they are scale or mineral deposit from water. The palm plant has also closed all of its leaves.

My palm plant was doing great and was quite stiff/upright. I re-potted it into another but better potting mix and it loved it, as it got even more upright. However, it suddenly started drooping. Now even after watering, the plant is going sad and not happy. I don't know what to do. I have moved the plant now to even more brightly-lit indirect lighting but no improvements. The soil drains very fast and the pot has a drainage hoke at the bottom.


texts: Tilling in oak stump grinding chips for new sod lawn

texts: I have a fair amount of live oak chips/dirt from a stump I just ground. Is it a good idea to till these grind 'spoils' into the dirt of an area we plan on laying new sod into? Will the decomposition of the oak deplete the soil to the point that the sod struggles? Is the oak too acidic for sod? Should I incorporate top soil or another amendment as well? Thank You


texts: My lemon tree, ants, shells. What is this and how to treat it properly?

texts:
There are lots of ants around, they just don't like to be photographed :)

This is the whole tree:

I'm in Sydney, Australia.


texts: What is causing curled and deformed capsicum and chilli leaves?

texts:
I live in western South Australia (Mediterranean climate with sandy, pH neutral soils). I turned over the vegetable garden (history unknown) in August/September, adding Dynamic Lifter for vegetables, and planted in late September (spring). We then had the hottest October on record. I have nurtured the plants through an extreme weevil and earwig infestation and also have no shortage of slaters and millipedes. The surviving plants are small and multi-branched but now my ‘peppers’ new leaves are deformed. Tomatoes and eggplant are OK. The capsicums are in the ground, the chillies in large pots in a mix of garden soil, potting mix, composted cow poo with Dynamic Lifter and pea straw mulch. I water every 2-3 days or daily in the heat (35+ °C) and apply Seasol & Powerfeed fortnightly. Both have just started flowering.

I know there are numerous posts on this but nothing that shows a problem the same as this. The largest capsicum is 35 cm high, it looks wilted but shouldn’t be as it gets watered enough. The new leaves cup upward in the middle, the outer edges roll in, the centre vein squiggles, there are small bugs on the underside and something in the stem ‘forks’ that looks like small grains of salt.

Does anybody out there recognise this and have management ideas?


texts: What are differences between Echinacea purpurea and Echinacea angustifolia?

texts:
One of my most important gardening goals for this year is establishing echinacea in several parts of my garden. So I ordered several bags of echinacea seeds from a seed shop. (I actually didn't pay attention on the exact latin name) However, I just noticed that seeds are not of Echinacea purpurea (which is the most common in gardens, and I expected this species), but of Echinacea angustifolia:

Do you know what are differences between Echinacea purpurea and Echinacea angustifolia, from gardening point of view?


texts: Do brassicas like to be transplanted deeper than the previous pot?

texts:
I know that tomatoes should be transplanted deeper than they were in the previous pot.

When I'm potting up broccoli and cabbage, are they the same way? Can I bury part of the stem when I go from a 6-pack to a pot, or from a pot to the garden?

(I'm especially interested because my current batch of broccoli got a little leggy when I started them under the lights.)


texts: Will creeping jenny kill my honeysuckle vine?

texts: I planted a honeysuckle vine from a pot that also contained creeping jenny. The creeping jenny took off and is thick around the base of the vine. Now the leaves on the honeysuckle are yellow and some have dried. Flower production was minimal this summer. Should I remove the creeping jenny? It seems to be comingled with the roots of the honeysuckle. Or is it a nitrogen problem?


texts: Fast growing trees for shade & fruits in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan

texts: I am presently in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan bordering Punjab & Rajasthan. I want to grow a miniature forest in my backyard, I request to suggest fast growing trees for shade & fruits. I have moderate water supply.


texts: My Rubber plant shed it's leaves completely, just the last top leaf is left now. The leaves fall turning black from the tips. It was bought from a local nursery in Dec and repotted during spring, it was doing fine till last of may. How can I save it? Please suggest.


texts:
I moved into a home a couple of months ago, and there's what seems to be a peach tree in a container, right next to a Queen palm.

Is this a peach tree? I can't tell as the fruit is really small and we haven't tried to eat it yet :)
The tree seems to have branches in all directions, but the last 12-18"+ of the branches have no leaves on them at all, just some fruit. Is this normal? Should I prune the tree - either now or wait till Nov/Dec?
I would feel better if this was in the ground - should I plant it now or wait till winter/early spring? I would have hopes of getting some edible fruit next summer, anything apart from organic fertilizer and a regular watering schedule I should take care of?
Is it okay if I plant it in the same spot - it's 3ft from the trunk of a Queen Palm but since the palm tree's 30ft tall, there's ample sun throughout the day. I'm just not sure how "wide" this can go.

This is in southern California.

Thanks!


texts: What is the name of this amazon plant that have ants inside its leaves?

texts: Full video of this amazing plant is here on YouTube


texts: How can I remove the moss growing on my lawn?

texts: I have a lot of fairly thick, short moss growing on my lawn. The grass seems to be growing through it and looks healthy, but I still have a carpet of moss. I try raking it, but it's relentless and continues to grow. What can I do about this?


texts: Is it beneficial to limit a Phalaenopsis orchid's bloom time?

texts:
I have a Phalaenopsis orchid that appears to be doing very well. It has been in bloom for at least 4 months, and the flower spikes continue to put on new blooms. Based on the number of buds on the spikes, I suspect it will be in bloom for at least another month. During the time it has been in bloom, it has added a new leaf, and I can see new roots growing, as well.

Would there be any benefit in the long term for this plant to limit its bloom time? For example, if I were to cut the spike back now rather than letting it continue blooming for a month or more, would that mean a stronger, healthier plant in the future, or a plant that was more likely to rebloom?


texts: Spot application of poison on seed head stalk

texts: Before I go and try to remove a Bahia Grass infestation in my turf, I'm wondering if Glyphosate will be effective if I apply it only along the stalk that the seed-head grows out of? There is a lot of surface area as they are 1ft tall.


texts: Is the pictured plant an Aloe kilifiensis?

texts: Bought from a local store, it's listed as an Aloe kilifiensis, but unsure if it is.


texts: At what age will a night flowering cereus begin to flower?

texts: I have a night flowering cereus cactus that is about five years old. It is a foot tall and has a single stem. It is in a four inch square plastic pot. Is it going to flower anytime soon?


texts: My colleague had bought this succulent plant for our office in a supermarket, and it was left there before lockdown. Over the months it has grown in size (it had a small rose-like shape just above the ground when it was bought) and now it's not stable; moreover, some roots grew at the base of the stem and others are coming out of the drainage hole of the vase. I wonder: should it be repotted with the whole stem covered by soil? Also, what kind of succulent plant is it?


texts:
Does anyone have experience with Potato vines? I recently planted some in front of my fence (front-yard).

They look like they are spreading out a bit with runners, but overall the leaves and stems look a very dark green, and not as big and bushy as I expected a couple months later. I hand watered quite a bit, not sure if this is normal.


texts: I am growing three tomato plants on my windowsill in a pot with a diameter of approximately 25cm. Am I growing too many tomato plants in my pot?


texts: How is a Sugarcane Jujube different from a regular Jujube?

texts:
I have found the wikipedia page for Jujube but I could not find much on the Sugarcane Jujube.

What is the difference between these two varieties (if any)?


texts: What's the difference between drop spreaders and rotary spreaders?

texts: Why are there two kinds of spreaders and which one should I get? This is not a question of product recommendation, but rather, which kind of spreader is more popular and why? Or should I have one of each?


texts: How would I go about grafting Japanese Maples?

texts: I would like to plant a nice weeping Japanese Maple in my yard, but the nice ones at the nursery are quite expensive.  Some friends have exactly the type of Japanese Maple that I would like in my yard.  How would I go about grafting a branch into a tree that I could plant in my yard? What is the process and how long does it usually take?


texts: Is it safe to use pressure-treated wood for raised beds that have been lined with plastic?

texts: I have been advised not to use pressure treated lumber to build raised beds, but I just read your idea of lining them with pool plastic. If you did that, could you then use pressure treated lumber, which would at least stop the exterior of the beds disintegrating as quickly?


texts: How can I tell how old my fairy castle cactus is?

texts: this is my new fairy castle cactus also referred to as a green finger cactus(https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZpBSg.jpg)


texts: Is it better to use soil and moss or just moss for a Kokedama (moss ball)?

texts:
I have come across different sources on how to make a Kokedama. A major conflict I am finding is what the Kokedama should consist of. Some suggest just wrapping the roots of the plant in moss. While others, deem it necessary to use a ball of clay-like soil wrapped in moss to contain the roots.

Is it better to use a ball of clay-like soil wrapped in moss or a ball of just moss for a Kokedama?


texts:
I bought a composting bin with thermal-insulated walls, mainly for composting kitchen waste:
https://postimg.cc/k2XFsKv3
However according to it's thermometer, temperature never raises over ~20 celcius. Youtube videos say that carbon-nitrogen ratio should be 4:1, so I added some garden waste (both dry and wet leaves, and grass clippings) to the bin. Temperature still won't raise. I noticed some ants in the bin which I read, indicates that the pile is too dry, so I added couple of litres of water. But the temperature won't raise, what is the problem? Any advise would be highly appreciated.
Picture of the contents of bin:
https://postimg.cc/rzyqjptX
This is an Aerobin composter and purpose of that tube is to make sure that pile gets oxygen... who knows if it works. The weird thing here is that water seems to steaming as I can see it on the walls but that thermometer shows low temperature.


texts:
My potted lemon tree has been losing leaves. The leaves exhibit a pattern of lighter blotches at the edge of the leaves, which I suspect may be due to a magnesium deficiency, but also a strange pattern of dry spots on the upper surface of the leaves, which I don't know what to attribute to.

What could be causing these? I've attached a couple of images.


texts: Would spinach seeds not sprout because they are planted too low in the pot?

texts:
So, again being a newb as I am...

I planted some spinach seeds in these black plastic pots that I transplanted other plants from. There is a good 3 inches of height in the planter with no soil. It's been over 10 days at this point, and I've seen nothing make its way up.

Could this be happening because the seeds aren't getting enough light because they were planted too shallow in the pot? For more context, I've got another container with spinach right next to these that are doing just fine.


texts: Seeking advice if Aloes will grow from "hardwood"?  It's been 3 months since it was removed from the ground.  If I pot it now, would it take root again?


texts: whats wrong with my my zz plant`s leaves

texts:
hi would you please help me what's wrong with my zz plant...
its leaves are rolling as you see in pictures.i water it very carefully but
it was started 1 month ago,after that i repot it. some roots rotted and  i removed them and the tubers(potato) got wrinkle  and the new sprout is also didn`t unfurl for a long time since it appear in a pot.
i fertilized it with 20 20 20 but after this event i stop it.
now what should i do? i should wait?
i really appreciate to help me

enter image description here


texts: Can plants be grown successfully from the seeds in a kitchen cupboard?

texts:
In my kitchen cupboard I have the usual herbs and spices (e.g. coriander seeds, cardamom, dried chilies, celery seeds etc. - your typical collection of Schwartz jars) and I want to know if it's possible to grow plants from these - i.e. could I grow a successful crop of coriander from dried coriander seeds?

If it is possible, what kind of store cupboard herbs spices can I use?


texts: What is the right time to water my lawn?

texts:
I finally own my home and this is my first spring. I have a decent front lawn that I want to keep as green as possible. I've always been told not to water in the day as it can burn the grass (as a result of the sun). Is this true? Is it true all the time? It's a nice 75 degress out right now, will this hurt my grass if I water it now? What about when it's a hot 95?

Any insight or recommendations?


texts: Why are there brown spots developing on my Coral Cactus?

texts: I have had my Coral Cactus for approx 4 years. Noticed brown spots developing on the fan part of cactus..never noticed this before. I am wondering what is the cause and what I can do to fix it


texts: Identifying a plant with pink and white flowers which grow in clusters

texts:
I was wondering if anyone could help me identify the plant with the pink flowers in the photo below. This photo was taken roughly a week ago in western Shanghai, China, at a public park.

Many thanks in advance!

(Apologies if this is a duplicate, I looked into related/similar questions and did not find one.)


texts: Removing concrete border around stone patio

texts:
My husband and I are buying a portion of our neighbor's property. Currently, our back yard has this ugly brick wall right by the back, which we are going to tear out.  I also want to pull up all the stones in the patio and lay them back down, because they are warped and crooked from years of settling.

Here's a picture.

The problem is there's a concrete border around the stones. I'm assuming that we're going to have to hire a landscaping company to tear down the brick wall, and the concrete border that goes with it. I don't know, however, if that concrete edging is part of the house foundation. I don't know how to tell.

Should we have the concrete border torn out? If so, what should I use for a border?  I have never put in a stone patio or deck, so it'll be a first project for me. I want to add some area to the stone patio, too.

If we don't tear out the concrete border, what can I do to make it look better? Our yard is a complete mess because everything is torn up while we buy the property, build fencing, etc.

Oh, and I'm in Utah, where it gets quite cold in the winter, and very hot in the summer.

Thanks!


texts: There is a hole in this rose. What is the name of the bug that would create such a hole?


texts:
I've been having a white grub (< 1 cm in size)

issue with the root system of a fruit tree. Is it possible, in an arid climate, to drown the grubs by watering the tree more?


texts: To prune or not to prune tomato's lower leaves?

texts:
I battled early blight last year, so this year I laid down a thick bed of grass clippings as mulch in my raised beds to prevent splashing of the dirt onto the plants.  Last night, simply out of habit, I used scissors to cut off the the lower leaf stems that were touching the grass.  Do I even need to do this?  I actually hate how the first foot or so of my plants look like empty stems instead of lush plants.

I am wondering if the open wounds I just created near the main stem are now increasing my chances of getting disease more than if I just left the lower leaves alone.


texts:
The label that was in the pot when I got it identified the genus as espostoa. Is it possible to tell what species it is? If not, does it even matter? I'm trying to figure out the name of the species so that I can look up information about it. Do all cacti in the espostoa genus require the same care, making the species name irrelevant (for learning about how to care of it)?

I am starting to doubt that it is even in the espostoa genus. All of those cacti seem to be fuzzy.


texts: Basil Starts Wilting After I Cut the Branches

texts: I grow my basil outdoor and it grows well ... until yesterday. But two days ago I cut some branches of basil plant and the next day it starts wilting. I thought the air temperature is too high (about 30 degrees Celcius) and the humidity is about 50-60% so I spray the leaves to increase the humidity. The electrical conductivity is about 1 mS/cm (500 ppm) and the pH is 5.8 - 5.9. What should I do to make it stop wilting


texts: Can we grow plants fast and harvest more if we give light 24/7 using LEDs ?


texts: We found this fungus and are not sure what it is. Any help is much appreciated; thank you


texts: I sowed some fava beans in my raised bed and something is eating the leaves. I have a compost bin next to it that attracts mice so it may be mice eating them but I am not sure if mice eat leaves.  If not, what could it be?  Any thoughts?


texts: What is the cultivar name of this golden-leaved juniperus?

texts: What is the cultivar name of this juniperus:


texts: Why is there concrete buried across my entire backyard?

texts:
As I was planting a few fruit trees last weekend, I discovered an odd and very annoying phenomenon. About 6" down from ground level, I ran across a 2" layer of really crumbly concrete/gravel mixture. Beneath that was clay for as far as I dug. The dirt above the concrete layer was slightly better quality topsoil.

I found this in every one of the holes I dug for the trees, which spanned a length over 60' about 10' away from my privacy fence. (The trees were dwarf fruit trees, hence the closer spacing. The recommended separation between trees was 15'.)

At first I thought I discovered some sort of massive French drain covering the entire backyard. But when I looked closer, I realized it wasn't just gravel - it was actually crumbly concrete. Does anyone have any idea why this was in my backyard? And will it significantly affect the trees I just planted?


texts: What is the world's widest pepper variety?

texts: What is the world's widest pepper variety (including both hot and sweet peppers)? The weight and length aren't in question. Just the width at any point of the pepper (it need not be uniformly wide all along the length). If it's a kind of bell pepper, please specify the variety of bell pepper (instead of just saying bell peppers).


texts: What's the most efficient method for burning cuttings?

texts: We have chopped down a long willow hedge on our allotment and thus have lots of wood / woody stems to burn. There is a strong prevailing wind, and I'm wondering what is the most efficient way to build a fire to burn it quickly. I've heard of techniques like lining up the branches in the direction of the wind from friends in the conservation volunteers.


texts:
I'm not a gardener by any stretch so I need some advice and a game plan for a very simple project I have.

I have a small front yard (about 70sq ft or so) that recently got partially dug up to repair a sewer line. The yard was never in the best shape so I'd like to just till the whole thing over and start fresh.

My problem is the whole area of the trench is hard clay with a large number of small to medium sized rocks.

My plan right now is:

Remove as many of the rocks as I can.
Remove any weeds
Rent a tiller and till the whole yard
Lay down fresh topsoil
Tamp down the topsoil
Plant fresh grass

The problem is I'm not sure what kind of tiller I should rent or what kind of small rocks a tiller can handle.

Any advice on this would be appreciated.


texts: What type of dirt to use for filling the backyard before preparing the vegetable beds?

texts: The backyard of my house has a small slope and because of that little puddles of rain water are accumulating. Because of this, the mulch in the nearby vegetable beds are wet all the time. I want to fill this slope with some dirt. I would like to know what kind of dirt is best suited for this so that it will help the vegetable beds as well.


texts:
I showed it at my local garden center, but they said its normal for old leaves.
But I think its some disease, as the new growth also gets similar blackening of leaves within weeks. This only happens to leaves that are in touch with other infected leaves. Need help identifying what is the name of this disease and what are the remedies, if any.

Thanks!

EDIT: Adding many pics, the one that shows totally brown plant, is the one which the original image was from.
All other images are from another plant which also has the same disease, but I'm making it survive by regular removal of diseased leaves.

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To answer @stormy's questions:
- watering practice: 1gallon every 3rd day
- soil: I just potted the plants in my backyard's garden soil(which is a little clay-ey). This is in california, zone 10a
- fertilizers: i just added the fertilizer once while transplanting the seedlings
- epsom salt: I only used it once
- tomatoes never became black, as you can see in the pic(even on the totally decimated plant, they were fine)

It was gradual blackening, and i'm very sure it was not in a matter of days.
One thing that could have contributed to this was that I never did any pruning before the offset of the issue.
I used a 42 inch cage, but the plant was about 4 feet long, and started bending. It became very heavy, so the cage was
not sufficient, and I had to use wooden sticks and wool to make it not fall on the ground. Anyways, the gist is, not much air circulation probably.

The original picture that I shared was about a month old, so out of 4 plants, 2 have totally dried out.
The remaining 2, I keep pruning leaves which show symptoms of unhealthy leaves, this has helped
in reviving the plant, though it is not fully free of the disease.

I'd like to know if this still looks late blight to you, it actually started around August first week I think.


texts:
My neighbor was growing this on her deck. She thought they were mini sweet bell peppers, but it turns out they're hot. I tried one, and to me it was very similar in taste to a jalapeno, with a bit more heat.

It doesn't look like it's in very good shape. Can it be salvaged?

Thanks!


texts: How long can celery grow from water alone?

texts:
I bought some celery and placed the small remaining stalk in a glass of water. It's been growing pretty decently but still has no roots. Still mostly green maybe a tiny bit a yellow on a couple leaves.

I was thinking of waiting until I saw the stalk begin to root as an indication that the plant was beginning to look for something else.

When should I put it in soil? Do I need to put it in soil?


texts: What should I do to papaya seeds prior to planting?

texts:
I get my papaya seeds straight out of fruits.

Usually, each seed has this slimy, transparent membrane around it. Should I remove that before planting them? And, whether yes or no, why?

I've heard that I need to dry the seeds before planting them. Is this the case? And, whether yes or no, why? If yes, then what is the best way to dry them in the tropics?

I'd prefer answers either from personal experience or with a source.


texts:
I harvested what thought was wild garlic today, April 15th, but I have a doubt now. I heard the plant can look at lot like meadow saffron and lilys of the valley, both of which are potentially deadly. Here is a picture I took today in Edinburgh, Scotland and I should also indicate that these leaves did have a good smell of garlic.

If you cannot identify it from such a distance I will go back this week and take better pictures.

I took a picture of another plant that I thought was wild garlic (a few hundred meters from the picture above):


texts: How to prune my first Japanese Arce bonsai tree?

texts: I just bought this really nice Arce Palmatum tree, is about 30cm tall. I want to make it a bonsai, which would be my first. I've seen loads of YouTube videos and tutorials but I just can't imagine the best way to prune it. I understand this very first step is very important as for how the tree will look in the future. I'd appreciate any ideas and suggestions.


texts: Found this in a pot today. Anyone know what it is?


texts: Small aloe vera in small pot - will it get too big?

texts: I bought a small aloe plant for my office and it came in a small pot (around 8cm). I've only seen the aloes that get quite large, but I would like to keep this guy small since it's just sitting on my desk. Will it get out of control unless I keep an eye on it or is this just a different kind of plant than the larger variety?


texts: How can I ensure that hellebores in 6" nursery pots survive the winter?

texts:
Earlier this year, I bought some hellebores (Helleborus niger hybrids) to plant in a shady spot near my Magnolia tree. I promptly forgot them, partly because of being ill for a couple of weeks, partly because of other plants growing up and around where I'd left the pots by the time I'd recovered.

With things dying back for winter, I've rediscovered the hellebores still in their 6" (15cm) nursery pots and wonder what I should do with them. I live in Portland, Oregon (USDA zone 8b) and we've already had our first frosts. The winter weather here is usually wet rather than cold, but we frequently have stretches where the temperature doesn't get above freezing for several days at a time.

Is the end of November too late to plant them in the ground? Should I bring them indoors for the winter? If I leave them outdoors, what should I do with them during cold snaps?


texts: My tree is a wasp magnet, what can I do to get rid of them?

texts:
There is a small tree (about 2 meters tall, maybe a bit more) at the front of my house that has become a wasp magnet in the last few weeks. I have seen at least 2 kinds of wasps hanging in there, and there must be around 100 of them.

Is there a way to prevent this tree from attracting them without cutting it down?

These are some of the wasps that have been hanging around, I took the pictures after using some anti-wasp spray:

In case it is relevant, I live in Quebec, Canada, and winter is comming...


texts: What kind of grow lights do I need for a butternut squash?

texts: I just potted a butternut squash seedling. The way my patio is situated, it doesn't always get a lot of sunlight - and I think butternut squash requires ~6 hours of it. I was going to go ahead and get a grow light - I've been meaning to get one eventually since there are other plants I want that need a decent amount of sunlight. What kind of wattage should the grow light I purchase have?


texts: I found this (brain?) mushroom near the wall of a building under the roof. The soil seemed very dry. (Northern Germany presumably)


texts: Finding How many hours my orchard have been under 7°C

texts:
I have bought an orchard which has 42 apple trees 30 apricots and 22 walnuts. And I want to know if my orchard is suitable for apple farming or not.
I have red that apple trees should be in a location that at least goes under 7°C at least 1000 hours in a year.

In this website I can see how whether was in my orchards area. https://www.accuweather.com/en/ir/avenliq/528913/month/528913?monyr=1/01/2019

How can I calculate how many hours my orchard has been under 7°C.


texts:
I have a potted Sunshine Blueberry plant. I noticed suckers started appearing a few inches from the main trunk. Should I leave those suckers there or cut them off? I have read that suckers on big fruit trees don't produce good fruit. Is the same true for bushes like this Sunshine Blueberry?

The sucker is emerging from the dirt on the right:

This is the whole plant:


texts: My gladiolus plant formed twin corms. The plant flowered once and then died but has created two large healthy corms. Why did this happens and will the corms produce new healthy plants?


texts: Why are my leaves on my apple tree turning gold?

texts: I have started this apple tree from seed. Growing it indoors. In the state of Northern Idaho. And it is the end of July beginning of August and I decided to start putting it outside during the day. And transplanted it from a smaller pot into a bigger pot. Using a different kind of soil. I believe it is an all purpose with flowers in vegetables. And since I have done that the leaves on the bottom half of the tree have started to turn gold.


texts: Tomatoes and pepper plants dropping flowers

texts: I am new to gardening and I have planted tomato and pepper plants. They make flowers but they drop them and they are not making any vegetable.  Any idea what could be reason? I am in the city so I shake plants a bit for pollination like I watched on Internet as we do not have bees.


texts: What size rock to use when replacing lawn with rocks

texts:
We are replacing large areas of our lawn with decorative rock. We have seen a lot of 1” rock in our neighborhood, but we like the looks of the smaller 1/2” rock. Is one easier to maintain than the other? There will be leaf fall in some areas.
Thank you.


texts: Can I wash my dog on my lawn without damaging the grass?

texts: Is it bad to give my dog a bath on our lawn?  Will the soap residue end up killing our grass? I never had a second thought about this but I've recently come across some natural weed killer suggestions that use soap as an herbicide.


texts:
I recently moved out and got gifted a fairly big houseplant by my aunt. I quite like the look of it and aim to keep it alive, in part because it is my first ever own plant.

She didn't remember what kind of plant it was, only that I should water it once a week.

However, it seems to be dying... The leaves are turning yellow or simply seem to die, the shade of green appears to be slightly darker than when I got it and the tips of the leaves have started hanging/curling up.

So I would very much like to know:

What species is this?
How do I keep it alive?

I'll post pictures below. The window in the latter picture is facing West-southwest. Across the street is a large tree blocking some, but far from all, sunlight.

These pictures were taken around 08:30 local time, during overcast.


texts: Will I have problems with grass in my garden if I till it under during preparation?

texts:
I am preparing a new garden at home and instead of removing the grass that was present, we only used a rototiller to pierce the soil and rip the grass apart. I have been told that we would have a big problem with grass in our garden after doing that.

Is it true that we are in trouble and if so, what should I do now?


texts: What is eating the leaves of this rose plant?

texts:
We recently purchased this rose plant from a local nursery.
However, something is eating the leaves of this plant. This seems to have happened overnight. Can anyone offer an educated guess as to what it is, and how to stop this happening? Would some kind of chemical spray do the trick, for example?

As far as I can tell, whatever is eating the leaves of this plant hasn't attacked any of the other plants in the garden. Note: this isn't a real garden. It's a small collection of mostly potted plants on the balcony of our home.

I'm located in Bombay, India.


texts: Is it beneficial to put plastic or landscaping fabric under mulch?

texts: I am planning on completely re-doing the landscaping around my house and I would like to replace the rock pebbles with mulch. Should I put down a layer of plastic or landscaping fabric before adding mulch? What are the pros/cons of doing this?


texts: What tools do I need to build stone steps?

texts:
Do I need a lot of specialized tools?
Will I have most of these tools already?
What do they look like?


texts: Planting Seeds in the Winter in Georgia (USA)

texts: I've recently used a tractor to change the slope of my yard in order to cause water to flow away from the house during heavy rains. This has caused basically all vegetation to be scraped off my yard. Does anyone know what type of grass is best for me to plant now in this season that will germinate quickly? I've researched and determined that rye grass may be viable, but it can be invasive and may only be green during cooler seasons.


texts:
I have a small orange tree, and for the last few days the leaves are getting sticky and some green bumps and small white dots appeared in the trunk and leaves.

From my google search it looks like scales, how can I solve this problem?


texts:
The death toll of plants in my apartment continues to rise, having lost both a miniature rose and a rosemary plant to powdery mildew.

Now something's killing one of my succulents. It was fine when we left for holiday travel, but on returning it's in bad shape - formerly opaque leaves are now droopy and a sad, waxy transparent color - those that haven't simply fallen off, and it looks like there's a livid purple-brown...bruise...that I suspect is rot or the like spreading from the center of the plant out.

Any idea what caused this?


texts: What pre-emergent weed killers won't harm my 'Blue Rug' juniper?

texts: I have some weeds that keep coming back in my 'blue rug' junipers. I reasearched it a little and found that pre-emergent weed killers are practical, but I am not sure which ones are safe to use on 'blue rug'. Please enlighten me concerning what is safe and what is not when it comes to 'blue rug' and pre-emergent weed killer.


texts:
I have a lot of brush stumps around my home. I am working on the first one. It is too hard. It is deep rooted and tangled.

Some videos show that they use a truck to pull them out; but it is not an option to me.


texts: All the leaves have fallen off of my Ficus tree.   Will they grow back?   What would cause the leaves to turn yellow and fall off?


texts: Never ending problems with my Crepe Myrtle

texts:
I'm growing a crepe myrtle to eventually make a Bonsai out of it. I've had to spray it against powdery mildew few months ago. Now it seems like I'm doing something wrong again as the leaf are curly and twisted, and the tips are burning.

The only thing I did was giving it a very small amount of fertilizer every week. Could that be the cause or is it something else?

Is my soil is lacking nutriment? It's the same soil as 1 year ago. How can I save it or quickly react to it? Because it's dying very fast since 3-4 days.

Thanks


texts:
Can anyone precisely identify this plant?

The pot just says "Echeveria." As you can see there are cat-tooth marks on the plant, but I had left it out because I thought echeveria to be non-toxic to pets. However, my cat is now sick and I am working with the vet to identify possible causes. Does anyone know the precise identity of this plant? Is it a danger to cats? (I have moved the plant out of the way for the time being.)


texts: How can I fix a lawn which has become patchy?

texts:
My backyard lawn has always been slightly "patchy." My yard keeper attributes this to my two female dogs. I've been willing to believe him as the front yard grass has not had this problem and the backyard grass eventually gets green (even if it fills in w/ a bit of clover).

Unfortunately, this year it is not getting green. I've included some photos to illustrate:

What are my options to fix a yard which has become this patchy?


texts: Should there be a bottom on a raised flower bed?

texts: I am wondering if people usually fill a raised bed completely with soil, or make a "bottom" for the soil to sit on?  If a bottom is made, is it treated wood to avoid mold and deterioration?  And if drainage is necessary, how do I create that?


texts: I'm doing taxonomy project and unsure what species is this plant. Based on research I've done, it's Asian pigeonwings or Clitoria ternatea to be exact. I just need confirmation of this plant to move onto next part of the project.


texts:
I have three potted sweet Basil plants in my backyard. Two of them look great, but the middle one is a lighter green color and has browning and curling leaves. I live in zone 6. I grew them from seed. They're in a partly sunny location. I water when they're dry and fertilize with Miracle Grow periodically. We've had a spell of cooler weather (3 weeks or so) and that seems to be about when it started. Any ideas? I'm a bit at a loss since the other two plants look fine.

.


texts:
I live in Frisco, TX. I have clay soil in my area. I have a mix of weeds in my backyard (snaps below). Any idea what are the name of these weeds ?

Also, I used the Ortho weedkiller but it did not kill the weeds at all. Is there any recommendation on which weed killer to use ? I have a mix of St Augustine and Bermuda in my lawn. Thanks for your help and inputs !

https://www.lowes.com/pd/ORTHO-32-fl-oz-Weed-Killer/50252759


texts: Ways to salvage a tomato plant in winter

texts: I received a tomato plant from work. It never blossomed, never produced fruit, but it grew to a fair height. My wife has ordered me to take it out of the house because it's attracting insects of some sort. Given it's October, I don't have much hope of it surviving the winter. I doubt it's even got seeds anywhere in it such that it might regrow in the Spring, but I figure I'd ask. Is there anything I can do with it short of simply planting it and forgetting it?


texts:
We have some thyme in our perennial bed and after seeing that it is quite frost hardy I'm realizing I don't know much about this plant.  Specifically, I'm interested in how best to keep harvesting occasional leaves for cooking.

Initially I assumed it was an annual plant, but that appears to be wrong.  I had been considering digging some up and seeing if it survived inside for the winter (it would be nice to have available), but I'm not sure if that would work.

A little googling also seems to indicate that it becomes woody after a few years. Will it continue to produce the leaves I need for cooking?  Or should I just replace it with a new plant every year or two?

Sorry for the sprawling question.  The connecting thread is how can I keep this plant in it's most productive form for as much of the year(s) as possible.


texts:
I haven't been able to identify this house plant. Its leaves have a really beautiful pattern, as such:

It has been watered regularly, is in the sunlight every day, but the leaves are furling and yellowing inexplicably, and the stems are falling limply:

Inside the pot cover, the plant is inside a black plastic pot, sat atop an upside down pot that was trimmed, so the pot doesn't soak in water at the moment.

I thought that maybe it needed to be placed in a larger pot, so I took it out of the black plastic pot, and noticed the roots were very dense. At the bottom of some of the roots, there seemed to be bulbs. I wasn't able to find a larger pot at the time, three days ago.

I recently gave the pot new soil and plant food and yet it is still looking sad.

What does this plant need?


texts: Measuring height difference over 200 meters without clear line of sight?

texts:
I recently got access to a piece of land including a spring and a pond. Since the terrain is slightly sloping after the pond´s drain, I thought on using the water flow to power a small hydro station.

Without having to consult some people from surveying and mapping or use their equipment I want to roughly guess the height difference between the pond´s water level and the intended location of the hydro station.

Horizontally the hydro station will be about 200 meters downstream, and there is no clear line of sight between the pond and the hydro station´s location due to trees and certain terrain features.

How to best make a rough guess (+- 2 meters) at the height difference? (I estimate it to be somewhere between 10 to 25 meters.)


texts: What are these bugs and spots on my Chilli Plant

texts:
Recently I started growing Chilly Plant from seeds. I started to see these black, white bugs along with shiny spots on leaves and under leaves. A lot of leaves started to fall.
Can anyone help me identify what are these and how to get rid of these bugs and infections?
Black and white bugs on Leaves:

Plenty of them under leaves

Water like shiny spots on leaves (I have not sprayed water since few days)

Note:

I have already jet sprayed to clean the plant and leaves 3 weeks ago, after that bugs multiplied and shiny spots appeared.
I live in India, growing these in my balcony


texts:
I have one cactus for about 5 years now, and since then it grew from about 3 cm to considerable size. I am watering it every 20 days and it is not exposed to direct sunlight.
But I was always puzzled should it look like this , I have never seen similar cactus because it has long branches and it looks to me that it cannot stand straight by itself.

When I water it the branches tend to straighten and it starts to grow. And then it curls again until I water it again.
20 days ago I took a branch that curled and fell off and poke it directly into the soil for cacti, keep it in the direct sun and water it when the soil is dry, since it was sunny I water it every 5 days.
So after 20 days it went from this:

To this:

So I am not sure what to do next, when should I move it to the bigger pot, how often to water it, to not kill it, is 5 days too often, and can I avoid having it grow and look like the bigger one on the first picture, since it looks it grows in all directions and doesn't look pretty.


texts:
This plant stays outdoors and gets afternoon sun couple hours. I water it once a week.

What is happening to the ends?


texts: How should I grow Cornus sanguinea with respect to surrounding ground covering?

texts:
A group of yellow-orange Cornus sanguineas would really fit a spot in my garden. The cultivar I am interested in is appr. 1.2m (4ft.) max height, like in this picture:

I plan to plant them even closer than in the picture. However, mowing will be a tremendous problem, if not impossible, in such setup.

I see some people cope with the problem by resorting to using ground covers, like Hedera in this picture:

Or some other plants:

Obviously, ground covering is a big problem while growing dense cornus groups.

Do you have by any chance advice on this matter?

(perhaps you can recommend a ground cover that would be suitable for such application both aesthetically and botanically)


texts: After moving from South Carolina to New England in February   both my Mass Cane plants turned  black. I have trimmed  it all back, cutting below the rot. I put wax on the newly  cut "stalk" to seal it. I want to repot them. Is it going to grow back or do I move on?


texts: What causes sandy, flecked, or speckled leaves like this?

texts:
There are several different species of plants in my yard that have developed some kind of condition where the leaves get pale, tiny specks all over them (such that they look kind of sandy). Many of them have webs that seem indicative of spider mites. Are the webs from spider mites? However, I'm not sure if the speckling is caused by spider mites or something else, like maybe manganese deficiency caused by too much calcium in the soil (I did add probably too much basalt rockdust for all of these except the apple tree at the end, which has had the problem for 1-3 years now). What could be causing this (the speckling)?

It began with the apple trees and rose bushes about a year or two ago, but it seems to be on lots of stuff in the yard, now. It seems to be leaving alone the tomatoes, peppers, and muskmelons, however. It was all over the watermelons, except the Citron watermelon (which was only lightly afflicted, but it wasn't with the other watermelons). On the other watermelons, it started on the shaded parts of the plants, and slowly progressed to the parts in full sun. Eventually, it totally enveloped them, and pretty much killed them (although the pictures I uploaded only show the early stages of the condition). Thankfully, the fruits ripened at about the same time they were completely overcome. Strangely, however, Aunt Molly's ground cherry showed symptoms in stronger sun first, and then on the shaded plants. These plants also gave their fruit and eventually died.

The issue was virtually absent until about mid-summer (although it affected apple trees, rose bushes, and maybe grape vines on at least one previous year).

The pictures that follow show the issue on several different kinds of plants in several different locations. It should be noted that it also affects the fruit, however, but that's not pictured here (it speckled the outer rind of a Ledmon watermelon quite heavily).

Around the time I first asked this question, I gave some of the plants some manganese sulfate and monopotassium phosphate. The pepino melons improved quite a bit (and seem fully recovered from the problem), whether or not manganese deficiency is the visible problem. Many of the other plants improved after the weather cooled down, and perhaps with a little rain, too.

The soil here is clay loam. We have a couple large pine trees that possibly could be eating up the manganese in the yard. I understand they prefer acidic soil (and because of that they are probably used to a lot more manganese than is available to them in our yard). The soil possibly also has a higher PH, which could also cause manganese deficiency symptoms in plants.

I should note that our nieghbors fruther away from the aforementioned tree also have speckles like this on their apple tree.

The black stringy things you see on some of the plants are not related to the problem. They're just ashes from the fires that have been going on in southwestern Idaho. The speckles, however, are definitely not ashes, even where they may look kind of like them.

Pepino Melon
Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry
Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry
Diamond Eggplant
Garden Huckleberry
Shark Fin Melon
Watermelon
McIntosh Apple Tree


texts: I rescued this white leaf nerve, fittonia, exotic angel plant for $1

texts:
I want to know how to bring it back. Will the tin lantern in the picture work as a terrarium or make a mess?

I thought I could make it an outside hanging plant as the counter space in my bathrooms are full of succulents and lucky bamboo.


texts: When starting a garden off, you often need to dig in compost.  Ignoring the point that it may not be best to bring in compost from off site to improve your soil, how does one determine which of the composts are the best for your garden?  I often see cheap composts at half the price of the more expensive ones, and I always go for the cheaper.


texts: Is if safe to use this insecticide (d-Allethrin, Permethrin, Piperonyl butoxide) on my edible herbs?

texts:
I've got a fly (the small kind) infestation in some of my herbs.
Is it safe to use this insecticide on edible herb plants?
Here is the product composition:
d-Allethrin             0.08%
Permethrin              0.04%
Piperonyl butoxide      0.30%
Inert substances       99.58%


texts: My over 23 year old Mango tree wilted and cracks on barks. Verticillium wilt or Dieback?

texts:
I have a quite old mango tree in my garden. It is been there before my birth and I'm 23 now.

We cut and prune the tree (not all of it) whenever it gets too big never had issue but only this time after pruning and cutting and a few weeks of successful twigs and green leaves growth, suddenly a couple of things started to happen that never happened before.

Red gum started coming out from bark
Leaves completely wilted in weeks but not falling even now. I manually removed as much of the wilted leaves and twigs to remove burden from tree but a few are still up there as seen in images.
Bark started cracking and there were some insects inside it. I put some pesticide and now I don't see them in the cracks but the tree is still ill.

I researched and figured it may be verticillium wilt or dieback disease or a mixture of both. What do you think it is after observing the images ?
In all these years never got this don't know how my soil got infected that bad.
Tree has wilted before due to high temperature few times but all that time leaves fell, we watered it more and it became healthy again.

Here are some images

My last hope is this bud which had a few leaves a while ago though slowly dying but somehow it is still surviving even though it is at the bottom of tree.

Even after all this I have put some soil fertilizer, been watering and I saw this leaf growing just recently at the very bottom of tree where I have never seen a leaf before. What does this mean ? Is there still hope ?

Any help,info or observation is greatly appreciated.

Thanks


texts: What are the disadvantages of having creepers or normal plants indoors?

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I never had indoor plants before. Are there disadvantages to having indoor plants in a dusty environment?

If the plant is a creeper, is there a way that I can clean its leaves? Probably by spraying water on the whole plant, but that might spoil the walls!

Whenever we have to put water in the flowerpots are we supposed to take it out of house every time?


texts: I have taken a cutting from a large cactus, and it seems to propagate well. I was wondering what species it is? Does anyone know? Thank you in advance.


texts: When should I replant Home depot (Bonnie) tomato plants

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I've brought few tomato plants from home depot (Bonnie brand) and they are 5 to 8 inches tall and their roots start poking out from the bottom (and sides) of their (3" and 4") containers.

Seems like time to plant them in bigger pots. My question is, should i plant then straight into 20" pots, or should i choose smaller intermediate container? The reason i'm asking, besides for lack of experience (first time gardener here), is that in this video plant tomato deep, for example, suggests deep planting of tomatoes, where the guy trims all the leaves besides for the very top. If my entire plant is 5" tall, "deep planting" would not work.

I'd love to post an image to illustrate but StackExcahnge tells me I need 10 Reputation.

Appreciate your help.


texts:
I have several rocks like this with moss growing. They are quite old. Frankly we don't like moss

What to do with this?

Some options I am thinking:

Leave alone - Because removing will make it look uglier (lots of white spots).
Scrape using a knife then pressure wash
Just pressure wash

Any thought?


texts:
I put new carburetor, fuel line, filter, and plug, and it is still not running right. The model is 125v.
Listen to the video. It sounds like it is missing.