A gardener recently wrote in a curious question:

"Hey gardenerd!  My new place has an artesian well... Will the high sulfur content (assumption scientifically based solely on smell) of the well water affect plants?  Yers truly,from the turtle coast, Florida."

Right off the bad I have to admit that I had no idea how to answer this one, simply because I've never dealt with wells or sulfur or anything other than chlorine in the water.  While I never claim to know everything there is to know about gardening, I do know where to go to find the answer.  In this case, ...

Here's the second part of our new gardenerd's question:

"I buy organic and local produce here [in Paso Robles], but my heart's desire is to grow most of my own veggies.  I also want to do so organically, without using pesticides.  I have tried the last two years with truly disastrous results and I'm really discouraged.  I'm thankful I found this site as I'm hoping it will assist me in trying again.  I especially crave homegrown heirloom tomatoes.  I finally did 3 plants in pots last year and they had bugs galore and then this horrible rotten part at ...

A  question recently came through Ask Gardenerd:

"Is this the time[February/March] to fertilize - Roses, fruit trees (apple & orange) bushes, etc? Last year our roses didn't produce much.  Right now our flowering shrubs look yellow and the overall look of things looks spindly and not healthy. Help!"

In many parts of the country, fruit trees haven't started to show buds yet.  I don't know about you, but my fruit trees are all either in full bloom or already have buds fattening on the branches.  So if you live in zone 10, yes, fertilize your fruit trees now.  (I worked some into ...