A great question came in to Ask Gardenerd this week:
"Hi Christy, I want to try growing ginger in my zone 24 garden. I'm planning to start with a store bought (or farmer's market if possible) piece. Do you have any experience or tips for growing
ginger? Thanks!"
I've grown ginger once before, when a neighbor at my community garden handed me a rhizome they had just pulled from their own garden. It had plenty of growth on it already, so I just
...
I love it when I get questions to which I don't know the answer. It gives me a chance to learn more too:
"Hi, I have read of the benefits of using rock dust in the soil and wanted to know your experience or opinion about using it. Also, do you know of a source in the LA area? Thanks,
Alan"
Alan, I'll be honest - I've never used rock dust in my garden, but I've done a ...
A question came in this week from a Gardenerd student:
"I'm sharing a Biostack [compost] bin with my neighbors in my apt complex and the question was raised on whether or not it's acceptable to put whole fruit, apples, oranges, etc. into the bin. I'm
trying to keep the bin simple for people so I am hesitant to tell people to cut up their fruit to help accelerate the composting, but my neighbor thinks they should be. Can you tell me what the
...
When a gigantic bouquet of Swiss Chard appeared on the porch the other day, an image of the jam-packed fridge came to mind. This was going to
require some thinking. It was time to pull out the big guns, and by "big guns" I mean that it was time to ask the Gardenerd Community for help.
I put a call out in the last Weekly Update and got a couple of good recipes from fellow chard lovers. ...
A question came in this week:
"Balcony gardening question - Is anyone growing wild edibles in pots - such as purslane,dandelions,lambs quarters,wood sorrel,etc.?"
This is the first time anyone has asked me how to cultivate weeds deliberately, but it's not the first time the idea of eating weeds has come up in conversation. While most people simply forage for
them, there are many benefits to the plants you have listed here, and with caution, you can cultivate them ...
A question came in this week about scale:
"I have two large tree mallows (grown as shrubs) with a very heavy scale infestation. A local nursery recommends using a petroleum oil spray. Is there another effective, greener
solution?"
Yes, I can definitely suggest an alternative to petroleum sprays, but first - a little understanding about what scale is:
Scale is an insect, but it looks and behaves more like a mollusk. There are soft ...
Here's a recent question that came in last week:
"I have lots of shade but some sun in my front yard. Combination of city trees, large bushes I don't want to part with etc. I seem to remember a device that one can put in a spot to determine
the amount of sun it gets per day. I want to try to incorporate veggies into the landscape and this would help tell me where. Do you know where I might find this and ...
Here's a question that came in last week:
"How can I speed up composting without spending a lot of money. Cover it with a tarp? Helga"
Hi Helga,
There are a few things you can do to try and speed up your compost production, and none of them cost money:
The first is to build a bigger pile - at least 3 x ...
It's getting busy here at Ask Gardenerd this week. Here's another question that came in:
"Is there an easier way to keep the weeds down in my flower garden besides using preen covering, & then putting wood chips on top of the preen?"
Hi there,
I'll admit, I actually had to look up Preen because I'd never heard of it. I see that you're talking about a corn based weed suppressant, correct?
Okay - so there are two things that help weeds grow: water ...
A really interesting question came across my desk today:
" Hi I am not sure how to put this but I think I got ripped off. I hired a guy from a well known garden center to help me build a raised 8x10 garden that I had last summer (not raised) so he
advised me to buy 36 total bags of soil including manure,etc. Yet there was not enough and had to buy more, ending up with 50 bags and cinder blocks. The soil is ...