Summer is the perfect time for this question from Jeff Bremer: "Hi Christy, What's your opinion on pinching-off the "branches" that sprout out of tomato plants? Some of my friends don't pinch at all, but my neighbor pinches his plants back so he has only one "stem." Thx, Jeff " Ah yes, to pinch or not to pinch, that is the question. What are we pinching? Side shoots and suckers. Side shoots are additional vines that grow from the base…
Ah, pests. Here at Gardenerd, we like to say that having a garden without pests is like having children and expecting them to be well behaved all the time. It's unrealistic. Most garden pests are telling us something, and the rest we can usually deal with easily without chemicals or harmful pesticides. Here's a question that came into Ask Gardenerd this week: "Hello, I am very new to gardening and I just started my first vegetable garden in February. It…
Here's a question we get on occasion at Ask Gardenerd: "Many garden books and seed packets refer to timing in the garden in terms of the date of the last frost. For example: "Wait to plant until 3 weeks past the date of the last frost." I recently purchased a great garden planner and all dates are calculated based on the date of the last frost. We live in Mar Vista and we very rarely get a frost. How do…
We get this one a lot at Ask Gardenerd, so we thought it would be good to answer it in print: "Help! I just opened my compost to little tan maggots?! I have never seen them before!!! Our compost is every kind of food we throw out. So, I assume it is unbalanced? Also, I have noticed that the food has not been going down lately. Our compost is covered too! Should we throw hat inside or is grass ok?…
A timely question came in to Ask Gardenerd this week: "How do you harvest and store red onions? - Pete" Hi Pete, great question. It's that time of year, if you planted bulb onions in the fall, to harvest them for storage. If you're just planting them now, you'll harvest in late summer or fall. Red, yellow and white bulb onions all follow the same rules when it comes to harvesting and storing. Let's look at how to harvest them…
We don't get this kind of question very often, so we thought we'd feature it this week: "Hey there, I was wondering if you know any good homemade recipes of organic fertilizers used for vegetative and flowering growth? If you could also help me out with the dosage situation too... Thanks, this would be extremely helpful! --Paul" Paul, there are so many options to choose from when it comes to fertilizer ingredients. It can be complicated, because too much of…
We got a question at Ask Gardenerd this week from Jeff: "I'm having trouble with cauliflower - the plants are not flowering. Is there anything I can do to encourage flowering? By the way, I planted broccoli as well and it's doing fine. Thanks, Jeff" You're not alone, Jeff. This is typical of places that don't have really cold temperatures in fall or winter. Cauliflower needs low temps to set a head, so in warm-winter climates you often get Jurassic…
An interesting question came in to Ask Gardenerd this week: "My friend and I both live in central South Carolina. Last year we planted turmeric plants in our yards. Now we realize that we need to know how and when to harvest these plants. What should they look like? Do they need to be stored for a time before using the root? (like some potatoes and onions). Please give us some general ideas and tips. Thank you. Evelyn" We love…
This week's question is a good one: "Hi and thank you in advance for your help. I live in Texas and have a lot of succulents in pots (20) and other things in the ground like cannas. Question is: how to keep them alive through winter? Get some kind of tarps or bring them into the house or invest in a small greenhouse if so what kind? Thanks!!" Winter in Texas can be brutal, and like many places, you may…
As we start over with a fall garden in warm-winter climates, or put the garden away in more temperate regions, the question arises once again: "How can I prevent bugs that were problematic this year in my fruit and vegetable garden ie. aphids, sawflies, stink bugs from overwintering and becoming a problem next year?" - Fern Fried Well, Fern, it's all about interrupting the life cycle and creating competition when it comes to pests. It's also about boosting the vitality…