All recent comments/discussion

Cucumber 28 Jul, Darren (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Has anyone tried growing the armenian type cucumbers up in brisbane if so did you grow on a trellis

Cucumber 28 Jul, Chris (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

I grew them in Armidale (cool climate) last summer. They did fine growing sprawling across the ground.

Leeks 28 Jul, darren (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

I have found a leek growing in my garden from last summer and it is absolutely huge forgot to pick it.Beginning to feel its part of the family.Funny thing is it hasnt or didnt go to seed can anyone tell me when this may happen .Its probably to tough to eat but I can at least get seeds for this season.

Leeks 28 Jul, (Australia - temperate climate)

I would leave it to go to seed, then grow lots more! It sounds like a really good variety to propagate with such good 'holding' in the ground.

Carrot 28 Jul, Corinne anderson (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Just woundering what fertiliser do you use when your growing carrots?

Rosella (also Queensland Jam Plant, Roselle) 27 Jul, Maggie (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Used to grow well on flood plain in Tweed Valley when I was a kid - black peaty soils. Grandma made the jam, hence my search for the topic - yum, love that slight tangy bite to the flavour.

Choko (also Chayote squash,christophene, chouchou, mirliton) 26 Jul, Gracie Camilleri (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Have a choko that has a shoot. Would like to know how to plant it. Shoot up? or do I bury the whole choko? Await your advise.

Choko (also Chayote squash,christophene, chouchou, mirliton) 26 Jul, (New Zealand - temperate climate)

The info about planting is on the choko page. Click on the Vegetables and Herbs tab and then click on Choko .

Rhubarb 25 Jul, Steve (Australia - temperate climate)

I planted rhubarb in mid june, but the stems have all died off. Will it sprout again in autumn/summer?

Potato 25 Jul, (Australia - temperate climate)

What is the best way to get seed Sweet Potatos. Is it to buy them from Supermarkets and cut them into pieces which contain an eye. I have tried planting same whole in sand, and then in the ground, they both rotted

Beetroot 24 Jul, janice (Australia - temperate climate)

i havn't got much space for a garden can i plant vegies in foam boxes

Salsify (also Vegetable oyster) 21 Jul, (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

I first planted them in pots in mid august in Brisbaneand they took some time to germinate.Another lot planted recently in mid winter came up within a week. If you are growing them in pots like myself dont over crowd them.There is some growing individually in 4inch tubes and they are growing splendidly.

Cauliflower 21 Jul, stell (Australia - temperate climate)

can te leaves of the plant used (cooked) any way as i have a good foliage of healthy leaves or i hav to put the wole lot in the compost:(

Cauliflower 21 Jul, Liz (New Zealand - temperate climate)

You can use the leaves but they might be a bit tough.

Rosella (also Queensland Jam Plant, Roselle) 20 Jul, marlene (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

How much fruit do you normally get from one bush. Can they handle Bris/Sunshine weather in summer. What kind fo soil do they prefer?

Sweet Potato/Kumara 19 Jul, Joanne Lockyer (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Hi we recently went to NZ for a holiday and were quite impressed by Kumara. Where can I located some plants in Australia as we would like to try and grow our own. thanks

Salsify (also Vegetable oyster) 19 Jul, Michael Vicary (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Where can I buy Salsify seeds or punnets? I live at the base of the Blue Mountains NSW. Thankyou Regards Michael

Peas 19 Jul, Dion (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

I find beer traps are an excellent prevention for snail and slug damage. Snails will crawl in overnight, they can't seem to resist, and just don't wake up. Just put around a few containers of beer, in round take away containers or something similar. I use left over beer, and dregs from home brew. For slugs, I have found that adding salt to the beer works more effectively. You will need to top them up after rain etc.

Broad beans (also Fava bean) 18 Jul, green toes (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

sounds like a good idea

Leeks 18 Jul, Yvonne (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Gee. So many growing questions, so few answers. I have planted my seedlings in a well prepared garden 2 weeks ago they are going well, standing up but off course still looking rather delicate. I am going to blanch them with cane mulch as they grow. By all accounts, harveting in November. We'll see how it goes. I will let you know.

Peas 18 Jul, Tania (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Hi all, My snow peas are going great but my regular peas look like they are being eaten by something. What would be eating them and how do I prevent it? I have just read that putting crushed eggshell around them will stop slugs from eating them as they cant crawl on the sharp shell but my partner said he has seen a slug on a razor blade edge before so I dont know if it will work. Any advice would be great. Thanks in advance, Tania

Turnip 18 Jul, Tania (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Hi all, It apprears that one of my turnips is growing above ground. Is this what is meant to happen? I thought I'd leave it as all the others only have their folage above ground so I thought this one could be an experiment, but Im not sure this is practical as I dont want to loss the whole crop if they are all meant to appear above ground. Thanks for your help in advance. Tania

Broad beans (also Fava bean) 18 Jul, Roger (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

This is my first time growing beans, my plants look healthy but I have more then one stem on each plant should these be cut off to concentrate on one stronger plant?

Broad beans (also Fava bean) 18 Jul, Liz (New Zealand - temperate climate)

Roger, we just leave all the stems and although they tend to flop around a bit, they all produce plenty of beans.

Broad beans (also Fava bean) 24 Jul, Roger (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Thanks Liz will take your advice.

Spring onions (also Scallions, Bunching onions) 17 Jul, Morgoth (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

I saved some root ends (cut off only about 1.5 centimetres from the end) from store-bought scallions planted them (I'm calling these cut-off roots 'rootlings') and they grew really well (I think it was summer when I did this).

Rhubarb 16 Jul, Leah (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Where can you buy rhubarb?

Rhubarb 24 Jul, les (Australia - temperate climate)

try the "diggers club" i brought one last year and is going great , just starting to flower

Asparagus 15 Jul, peter (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Seeing as asparagus takes so long to be ready to harvest, can any one give a guide as to how much room to devote to them? We need enough for two. Any ideas?

Sweet Potato/Kumara 13 Jul, ben (Australia - temperate climate)

hi everybody i live in western Australia and you can get the orange(anytime), purple(most times) and sometimes the cream coloured ones. I buy them more than normal potatos