All recent comments/discussion

Showing 6061 - 6090 of 20213 comments

Daikon (also Japanese radish, Lo Bok) 16 Dec, Patricia Trollip (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate): Would like to grow them for cattle. Remember them as a child. But dont know anything else. Any advise welcome.
Reply
Cabbage 15 Dec, Doreen (Australia - temperate climate): Is there anywhere in Australia where I can buy spring cabbage or the seeds
Reply
Cabbage 17 Dec, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Never heard of them - looks like a sugar loaf cabbage. Look up some seed selling companies.
Reply
Coriander (also Cilantro, Chinese parsley) 15 Dec, David Pritchard (Australia - temperate climate): Instructions for growing coriander depend on whether you want to grow it for seed or to use the green foliage as a herb. Like most gardeners I just grow it for the green foliage - after all you can buy the seed in Continental / Middle Eastern grocery stores by the kg at a very reasonable price. And the greens picked fresh straight from the garden are delicious - better than from veggie shop. Space plants at 10 to 15 cm if you just want the greens - That's because you will be harvesting when the plants are around 20cm high. You can treat it as a cut-and-come-again crop to some extent. I find that in Sydney I can plant coriander seeds from late March right thru the winter till about October. I plant a small patch about once every 6 weeks during that time. It is at its most tender during cool to mild weather, and actually very easy to grow. Once your spring weather warms to max in the high 20s or more your coriander will quickly bolt to seed and be not worth eating. Unfortunately there are some Australian gardening books and seed packets that still advise the opposite - ie to plant thru summer which has resulted in very many garden failures, even with "slow bolt coriander" seeds. Btw seed direct, coriander doesn't transplant well.
Reply
Pumpkin 12 Dec, Karen Cadle (New Zealand - temperate climate): My squash is growning like a trifford do I just let it grow or would it pay to pinch it out
Reply
Pumpkin 13 Dec, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): You could do both depending on how many squash you have. I had a couple of cuies that had 3 flushes of cuies. If I nipped the vine I would have only had 18 cuies - in the end I had 48.
Reply
French tarragon 12 Dec, Derek (New Zealand - temperate climate): my french tarragon took off like a rocket in early spring, now has dwindled away. Should I spread and replant what's left of the tubers, or wait and hope for next spring?
Reply
French tarragon 13 Dec, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Look on the internet - how to grow tarragon - pay attention to how long it grows when to harvest etc.
Reply
Tomato 11 Dec, Peter Smith (Australia - temperate climate): Growing tomatoes for years now and keep getting small holes like a grub mark as the fruit is rippening and then goes rotten what treatment if any can be used
Reply
Tomato 13 Dec, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I had similar problems - I used some spray from Aldi - don't know if that did any good. Then used tomato dust and I also used some yellow sticky fly cardboards. I think that stopped it a bit. Some kind of grub was in mine.
Reply
Cape Gooseberry (also Golden Berry, Inca Berry ) 10 Dec, |Lily (Australia - temperate climate): just wondering if the plants need to be pruned or just let them spread out Thanks
Reply
Cape Gooseberry (also Golden Berry, Inca Berry ) 13 Dec, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Maybe stake and support them and a light shaping of the bush.
Reply
Capsicum (also Bell peppers, Sweet peppers) 09 Dec, Robert (Australia - temperate climate): Will a single Capsicum plant bear fruit or do I need to plant multiple plants ?
Reply
Capsicum (also Bell peppers, Sweet peppers) 10 Dec, Mike (Australia - temperate climate): Can plant single but 2-3 might be better. Might be better to plant at end of summer than now in the hot and wet season.
Reply
Tomato 09 Dec, Lida (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Hi,my tomatoe seedling grow well up to about 30 -40cm then all the new shoots and leave curl up and plant stops growing ,can u please help?
Reply
Tomato 10 Dec, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Sounds like tomato yellow leaf curl virus. Go on the internet and read about it. A couple of tablespoons of lux soap flakes in some hot water and dissolve then add to 6 l of water and spray all over and under the leaves. The leaves look like the fingers in your hand all curled up.
Reply
Luffa (also Loofah, plant sponge) 08 Dec, Lisa (Australia - temperate climate): I live in Central Gippsland, is this a combatible climate for loofahs? And do they need much water? Lisa
Reply
Luffa (also Loofah, plant sponge) 10 Dec, Mike (Australia - temperate climate): Read the notes here. Warm weather- no frosts.
Reply
Luffa (also Loofah, plant sponge) 07 Dec, Leeanne (New Zealand - cool/mountain climate): Where can i purchase the seed from please
Reply
Luffa (also Loofah, plant sponge) 10 Dec, Liz (New Zealand - temperate climate): Try an on-line search for either luffa or loofah : they are the same plant.
Reply
Rockmelon (also Canteloupe) 06 Dec, Lorraine (Australia - temperate climate): I have rock mellons coming up where i have buried kitchen scraps.. Should i pull them out or let them grow. I am in Ipswich Qld December 6 2018
Reply
Rockmelon (also Canteloupe) 06 Dec, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): You could let them grow - thin them out or separate them to 2-3' apart. I did this in Oct - the plants are just setting and growing fruit now. You may have to protect them later when they have fruit on from the sun. Better to plant them late August (away from frosts) or early Sept. The picking season is well under way in SE Qld now - probably finished by Xmas.
Reply
Beans - climbing (also Pole beans, Runner beans, Scarlet Runners) 04 Dec, Dale (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Hello Mike Just wanting to know the names of a couple of local (QLD / sub tropical) organic seed companies to buy from. I bought one lot of seeds from Green Harvest, but some are not producing .( it happens hey) I must say it has been such a dry and extremely hot spring and these 35 plus days are a real struggle for all the veggies. I even bought a couple of cheap tarps to give some plants a little shade.... I remember in past posts you mentioned a couple of companies. Also I would like to grow organicncorn,but I didn't see it on the A to Z growing list..are they all GMO now? Your help would be much appreciated. Regards Dale
Reply
Beans - climbing (also Pole beans, Runner beans, Scarlet Runners) 05 Dec, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I'm not sure but I think GMO seed is really only sold to commercial growers. A lot of seed we buy is either heirloom or hybrid (a cross of two or more varieties). Someone can correct me on this but I think organic food is more about how you grow it - no chemical sprays or chemical fertilisers. Just had a look - Eden seeds sell organic seeds - probably cost a lot more though. Phone them if you like.
Reply
Beans - climbing (also Pole beans, Runner beans, Scarlet Runners) 05 Dec, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Hi Dale I don't know any organic seed selling companies. I really only started planting a lot of things by seed the last 2 years. I use to buy a lot of seedlings - lettuce, cabbage, corn, celery, broccoli etc. It was only last year I decided to grow more from seed. It can be very hit or miss trying to germinate small seeds. I built a small green house at the back of my shed and installed a water spray line to germinate some seeds - small seeds are easily displaced by big droplets of water. Germination rates vary so much but a lot has to do with how we manage watering etc as they germinate. I buy most of my seeds from Boondie seeds in Armidale NSW. Email her and see what she can tell you. I like her
Reply
Carrot 04 Dec, Tessa (South Africa - Semi-arid climate): Hi there. Rotating ctops is always a good idea to prevent build-up of pests and predatory fungi/bacteria in the soil. And alfalfa, comfrey (non-invasive varieties) and parsley are great for replenishing the soil. But I suspect in this case it's to avoid any carrot fly maggots that may still be present in the soil. Whatever cover you use needs to be weighed down at the edges to prevent access by the fly for laying eggs.
Reply
Ginger 04 Dec, Tessa (South Africa - Semi-arid climate): For those asking, subscribe to the livingseeds.co.za newsletter. They sell ginger, turmeric and galangal(starting feb '19) and the newsletter will inform you when they're in stock again. Livingseeds has always been high-quality and very informative.
Reply
Garlic 04 Dec, Bulton Naidoo (South Africa - Dry summer sub-tropical climate): Live in Montagu western cape it's extremely cold here until end of August wen should I plant garlic
Reply
Pumpkin 04 Dec, Robyn (New Zealand - cool/mountain climate): I live in Te Anau and wonder what is a faster maturing pumpkin variety?? We had a good crop of pumpkins growing last year, but a rogue frost in mid March killed off the plant and the pumpkin crop did not ripen, and the weather is only coming good now (early Dec) to plant.
Reply
Pumpkin 05 Dec, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Look around some seed selling companies - email or phone them. Most times I see like 15-20 weeks to grow but which is early I don't know. Another way is to start the seeds early indoors or somewhere protected from the weather. You could start growing them in Oct say under lights. Sometimes nature throws us a big curve ball and stuffs it all up.
Reply

Showing 6061 - 6090 of 20213 comments

Gardenate

Keep your garden growing - see what to plant right now

All recent comments/discussion

Gardenate

Keep your garden growing - see what to plant right now

All recent comments/discussion

Become A Supporter!

Planting Reminders