All recent comments/discussion

Showing 8311 - 8340 of 20174 comments

Rhubarb 03 Aug, Julie Campbell (Australia - temperate climate): Hi ihave a rubbarb plant from a nursery year before last. I'm growing it in a pot semi shade. It doesn't seem to flourish. It usually has 3-5 stalks on it at one time it made it to 10-ia athought i was soon to have a rubbarb pie BUT it is down to one sad wilting stalk-help. What's wrong with it?
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Rhubarb 03 Aug, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Are you giving it enough area to grow in - as in nutrients from the soil. You may need a far bigger pot. A regular fertilizing - like each couple of months might help. Any chance of putting it in the ground. Maybe plant a few more. Growing in pots requires a lot more care and attention than in the ground.
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Broccoli 02 Aug, Natalie (Australia - tropical climate): I planted my broccoli at the beginning of June and they have grown very well but so far They haven't developed a head. I fertilised them every two weeks since planting them until a couple of weeks ago when I was told that I had overfertilised them. Is this why no heads have grown?
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Broccoli 03 Aug, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): They won't head up until probably 10-12 weeks old. If you used a high % N fertiliser (12-15% N ) then you have over fertilised them (also depends how much you put on). If the plants are very big too much N. Stop fertilizing them and maybe cut the watering back a bit Trial and error. I have planted seeds this year and have had poor results -back to seedlings for me with broccoli and cabbage..
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Radish 01 Aug, Corinne Young (Australia - temperate climate): Can I grow Radishes in pots . Deep pots. I live in Capel , Western Australia.
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Radish 03 Aug, Bev (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Your pot size must be relative to the size of the radish. Radishes come in sizes ranging from 2cm to 30cm & larger !
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Radish 02 Aug, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): A better suggestion is a Styrofoam box used for corn or zucchini - if you can find bigger boxes the better - you can grow more at a time. Go to Foodworks, IGA or any supermarket and ask if they have any. Put newspaper, shade cloth or bubble wrap on the bottom - then about 25 mm of small pebble (the beach) - then another layer of paper, shade cloth or bubble wrap with some holes in it. Mix up some soil, sand, compost/manure and potting mix/seed raising mix. Put that in the box and give a good watering. Plant the radish and sprinkle some soil/ potting mix/seed raising mix over the radish. Keep out of the sun until they germinate or put some shade cloth or something similar over them until they germinate. With this free draining soil and shallow soil depth they will need watering each day and plenty of sun. Have 2-3-4 boxes and have a succession of plantings. This method can be also used to grow lettuce and baby spinach - plant very densely and cut the young leaves about 25-50 mm up the plant and they will reshoot - multiply cuttings. You can buy seeds on the internet 100-200 seeds for $1.
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Pumpkin 01 Aug, (New Zealand - temperate climate): When to plant bottle Gourd?
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Pumpkin 03 Aug, Bev (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Like all curcubitae, planting time is when your soil is up to 20C. Definitely after all risk of frost is over
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Sunflower 31 Jul, Jen (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate): Hi am I interested in growing sunflowers. I live in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is currently winter but warming up very quickly with Spring coming in September, When is the best time to plant seeds>
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Strawberry Plants 31 Jul, Julie (South Africa - Semi-arid climate): From what do you get your strawberry plant from seeds or what? I do know you can buy the plants but how is it created?
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Strawberry Plants 01 Dec, Hilary (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate): Strawberries can be grown from seeds, however rather buy a few plants and let them grow, they send out runners that take root wherever they touch the ground, thus multiplying every season
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Shallots (also Eschalots) 31 Jul, Michelle (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I planted a number of shooting French Shallot bulbs earlier this year. I now have rows of beautiful plants. Today after checking if any bulbs were below the soil I have discovered that there are no bulbs only lots of plants that look like shallots or green onions. Could you please give me some advice on what may have happened. Also are the stems of the planrs able to be eaten like green onions? Thank you so much.
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Shallots (also Eschalots) 01 Aug, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I have looked up French shallots and they look a bit different to mine. My shallots are a cluster (when mature) of 6-12 segments, lightly attached together. As I pointed out below, if I grow them into the winter (planted Feb March April) they take a bit longer to form bulbs - they stay like a spring onion for longer - straight with no bulb. Left long enough they will bulb up. If I plant say now (August), when they mature in the hotter weather in Oct/Nov they go to bulb very quickly. I don't eat much of the green top but some do eat it. My suggestion is give them time to bulb. I eat them before they really bulb up - we eat them in salads, sandwiches or straight as they are raw.
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Rocket (also Arugula/Rucola) 30 Jul, Margret (South Africa - Humid sub-tropical climate): good day, when does one harvest? and once harvested, one should sow a new batch? as replied to a question above you advise to let some go to seed - here in Durban we can sow most things through the whole year - thanks for your info - Margret
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Yacon (also Sunroot) 30 Jul, Brenda Kent (Australia - temperate climate): Hi - I too would love to take you up on your offer. I'd love to try growing some Yacon after reading about the great health benefits of it. I hope you still have some to spare. I also live South of the river. Hope to hear from you. Cheers, Brenda.
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Cape Gooseberry (also Golden Berry, Inca Berry ) 28 Jul, George (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Hello, I'm researching information on growing this plant and this site has the most, however after reading all the comments I am a little confused. could somebody clarify some bits please? 1) Most comments and tips agree on that the plant doesn't need any fertilizer but some speak about potassium and manure. If I use whatever is suitable for tomatoes will i hurt the plant or just get a lot of vegetable growth but no fruits? 2)Last year I grew 4 plants and managed to destroy two of them by over-watering (I had them all in pots so i guess draining was the issue). I live on a Greek island and the summer here is pretty hot while we get no frost during winter (the entire month of July passed with temperatures in the range of 30-43C). I grew two more from cuttings planted on the ground and they all seem to do well though I'm experimenting on different sun exposure. The plants I have in pots are under direct sun light for the most part of the day (10 hours min.) while the ones on the ground are under partial sun exposure (4-6 hours a day) though the latter are approximately 1m tall while the first are up to 2m. My problem is that I do not get any blossoms at all. There's plenty of them on the plants but they never get to grow into flowers, as soon as they get thick as a needle they seem to burn out. Do I need to water the plants twice a day or add fertilizer? Last year the plants were less than 1m tall and I got only a single flower which of course couldn't turn into fruit (but at least it was a flower :) ) so I thought I was off to a good start but obviously I'm doing something wrong.
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Cape Gooseberry (also Golden Berry, Inca Berry ) 10 Sep, John W (Australia - temperate climate): Hello George Cape Gooseberries planted in the ground need little or no extra Nitrogen fertiliser otherwise they will grow too much vegetation with very little fruit. Just before or at flowering time you should add Phosphorus - I add half of the recommended amount every 2 weeks. Phosphorus increases the number of flowers. After the fruit starts to form I start adding small amounts of Potassium to the soil or watering with a liquid Potassium - the liquid Potassium is absorbed quicker. Potassium is responsible for making the fruit sweeter or with flowering plants ( roses etc.) the flowers bigger and more colourful. It is a very common mistake that Potassium makes more fruit and flowers - it's Phosphorus that does that. I have been growing Cape Gooseberries for at least 35 years this way so I know by experience and I have experimented with these fertilisers. I also grow not only the usual citrus (10 dwarf trees in pots and some in the ground), bananas, figs, but other fruit like Star Fruit, Dragon Fruit , Black Sapote and I always use the same fertilising procedure with very good results. I grow my Cape Gooseberries in the vegetable garden - 3 plants in a row with 4 x 1.8 metre stakes and thin rope wound aroud the 4 stakes to keep the plants from spreading out over the garden.
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Cape Gooseberry (also Golden Berry, Inca Berry ) 13 Sep, Janet (Australia - temperate climate): Hi John, Thanks for all that info on cape gooseberries. I am amazed at how well the one plant I have grows so well but have been wondering how to support it. I will put in stakes and ropes as you suggest and apply potassium and phosphorus . I am about to establish at least two more from suckers. What an excellent berry to have fresh through the winter months! I will then, when all are fruiting, experiment with preserving. I hope I can find other fruit and vegies that grow so well here.
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Cape Gooseberry (also Golden Berry, Inca Berry ) 01 Aug, Carol (Australia - tropical climate): Lack of flowers usually means the plant is short on potassium. A foliar spray every two weeks will make a huge difference. I have them growing in Australia in the wet tropics (winter 15 to 27C) now in part shade, in the summer they will be better in some shade and make sure they are moist all the time with good drainage
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Cape Gooseberry (also Golden Berry, Inca Berry ) 10 Sep, John (Australia - temperate climate): Hi Carole Try Phosphorus for flowers or extra flowers and when the flowers appear then Potassium for better flowers and sweeter fruit - I have been doing it that way for 35 years with various common and odd fruit. I do this with all vegetables and fruit which form from flowers such as tomatoes, cucumbers passionfruit etc
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Cape Gooseberry (also Golden Berry, Inca Berry ) 31 Jul, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Search -- edible.co.nz Full sun Shelter from winds and tolerates moderate salty marine conditions. Are frost tender and grows as an annual in colder regions. In warmer areas they will grow for several seasons producing seedlings to continue the plants. Frosts can burn the plants but will recover unless the frost was hard. Prune back after all frosts have passed. Cape Gooseberries will grow in a wide range of soils and pHs. Soil must be well draining. Plants will handle periods of drought but too much moisture could encourage fungal problems. Plant in early spring as this will help with an earlier fruit set, space 0.5-1.5 apart. In most situations Cape Gooseberries do not need any fertiliser. Unneeded fertiliser could result in lots of vegetation and little fruit. Pinch out new shoots to encourage bushy growth. Prune back hard in spring to encourage new growth for fruiting. Pests Very few problems unless the soil is too wet and causes fungal problems and rot. ------------------------------------------- if you are going to fertilise only put small amounts on. A 9L water can with a tablespoon or two of fertiliser - with a low N% with some P and K. Don't use the tomato fertiliser - far too much N. A suggestion - a little manure or compost mixed into the soil - compost or mulch around the plants will help cool the soil down in summer - also you will save water by doing this. With your high temperatures I would suggest you make a shade cover for summer - in Australia we have shade cloth - 50-70-90%. Find some cheap wood off cuts and make a frame - then nail the shade cloth to it. Or some black poly pipe about 25mm thick and make an arc over the plants. By the article the plants should only grow to a meter or so high.
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Asparagus 28 Jul, Tony (Australia - temperate climate): Hi mike as I explained on my last post about transplanting crowns into a new bed, at this stage the once I transplanted are still dormant which I expected it will take I think for next year to get a some spears.The other crowns that we have in the same bed are sprouting through and looking good .By the way I thought asparagus shoot through in spring .Anyway I put lots of horse manure on all of them however I think cow is better .What do you Think? Tony
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Asparagus 31 Jul, (Australia - tropical climate): The transplanted ones will depend on how they were treated last year - whether they were left to build up energy reserves for this year. If you had plenty of spears grow into ferns then they should produce this year. Probably also depends how old the old crowns are. Last year while I was growing mine from 12 mth crowns to 24 mths I use to put about half a cup of fert in 9 L of water and feed them each month - only had 3 crowns. I also put manure/compost on in august. I have crowns that are coming up to 3 years old - that is from when seeds were planted - they have been shooting spears for a few weeks now - I have cut them back and manured and watered them. My seedlings which will be 12 mths old in Sept - I have not cut them back yet or put manure on them yet - will probably do that in about two weeks time. I have not watered them for the last month - they are not growing at the moment. As for manure - chicken is the richest in N followed by cow and then horse manure. I read the other day horse is about 1.75% N. Whatever manure you can get and add some fert if you like. We have had only one week of cool weather so far this winter - that is night temps down to 6-8 degrees.
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Watermelon 26 Jul, Mariam (USA - Zone 9b climate): I stay near Orlando. I planted some watermelon seeds in a pot inside my house few days ago. Now 2 of them are growing in the pot. Then I don't know should I take the pot out and put it in the yard or keep it at home to grow. Also the pot is small, should I take the baby plants out and plant them in the yard? Thanks for your help.
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Chilli peppers (also Hot peppers) 26 Jul, Howard (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Live in Queensland Australia am about to plant seeds from chilli .anything special ishoukd do?
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Chilli peppers (also Hot peppers) 28 Jul, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Google how to grow chilli and read several articles.
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Capsicum (also Bell peppers, Sweet peppers) 25 Jul, Kev (Australia - temperate climate): my capsican plants were looking great and producing heaps of fruit, but did not finish off well. The problem that came up was the fruit started getting dry brown lines through them. I cannot find any information on this problem. Any feed back would be helpful.
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Capsicum (also Bell peppers, Sweet peppers) 07 Aug, Jennifer (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Hi Kev, your post got me thinking I had the same problem with my capsicums, looked it up and it says that Thrips cause those brown scars.
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Strawberry Plants 25 Jul, john (Australia - temperate climate): I have just planted strawberries in a tub facing north , but where should i have them please .
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