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Showing 271 - 300 of 13832 comments

Sage (also Common Sage) 06 Jul, Celeste Archer (Canada - Zone 5a Temperate Warm Summer climate): I tend to like using POWDERED Sulphur for powdery mildew. It is safe to use right up to the day of harvest ( EXCEPT ON GRAPES THAT ARE intended for wine - then 21 days before harvest). It can be sprinkled on dry -- but my preferred method is to dilute in water and spray. Ultimately you need to increase the air circulation around your plant. You might be over wetting the plant at times when it has difficulty drying -- if you have good air circulation this should not be an issue. Try watering BEFORE sun up -- then when the sun shines on your plant it will dry the plant. Mildews tend to stick better to damp leaves... so dry leaves in a windy area are less prone to powdery mildew. Additionally SAGE is considered a Mediterranean herb - and does tend to like dry conditions -- so the ground should dry out between watering -- watering well once every two weeks should be fine for an ESTABLISHED SAGE PLANT (seedlings need to be watered more frequently)... this might not be possible, because you may have plants that need more water nearby.
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Sage (also Common Sage) 05 Jul, (Australia - sub-tropical climate): It sounds like it is a case of powdery mildew, which is a fungal disease, which are wind-borne spores. Best to remove the affected leaves. Treating the plant with an organic fungicide that contains potassium bicarbonate could be beneficial.
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Broad Beans (also Fava bean) 02 Jul, Simone (Australia - cool/mountain climate): I planted seeds a couple of weeks ago but no sign of germination. We are getting frosts most mornings in the upper Blue Mountains NSW. Am I too late? I heard they grow better from seed or should I try to germinate inside first?
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Broad Beans (also Fava bean) 03 Jul, Celeste Archer (Canada - Zone 5a Temperate Warm Summer climate): Let's start with the germination temperature: 7c to 18c is the ideal germination temperature for FB, further the temperature needs to be sustained (over 5 or more days). So it needs to be warmish for the seeds to germinate. They will however happily reside in the soil until those temperatures are met (within reason- excess moisture causing rot etc.). The growing temperature for fava beans is between 4c and 24c. The kill temperature is -4c to -10c depending on the variety. What happens between the kill temperature and the grow temperature is a "waiting/holding" time (the plant is alive, but is sort of in limbo until the temperature is good enough again to grow). Above 24c the plant is starting to experience heat related symptoms and again is just holding on (unless the temps get to hot and kill the plant). You need to think about temperatures - what temps do you expect over the next month ? Based on the temperatures, do you think you seeds will germinate ? Then think about the grow temperatures -- if the seeds sprout will they be able to grow ? Generally if you want to grow fava beans in winter you plant them in late summer - so they germinate and grow enough BEFORE the cold weather -- during the cold weather (provided your are does not get too cold) the beans will be able to stay alive and grow a slight bit -- so you can harvest greens during winter and some beans -- then spring comes and the fava plants put forth LOTS of beans and then die. That is to say, the fava bean plant does not grow very much in cold weather and I find that typical of most plants that I want to over winter. They need to have a head start in decent weather and then they kind of SLOWLY inch their way to the finish line. Over wintering is a means of keeping the produce fresh - think of it this way - if you had produce in the fridge it is no longer growing, in fact it is in the process of dying, losing valuable nutrients daily. If you have a plant in the winter ground (that can handle overwintering), it is alive, GROWING REALLY REALLY slow, but it is alive and NOT losing nutrients. I guess what I'm trying to say is, super performance is generally not required, or expected, we are just looking to hold nutrients when we over winter. Clearly some plants are better for overwinter than others - in my area FAVA BEANS are a good choice.
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Yacon (also Sunroot) 01 Jul, Barney Clarke (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Hi my name is Barney, I live just out of Perth WA . The temperature ranges between - 5 to 40 + and the soil is sandy. My question is can I grow Pineapple here ? I have a 90 litre pot, to grow them in thank you
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Yacon (also Sunroot) 04 Jul, (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Google growing pineapples in Perth and read about it. Yes you can.
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Tomato 29 Jun, (Australia - temperate climate): I live on the NSW Central Coast. I have been given some Siberian Tomato seeds from a fellow gardener. I have been told that they are pretty cold resistant. I planted seed in about April. All 5 seeds germinated. I gave 2 to a friend, planted one in a pot outside in half sun, and 2 in my garden. I killed the two in my garden with kindness. Too much fertiliser and water. The one in the bot has bloomed, is about 18 inches high and flowering. To complicate things there is a self sown Mini Roma which is about 3 ft high and booming, full of flowers and some fruit. Very keen to see how the Siberians will go through the winter. It is 1 July here cold nights frost free. Has anyone grown Siberians? Cheers Pete
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Tomato 02 Jul, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Go to australian seed website and read about them - they just set fruit at lower temperatures, otherwise grow much the same as other toms. Better to grow just one bush in a 2-3' pot.
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Jerusalem Artichokes (also Sunchoke) 26 Jun, Neil Baldock (Australia - temperate climate): Wood Love to buy a few to plant in my garden in Mannum South Australia
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Jerusalem Artichokes (also Sunchoke) 01 Jul, Chris (Australia - sub-tropical climate): you can plant the ones you buy at a supermarket or markets
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Jerusalem Artichokes (also Sunchoke) 29 Jun, (Australia - temperate climate): Buy from an online gardening site.
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Cabbage 16 Jun, Lesley (Australia - tropical climate): Something bigger than caterpillars eating my seedlings no evidence of caterpillars start with nipping tops off beans cabbage cauli etc only things they don’t eat is silverbeet and pumpkin last year it ate all flowers on paw paw tree sick of replacing veg
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Cabbage 24 Jun, (Australia - sub-tropical climate): If you have a fencing company near you, go and see if they have mess off cuts (approx 6-8' x 4-5') . Make frames in a u shape and put insect mess over it.
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Peas 15 Jun, John (Australia - cool/mountain climate): I’m in a frost prone area. Can I sow peas in July in green house and transplant out in August. Are the flowers damaged by frost
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Peas 16 Jun, (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Peas can indeed be cultivated in a greenhouse and then transplanted. While pea plants themselves can endure frost, their delicate flowers are susceptible to frost damage, hindering the production of a harvest until the frosty conditions have passed
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Asparagus 13 Jun, Janice (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I planted a few asparagus plants in a small raised bed. The bed now looks very full. What do I do for over crowding?
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Asparagus 01 Aug, Garlic Breath (Australia - temperate climate): Try putting some in a seperate bed
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Asparagus 16 Jun, (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Thin out weaker plants and provide adequate spacing between the remaining ones. You can also transplant or divide the crowns.
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Garlic 11 Jun, Allan (Australia - temperate climate): Can I grow Garlic next to Onions.
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Garlic 11 Jun, (Australia - tropical climate): Onion, garlic, shallots, and leeks are all vulnerable to onion maggots, so they don't make good companion plants for each other. These maggots can easily move from plant to plant, causing significant damage. To prevent their spread, it's best to plant these allium plants far apart from each other.
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Gourd (also summer squash) 11 Jun, wayne (Australia - temperate climate): Do gourdes need to be rotated to a different bed every year or can they tolerate the same bed for two years.
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Strawberries (from seeds) 13 Jun, (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I grew borage once - the plants ended up 1m high and 1.2m in diameter so I feel the borage would just over grow the strawberries. They don't sell seeds here and you should find out what grows in your area.
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Asparagus 09 Jun, Sandra (Australia - temperate climate): I bought a punnet of very fine spindly asparagus plants a few days ago from Bunnings not much information on how to plant should they be planted individually or should I leave them in a clump? Theres about 2 dozen measuring 3 to 6 inches in height and should they be planted in a separate piece of ground or tub?
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Asparagus 10 Jun, (Australia - sub-tropical climate): You could plant out but you would have to pay a lot of attention to them. Work out how many plants you want to grow - 6-8-10. Maybe plant two seedlings together and later (3-4mths) reduce to one plant. OR plant into pots and grow them to about ,5m and then plant in the ground. Plant in a separate part of the garden as you will have them for 20 years. The ferns grow to 1.2-1.5m high.
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Silverbeet (also Swiss Chard or Mangold) 08 Jun, Jen (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Hi I have many self seeded silverbeet the heirloom varieties all different colours that are growing too close together in one large HDPE Planter...Can I not dig them out and re plant now??? IF not all I can do is cut the leaves as greens to go into salad??
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Silverbeet (also Swiss Chard or Mangold) 10 Jun, (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Plant out in the late afternoon. Water each day. Provide some shade if possible for a few days,
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Silverbeet (also Swiss Chard or Mangold) 13 Jun, Cool Climate gardenerJen (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Thank you the two fellow gardeners that gave their tips re my seeded heriloom silverbeet seedlings... I had to smile when I read to shade the new transplants.. normally I agree BUT in winter in Tassie...hm. every bit of sun is being thanked!!! Now 11:00 fog only just lifting.... !!! But thank you as I have plenty I shall transplant some and maybe even some into pots to give away. Happy gardening... I am trying to convert reg gardeners to chem free / organic gardeners ... Thank you
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Silverbeet (also Swiss Chard or Mangold) 13 Jun, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Re my advice to shade the plants. I reply to comments here for Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA and South Africa. Temps probably vary from 0 to 40+C degrees. Good luck with the organic gardening. I just left a volunteer garden place for health reasons and they were going/trying to go organic. Their crops this year so far, are very under nourished. I generally don't spray, use some compost, pigeon poo, worm juice and a bit of chem fertiliser if I need it. When transplanting - plant out when 4-8 leaf stage.
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Silverbeet (also Swiss Chard or Mangold) 09 Jun, Sara (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I transplant silverbeet (rainbow chard) regularly. Some of my plants have been moved about 5 times and they always pop back up pretty quickly. Try to minimise root disturbance, but it's not essential - I have been very careless (snapped off roots, let them dry out for a couple of hours) and they survive, they just take a little bit longer to look happy again. Although I would not suggest being careless! If the plants are larger than seedlings it might be worth removing the large outer leaves before transplanting to reduce wilting.
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Sage (also Common Sage) 07 Jun, Stephen Gunthorpe (Australia - sub-tropical climate): My Grandmother had an old tin bucket with a herb she used in Stuffing. She was the best cook ever. this plant has a thick leaf about 1/8 inch or more thick with a green colour. The leaves were about 30 mm long and 25 mm wide, I think it was a bit hairy. I am trying to identify it but this was 60 years ago. Can anyone provide me with some idea of what it was Thank You Stephen g
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