All recent comments/discussion

Showing 11701 - 11730 of 13854 comments

Eggplant (also Aubergine) 09 Jun, John Bee (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I’ve grown several eggplants for the past three years with great fruiting results. Of course as soon as one plant started to look “oldish” I’d cut that one right back (quite heavily) give it a decent fertilizing (liquid if in a pot or granular if in the ground) and it would recover just great. I also gave it a really good soaking watering immediately after or with the fertilizing. I’d do that about every 6 months for each plant (but not at the same time so as to ensure a continual fruit supply). However just recently those plants have had it… Just plain worn out… I suspect a very heavy build up of root knot nematodes and the start of root and stem collapse. I reckon if you can get 2-3 years from an eggplant then that’s more than enough and then call it quits. From my observations you can get up to 3 years happily from a plant growing in the soil and about 2-2.5 years from one growing in a large container. The pruning back also helps a lot in controlling a pest problem like spider mites. I live in a lovely sub-tropical climate on the Gold Coast so the plants continually grow and fruit. The variety I like is the dwarf Lebanese type. I am about to publish an e-book on growing herbs and veggies in small spaces but more about that later Cheers John
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French tarragon 25 May, Juan Manuel García (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I live in southern Mexico and I'm interested in starting to grow french tarragon and rosemary herbs. Would you possibly tell me where I can get cuttings of this two herbs. Thanks in advance and best regards
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French tarragon 02 Jun, Sandra (Australia - tropical climate): I found wonderfully healthy small plant in Bunnings for about $5
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Garlic 25 May, Jim Voss (Australia - temperate climate): Is growing garlic commercially a viable proposition? We own reasonable acreage of land in Longford Vic. Normally run beef or sheep but can easily fence off a section. Light sandy soil, we do have access to a small amount of bore water (good quality) I'm a plumber by trade so no worries about a sprinkler system. How often do you have to water? Is garlic troubled by insects ? What about rabbits & roo's do they eat the sprouts?
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Garlic 18 Jul, (Australia - cool/mountain climate): My garlic is being eaten almost completely by some animal - best guess rabbits, wallabies or possums.
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Garlic 27 May, Chris@Gardenate (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Jim, there are successful commercial growers in Australia. There was an item on radio 2BA breakfast show in Bega around 8th March this year interviewing a local garlic producer - their website probably has it still available.
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Garlic 13 Jun, hzprstn (Australia - temperate climate): Excellent coverage of garlic growing in Oz on Landline ABC tv Sunday 13th June 2010, program repeat on Monday 14th probably also available online later....... every time I buy a bulb in Woolies I plant half the cloves, I'm not quite self-sufficient but getting there ! the fresh stuff is so much better ! Like onions, it's the bulbing up phase that is tricky - sometimes the weather is against you. I plant anything that sprouts in the kitchen lol
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Garlic 24 May, marina (Australia - sub-tropical climate): we planted garlic and on checking under the mulch there seems to some mould forming,any information on what we should do.thnks
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Garlic 27 May, (Australia - cool/mountain climate): If the garlic is going mouldy it might not be viable. If it's just coming off the mulch then it won't be a problem as it's just the mulch breaking down.
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Okra (also Ladyfinger, gumbo) 24 May, Anita (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Can I keep my okra plants in the vege patch for more than one season? Can they be pruned back and take a rest until next spring when they could releaf? Being related to hibiscus I thought this may be feasible. Many thanks for feedback.
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Okra (also Ladyfinger, gumbo) 27 May, Jean (Australia - tropical climate): If it's warm enough okra can be grown as a perennial and will grow year after year. You just need to pick all the pods so it doesn't give up producing. You can cut them back to about 30cm and give them a good feed every so often. They'll grow into a sort of shrub.
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Okra (also Ladyfinger, gumbo) 28 May, anita (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Thank you for this information, Jean. It certainly helps. Do you know if the same can be done with Rosellas - also being related to hibiscus as you will know. cheers
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Okra (also Ladyfinger, gumbo) 13 Jun, Andrea (Australia - tropical climate): As no one else has replied, I will give it a shot. I haven't actually grown rosellas but my mother did when i was a child. It was grown as a bush like any other fruit tree as i recall , ie it was just left there to produce. It may have been pruned a little but i don't recall it looking like a pruned hedge ever.
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Garlic 24 May, James (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I have planted my garlic in March / april this year .. leaves are up nicely but many starting to show yellowing in the leaves .. does anyone know what this means ? is it a nitrogen deficiency or something else I should be fixing?
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Luffa (also Loofah, plant sponge) 24 May, Heather (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Can anyone tell me the best time to plant Loofah seeds? I keep getting them started, forever buying seeds, they come up, healthy seedlings, I plant them out, then they die. We are 90 mins North West of Brisbane on the rim of Daguilar range.
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Luffa (also Loofah, plant sponge) 26 Sep, Hellen (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I have tried a few times to get my seedlings to not die on me until I tried growing them in Jiffy 8cm peat pots which I transplanted into a well composted place in my garden.pot and all. Tried it this way because i read somewhere that loophas hate having their roots disturbed. Sccess at last.
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Beans - climbing (also Pole beans, Runner beans, Scarlet Runners) 23 May, roger cooper (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Where can I buy Runner bean seeds local to Melbourne ?
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Beans - climbing (also Pole beans, Runner beans, Scarlet Runners) 21 May, Don (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Email me, I have many at school in Narre Warren South, after years of searching for seeds... Free to a good home, but will need to be picked up :)
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Beans - climbing (also Pole beans, Runner beans, Scarlet Runners) 24 May, (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Diggers Club sell Melbourne-local runners.
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Pumpkin 23 May, alan wylie (Australia - temperate climate): please advise on ripening after removing from vine jap pumpkins thank you
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Pumpkin 23 May, Chris@Gardenate (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Alan, have a look at the comments from Pete and Jef - I think they answer this for you.
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Eggplant (also Aubergine) 23 May, Lynn (Australia - sub-tropical climate): My four eggplants look like they are healthy but no flowers have appeared yet. They are in a raised garden bed and have been in the ground about 12 weeks. Help please
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Pumpkin 22 May, Shane (Australia - cool/mountain climate): When pumpkins are ready they will have a hollow sound if you 'rap' on the outside. Just don't use "Ice T" when rapping or they'll harden. ;-)
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Pumpkin 23 Jul, (Australia - sub-tropical climate): when the imbilicle [ small curly vine from the top] is dead and dried up, then your pumpkin is ready. Goes for all pumpkins. Get a frost on top and you are LOL.
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Asparagus 22 May, Lizzy Battese (Australia - cool/mountain climate): I would like to know where to get asparagus seeds or crowns.
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Asparagus 04 Jun, Pat. R (Australia - temperate climate): you can buy online from diggers club: happy planting!
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Asparagus 04 May, Alexis (Australia - temperate climate): Hi Lizzy - hope my reply (a year later!) is still useful: Diggers Club (google them to find their online shop) sells both seeds and crowns of several interesting varieties. I sowed some of their asparagus 'fat bastard' seeds (that's their real name!) into seed trays three weeks ago here in Melbourne, and they've just germinated. (April sowing doesn't look like it's recommended by this site, so I'll see how they go surviving the winter in their seed trays. Here's hoping!)
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Asparagus 27 May, (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Lizzy, most garden shops will have crowns available around mid/late-winter as they are planted then. I know Kmart gets them in plastic bags about that time, together with strawberry plants.
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Potato 22 May, (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Hi There,you can buy seed potatoes in Townsville a a nursery called the Day Dawn Nursery.50 Kokoda Street. I do not have there phone number not to hard to find though.good luck.
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Snow Peas (also Sugar Peas, Mangetout, Chinese Peas) 22 May, Jessica (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Hi, I just recently moved into a house with an established vegie garden and there are snow peas in there. I was wondering whether to remove them now and sow next year or keep them for a second year as they are? thanks.
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