All recent comments/discussion

Showing 12391 - 12420 of 13855 comments
Mustard greens (also gai choy) 07 Jun, woody (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Try "the lost seed' on the net, I use their seeds and have had geat success in Tassie
Rockmelon (also Canteloupe) 22 Nov, Betty Menzies (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
My rock melons like to attach themselves to a vertical wire-netting fence. Should I encourage them to grow upwards as a vine, then support the fruit somehow, or are they better to remain growing along the ground?
Beetroot (also Beets) 22 Nov, trevor fenton (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Good Morning Please help. The problem I have growing beetroot is it goes to seed prior to developing a decent size beet. Any help wil be gratefully received. Regards Trevor Fenton
Parsnip 22 Nov, Kiwi Exile in Melbourne (Australia - temperate climate)
Parsnip Germination: I've not had any issues in two years, and have used packet seeds 2 years running with success (I always roll up the inner foil packet tightly after opening. I plant in a narrow drill & cover with seed raising mix. I keep surface damp AT ALL TIMES long after germination. (damp down night & morning, even more often if very hot.) - Thanks to my water tank. Easier to get started in spring and Autumn than in a hot dry summer. I find parsnips easy to grow than carrots.
Cauliflower 22 Nov, Teashy B (Australia - temperate climate)
Here is a tip that I was given and have had no problems with, when the head of your cauli has began to form, gather the outer leaves into your hand, get a rubber band and tie the top together on so that it acts as a sheild for the cauli. This gives me white cauli's all the time.. goodluck
Potato 22 Nov, Teashy B (Australia - temperate climate)
I have had my potatoes in for maybe 6 weeks or a little bit more, due to the extremem heat we have been having the leaves have died very quickly and all I can see is the dirt underneath. Do I just leave them in and hope for the best or do I pull them up? Any comments or hints would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks
Leeks 22 Nov, Vicki (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Wash, chop and steam the green leaves of the leek for a tasty side dish to chicken/fish/meat and mash potatoes. You can also saute the chopped leaves in butter or add them to soups and stews. Delicious!
Tomato 22 Nov, Marina (Australia - temperate climate)
My tomatoestook off and areproducing fruit but the wilt has set in worse than ever before. The leaves are yellowing and dying from the ground up. It happened last year too. I imagine the fungus is lying dormant in the soil and then attacks new seedlings. Help! Is there a drench or something I can apply to the soil in winter to kill off the spores? Is there a variety of tomato that does not fall victim? My egg plants aren't happy either. Would love a solution that does not involve leaving my garden fallow for years. Can you advise me? Marina
Zucchini (also Courgette/Marrow, Summer squash) 22 Nov, Claire (Australia - temperate climate)
I have recently heard that you should pull the flower off the end of the zucchini once the zucchini has started to grow. The reson I was given is that if the flower is left on, it can cause the zucchini to rot due the amount of moisture it attracts??? I am going to try it as my zucchinis are begining to grow and then going yellow and rotting from the flower end? Has anyone else heard this???
Cauliflower 22 Nov, Drasjic (Australia - temperate climate)
Kathryn...i had the same problem, so after looking on the net i found this, would certainly explain my case, days of high 30's then low 20's even down to 15 or so...It can be due to poor leaf growth and the exposed head can discolor. It can also happen due to weather fluctuations. Cauliflower is sensitive to variations in heat and cold, so it begs the question, how has your weather been? As to whether you want to eat the pink part or not, It would be like eating the sunscalded portion of a tomato. It's not going to kill you, but you're eating dead tissue, so just cut it off and eat the rest.
Basil 21 Nov, Damooo (Australia - temperate climate)
Is the basil you bought drafted basil? (Do you mean 'grafted'? ed.)
Potato 21 Nov, emma (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
I am growing potatoes in inner melbourne, in a tiny back yard plot. I planted farm potatoes from ballarat and they sprouted quickly and grew about four very healthy looking plants. I decided to stake them or at least support them and they grew to about 1.2m. I rarely remembered to build up the soil around the stalks. Now green caterpillars are decimating the plants and they are looking terrible. They haven't flowered. Should I leave them in or forget this crop and try again next year?
Garlic 20 Nov, Frank J (Australia - temperate climate)
Some of my Garlic is not developing properly,(about 50% of the plants bulbs are not turning into cloves), It all came from the same stock, i have about 200 plants.It is Garlic that i have used for 5 - 6 years.
Beetroot (also Beets) 19 Nov, adam synnott (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
hello cake lady. You won't unfortunately be able to grow bulbs from the tops, but you will get leaves for salads etc. They will bolt and produce seed from the tops if planted in the ground, then you could plant these . Free seed, gotta be a bargain. You can do this with carrots and parsnips too.
Tomato 19 Nov, Elle (Australia - temperate climate)
I am a first time tomatoe grower. My plants are fruiting well except that the green fruit and the few red ones we've got so far have a black/dark spot or patch on the side of the fruit furtherest from vine. Does anyone know what this is and how what I can do about it?
Potato 19 Nov, Gwynneth Grogan (Australia - temperate climate)
Some of my potatoes have curly leaves and the actual potatoe is split, would this be the heat.
Rockmelon (also Canteloupe) 18 Nov, adam synnott (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Liv, yes rockmelons are from the curcurbit family, and need to be pollinated like a pumpkin of zucchini. They have male and female flowers, and I find it easier to pollinate by hand. The females have a small ball thingy on the base of the flower,(obviously, this is a small rockie, waiting to happen), and i take a male flower and press it into the flower of the female. The pollen is more potent when damp, so the early morning is a good time to do this. Often rockies have a small flower hidden under something, and I hand pollinate to make sure I get some rockies, otherwise, it's hit and miss. I'm in Armidale in NSW, and often the weather just isn't warm enough to ripen rockies and watermelon, but with a shadehouse or hothouse, I should get some this year. Good Luck.
Rockmelon (also Canteloupe) 31 Oct, Ivan (Australia - temperate climate)
Sir I am from South Africa and thinking of planting watermelon in a shadehouse. Is there any spesific type you will recomment and do you take them off the ground like tomatoes with strings or leave them on the ground? Thanks Ivan van Zyl
Zucchini (also Courgette/Marrow, Summer squash) 18 Nov, adam synnott (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Hi. With Zucchini, you have to pollinate the females with the males. I usually have 2 or 3 plants, enouhg for one person, and I use the males of one plant to pollinate the females of another. It's just a ritual I have every morning. And, they do just seem to grow on top of the soil, and have a spindly stem getting all the goodness for the plant. This is normal, and okay. A zucchini will let you know if it's not happy. It will wilt really quickly, and die really fast, if anything is wrong. They also cross pollinate very easily.
Zucchini (also Courgette/Marrow, Summer squash) 18 Nov, Judy (Australia - temperate climate)
Brad - they often do this for a while at the start and then start producing zucchinis
Rockmelon (also Canteloupe) 17 Nov, LIV (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
do rockmelons come from flower buds??
Tomato 16 Nov, Wayne (Australia - temperate climate)
Hi Jared, I am doing it at the moment. The tomatoes in my garden are looking better. I find if you over water the upside down tomatoe the folige gets wet which is a bit of a no no. Overwise the experiment continues.
Broccoli 16 Nov, Jan (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
I have four baby broccoli plants but the leaves have been eaten away by a caterpillar (I think), Does this mean I won't get any heads?
Rosella (also Queensland Jam Plant, Roselle) 16 Nov, Sheila Ruaux (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
We grow and sell the bushes from Caboolture, north of Brisbane if anyone is interested. The plants have three crops a year and three bushes will make about two dozen jars of jam. Leaves have a lemon flavour and can be used in cooking.
Zucchini (also Courgette/Marrow, Summer squash) 15 Nov, JUdy (Australia - temperate climate)
My zucchinis have red bugs that look a bit like ladybirds eating the leaves. Have grown zucchinis for 30 years and never seen them. Any ideas?
Okra (also Ladyfinger, gumbo) 15 Nov, Dmitri (Australia - temperate climate)
Hey i have a few Okra plants growing that i have just planted out in the back yard as seedlings and they are growing strong, i have found some small flower buds on the young plants and was wondering if this is common with transplants or if i should cut the buds off and allow the young plants to focus on growing as they are still quite small. My zucchini seem to be growing flowers already and they are only small, recent transplants. Has anyone experience anything similiar?
Okra (also Ladyfinger, gumbo) 19 Nov, Cecilia (Australia - temperate climate)
Can you grow okra next to tomatoes and basil running out of garden space.
Okra (also Ladyfinger, gumbo) 16 May, Ayeka (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
I planted okra seeds and realised belatedly that it's the wrong season for this vege. Is there any way I can salvage the plants? They have become strong seedlings, but I read that they don't do well in cold weather. Is planting it indoors until summer an option? Sorry, I am a total newb at gardening.
Okra (also Ladyfinger, gumbo) 29 Aug, Ravi (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
No! - It is quite OK for okra to start fruiting early - just wait till the weather gets a bit warmer, the plants will then grow up so quickly. Mka esure you keep picking up the okra when they are still tender (4 - 5 inches max)
Silverbeet (also Swiss Chard or Mangold) 15 Nov, Drasjic (Australia - temperate climate)
just wondering if laying silverbeet leaves directly on the beds around plants kinda like a mulch is an ok practice??? or will it harbour pests beneath them
Showing 12391 - 12420 of 13855 comments
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