Aphids: Regular visits to the garden will help you spot pests before they become established. Vegetable garden insect pests are susceptible to many controls. Limit insect damage by identifying pests quickly and recognizing the damage they inflict. Regular visits to the garden will help you spot pests before they become established. Then choose the most
Tomato growing problems include the tomato horn worm. Tomato plants are susceptible to several diseases and pests. Preventing problems is the best growing strategy. Keep the garden free of weeds that can harbor pests and diseases. Use floating row covers at planting time to exclude early season pests. Prune and train tomatoes early to provide
Squash Growing Problems are often avoided if you grow squash when temperatures are warm at night. Plant in compost rich, well-drained soil. Squash growing success will come with a few simple growing strategies: • Plant several squash plants. This will ensure at least one is successful and survives pests and diseases. Stagger planting times or
Summer Squash Varieties to Grow: The 3 most popular summer squash types: (1) scallop or patty pan, (2) yellow straight or crook neck, and (3) zucchini. Need top-choice, sure-bet, best-pick, easy-to-grow summer squash varieties? Here are 15 top-performers for the home garden divided into the 3 most popular summer squash types: (1) scallop or patty
Cucumber varieties can be classed into 4 types: (1) slicing, (2) pickling, (3) burpless, and (4) space savers for small gardens and containers, Cucumbers for the home garden can be divided into four popular cucumber types: (1) slicing, (2) pickling, (3) burpless, and (4) space savers for small gardens and container. Here are 20 sure-fired
Avoid bean growing problems by growing beans when temperatures have warmed and nights are no longer chilly. Beans: garden beans–including pole, bush, and shell–lima beans, mung beans, scarlet runner beans, asparagus beans, and southern peas (which are not beans but share similar cultural requirements). All of these crops share similar problems. Here is a list
You may have heard or read that milk is sometimes used to help grow tomatoes–and also squash. Is it a fertilizer? Milk contains calcium (Ca). Calcium is an important plant macronutrient. Macronutrients are foods that help plants grow and function. Calcium helps build plant cell walls which in turn allow the transport of other plant
Pumpkin seedlings April is a month of quick transition in the the kitchen garden. The last frost will come this month in warm-winter regions. True spring has already arrived in most southern and coastal gardens. If the lilacs are in bloom in your area, the time has come to sow directly in the kitchen garden.
Starting seeds indoors Here are seed starting tips–both indoors and outdoors–and schedule for April zone-by-zone. If you are unfamiliar with the USDA zone where you live, look at the minimum annual temperature guideline following each zone. Soil and Seed Starting Mix Getting seed started indoors is essentially the same as sowing seed outdoors directly in
Two-bin compost pile. The right side is finished compost. Compost tea is excellent all-purpose plant food. Made from aged compost–organic materials that have finished decomposing, compost tea contains all of the major and minor nutrients plants require. It gives young plants a starter boost and older plants a pick-me-up. Not only that, but compost tea
