Organic Garden Growing...
... and other Miscellaneous Gardening Puzzles
Hello, earth to gardeners! Ask your general organic garden questions and find your answers here.
THIS Q&A page is all about odd bod growing questions NOT covered in our other Q&A pages, such as:
Garden pests and garden diseases
Garden Materials, Soil, Compost and Mulch
Otherwise use this page for the miscellaneous bits and pieces and odd socks that don't belong to anywhere else. Things like: watering, tools, design, sun, shade and so on...
IMPORTANT: Please don't ask questions that have been answered here before, or if the information is found elsewhere on this website.
CHECK FIRST... type any relevant word(s) into this search box...
OK, an ounce of action is worth a ton of theory they say, so take it away with YOUR questions on gardening... roll up, roll up!
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Including a photo(s) is important. Rarely do submissions get published without at least one photo. And also write lots of relevant details—such as descriptions, locality, weather, feeding, watering, timing, soil, nutrients; how, when, where and what, etc.
What Other Visitors Have Asked and Answered
Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
Straw bale gardening needs nitrogen
Straw bale gardening is fun and has several great advantages! But, there are to be found many mixed reviews as to the performance of plants grown in this …
Drying Onions and Shallots when humid
I have followed the method of harvesting onions including my shallots but because of the quantity have to dry them outside in the shade. I am using an …
What vegetables to grow in shade
WHAT CROPS CAN I GROW IN PART SHADE BESIDES PEAS, LETTUCE AND HERBS?
How to do no-dig cover crops
I presently have clover and turnip greens growing in all of my beds. I live in central part of South Carolina. What would I do with my cover crops if I …
Marinating or preserving wild mushrooms
I got these berkeley polypore mushrooms and would like to preserve them without using oil. Any suggestions? In the fall I will be expecting Hen of the …
Using onions for health and Chilblains
More about the Wonders of Onions HERE!
lasagna gardening and fall bulb planting
I just made my lasagna patch. Wet newspaper then wood chips from tree stump then grass clippings that have set most of summer...then repeated this brown …
Treated lawn into garden
HELP! After 15 years of doing a typical 3 step lawn treatment, I would like to add gardening space to my backyard. In the last five years we have added …
Loosening compacted soil
During construction of our house the workers parked in the area where I am now trying to create a flower bed. The soil is VERY compacted because of all …
Too Many Weeds in the Garden
I have been gone for three weeks and the weeds have almost over taken the garden, first I tried the weed eater but i cut too many plants. Then I started …
What crops for new no-dig garden?
Just establishing my no-dig garden in Sydney, Australia (temperate climate). It's in a sunny position. What are good first crops to plant in early autumn? …
TREE ROOTS and DOLLAR WEEDS in no dig garden
This is my third year of no till, no dig gardening. I have several beds that the roots from the trees, which have been there before I began gardening …
Apple tree companion planting
I have a potted apple tree and would like to plant something under the tree in the same pot. I also have a cat that has to taste everything in my garden, …
Strange Pepper and Mystery Plant
I have a mystery pepper that came up in the middle of jalapeno and banana peppers. I let it get completely red before picking it hoping it would be sweet. …
Curing Kumara at home
Hi there, I need a bit of help with my kumara. This is the second season I have grown these and I'm not sure how to cure them properly. Last year my …
Golden Mangel Seeds
I'm looking for the Golden Mangel Seeds; can't find them any suggestions of where to look? I want to use the lasagna bed for them. They belong to the …
Preserving bean gluts
This year I had a great crop of climbing beans - Cobra, Thompson & Morgan - and couldn't find any information about how to preserve them. Do you have any …
Can you help me identify these house plants?
I have three plants that I can't seem to figure out. I had a bunch but managed to find out what they were by writing descriptive words and going to Google …
Green Manure Crop
I have grown a green manure crop of lupins, mustard and oats for the first time and am wondering now that it has been dug in if there is any crop that …
How long to leave manure on garden
I put a layer of fresh manure on my vegetable garden in the fall and just left it. I did not work it in. Should I work it in now or rake it off and put …
Comfrey fertiliser in a bottle
Watching my wife infusing green herbs in vinegar and/or oil got me to wondering if I could infuse Comfrey in water in a 1/2 gallon jar rather than the …
What to plant with 4-5 hours of sun?
Yesterday we cleared out some dead bushes and alot of wet leaves from the back of our house. This spot gets the afternoon sun maybe for four or five hours. …
ornamental plants or gnomes
I have a small triangular section of ground near an entrance. It is too nondescript at the present - it has a few little cacti and some kind of little …
What is No Dig Gardening
I am confused at what is a no dig garden. I have a normal vegetable garden and was watching a programme (BBC Gardener´s World) where the head gardener …
What is this plant?
I planted this about three years ago, dont remember name, it has been slow growing and this year has blooms. Any help is appreciated. Thanks
Will security night light affect plants?
ive got a bed with nothing but pea gravel in it. i was thinking about turning this into a garden. im thinking the weed growth will be minium. but the bed …
Cement next to my garden. Any chemicals leach into plants?
Is it safe to plant next to my cement patio, or could the cement leach a chemical into plant? I want to plant blueberry bushes/raspberry bushes and don't …
Redoing my no dig garden
I made the no dig garden last spring and it was very successful. Any suggestions on what i need to do to redo this spring's no dig garden. I ask because …
Seeds in mulch. How do I plant seeds into mulch in no dig garden?
I've been reading a lot about no-till gardening, and I want to do more of it for my vegetable garden. What I don't understand is how do you plant seeds …
Moss - Growing moss in the vegetable garden as a weed inhibitor. Could this be a problem?
I am experimenting with perennial and annual ecosystem gardening using moss as a weed inhibitor. The idea is that I grow clover anywhere that is far enough …
Raised bed for no-dig garden - build on concrete/cement?
Can the raised bed garden no-dig be built on concrete slab? Will the soil stay too moist, is there a problem with doing the box on top of cement? Thanks. …
Mushrooms in garden - New no-dig with fungi erupting. Will they poison us?
Hello, Our 20inch deep no-dig veggie garden consist of from the bottom: cardboard, hay, bone/blood meal, straw, bone/blood meal topped with 4 inches of …
Preserves have bubbles in jar - Preserving beets
I have little bubbles in my preserves that I did down yesterday, what should I do to fix this?
Raised vegetable bed - lots of questions
What do you mean by 'mulch' ? I built a raised vegetable bed - 12" high about three years back and at the time I had no idea what I was doing. My garden …
Tap water or no tap water on vegetable garden
I was wondering if tap water is ok for vegetable garden. I have been putting water in buckets and letting the chlorine to air out of water. But it has …
Converting zoysia lawn to garden
I just found out i have an established zoysia lawn, but I want to slowly convert it to gardens. Will a no-dig garden work over zoysia? If no, any suggestions …
Companion planting spacing of different plants
Dear fellow gardeners, I'm trying to find out how far away should I plant non-compatible plants to avoid their harmful vicinity? Or how close should I …
Growing drought resistant vegetables, fruit, herbs and spices
I would love your help on what to plant and at what time of the year. please advise on what drought resistant crops i could plant. i live in Zimbabwe and …
Shrub and Tree stumps - How To Remove Stumps from Cut Down Shrubs
I recently had some large shrubs cut down and now there are stumps about 7-9" round with large root systems underground. I want to use the area for planting …
Green moss covering garden
Each year I have a good garden and this year nothing but a problem. I planted in good soil, but it has rained so much it is drowning in puddles. A green …
Starting a veg plot on an old lawn
I have a roughly-sown lawn and have let it grow long. I realise that I need to cut it short, but after that, can I get away with laying mulch on top to …
Planting vegetables near trees
My friend’s community garden bed is close to trees and the plants seem to wilt very fast. He has peppers and broccoli planted. The broccoli that was taken …
No dig garden for shrubs?
Can this no dig method of gardening be used for landscaping and planting shrubs?
Which direction should garden beds/rows run?
I am trying to decide whether to plant my beds running North/South or East/West. I have read that it's best to plant in rows running east/west with tallest …
Raised gardens - cheap way to contain raised garden bed?
What is an inexpensive way to contain a raised garden bed? I want something about 8-10" high. Cedar boards are very expensive. Maybe it's not necessary …
straw bale gardening not looking good
I am trying straw bale gardening due to poor soil. So far I put in tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and collards. The bales were wet and aged two weeks or …
How to store vegetables in basement or ground?
This is our first attempt at storing vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, onions, squash, watermelon, pumkin and cucumbers. Ive heard that i can just …
Raised bed size
Is it okay to have a vegetable raised bed size to be 9x9?
Novice Gardener - Should I thin out seedlings?
I shook my packet of lettuce seeds all over the top of a large pot and added a sprinkling of organic potting soil on top of them. All of them sprouted. …
Beginner at vegetable gardening
This is my first attempt at growing a vegetable garden. I have grass in my backyard and some of my backyard is on a slope which has grass and stones in …
Watering a no dig garden
Watering our new no dig garden sufficiently is our dilemma. It seems like once all the layers are in place the compost almost acts like a seal to keep …
Planting in no dig layers
When planting in no dig layers, how do the roots get nourishment from the soil below ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Megan says... Unless you …
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