Category Archives: Gardening

Gardening

Learn to Control the Colorado Potato Beetle

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By Stephanie

Colorado Potato Beetles are important pests of potato plants.  Contrary to their name, they are present throughout the United States and Canada.  It is native to Mexico, where it feeds on the buffalo burr plant.  In addition to potatoes, Colorado potato beetles eat eggplants, peppers and tomatoes in addition to potatoes.

Colorado potato beetles are yellow with black stripes across the back and an orange head. The larvae are red with black spots.   The eggs are orange-yellow and are laid in batches of two dozen or so.

Adult Colorado potato beetles overwinter in the soil.  As it warms up, they emerge begin to feed on weeds and potato plants.  They are so aggressive they will even burrow in the soil to eat emerging foliage.  Females lay eggs under the leaves of the host plant.  Over the course of four or five weeks, the female can lay up to 500 eggs.

The eggs hatch after four to nine days and the larvae begin feeding on the host plant immediately.  Full grown larvae drop to the soil to pupate.  They emerge in five to ten days.  The whole cycle, from the egg being laid to the adult emerging, can take as few as 21 days.  Multiple generations of these pests are born each summer, especially in the Southern states where it warms early and the frost comes late.

While a potato plant can survive a defoliation of as much as 30% without reducing its yield, Colorado potato beetles and their larvae frequently strip the plant right down to the ground.  Control measures should be taken when an average of one beetle or larvae is found per plant.

Cultural controls. Planting fast maturing potatoes can help by harvesting before the second and subsequent generations of potato beetles are born.  Late plantings of heat tolerant potatoes after most of the overwintering adults have starved can also work.  Spreading straw as mulch around the potato plants can delay beetle development.

Biological controls. . Biological controls include several native insects.  The difficulty with biological controls is that they do not operate early enough to prevent beetles from defoliating plants or making it necessary to use chemical controls to prevent defoliation.   The blue-green ground beetle Lebia grandis often plays a significant role in controlling the beetle, as do two species of predatory stink bugs, a parasitic fly, and at least two ladybug species. A native fungus, Beauveria bassiana, often kills high numbers of beetles late in the season, leaving a characteristic white cadaver of beetle adults and larvae. Restraint in pesticide use will maximize the effectiveness of these natural biological control agents. There is also a commercially available biological control product, Bacillus thuringiensis, var. tenebrionis, that is effective in killing the Colorado potato beetle. Sold under many trade names, including Novodor, Foil, and Trident, this bacterium is most effective when used against young larvae and should be used starting when eggs begin hatching.

Chemical controls. Potato bugs are bad about developing resistance to pesticides.  Most common consumer pesticides …read more

Source: Weekend Gardener

Gardening

Peonies & Fuchsias

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By Celeste Longacre

The peony that we have in our yard is one of my favorite plants.

It was actually the very first thing that I planted on our property. A friend had given me some cut peonies and they lasted for a very, very long time.

I have heard that there are basically two types of peonies; one that keeps well as a cut flower and the other that is heavily scented. The one I ended up planting is of the heavily scented variety.

With peonies, they need the help of the ants. In the spring when the buds form, they will be covered by ants.

As ants are a bit creepy-crawly, the tendency may be to spray them off. However, these ants are necessary to eat the coverings of the buds.

Without the ants performing this function, the peonies would not be able to bloom. So bless the ants as they aid these gorgeous blossoms.

Fuchsias are also lovely plants. We usually see them in hanging baskets.

They will bloom all summer long with a bit of attention. For one thing, they love water. I always check my fuchsia first if the weather has been dry. These “plants” are actually a combination of many plants put together in one pot. So you have to be careful watering them—make sure that the entire surface of the soil gets wet. Also, the seeds need to be picked off.

For any plant, its purpose is to reproduce itself. So it will grow and flower hoping to attract pollinating insects. Once this has happened, it will set seeds. Then the plant thinks that its job is done. And, it will stop flowering. To keep it flowering all summer long we need to keep removing the seeds. A small price to pay for a season of loveliness seeds. A small price to pay for a season of loveliness.

…read more

Source: The Old Farmers Almanac

Gardening

How to Control Squash Bugs

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By Stephanie

Squash bugs are a major pest on squash and pumpkins.  They attack plants by piercing the leaves and vines with their mouthparts and sucking out the juices.  Leaves wilt and die and if too many of them die, then the plant dies.

Squash bugs are small, oval, and brownish black.  The adults overwinter in debris on the ground and in mulch.  Mulched squash and pumpkins may be attacked more severely than unmulched plants.  One cultural control for squash bugs is to remove all debris and mulch in the winter to deny them a place to overwinter.

Squash bugs become active again when it gets warm and the squash are germinating.  Some feeding occurs then, but they mostly mate and produce eggs.  Squash bug eggs are very distinctive.  They are laid in small clusters and are copper colored.  They are most often laid on the underside of leaves.  Eggs can be scraped off of the leaves to help control the number of squash bugs in the garden.

The first stage nymphs hatch about a week after the eggs are laid and are light green.  As they mature and molt they become grayish brown.  Nymphs often join the adult squash bugs in big masses of bugs on a plant.  They prefer the underside of the plant.  When it is very hot or very cold, both nymphs and adults will seek shelter in mulch and ground debris until conditions are more favorable.  Then they return to the plant.

A second generation of squash bugs is laid and hatches in late summer.  These bugs will often attack the fruit of the squash or pumpkin vines as well as the leaves and vine of the plants.  This generation is also the one that will overwinter and start the cycle again next year.

Weather conditions are very important in determining how much of a problem squash bugs will be.  Mild winters allow most of the overwintering squash bugs to survive and warm temperatures during the summer allow most of the second generation of squash bugs to survive.

Control depends on both cultural and chemical means.  Surveys of leaves done weekly starting when the warm weather hits allow you to crush squash bug eggs.  Be sure to look on the underside of the leaf where most of the eggs are laid.  Clearing debris around the bottom of your plants and not mulching around them deprives the squash bugs of places to hide.  One can place boards around the plants and every morning turn them over and crush the squash bugs that are hiding under them.

Chemical controls include spreading Diatomaceous earth/pyrethrins around the base of the plant.  This is allowed in certified organic production.  Other chemicals such as those with esfenvalerate, permethrin, or carbaryl as an active ingredient work on squash bugs.  It is important to treat the underside of the leaves with whatever chemical you use as that is where squash bugs spend most of their time.

…read more

Source: Weekend Gardener

Gardening

The Edible Sponge-The Loofah

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By Mindy

loofah

Did you know that there is a vegetable that can be used as a sponge?  Well there is and it is called the loofah.  But how do you get an edible sponge?  The answer is simple and has to do with the timing of the picking of the fruit.  If the fruit is picked young, it can be eaten like a squash.  On the other hand, if you let the fruit mature, then you can have a sponge.

To grow your own edible sponge requires some planning.  Loofahs need a long growing season, which equates out to 150 to 200 frost-free days.   To start your own loofah, requires one to start them indoors.  This process begins with the harvesting and/or ordering your seeds.  Loofah seeds can be harvested from picked loofahs that have been processed as sponges.  The easiest way of removing the seeds is by whacking the gourd on a post.  After that is done, the seeds will come out the bottom.

If, on the other hand, you plan to order your seeds, they are easy to find in seed catalogues or even at your local garden supply center.

Once you have your seeds, it is time to plant them.  If you live in an area that has a long growing season, plant your seeds outdoors.  If your area does not have a long growing season, then you will need to start them indoors.  To do the later, plan your planting time by counting back six to eight weeks from your local frost-free date.  Once you have that date, you can plan your planting schedule.

When the planting date arrives, prepare your containers with an all-purpose potting soil that has been moistened.  After that is done, take a pencil and make holes in the soil that are ½ to ¾ inch deep.  To prevent from wasting seed, place one seed per hole and fill in.  Cover the container with glass or plastic and place on a propagation mat.  Check the container in about 4 days.  If you see sprouting occurring, remove the cover.  On the other hand, if you see no progress, do not worry.  Loofahs can take 4 to 14 days to germinate with an average time being 7 to 14 days.

Once your loofah seedlings have two sets of true leaves, it is time to transplant them into individual pots.  After the local frost-free date has passed and the seedlings have been hardened off, it is time to plant them outside.

Loofahs can be planted in the ground or in a 5-gallon container.  If you plant them in the ground, make sure to space them out at least every 3 feet.  If you have the space, consider spacing them every 6 feet, which is better.

If using a container, place one plant per pot.  Regardless of which planting method you choose, make sure to place a trellis in the ground at the time of planting.

In about 100 days, you should begin to see the fruits of your labor but this depends on the weather.  …read more

Source: Weekend Gardener

Gardening

Build a Cold Frame with Recycled Materials

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By Mike the Gardener

Last
night I was on a radio program and we were discussing fall gardening.
What to plant, what not to plant, when to plant and so on. During the
course of the interview, we began talking about how to protect plants in
the colder months. Without hesitation I replied “use a cold frame”.

A cold frame is a great way to extend your gardening season well in to
the cooler months. It works similar to a green house, however it is
lower to the ground, which in turn, at night, will keep the warmer air
closer to the plants. It will also have a means to ventilate easily so
that if it does get warm during the day, you simply open up the
ventilation and let the heat out, which helps prevent “burning” your
plants.

Here is a great step by step instructional that I found on building your
own cold frame out of some recycled material. It’s easy to build, and
if you have some basic skills, you should get this done in no time.

Here are the Step by Step instructions

===========

Please check out my new book:
Vegetable Gardening for the Averag Person:
A guide to vegetable gardening for the rest of us

available at: http://www.AveragePersonGardening.com

…read more

Source: Mike the Gardener

Gardening

A Guide to Shade Gardening

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By Stephanie

Do you have a lot of shade in your yard and despair of ever growing grass there?  Turn it into a shade garden!  Shade gardens can thrive during the heat of the summer when everything else is parched and brown.  They provide focal points for plants with interesting textures, shapes, and colors.

You can choose from an array of annuals, perennials, bulbs and woodland plants for color.  Many groundcovers do well in the shade as well.  You might have to experiment a bit to find the plants that do best in your locale.  Further, some plants may do well in  one season, such as the summer when the deciduous trees are in full leaf, but burn up in another, such as winter when the leaves are off the shading trees.

First, let’s define shade.  Most sun loving plants demand full sun, which is defined as at least seven hours of sun a day.  Light sun is three hours of shade or more or dappled shade, where the sunlight shines through but is broken up by a tree or structure.  Six or more hours of shade a day is heavy shade.    It is harder to grow things in deep shade than in light shade or dappled shade.

The second problem to worry about is moisture.  Those same trees that shade the light out also create an umbrella effect during rains.  Your unshaded areas might have received a good inch of rain while your shaded areas might only have received a trace amount.  You will have to water your shade garden more often than the surrounding area.

Finally, soil fertility can be a problem.  The trees and shrubs use feeder roots to suck every last nutrient and drop of water out of the soil.  You will have to fertilize regularly and amend the beds with compost to make your shade plants grow well.

Sandy soils and heavy clay soils will benefit from working in compost or peat moss into the beds.  The recommendation is three inches of compost over the bed.  Spread that and then till it in to a depth of six inches.

Annuals can work well in your shade garden except in dense shade.  They are the showiest of your garden plants and will bring color to it.  Impatiens, browallias, coleus, wax begonias, and dwarf salvias are shade tolerant plants.  Start with robust bedding plants and they will bloom shortly after planting.

Spring flowering bulbs will bring color to your garden if you treat them as an annual and replant each fall.  Some spring bulbs such as crocus, scillas, snowdrops and some tulips bloom and produce leaves early enough in the spring, before the tree leaves shade the area heavily, to come back each year.

Perennials are not as apt to bloom in shade, but have interesting leaf colors, shapes, and textures that lend interest to your shade garden.  In addition, the perennials that do bloom in the shade may be followed by seed pods or bright berries that add color to the garden.

…read more

Source: Weekend Gardener

Gardening

Got Bagged Soil and Need a Garden? Then Create a Potting Soil Bag Container Garden

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By Mindy

potting.soil

Oh what does a gardener do when they have no garden?  Well the answer is easy; they create their own garden space.  To do this, one only needs a few supplies, a little time, and human ingenuity.

Supplies needed for this project include one bag of all-purpose soil or compost/manure, an old plant flat, utility knife, and plants.  After you have your supplies lined up, the next step consists of creating your garden.

To begin this process, lay your bag of potting soil inside the flat.  Now place your “soil flat” in the location where you would like your garden to be.  It is easier to move it before planting then after.  Once you have the “garden” in its location, begin to cut “Xs” in the side of the bag that is facing up.  Each “X” represents one plant.   As a gauge, one can fit three to four plants per bag.

After the “Xs” have been cut, open up these cut spaces to expose the soil.  Now, dig a hole just like you would in a traditional or container garden for your plant.  Once that is done, remove one plant from its container and tease the roots.  Then, place the plant in the hole, and fill in the hole with soil.  Repeat with the remaining plants.

Once all the plants have been planted, water in the plant material.  Then, close up each “X” and poke a few small holes in the top.  This will be additional areas where water can enter the garden.

When it comes time for watering, pull back the “Xs” and water each plant.  After the plants’ roots have become established, poke a few drainage holes in the underneath side of the bag.  This is done after the plants have taken hold so that their roots can hold the soil in place verses the soil running out of the holes.

While this is a very simple type of garden, there are a few hints to follow when it comes to this gardening technique.   One, avoid anything that may need to be trellised.  The depth of the soil in the bag is not deep enough to hold the trellis up.  Two, if you are planting tomatoes do not try to plant them deep instead use the trench method.  This method requires one to dig a long trench.  Once the trench has been dug and in this case it will be under the “X,” bend the tomato plant into the shape of a “J.”  Once that has been done, remove the leaves along the stem leaving three to four on the top.  Now, lay the plant in the trench and fill in.  The stem under the ground will develop leaves and help hold the plant up.  As far as tomato varieties go, always use determinate tomato plants.  These will require no trellising.

Lastly, if you are a forgetful gardener, consider adding a slow-release fertilizer and/or hydrogel to each hole before planting.  If this is done, you will not need to panic if you miss a feeding …read more

Source: Weekend Gardener

Gardening

Grow Your Best Peppers Yet!

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By Mike the Gardener

I do very well here in New
Jersey growing peppers. For the past two season, I have had peppers
grow (and thrive) well into November, even after a couple of frosts also
with no cover protection.

I grow a lot of sweet peppers and some hot peppers, but as a total, I
grow a boatload of peppers. Enough to share with the neighborhood my
wife tells everyone.

With that said, I wanted to share some of my tips on peppers, that I
believe has lead me to have such great pepper harvests. Of course I
can’t control the weather in the cooler months that would do peppers
harm, I do believe that by using these tips, I am able to have my
peppers grow very hardy, and that helps out a great deal.

Your Site
As with any other fruit or vegetable plant, peppers are no different,
and that is, good peppers start with an excellent foundation. In this
case, the foundation for your peppers is the soil itself. Obviously
some might disagree and say “no, Mike, it starts with the seeds you
use”. While I do agree with that statement, that good peppers start
with seeds from a reputable company (or a friend), I am assuming that
you have already completed that step.

Before you plant your pepper transplants (or direct pepper seeds), make
sure to mix in plenty of compost. I like to do a mix of compost from my
compost pile, vermicompost from my worm bin, and seasoned livestock
manure (cow manure). I would like to add that I use so much
vermicompost that I added a worm tower this year to my yard and plan on adding another worm tower next season. They can be a bit pricey.

As a side note. If you started your peppers from seeds indoors, be sure
to harden them off, that is acclimate them to the outdoors before you
plant them in your garden bed.

Bring the Heat
Pepper plants love heat. Which bodes well for us here in New Jersey,
because around July to August, between the heat and humidity, it can
become unbearable for humans in the summer. If you live in a cooler
climate, you can always help increase the temperatures around the plant
using cold frames,
greenhouses and so on. You want to keep the temperatures for your
pepper plants above 60 degrees Fahrenheit (roughly 16 degrees Celsius).

Spacing
Peppers are abundant producers when given plenty of space. You may
produce bigger or more quantities of peppers if you grow just a few,
spaced out wider. With that said, I have done well spacing them out
eight to ten inches, although one gardening friend of mine has his
spaced out further (more like 12 …read more

Source: Mike the Gardener

Gardening

Build a Vertical Herb Planter

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By Mike the Gardener

If you have been following our blog, facebook page, or our website, then you already know that we are very enthusiastic about growing vertically.

The sky is truly the limit when it comes to growing vertically with many
varieties of fruits and vegetables, and herbs are no different.

Herbs grow great in containers, and this project combines the best of
both worlds, container gardening and vertical gardening. If you have
some basic tools and handy skills, then all you really need is to get
started.

Here are the Step by Step instructions

===========

Please check out my new book:
Vegetable Gardening for the Averag Person:
A guide to vegetable gardening for the rest of us

available at: http://www.AveragePersonGardening.com

…read more

Source: Mike the Gardener

Gardening

Check out our new page for gardening eBay auctions

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By Mike the Gardener

You no longer have to search all over eBay
to get great deals on gardening supplies. We did the work for you and
popped them into a single web page on our site. Simply visit eBay Gardening Auctions and take a look today.

===========

Please check out my new book:
Vegetable Gardening for the Averag Person:
A guide to vegetable gardening for the rest of us

available at: http://www.AveragePersonGardening.com

…read more

Source: Mike the Gardener

Gardening

Best Tips for Growing Hostas

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By Stephanie

Hostas are an easy to grow perennial that is shade tolerant.  They are originally from Japan, China, and Korea and were introduced to Europe in the 1700s.  They were introduced to the United States in the 1800s.  There are more than 2,500 cultivars on the market, so there is a hosta for almost anyone.

Hostas range from the tiny 18 cm ‘Baby Bunting’ to the very large ‘Blue Angel’ which can reach eight feet tall and eight feet in diameter.  This means it is important to select a hosta that will fit into your garden space and not outgrow it.  It can take four to eight years for a hosta to reach its mature size.

Hosta leaves come in a variety of colors:  blue, green, yellow, white, variegated, or gold.  The blue color is actually a green leaf with a wax on it that makes it appear blue.  This wax will melt in hot temperatures or in the sun.  Some plants have leaves that start out yellow or variegated and turn to dark green as they get older.

Hostas do have flowers, although they are planted primarily for their showy foliage.  The flowers are spikes of lavender to white flowers that resemble lilies.

Hostas are considered shade tolerant plants.  They do best with morning sun and afternoon sun.  They do not grow well in deep shade or in full sun.  Too much sun will cause burning along the leaves and can kill the plant.  Blue leaf varieties are the least sun tolerant.

Hostas must have well drained, rich beds to do well.  Soil should be cultivated twelve to sixteen inches deep.  Six inches of compost, peat moss, or other organic matter should be spread on the bed then worked into the soil.  This will also raise the bed slightly, improving drainage.

The ideal pH for hostas is 6.5 to 7.5.  Peat moss will tend to lower the pH while lime will tend to raise it.

To plant hostas properly, one must dig a hole then form a small cone of soil at the bottom of the hole.  If the hosta is in a container, shake all the dirt off of it and do not use that dirt in the hole.  If you order hostas from the mail or on the internet, they will probably come as bare roots.  Soak then in tepid water for thirty minutes before planting.  For both types of hostas, set the crown of the hosta on the top of the cone and arrange the roots so they fan out around the cone.  Then fill in the hole with the soil you took out of it.  You want the hosta to be planted so that the area where the leaves and roots meet is at ground level.  Water the plant in thoroughly.

Hostas need a minimum of one inch a week of water.  They should be watered all at once to stimulate the roots to grow deep.  Many shallow waterings keep the roots on the surface and the plants will not stand a stiff wind.

Hostas …read more

Source: Weekend Gardener

Gardening

Make Your Own Inverted Tomato Planter

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By Mike the Gardener

By now you have probably seen
those inverted tomato planters. You are probably also wondering if they
really work. The answer in short is yes. So as long as you give the
tomato plant plenty of sun, water, and room for their roots to grow, it
will work.

However, did you also know that you can build your own upside down
planter with some basic material and of course a tomato plant? Well,
you can. Here is a great step by step instructional to do just that.

If you are short on garden space, but have a lot of hanging space, then
this is yet another tool for you to use to expand what you can grow, by
utilizing vertical area you may not have thought you had.

Here are the Step by Step instructions

===========

Please check out my new book:
Vegetable Gardening for the Averag Person:
A guide to vegetable gardening for the rest of us

available at: http://www.AveragePersonGardening.com

…read more

Source: Mike the Gardener

Gardening

Learn how to Grow Holly

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By Stephanie

The Holly genus, Ilex, has over 400 species and ranges from small, eighteen in plants to fifty foot trees.  Some are evergreen and some are deciduous.  The smaller holly plants make good foundation and border plants while the trees can be grown into an impenetrable hedge or fence.

Most hollies require well drained soil with good organic matter and a slightly acid pH.  They should be set out in the fall for best growth and the highest chance of survival.  Some hollies require both a male and female plant to set fruit so check with your nursery when you buy them to see if you need both types of plants.

Hollies can be grouped into different types.  The Japanese hollies (Ilex crenata) are short, three to ten feet high, evergreen shrubs.  They have short, spineless leaves and black fruit.  They actually look more like a boxwood than a holly.  These hollies tolerate severe pruning and can be grown into a hedge or fence.  They can also be used for topiatries.  The most popular varieties of Japanese hollies are:

  • ‘Helleri’ is a compact form, which reaches 4 feet at maturity.
  • ‘Convexa’ has dark-green leaves, is a heavy fruit producer and may reach 9 feet tall and 24 feet wide.
  • ‘Hetzii’ is a dwarf form of ‘Convexa’ and grows 2 to 3 feet in height.
  • ‘Roundleaf’ is a male selection that does not produce berries. Plants grow 5 to 10 feet tall and 5 to 12 feet wide.

The Chinese hollies (Ilex cornuta) are large, ten to fifteen or more feet tall.  These are one of the few hollies that produce berries without pollination.  These hollies have large, spiny, shiny green leaves.  The most popular Chinese hollies are:

  • ‘Burfordii’ or Burford holly grows to 20 feet tall and wide. The heavy fruit set attracts many birds.
  • ‘Rotunda’ or Dwarf Chinese holly grows only to 3 to 4 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide. Plants usually do not produce berries.
  • ‘Berries Jubilee’ is a dome-shaped plant, 6 to 10 feet tall, with large leaves and a heavy crop of large, bright red berries.

American hollies (Ilex opaca) are the traditional Christmas holly with the spiny leaves and red berries.  They can grow to fifty feet tall if not pruned.  These hollies make a good fence or screen for a yard.  When heavily pruned, they can be used as foundation plantings and border plants.  For years, people have planted these trees under their windows to deter burglars.  The most popular American holliies are:

  • ‘Dan Fenton’ has large, glossy leaves.
  • ‘Jersey Delight’ and ‘Jersey Princess’; ‘Jersey Knight’ is the male pollen source.
  • ‘Merry Christmas’ with glossy, deep green leaves and red berries.
  • ‘Stewart’s Silver Crown’ with leaves edged in cream and marbled with gray green.
  • ‘Yellow Berry’ with bright …read more

    Source: Weekend Gardener

Gardening

Tips for Growing Coleus

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By Stephanie

Coleus is an annual plant grown for its ornate foliage.  It is also called painted nettle, flame nettle, and painted leaf.  Coleus come in white, yellow, red, pink, purple, maroon, copper and a wide range of greens.  It is native to Asia and Malaysia.

Coleus need at least six hours of sun to have the most vibrant color foliage.  They can survive in partial shade but their colors are muted there.  The same variety of coleus grown in the sun may look very different from one grown in partial shade.  For optimal growth, and the prettiest foliage, plant your coleus where it will get morning sun and afternoon shade.  Remember that in hot limates, such as in Texas or Florida, the coleus will need more shade to protect it from sunscald.

Coleus does best in most, well drained soil.  Till your flowerbed down to six inches and add three inches of compost to the soil.  Mix well.  You can then plant your coleus after all danger of frost has passed. The outdoor temperature needs to be above 60 degrees F for the coleus to groiw properly.  Temperatures in the 40s can damage your plant.  Be sure you wait late enough in the season that the temperature does not fall below 60 degrees F to plant.

Space plants two to twelve inches apart, depending on the mature size of the plant.  Coleus can grow to ten to eighteen inches tall, depending on the variety. Coleus make more of an impression when planted in bunches.

When you plant your coleus, pinch off the top and remove any flowers to encourage a bushier, more compact plant.  Anytime the plant flowers, cut the flowers to avoid a spindly plant.

Coleus benefit from being fertilized with half strength liquid fertilizer on a regular basis.  Coleus need moist but not soggy soil.  The more the coleus are exposed to wind and heat, the more water it needs.  It originated in a tropical area and must stay moist or it will die.

Mulch is recommended for coleus plants to help keep them moist.  Do not use cedar mulch as it contains oils that are toxic to coleus.  Do not allow the mulch to touch the stems of the coleus as that makes it easier for slugs to reach the plant.

Since these plants are annuals, it is a good idea to take cuttings at the end of the season and grow them indoors until spring.  You can take a cutting from any non-flowering branch of the plant.  Make sure the cutting is two to three inches long with at least one set of leaf nodes besides the top leaf nodes.  Strip the lowest leaves off the cutting and plant it in potting soil.  The lowest node of leaves (which you have removed) needs to be under the soil.  That is where the roots will emerge from.  You can use a rooting medium but that is not usually necessary.  Keep the plants warm and moist in moderate sunlight for about two weeks to ensure rooting.

…read more

Source: Weekend Gardener

Gardening

DIY – Folding Trellis for your Vegetable Garden

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By Mike the Gardener

Using a trellis in your home
vegetable garden has a wide range of benefits. For starters it allows
you take advantage of vertical real estate you may not have though of.
You save a lot of space when growing vertically and a trellis allows you
to do just that.

Second, some items grow great on a trellis and I could not imagine growing them any other way, such as cucumbers.

Here is an excellent trellis that you can build with some basic
materials, a little time and folds up for better storage in the
offseason.

Here are the Step by Step instructions

===========

Please check out my new book:
Vegetable Gardening for the Averag Person:
A guide to vegetable gardening for the rest of us

available at: http://www.AveragePersonGardening.com

…read more

Source: Mike the Gardener

Gardening

Steps for Controlling Greenbriar

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By Stephanie

Greenbriar, also called cat briar, is a woody vine that will cover everything in its’ vicinity.  It has thorns and wraps around trees, shrubs, fences, and any other support available.  Because it has very waxy leaves, most herbicides will not affect it.

Greenbriar native to North America. It is in the genus Smilax, which includes about 12 to 15 species. It is in the Liliaceae family, closely related to Daylilies, Lilies, and Yucca.  All of the Smilax are climbing vines.

All of the Smilax plants grow through an extensive underground rhizome system.  This means they can pop up yards from the main plant, making it very hard to kill.  The plants are either male or female, with the female plants having berries that range in color from black or blue to red when they ripen.  Birds eat the fruit while many forest animals eat the foliage and tubers.

Since birds eat the fruit, they spread the seeds throughout their range.  This is one reason the weed can spring up in your landscape.  When the seed germinates, it starts to develop the large underground rhizome network that lets it spread even further.

Greenbriar can survive in shade and can survive deep in the crown of a shrub or forest.  It may spend two or three years developing its rhizome network before emerging from the plant canopy.  It then goes up trees, shrubs, and other weight bearing structures.  It can completely cover a tree and the weight of the vines may cause the tree to break.

The goal of controlling greenbriar is to send herbicide down the extensive rhizome and tuber network to kill them all.  Because of the waxy leaves, this can be difficult.  There are a couple of ways that are recommended to kill greenbriar.

First, if you can untangle the greenbriar from the plant or structure it is attached to, you do that and lay the vine out on the ground.  Carefully paint the leaves with Roundup.  Wait two weeks, then cut the greenbriar at the ground level.  This will have given time for the Roundup to reach the roots and kill the rhizomes and tubers.

It is often impossible to disentangle living greenbriar from the trees or shrubs it is attached to.  In this case, you must cut every vine at ground level and immediately pain the cut vine with Roundup.  The new cut will wick the Roundup to the rhizomes and tubers.  This method is very labor intensive because it is vital you cut every vine and paint it with Roundup.   Miss one vine and you have left a reservoir of food for the rhizomes and tubers and they will spread again.

One of the frustrating things about controlling greenbriar is that it is likely to reoccur in the same place.  If it does so, cut the new shoots and paint them with Roundup.  Repeat this procedure until no more greenbriar comes up in that area.

Source: Weekend Gardener

Gardening

Screen Your Compost

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By Mike the Gardener

Screening your compost is a
good idea. You will be able to filter out many larger items that have
yet to break down which you can easily toss back onto your compost pile.

If you keep a vermicompost bin like I do, then screening is also a great
way to make sure your worms do not end up in your garden.

Worms in your garden are not a bad thing, but you want to keep your worms doing their jobs in your vermicompost bin.

Here are the Step by Step instructions

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Please check out my new book:
Vegetable Gardening for the Averag Person:
A guide to vegetable gardening for the rest of us

available at: http://www.AveragePersonGardening.com

Source: Mike the Gardener

Gardening

How to Make Your Own Soil Block

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By Mike the Gardener

Soil blocks are an excellent
way to keep your plants from experiencing any type of shock during
transplant and are recommended by many gardening experts from around the
globe.

You could go out and buy a soil block maker for $20 to $50, or, with
some basic skills and household items, you could put together one for
under $5.

Here are the Step by Step instructions

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Please check out my new book:
Vegetable Gardening for the Averag Person:
A guide to vegetable gardening for the rest of us

available at: http://www.AveragePersonGardening.com

Source: Mike the Gardener

Gardening

Growing Scented Geraniums

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By Mindy

Scented geraniums are not only beautiful but they also smell wonderful.  They can exist inside and out without much problem and are easy to grow.  Below are basic directions on how to propagate and care for your own scented geranium.

Propagation of scented geraniums can occur through seed and cuttings.  While you will never find scented geranium seeds in a catalogue or nursery, you can harvest your own from heirloom varieties, which include apple, coconut, lemon, old-fashioned rose, and peppermint.  All other varieties are hybrids, which cannot be started from seed and will need to be propagated through stem cuttings.

To harvest your own seeds, you will need to purchase one of the varieties listed above.  Once you have the variety, allow the plant to bloom.  Once the bloom has matured and died, pick the bloom and allow the bloom to dry.  Crush the bloom between your fingers to release the seeds and either plant in a flat of all-purpose potting soil or place in a plastic film canister and store in the refrigerator for later use.

Propagating through stem cuttings starts with a healthy plant.  To begin this process, pick stems that are sturdy and limp-free.  Separate the stem from the plant by cutting it at an angle, making sure that you have at least three leaves on the top of the stem.  Once this is done, remove leave along the stem and cut again.  Then either root the stem cutting in water or dip the cutting into rooting hormone or honey and place in a pot of all-purpose potting soil.  Water in and place in a sunny location.  Monitor the soil moisture so that the planting medium stays evenly moist.

Plant your scented geraniums in dry areas that receive bright sunlight.  Overwatering is a big problem when it comes to this type of geranium so water on with a cautionary hand.

This plant can also be moved indoors when the growing season is over but remember to bring them in before the nighttime temperature dips down below 45 degrees Fahrenheit.  Once inside, place on a sunny windowsill that receives at least four hours of direct sunlight.   If this is a problem, supplement with grow lights.

Scented geraniums are susceptible to aphids, mealybugs, whiteflies, and spider mites.  These can be treated with rubbing alcohol and a hard spray of water.

Source: Weekend Gardener

Gardening

Build Your Own "Peek-A-Bucket" Gardening Planter

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By Mike the Gardener

I came across this project while perusing some Facebook pages, and had to take a closer look. After reading the step by step instructions I just had to share with our gardening community.

I had to share because I think it is a very creative idea and twist to
container gardening, and I know many of you out there love to grow a lot
things in containers (me included).

Here are the Step by Step instructions

===========

Please check out my new book:
Vegetable Gardening for the Averag Person:
A guide to vegetable gardening for the rest of us

available at: http://www.AveragePersonGardening.com

Source: Mike the Gardener