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Showing 11041 - 11070 of 20087 comments

Yacon (also Sunroot) 27 Apr, David Donald (Australia - cool/mountain climate): I have some plants. If you email me I am happy to share some tubers. I am in Hobart but can probably get some to Launceston.
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Asparagus Pea (also Winged pea) 10 Dec, (Australia - temperate climate): I have been trying to grow winged beans, hav tried 3 lots of seed from different sources, some soaked before planting, some not, different times of year and different places in the garden, all places have other plants quite happy but NO WINGED BEANS! Anyone got ideas about what I might be doing wrong? It's been very dry but I water regularly and as I said all my other plants are doing quite well.
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Asparagus Pea (also Winged pea) 15 Dec, Paul (Australia - arid climate): Bean seeds hate too much water! Bean plants love water! Prep your bed, plant seed a finger nuckle deep, FLOOD WATER ONCE and leave till they germinate. Once all seed is up sweet mulch and keep moist, not wet. Wet is when you stick your finger into the soil and it comes out muddy, moist is when you do the same thing but grains of dirt attatch to your finger and feels cool.
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Zucchini (also Courgette/Marrow, Summer squash) 10 Dec, Ray pollard (Australia - temperate climate): My zucchini keep going rotten before there ready to pick, why?
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Zucchini (also Courgette/Marrow, Summer squash) 28 Dec, Tony (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I was told recently that to help with the end rot that you mention. The trick seems to be to pick off the flower on the end of the fruit as soon as it begins to wilt/ wither.
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Rockmelon (also Canteloupe) 10 Dec, San (Australia - temperate climate): Hi All, I am looking for Indian long melon (Lauki) and bitter gourd seeds. Does anyone have them? I am happy to share the seeds I have with me. Thank you, San
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Brussels sprouts 09 Dec, (Australia - temperate climate): Hi I am from melbourne. I put the seeds in the mid of March and they are 1 meter tall now but no sprouts yet. Tiny balls appear between the nodes and with few days they flower up. Its been 8 months now. Please suggest what to be done
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Strawberry Plants 09 Dec, mary (Australia - temperate climate): lovely beds of mix strawberries growing in Perth W.A mostly hanging over a retaining wall and producing fruit. Snail pellet have been put down but I am now finding that the strawberries that have matured to be picked are now disappearing .Are birds the answer or white butterflies .Any help will be great. Thank you.Mary
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Strawberry Plants 16 Dec, Paul (Australia - arid climate): If they are not being taken by snails and slugs the next culprit is birds. Butterflys are no bother. Foil small birds with some fine extracted bird mesh, just throw over the top and after a couple of tries getting into your strawberries and getting tangled they will give up. Bigger birds are more problematic as they don't care about the mesh on the ground so you might have to put stakes in the ground to keep the mesh suspended, that'll stop them!
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Rhubarb 08 Dec, Jo (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate): Boiling rhubarb is an excellent way of cleaning a saucepan with absolutely no effort
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Basil 08 Dec, Prometheus (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Here's a quick tip for dealing with slug and snail damage to basil plants, if that is a problem for you (seems to always happen to me). Make a large spray container's worth of coffee up - you can use instant or ground. Then, add a very small squirt of dishwashing liquid to the bottle and give it a good shake. Sprayed liberally on plants, this makes for an excellent snail and slug repellent (although you do have to reapply after rain / overhead watering). I have lost more basil seedlings than you would believe this year due to a snail / slug army; this is the only way I have managed to have some left for the kitchen. Another item you can buy, which is probably even more effective against slugs / snails, is a product called copper tape. You just tape around the perimeter of your containers or raised beds, and they will stay well away - it gives them something akin to an electric shock. On the downside, it is quite expensive to purchase, even from ebay.
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Basil 15 Dec, dave (Australia - temperate climate): use 30 cm of copper wire and fashion into a horseshoe this will increase the growth of the plant as well as keeping insects away from it. research lahkovsky machine to understand how this works
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Basil 12 Nov, trish (Australia - temperate climate): Do you think the copper would work with black millipedes? (Or do you reckon with all their little legs there would be insufficient deterant?)
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Silverbeet (also Swiss Chard or Mangold) 08 Dec, bill (Australia - temperate climate): I grow all my vegetables in 200liter drums which I have cut into 3sections . I use lucerne chaff and cow manure which I mix to togeather . I find silverbeet growes very well in the rich mixture along wih all my other vegetabls .
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Tomato 07 Dec, Prometheus (Australia - cool/mountain climate): I am just wondering if anyone has any tips about varieties of tomatoes that are not troubled by birds. In my area of residence there is an abundance of both native birds and introduced species such as Starlings. They have already devastated my yellow raspberry plant, which was not netted - I was testing out the common gardening myth that birds are attracted to red fruits rather than yellows. I have often heard that yellow tomatoes are less attractive for them, but I wonder if anyone can confirm whether this is true from their personal experience.
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Tomato 28 Jan, Jules (Australia - temperate climate): Hi there......nope...the king parrots in my area have devoured all of our yellow grape tomatoes...................love any type of cherry tomato and feed on the green unripe ones as well :(
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Tomato 09 Dec, Bert (Australia - temperate climate): I have lots of native birds and lots of starlings (they seem to die suddenly) None of the birds bother my tomatoes, not even my chooks which hate being dive bombed by the wattle birds.
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Tomato 25 Dec, Prometheus (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Thanks for your reply Bert. Glad that birds are not an issue for you - hopefully will be the same for me once all the tomatoes ripen. I have heard a lot about bird problems from gardeners in the USA but it sounds like it may be specific to birds from North America (especially Mockingbirds).
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Tomato 30 Dec, Ernie (Australia - temperate climate): I don't think the bird problem is just from specific North American, I live in Wollongong, and my tomatoes get eaten every year fro the time they are small green until they ripen by mostly King parrots, actually have a video of one eating my cherry tomatoes when they were still green. Another bird I have a problem with is green and resembles a minor bird, but bigger actually eats the plants and leaves which are supposed to be poisonous. Go figure.
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Shallots (also Eschalots) 07 Dec, Sean (South Africa - Semi-arid climate): These are from holland though so not sure if they are radiated. (woolies url here)/store/prod/Food/Food/Fruit-Vegetables-Salads/Fresh-Vegetables/Other-Speciality/French-Shallots-500g/_/A-6009182207966
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Okra (also Ladyfinger, gumbo) 06 Dec, John (Australia - temperate climate): Dear friends, I recently bought two okra samplings and transplanted them in two different pot of size 34 -36cms with organic potting mix. Can anyone please help me by saying how much should I water fail and the bottom leaf is turning yellow. I belong to Sunshine coast. I true tomato and its dead so I don't want my okra to die as well. Please help.
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Okra (also Ladyfinger, gumbo) 13 Feb, Lyndy (Australia - temperate climate): Hello. I was,wondering how successful you have been with the okra. I bought a well established plant today and planted in my no dig raised garden beds. it gets full sun late morning until late afternoon. I water my veg patch every might during summer.
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Okra (also Ladyfinger, gumbo) 17 Dec, Kevin (Australia - temperate climate): I grow Okra from seeds but if they get too wet the roots rot and plants die. Important not to have plants in pots that are too big for same reason. As plants grow I transplant from small too larger pots thus preventing root rot. It's important to give enough water to keep compost damp but not to over water. I water when I notice the surface of compost is drying out
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Cucumber 06 Dec, garry mcleod (Australia - temperate climate): Hi, Approximately one month ago I planted some cystal apple cucumbers which are thriving, however, I have noticed that something is eating the leaves and there seems to be some small dot larvi in the leaves. Can I spray them with white oil? Do I need something stronger to kill them but not harm the plant? Regards Garry
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Cucumber 11 Dec, Bill (Australia - temperate climate): you can use tomato dust to get rid of any grubs that may be eating the leaves, it will not hurt the plant, just remember to wash it before you eat it. i grow them here in the deep south of nsw, they grow fast and i use liquid fertiliser onces a week when they have there fruit on them.
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Cucumber 16 Jan, olly (Australia - temperate climate): no don't use tomato dust it says specifically on the package not to use on cucumbers it is also harmful to bees which do the pollinating. if its caterpillars try just picking them off if it's white fly it can be hard I just try keeping their numbers down by picking the worst leaves off and giving the rest a good high pressure squirt with the hose
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Cucumber 06 Dec, frank glennon (Australia - tropical climate): I have 2 cucumber plants which are about 2 feet high with plenty of flowers I have picked 2 about 4ii long but now all my leaves have gone prickly and brown/yellow what should I do
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Cucumber 17 Dec, Paul (Australia - arid climate): Keep the watering at the base, not on the plant or mildew will set in. I mulch around the three seeds I've planted in a shallow depression to hold the water (arid here remember), thin to two and as the vines spread move them clockwise around itself to keep compact and to aid flower fertilisation and fruit development till it looks like a green pyramid or cone. Every year I get great Apple and Lebanese cucumbers using this method. Forgot where your seeds are germinating from? Jam a stake in the ground at the source so you can throw the hose into it.
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Jerusalem Artichokes (also Sunchoke) 05 Dec, michelle (South Africa - Dry summer sub-tropical climate): I've never seen them in the supermarkets...where can I buy them?
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Spinach (also English spinach) 05 Dec, John (Australia - temperate climate): Good idea to go out at night with a bright torch. I found an advancing army of slugs and snails sliding across the the dewey wet lawn heading to the vege patch. I just use a little hand spade and chop them in half. After several nights of disposing of up to 20 a night they are now almost non existent. It's good fun . . . hehehe.
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