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Potato 08 Mar, John Mauger (Australia - temperate climate): Frost is the bane of potatoes. Give it a go by planting some seed potatoes or small pieces every few weeks. I have had potatoes growing amongst shrubs even in winter. Find the warmest, or most sheltered spot with the most sun for cool season planting. All the best.
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Yacon (also Sunroot) 07 Feb, Dylinda Matiga (Australia - tropical climate): The title of this blog is 'growen yacon in tropical Australia I am in tropical Philippines I thought tropical is tropical I am confused. Soil temperature here is never 50 degrees FH, nor do we get Frost's My question is... How would l grow it in a Frost free tropical climate where the soil temperature rarely drops lower than 85 farenhite As we don't get frosts, will it die off or produce flowers and yacon all year, Can it even grow in a Frost free tropical climate. How can I treat it like an annual and a perrinial everywhere else I just bought one and ? Thanks to whoever can helpme
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Yacon (also Sunroot) 08 Feb, John Mauger (Australia - tropical climate): If you refer to the growing notes for Yacon on this site you will find your answer. Yacon should grow in the Philippines The temperature guide can be read in Fahrenheit or Celsius. Just click on it for one or the other. All the best.
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Yacon (also Sunroot) 07 Feb, Mike (Australia - tropical climate): Tropical climate describes certain weather conditions whether it is Australia, China or Asia. Look at the planting guide April to July. Then read the article - warm/hot climates it is perennial. read the notes here.
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Watermelon 07 Feb, Laura g Gatt (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Hi hope you can help me, I live in Sydney. I have huge Vine of watermelon lots of flowers but no fruit very few bees thanks regards Laura
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Watermelon 08 Feb, John Mauger (Australia - temperate climate): Watermelons, cucumbers, squash, and zucchini's all have both male and female flowers on the same vine. For some unexplained reason some plants produce lots of male flowers and few female flowers. The male flowers have a longer spindly stem and the female flowers have an unformed fruit at the base of the flower. If you have female flowers and fruit are not forming it would indicate a lack of pollination by bees or other insects. If you pick some male flowers and remove the petals you can hand pollinate the flowers by putting the male flower, minus the petals, into the female flower to transfer pollen and fertilise the flower. You could use a couple of male flowers with each female flower to ensure that the pollen is ripe. leave a few male flowers on the plant for subsequent flowering. If there are few or no female flowers you can only wait and hope that some appear. Trust this helps.
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Watermelon 07 Feb, Anonymous of Bundaberg (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Read up about hand pollinating. Have to do in the morning before lunch.
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Parsnip 05 Feb, Carolyn (Australia - temperate climate): I know parsnip seed should be fresh and have successfully grown parsnip from my own seed . I have let some parsnip go to seed for bees and seed this year but next to them is the fennel which also went to seed . Does anyone know if they cross pollinate? I don't want to waste space if this is so.
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Parsnip 07 Feb, John Mauger (Australia - temperate climate): fennel is in the Apiacea family. parsnip is from the Pastinaca family. There isn't any evidence that they can cross pollinate even though they are Umbelliferous plants. (flowers in umbels, like an umbrella). Trust this helps.
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Parsnip 23 Feb, Carolyn Dixen (Australia - temperate climate): Thankyou, I will try my seed and hope the parsnips don't taste like fennel.
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Lettuce 25 Jan, (Australia - temperate climate): Hi, when you say lettuce needs sunlight, does that have to be direct sunlight or can it be under a patio shelter that has a clear plastic roof? My veggie patch is in full sun, a very hot spot and they always bolt quickly, so I would like to try them out of direct sun, but in a bright area and easy access for keeping on top of the watering. Do you think this would still work? Thanks.
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Lettuce 09 Jan, John Doe (Australia - arid climate): Yes, lettuce can grow well in indirect sunlight under a patio shelter. Ensure the area is bright and evenly watered.
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Lettuce 28 Feb, Rob (Australia - temperate climate): Get some short garden stakes and peg some thick shade cloth to them. On really hot days, this saved ALL of my lettuce and only cost a few dollars.
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Lettuce 04 Feb, Celeste Archer (Canada - Zone 7b Mild Temperate climate): Most clear plastic is considered direct sunlight - unless there are special filters in the plastic. That is to say, if the only thing between your lettuce and the sun is regular clear plastic, you should be fine. As and FYI there are multiple categories: 1. Direct sunlight - some plants require direct sunlight on their leaves 2. BRIGHT shade; for example when I lived in a Condo, my balcony had no direct sunlight, but because the buildings beside my building had huge glass windows I had VERY bright shade and could grow most full sun potted plants. This also applies to living near the water, where the sun gets reflected-- MOST full sun plants are fine with REFLECTED light but not all. This could also be a a very sunny field, with shade cast from one building, chances are good that would be very bright shade 3. Sun/Shade with all its variations 4. Light shade and 5. Deep shade like the middle of a dense forest. I see no reason why you could not grow SOME of your veggies in the bright shade. I find that many plants labelled full sun, are not. For example: strawberries are generally labelled full sun. However, strawberries TEND to grow naturally in the shade of other plants: woodland or forest floor, in meadows shaded by other plants. I've noticed that any of my strawberries that get full sun tend to have burnt leaves, and the best yielding strawberry plants are in a cool predominately shady areas. I suspect that planting your plants that tend to bolt in a cooler shadier area would be very helpful. I've even grown cherry tomatoes in very bright shade with great success.
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Lettuce 28 Jan, Anonymous of Bundaberg (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Without sunlight plants become thin weak and spindly. There are varieties to grow in summer and others to grow in Autumn Winter. I generally don't grow things from end of Nov to end of Feb because of the heat and summer conditions - heavy rain and wind.
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Lettuce 04 Feb, Smithy (Australia - tropical climate): Lettuce struggles in heat. Finding the balance is not easy but all plants need sun
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Lettuce 02 Feb, John Mauger (Australia - temperate climate): Lettuce grows best in cooler conditions. Varieties of lettuce that are grown in the summer (Great Lakes, etc) tend to be coarser textured and not quite as sweet as varieties grown in cooler weather. Because they are a leaf vegetable and not a 'fruit' vegetable they will tolerate less light. Morning sun up until late morning would be fine. Too much shade will make them weak and spindly. Trust this helps.
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Lettuce 04 Feb, Smithy (Australia - tropical climate): Shadecloth covers assist in growing. Keep up the water.
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Ginger 24 Jan, Mssashi Ura (Australia - tropical climate): I just discovered lots of curl grubs in ginger roots when I replanted them because they are not going well. Is there any method to prevent curl grubs? Neem oil works but is not suitable for edible plants.
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Ginger 03 May, Jody Essenhigh (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Neem can definitely be used on edibles and is widely used in organic farming. You can get eco neem as well.
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Ginger 04 Feb, Smithy (Australia - tropical climate): Neem oil should help. They don't like water, keep garden or lawns moist.
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Ginger 27 Jan, Anonymous (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Use Condy's crystals. Something like tea spoon in 1-2l of water.
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Ginger 20 Jan, Mosushi (Australia - tropical climate): I have been growing ginger in rectangular pot (20cm deep, 20cm X20cm width). It has been growing but lately some of leaves turned yellow and the plan is not growing well. I moved the pot to an area with more shade because I thought it was getting too much sun but leaves are still turning yellow. The soil is almost always moist or wet so I don't think there is shortage of water. I just want to know what is the reason of poor growth. The pot was initially filled with good potting mix which should last 6 months. Do I need to give liquid fertilizer or something? If so, how much should I give?
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Ginger 24 Jan, Anonymous (Australia - sub-tropical climate): If in pots they need more regular fertilising, Go by the label.
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Radish 19 Jan, Warren (Australia - temperate climate): I always grow radish but often let them get too fibrey. I let some go to seed, amd found my sugarbag bees loved them. I then let them go to seed and found the young, tender seed pods are tastier than the radish itself, and you get far more output as they seed like crazy. Pickling the pods also works well, so now I grow them for the seed pods, and the bees. I recommend trying it
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Radish 20 Jan, (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Pick your radish when they have grown to the right size and put them down in the veggie section of fridge - they will keep for weeks. They are more a late autumn winter early spring crop in sub tropics.
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Radish 20 Jan, Celeste Archer (Canada - Zone 7b Mild Temperate climate): What kind of radishes are you growing?
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Chilli peppers (also Hot peppers) 10 Jan, Keith (Australia - temperate climate): I am currently growing Carolina reaper plants. I also have ordered Scotch bonnet Ghost and chili x seeds. I live in warmer climes most of the year in Queensland.
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Cucumber 09 Jan, Trina Richmond (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I live on the Gold Coast, and have been growing mad hatter capsicum successfully for about three years now, and grape/cherry tomatoes about the same but not very much fruit. This year I planted continental cucumbers. The plant grew very large in about two weeks, (5 foot+), and the leaves are huge, but I have only had 4 fruits and the leaves are being eaten so badly that they look like a very thin, worn out, see through piece of material. This past month for some reason every capsicum, yellow, green and mad hatter, all produced rotten fruit, and I ripped out the plants, except the cucumber. What has caused this? I may have over fertilised.. Also all plants are producing a lot of yellow leaves, especially the tomatoes.
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Cucumber 12 Jan, Celeste Archer (Canada - Zone 7b Mild Temperate climate): I forgot to mention: as part of my previous reply; that the insects are eating your plant because it is stressed. That is, insects USUALLY attack/eat plants that are NOT healthy..... plants that are deteriorating are easily digestible. It's part of the natural process; the insects help breakdown a plant that is dying, rather than the insects killing the plant. So focusing on the insects may again, be misleading. Clearly, if you're trying to save the plant, you will need to get rid of the insects....but in MOST cases the insects are not the root cause of your issue.
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