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Can You Plant Tomatoes with Potatoes? It seems logical that you could plant tomato plants next to potatoes since they are in the same family. It is okay to plant tomatoes near potatoes. The operative word here is “near.” Because both tomatoes and potatoes are in the same family, they are also susceptible to some of the same diseases. These solanaceous crops host fungi that cause Fusarium and Verticillium wilt, which spread throughout the soil....

How to Water a Tree It pays to learn how to water a tree, including where to put the water, what time of day you should be irrigating trees, and how much water is necessary. Although everyone knows that young, newly planted trees require regular water, it’s easy to overlook the needs of mature trees. The idea of watering trees is to get moisture into the soil that a tree’s roots can access....

Indoor Hydroponic Garden So what is an indoor hydroponic garden anyway? In simple terms, hydroponics is a method of plant cultivation in which the roots attain their nutrients from water instead of soil. The roots are supported in a medium such as gravel, pebbles or clay. The water, which contains plant nutrients and is properly pH balanced, is circulated around the roots by an electric pump system, or by a wicking system....

Using Cover Crops to Improve Clay Soil Clay soil is problematic for gardeners since it is heavy and doesn’t allow water to drain through easily. Many common garden crops and ornamentals require well-draining soil for the best growth. Clay soil has advantages as well as disadvantages. Unlike sandy soil, it holds whatever water and nutrients come its way, but it is heavily goopy when wet and hard as bricks when dry....

Washington Hawthorn Information If you are thinking of growing a Washington hawthorn, you’ll find a lot to love in this native deciduous tree. It offers fragrant spring flowers that attract butterflies and bright fruit called haws that wild birds love. These hawthorns are also lovely in autumn. The green foliage blazes into shade of orange, scarlet, crimson, and purple. Washington hawthorn trees don’t get taller than 30 feet (9 m.). Cultivated specimens can be considerably shorter....

Experimental Garden Info What is a demonstration garden? Imagine it as a field trip for gardeners. Depending upon the theme or situation being studied, these sites are developed to highlight plant types, care, sustainable practices, vegetable growing, and much more. Other demo garden uses might be to test out different varieties of plants, or to show attendees how to garden using specific growing methods, such as hugelkultur. Who puts together experimental garden plots?...

What is a Mulato Pepper? Ancho, pasilla, and mulato chili peppers are known as the “Holy Trinity” of the classic Mexican sauce mole. Originating from a region of Mexico known as the “Land of the Seven Moles,” mole is a traditional Mexican sauce served for Cinco de Mayo, weddings, and other special occasions; the recipe usually contains ten or more ingredients, which can vary by region. However, it is reported that the use of this “Holy Trinity” of ancho, pasilla, and mulato chili peppers has been used in mole recipes since the Pre-Colombian era....

What to Do When Your Pepper Drops the Flower Bud In order to fix this common problem, it helps to understand the various causes. Once you figure out why there are no flowers on pepper plants or why the buds drop off, it’s much easier to remedy the issue and encourage pepper flower production, which is required for healthy pepper yields. Bell Pepper Plants: Buds Drying Up, No Pepper Blossoms Of the different reasons for the lack of flowering or bud drop on pepper plants, the most common include the following: Temperature....

Why Won’t My Lilac Bush Bloom? There are several possible answers to this question, but pruning may be the key. Lilacs bloom on last year’s growth, so it’s important to prune them immediately after they’ve finished blooming in spring. If you wait until summer, fall, or winter to prune a lilac, you could be removing buds that would otherwise bloom the following spring. Try to do just a light pruning right after the spring bloom....

Can You Compost Soap? Keen to keep our Earth green and healthy? The compost pile is an effective way to reduce your waste and reuse it for all its glorious benefits. Soap scraps get too small to use easily and are often discarded, which begs the question, is soap bad for compost? It seems logical that something you deem safe enough to cleanse your body with should be ok to go into the garden heap....

Removing Chinese Lantern Weeds Despite their whimsical appeal, Chinese lantern control can at best be challenging and even frustrating. This is because the plant grows from rhizomes. Trying to manually remove it may leave behind even a tiny piece of root which is all this plant needs to regrow. Many gardeners resort to glyphosate or other chemicals to manage Chinese lantern weeds. However, if you are determined enough, there are non-chemical methods you can use to conquer this persistent plant....

Why Are My Tomato’s Seeds Sprouting? It can be quite alarming when you cut into a tomato and see little squiggly green or white things amongst the seeds. At first glance, many people assume these are worms. However, usually upon closer inspection, these stringy, squiggly formations will actually turn out to be seeds sprouting inside a tomato fruit. This premature germination of seeds is known as vivipary, which means “live birth” in Latin....

Keep in mind that most brightly colored houseplants need light to bring out the colors, so they may not be the best choice for a shady corner or dark room. On the other hand, beware of intense sunlight that can scorch and fade the leaves. If you’re looking for striking houseplants that make a statement, the following plants should pique your interest. Bright And Bold Houseplants Crotons (Croton variegatum) are brightly colored houseplants that are bound to stand out....

Tips for Growing Rain Lilies Also known as Zephyr lily and fairy lily, growing rain lilies are petite, reaching no more than a foot (30 cm.) in height and rarely getting that tall. Pink, yellow and white crocus-like flowers bloom from late spring through late summer, sometimes earlier during rainy seasons. Multiple flowers bloom on each stem. This plant is hardy is USDA Zones 7-11. A member of the Amaryllidaceae family, tips are the same for growing rain lilies as for growing the crinum lily, the Lycoris lily and even the common indoor-grown amaryllis of the same family....

How to Plant Chives from Divisions Divisions are the most common way to plant chives. Find an established clump of chives in early spring or mid fall. Gently dig the clump and pull away a smaller clump from the main clump. The smaller clump should have at least five to ten bulbs. Transplant this small clump to the desired location in your garden where you will be growing chives. How to Plant Chives from Seeds While chives are frequently grown from divisions, they are just as easy to start from seeds....

Ramblers are the most vigorous climbing rose varieties. Their long canes can grow as much as 20 feet (6 m.) in one year, and the flowers appear on clusters. Trailing climbers are smaller but still capable of covering a trellis or arch, and they usually feature abundant flowers. For almost every color and flower characteristic that you can find in other roses, you can find the same among roses that climb....

About Sick Bottlebrush Plants Gardeners love bottlebrush plants (Callisteman spp.) for their brilliant, blood-red flowers, evergreen foliage, and easy-care ways. These shrubs are so vital that they can become invasive if left to their own devices. But that doesn’t mean that you won’t have to deal with a few diseases that attack these bushes. If you know the signs of different bottlebrush diseases, you’ll be able to jump right into a bottlebrush disease treatment....

Common Kiwi Fruit Pests Below are the most common types of insect pests that affect kiwi plants. Leafrollers – Leafroller caterpillars are considered minor pests of kiwi, but the pests can take a toll when they feed on the fruit. Avoid chemicals, as these may kill beneficial insects, like tachinid flies and parasitic wasps, which prey on leafrollers. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a safe, non-toxic treatment. Pheromone traps are also an effective means of control....

Information About Fragrant Conifers While it is not always obvious, there are several conifers with a fruity fragrance. Not the same fragrance, but some as varied as pineapple and sassafras. Mostly it’s the needles that contain the secondary smell and must be crushed to get to the fruity fragrance. Others retain scent in their wood and you may not recognize it until you’re near one being sawed up. Sometimes, bark is the source of the smell....

Cover Crop Advantages and Disadvantages As mentioned above, there are both cover crop advantages and disadvantages. More often, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, hence more farmers and home gardeners alike are turning to the use of cover cropping. First of all, the planting of dense cover crop stands slows down the velocity of rainfall, which prevents erosive runoff. Also, their interwoven root systems help anchor the soil and increase porosity, creating a welcoming habitat for soil macrofauna....