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Biggest Hot Pepper Pests Glorious hot chilies and spicy peppers add punch to a host of recipes. Fruit with holes or shredded leaves though can compromise your crop. What’s eating hot pepper plants? Mammals and birds usually avoid such spicy fare, but insects don’t seem to mine the capsaicin laced peppers. There are several pepper plant bugs that can spell serious problems to your pepper harvest. Probably the number one hot pepper plant insects are the pepper weevils and pepper hornworms....

How to Grow Tuberose Indoors Fill a container halfway with good quality, well-drained potting soil. The container should be at least 6 inches (15 cm.) across and must have a drainage hole in the bottom. Water the potting soil well and set it aside to drain until it feels moist, but not saturated. Set the tuberose bulb on the potting soil, then add and adjust potting soil until the top of the bulb is about 3 or 4 inches (8-10 cm....

Can I Plant Grocery Store Green Onions? Almost all of us are trying to save money, especially on our food bills. Most of us are also trying to avoid waste. Growing your own produce from the throw-away bits is a winning team-up of the two goals. You may wonder, can I plant grocery store green onions? This is just one of the types of veggies that will produce fresh, usable produce in short order....

Want to learn how to prune cantaloupe vines? Read on to learn how to prune a cantaloupe plant. Should you Prune Cantaloupe? As mentioned, pruning cantaloupe plants isn’t absolutely necessary and, in fact, the more leaves that remain on the vine the sweeter the fruit. That said, cutting back cantaloupe plants results in fewer fruit which enables the plant to put all of its energy into a scant few, resulting in larger melons....

When New Soil in Containers is Necessary When is it time to completely replace potting soil? Sometimes simply refreshing potting mix isn’t enough and you need to replace old potting mix with fresh mix. Consider the following: Are your plants healthy? If your plants haven’t been thriving or if the potting soil is compacted and no longer retains moisture, the mix is probably depleted and should be replaced. Healthy potting mix should be loose and fluffy....

How Do Onions Grow? Many people wonder, how do onions grow? Onions (Allium cepa) are part of the Allium family and are related to garlic and chives. Onions grow in layers, which are essentially an extension of the leaves of the onion. The more leaves that are out of the top of the onion, the more inside the onion layers there are, meaning that if you see lots of leaves, you know you are growing big onions....

First-quarter moon cycle (new moon to half full) – Things that are leafy, like lettuce, cabbage, and spinach, should be planted. Second-quarter moon cycle (half full to full moon) – Planting time for things that have seeds inside, like tomatoes, beans, and peppers. Third-quarter moon cycle (full moon to half full) – Things that grow underground or plants that are perennials, like potatoes, garlic, and raspberries, can be planted. Fourth-quarter moon cycle (half full to new moon) – Do not plant....

About Meadow Garlic Plants Meadow garlic (Allium canadense), also referred to as wild onion, is a common weedy plant found throughout the Midwest and eastern United States. Forming loose mounds of leaves that somewhat resemble grass, the foliage of these plants is very similar to that of other members of the Allium family which are cultivated in vegetable gardens (such as onions and chives). Perennial in nature, plants first become noticeable in the spring and, left to their own devices, go on to produce flowers in the summer, though many people don’t notice them since they’re often treated as weeds and removed before having a chance to bloom....

Gardeners seeking jimsonweed information before new seeds scatter are at a distinct advantage in the battle against this beautiful, but treacherous plant. What is Jimsonweed? Jimsonweed (Datura stramonium) is a smelly, but lovely, plant that’s native to India. It was introduced by colonists as they traveled across the country – the first settlers to notice this weed growing were at Jamestown. Several groups used the poisonous plant tissues and juices for medicinal purposes, including treating burns, coughs and as a painkiller....

About Plants Ducks Can’t Eat Well-fed ducks aren’t likely to munch on plants that are dangerous to them. Most ducks can usually tell by the first taste which plants they shouldn’t eat, as the first bite tastes bitter. Many common ornamentals we grow in the landscape are actually bad for ducks to eat. Rhododendrons, yew, and wisteria are among a few plants harmful to ducks. Anything of the nightshade family is suspect, although in some cases it is just the leaves....

What is a Plant Sucker? You’re probably thinking, “What is a plant sucker?” Essentially, a plant sucker is an effort by the tree to grow more branches, especially if the tree is under stress, but you have taken perfect care of your plant and it wasn’t under any stress. Besides, that does not explain why your tree has suddenly switched varieties. Chances are, your tree is actually two trees spliced or grafted together....

About Japanese Weeping Maples The scientific name of Japanese weeping maples is Acer palmatum var. dissectum, of which there are several cultivars. The weeping variety is both delicate and supple, bearing the lacy leaves on branches that bend gracefully toward the ground. The leaves of Japanese weeping maple trees are deeply dissected, much more so than regular Japanese maples with erect growth habits. For that reason, Japanese weeping maple trees are sometimes called laceleafs....

Can You Grow a Lemon Tree From Seed? Yes, indeed. Propagating lemon seeds is a relatively easy process, although you may need to pack your patience and realize that you may not get the exact same lemon from your experiment in lemon seed propagation. Commercially grafted citrus trees are identical to the parent tree and fruit within two to three years. However, trees produced via seed are not carbon copies of the parent and may take five or more years to fruit, with the resulting fruit generally inferior to those of the parent....

What is Crown Rust in Oats? Crown rust on oats is caused by the fungus Puccinia coronata var. avenae. The amount and severity of the infection varies depending on weather conditions, number of spores present, and percentage of susceptible varieties planted. Symptoms of Oats with Crown Rust Crown rust in oats manifests as early as late April. The first symptoms are tiny, scattered, bright orange pustules on the leaves. These pustules may also appear on the leaf sheaths, stems and panicles....

It’s then you may wonder: Can I paint raised beds? If you paint a raised garden bed, that color helps enliven the space the year round. But there can be issues with painted raised beds. Read on for the whole scoop. Can You Paint Raised Beds? You expect a yes or no answer when you ask: “can I paint raised beds?” But there are a lot more considerations than you might think....

Pin Oak Information Native east of the Mississippi River and hardy in zones 4-8, Quercus palustris, or pin oak, is a large full, ovate shaped tree. With a growth rate of 24 inches (61 cm.) or more per year, it is one of the faster growing oak trees. Tolerant of wet soils, pin oak trees usually grow 60-80 feet (18.5 to 24.5 m.) high and 25-40 feet (7.5 to 12 m....

Companions for Blackberries Blackberries are not picky plants. They grow well in a fairly wide range of climates and tolerate different soil conditions as long as their planting site drains well, and the soil contains sufficient nitrogen. This tolerance gives gardeners flexibility in picking companion plants for blackberry bushes. Some gardeners use blackberries as understory plants. Although blackberries produce best in full sun, they also grow in shade. If you are thinking of tree planting near blackberries, consider white oak (Quercus alba) or Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii)....

Are There Flowers Bees Don’t Like? If you are searching for flowering plants that repel bees, or flowers bees don’t like, you may be disappointed. There aren’t too many. In fact, most flowers go to great lengths to make themselves attractive to passing bees. Bees are essential for pollination. Without pollination, flowers don’t produce the seeds that will grow into next year’s plants. Flowers need bees to survive. That’s why you’re unlikely to find many, if any, flowering plants that repel bees....

Gardening with Plastic Pipes PVC pipes in the garden may seem counter to the idea of natural environments and growing plants, but why not use this sturdy material? Especially if you have access to used pipes that are only going to be thrown away, turn them into useful garden implements, beds, and accessories. In addition to the PVC pipes, all you really need to accomplish most of these plastic pipe garden projects is a drill, a tool that will cut the thick plastic, and any decorative materials you want to make the industrial plastic look pretty....

Learn About Different Types Of Ranunculus Flowers Though learning to grow ranunculus is relatively simple, there are some plant traits you will need to consider. Most importantly of those is the selection of the right ranunculus variety. Learning more about the various types of ranunculus available is essential to ensure the best results. Outlined below is a list of common ranunculus varieties used in the production of cut flowers. Ranunculus asiaticus More commonly known as buttercups, there are actually over 2000 different species of ranunculus....