While most of the US is still seeing sweltering hot temps, the cool temps of fall and winter aren’t really all that far away for those of us unlucky (or lucky) enough to not live in a tropical climate. The tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and other warm-season crops planted back at the beginning of summer are still puttering along, even if they might be getting a little long in the tooth and starting to look a little worse for wear ( especially if disease has ravaged them). … Continue reading this article “Counting the Days to Maturity: Calculating planting dates for fall vegetables”
Category: Vegetables
Water: Garden Friend….and Foe? – Water, Relative Humidity, and Plant Diseases
We all know that water is essential for life and that we have to ensure our landscapes, gardens, and houseplants all have a sufficient supply of the stuff. Forget to water your garden during a hot, dry spell and it could mean disaster for your plants. But water can also create issues for plants, usually when it is in an overabundance – water helps spread and develop diseases on foliage and excess soil moisture can damage roots, creating opportunities for root rots and other diseases. … Continue reading this article “Water: Garden Friend….and Foe? – Water, Relative Humidity, and Plant Diseases”
SUPER Thriving Lettuce?
The Garden Professors have previously written about the ubiquitous garden center product, SUPERthrive, here and here. The manufacturer claims a plethora of beneficial uses for SUPERthrive —everything from Christmas tree care to turf to hydroponics. They claim SUPERthrive will “revive stressed plants and produce abundant yields” and that it “encourages the natural building blocks that plants make for themselves when under the best conditions” thus “fortifying growth from the inside out,” but I know of no body of rigorous, peer-reviewed literature to support any of those claims (1, 2, 3, 4).… Continue reading this article “SUPER Thriving Lettuce?”
Tiny plants that pack a flavor and nutrition punch: getting in on the microgreen trend
If you do any searching for gardening (or even think about the color green), you’re likely bombarded with adds on social media and search engines about all stuff gardening. One of the recent trends is microgreen production. There’s all kinds of fancy little systems and gizmos that will help you grow microgreens for a price. But what are microgreens? Are they the same thing as sprouts? And do they have the same food safety issues as sprouts? … Continue reading this article “Tiny plants that pack a flavor and nutrition punch: getting in on the microgreen trend”
Planning Ahead (in a pandemic) for Vegetable Garden Success
Looking back to January 2020, most of us would have never imagined the year we’ve had. All of our best laid plans went away and instead we socially distanced, scavenged for toilet paper, and canceled events and vacations. But one thing that wasn’t canceled was gardening. By June, garden retail sales had increased 8.79% over the average, a big jump for a trend that was already showing increased gardening over the last few years. Wanting to grow food to ensure a safe food supply was one reason gardening increased this year, but it also served as away for people break the boredom of being stuck at home. … Continue reading this article “Planning Ahead (in a pandemic) for Vegetable Garden Success”
Hydroponics for the Holidays? Home Systems are a hot holiday gift list item
Systems to grow fresh produce in your home using hydroponics or other automatic processes have been popular for several years but seem to be even more popular this year with more folks home and looking for something to do and hoping to produce their own food. As a result, these systems are popping up on holiday wish lists and gift buying guides all over the internet. But are they worth it? And if so, what should you look for in a system? … Continue reading this article “Hydroponics for the Holidays? Home Systems are a hot holiday gift list item”
The complicated issue of heavy metals in residential soils, part 1: What are toxic heavy metals, and where do they come from?
So many of us are growing our own vegetables – either as experienced home gardeners or as COVID19-isolated novices. There is a lot of effort in figuring out garden beds, vegetable choices, and growing medium – but one of the issues rarely considered is whether there are heavy metals present in the local soil and/or growing medium. We can’t see heavy metals, or smell them, so we need to have a way of assessing their presence before we plant edibles.… Continue reading this article “The complicated issue of heavy metals in residential soils, part 1: What are toxic heavy metals, and where do they come from?”
Smashing Pumpkin Myths: Bleaching to extend shelf (and porch) life
Scrolling through social media in September and October and you may see those basic signs of the season: scarves, pumpkin spice lattes, sweaters, and Halloween ideas galore. One of those Halloween ideas is to extend the life of your pumpkins, carved or otherwise, by giving them a treatment with household bleach. Keep scrolling and you might see another post decrying the use of bleach as inhumane and poisoning for wildlife. So which is it? Is bleach safe to use as a sanitizer on your jack-o’-lantern or are you poisoning the neighborhood squirrels? … Continue reading this article “Smashing Pumpkin Myths: Bleaching to extend shelf (and porch) life”
Saving for the Future: Seed Saving Tricks and Tips
As summer winds down and the summer crops and flowers start to slow down many gardeners start thinking about saving seeds. Who doesn’t love saving seeds from that favorite tomato or beautiful coneflower? Not only do you have some for next year, but you can also share with your friends! There are definitely some things to consider and some myths out there when it comes to seed saving, so let’s talk about how to do it right. … Continue reading this article “Saving for the Future: Seed Saving Tricks and Tips”
Some like it hot… but most do not: How high temperatures delay pollination and ripening
Ah, summer – vacations (pre-COVID), swimming pools (pre-COVID), ice cream, vegetable gardens, and, in many places, really high temperatures. These things all go hand-in-hand (or at least they did before the pandemic). Many gardeners feel that the heat of mid-summer goes hand in hand with garden production; those high temps driving production on those fruiting plants like tomatoes and peppers. But…..could they be wrong?
We’ve had lots of extra hot days this summer in Nebraska, so it stands to reason that we should have really great production on those garden favorites like tomatoes, right?… Continue reading this article “Some like it hot… but most do not: How high temperatures delay pollination and ripening”