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Showing 6421 - 6450 of 13866 comments

Capsicum (also Bell peppers, Sweet peppers) 16 Dec, (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I also have problem with my capsicums healthy plants fruit rots before mature. any advice to fix the problem
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Capsicum (also Bell peppers, Sweet peppers) 26 Dec, Louise (Australia - temperate climate): peppers rot due to lack of calcium and/or to much nitrogen. Calcium is needed to build the cell wall of the fruit. Calcium up take can be prohibited due to nutriant inballance. NTS have a great product called "Total Cover" good for correcting inballances. Adding boron to the soil can help unlock calcum so needed for nutriiant uptake of plants.
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Rhubarb 16 Dec, Christine Salanitro (Australia - temperate climate): I have been trying to grow rhubarb now for about five years. I have tried with bought small plants and also grown my own plants from seed. in all cases my plants do very well and become nice big healthy plants,then when they are two years old, one by one the leaves turn yellow they wilt and die. the dying process just happens out of the blue usually within two days the plant just dies.It can be healthy in the morning then it will starts wilting by lunch time and it wont pick up, the next day it is floppy and finished. I have tried growing plants in full sun, under the shade of a tree and in large pots. the results have always been the same. two year old healthy plants then death. please can anyone help or should I just give up
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Rhubarb 17 Dec, Paul (Australia - arid climate): Your problem sound strange to me, I have been growing Rhubarb for over 15 years and still have the same plant I was given way back then. It has divided every year and now my garden and aquaponics sport over ten "Sydney Red" rhubarb plants and many more given away. Have you ever repotted them before spring? If not I would give that a go with some rich organic matter under the lifted crown. In my ponics system the plant there has not been touched for 5 years now and thrives to the extent of taking over that bed. Keep moist not wet and mulch around the crown not over it, dynamic lifter applied in spring and summer, nothing over autumn and winter. Works for me, should work for you.
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Rhubarb 17 Dec, Alison (Australia - temperate climate): Maybe its the soil? It could be too clay like, and waterlogging the roots. I have a rhubarb planted in a raised garden bed in a 'no dig' garden made of mushroom compost, lucern hay, and chook poo. The mix has been topped up since the plant was planted 3 years ago, but thats all that I've done. The whole veg patch is under a piece of shadecloth, so gets filtered sunlight, and gets regular watering in summer along with the rest of the veg garden, and we went away for 3 months over last winter and left the maintenance to relatives, and it still didnt die. Not sure if its just used to being ignored, or what, but it grows like a weed and never seems to die back - even in winter! It was a transplated cutting from another old plant 3 years ago and has been split since then. The original plant it came from died - that was in a clay soil...
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Rhubarb 15 Dec, Paul (Australia - arid climate): Rhubarb has a tendancy to die back if too hot or cold, the crown still remains and will grow back when ready. Just dont drown it with standing water! I grow it in raised beds, containers and aquaponics beds, all with no problem as long as the roots do not remain waterlogged. Remember, if your rhubarb flowers it is either thirsty or hungry! So keep it well watered and feed monthly!!!
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Ginger 15 Dec, Noni (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I live in Coorow and have gotten some of the tubers going that you buy at the supermarket. I have them by the window to green them up and want to plant out in the garden. Initially I had them in an old fridge with the freezer door ajar I also keep my potatoes in there and onions. the fridge has had its cord cut off....keeps fresh air in and keep it dark. the ginger shot and now am just about ready to put it in the garden. The shoots are quite green...no roots yes but they will come in the garden.
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Asparagus Pea (also Winged pea) 15 Dec, Noni (Australia - temperate climate): I have winged peas in and they are huge, but I have left them on the ground as a ground cover. I grow them in semi shade and they are doing so well. Started them off as seed direct in to the ground just when ordinary peas were finishing. They have not flowered yet so dont know what they re like but their little bushes look great
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Tomato 15 Dec, Cobie (Australia - temperate climate): I have a tall yellow tomato bush with heaps of large beautiful looking tomatoes. Picked our first yellow tomato last week and the taste was good, but the the flesh was Rather mushy. My question is, did I pick it too late and need to pick it earlier or are the yellow Tomatoes mushy? I can pick them when green and make a chutney, but that's a shame.
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Rhubarb 13 Dec, Penny Pritchard (Australia - sub-tropical climate): The whole plant appears to be dieing can you give any reason why? Many thanks
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Kohlrabi 13 Dec, Bob C (Australia - temperate climate): the seeds are available from the major seed companys at the major hardware stores
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Chilli peppers (also Hot peppers) 11 Dec, Donna (Australia - temperate climate): I live in Perth WA. I planted 6 chilli plants in separate pots,four have died,another one is dying and the last one only has leaves at the top,flowers start but never actually flower and there are no shoots growing on the stem,it looks like something is eating them,but I can't see anything on the leaves or stem.i used chicken manour to plant,can anyone one advise,every thing I plants dies.
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Chilli peppers (also Hot peppers) 15 Sep, Poida (Australia - temperate climate): Hi Donna, Take the chilli out of the pot, check the soil. You most likely find grubs residing under there or those rolly grub. We got rid of them by hands, feed them to the chicken. No chemical needed. You chilli will recovered if not too damaged.
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Chilli peppers (also Hot peppers) 20 Dec, Peter (Australia - arid climate): Snails love small chilli plants so when you plant put some snail pallets around. Chilli doesn't grow well in small cup size plastic pots so don't use them or if you buy a chilli plant in one transplant to a large ceramic pot immediately. Grow from seed in a sandy garden bed seems to work very well to germinate, when the plants are as tall as your finger transplant them into a largish ceramic pot 2 litre minimum and don't be scared of leaving them in a large pot as they grow well in pots. Use a reasonable quality potting mix and water every day, mornings best, Full sun is best so find a spot where the chilli gets the maximum sun possible. The potting mix will have enough fertiliser for the next growth stage so don't add any fertiliser for the next month. Then add blood and bone and watch them grow quickly and start to flower. I've had really good results with blood and bone so have not needed to try alternative fertilisers like manure. The beauty of blood and bone is it is almost impossible to burn or kill your plants. Finally add potash fertiliser a month after the blood and bone to ensure the chilli bush has plenty of fruit. The chilli's ive grown in big pots grow jjust as good as the ones in the garden beds if not better. L put that down to the warm soil and potting mix. I live in Perth too so I hope you have luck with your chilli's
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Yacon (also Sunroot) 11 Dec, Margaret Carrington (Australia - temperate climate): Where can I buy Yacon in Launceston Tasmania? Many thanks.
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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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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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