18
Strictly speaking something like a sour orange is possible. A lot of things are possible really. Citrus hybridization can get very complicated. There are four 'parent species' of citrus (Citron, Pomelo, Papeda and Mandarin). A lemon is a cross between a Citron and a Sour Orange (which is itself a cross of a Mandarin and a Pomelo). So that's 3 parent species ...
14
You're better off buying seeds from the rack in the front of the store.
Potatoes are often treated to prevent sprouting.
If you buy organic potatoes, they may sprout, but they may also be carrying diseases. Normally you'd want to buy certified disease-free "seed" potatoes.
Garlic might also be treated to prevent sprouting, but planting the cloves might work....
14
Should all trees be staked when they are planted?
First, you have to find out Why people stake trees. What benefits are there to staking young trees? In nature, trees can germinate, grow, and mature without being staked. Here are some reasons why young trees are often staked:
Promoted wind resistance: Anchor staking is useful in newly planted trees, ...
13
Male asparagus plants don't produce seeds; female plants do.
With asparagus, you need to allow some stalks to grow fully over the growing season in order to provide energy for next year's growth. Since female plants are putting some energy into making seeds, they don't store as much, so they'll produce fewer spears than a male would.
The crop is the ...
13
First, if the potatoes are big, you should cut them into smaller pieces so that you have one or two eyes (the bit that's sprouting) on each piece. Leave the cut pieces out for a day or so to allow the cut surface to dry out a little. This will help to prevent the potatoes from rotting in the ground.
While you're waiting, dig a trench about 12" (30cm) deep ...
12
I haven't seen any single book that provides all of the information you're looking for, but you can get most of what you want with a small collection of reference guides.
The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch has broad coverage of plants commonly found in North American yards: from vegetables and small fruit to bulbs, shrubs, and trees (both shade and ...
12
A few thoughts that might be germane to your situation.
If this is a hard-necked variety of garlic, do you cut the scape (the flower stalk that shoots up) off of it? That will produce a larger bulb - at least that has been my observance of the situation. The theory is that cutting off the scape allows (forces?) the plant to put its energy into bulb ...
12
Time of year:
Any time of year works, as long as the ground is not frozen, or the air very hot and dry. Obviously frozen ground will be 'hard to work with', and you will not be able to plant the tree properly. If the air is hot and dry, then sometimes even when the soil has sufficient moisture, the tree with it's compromised root system could dry out and ...
11
I don't have a complete answer to your question but I do see that you planted them with the burlap sack that they came with. I know that mature trees or large specimens are often planted this way (B & B = Ball and burlapped) but......
with smaller plants the burlap can prevent the roots from growing out and even act as a wick to move water up and ...
11
A few observations from a long-time garlic grower (just harvested today, actually): You may simply have varieties that don't do all that well in your microclimate - I finally gave up on the garlic I had been growing (which was diminishing noticeably over time) and bought some new, known seed (Spanish Roja) a few years back, and also got a seed head from ...
11
There are a couple of problems with your description of how you're going to plant this tree. First, no plant should be planted less than a foot (as a minimum) away from a fence or wall, so if you mean the rootball when you say 'sit tightly' next to a fence, as the topgrowth continues to expand, it will all lean forwards to get away from the fence behind it ...
10
Apple trees do well in clay. There are a few things you could do different next time:
do not put stones or other soil amendments in the bottom of the hole. If the planting hole has reached the clay sub soil or pan then plant it high or "proud" as described here.
The addition of organic matter provides little or no advantage to the
planting hole in ...
10
Seed lasts quite a while. It is said at least 30 percent of your seed is non viable the next year but I've seen maybe 10 percent or really normal germination. Keep your excess seed in the dark, plenty of room between seeds, lots of air and between 40 and 55 degrees F. If you know your seeds are dry you can vacuum pack them.
In two weeks plant another ...
10
If you really need one plant growing in the center of the pot, then get 3 or 4 pots, mark them with numbers (so you don't bias your experiment by choosing the one that is "growing the best" or whatever) and plant just one seed in each pot. Use the lowest numbered pot where the seed germinates for your experiment You can eat the other radishes in a salad, of ...
9
I'm in the UK and, some years ago, grew a pineapple plant indoors (as a "novelty" - it never fruited). I used the third method you mention, based on the advice given in The Pip Book by Keith Mossman:
Make up or buy some really free-draining compost (I used a soil-less seed and cutting compost to which I added a little coarse sand)
Cut off the top of the ...
9
I think that it is a great example of a Launaea Arborescens. The Spanish name is Aulaga, but the English name is a bit contested, either "spiny lettuce" or "barbed wire bush".
According to this site:
It is a shrub with small branches turned into thorns and up to 70 centimeters high with a few small hairless leaves, lightly lobed. The yellow flowers are ...
9
The clover (assuming white clover) is spreading on its own because, most likely, the soil is low on nitrogen, which favors the clover instead of the grass. Clover can fix nitrogen from the air, so it thrives in the low-N soil where other things have a hard time competing with it.
According to this: Do legumes provide nitrogen to their companions? Clover ...
9
You determine how many you want to put based on the germination rate. You should perform a germination test to what percent of the seeds sprout. If half of the ones you sow sprout. Then you plant multiple seeds into a hole.
Generally if you plant multiple seeds into a hole, if both plants grow out you will have to cut, kill or transplant the secondary (...
9
Well, seems you'll have a lot of thinning and pricking out to do if they all germinate. If you imagine each seed as a single mint plant, which needs 18-24 inches of space around it as it grows on, if all 50 of your seeds germinate, you will need to transplant each one into individual pots, so in theory, that's 50 pots. If you sow too thickly, or too many in ...
9
John McPhee wrote a very witty book on oranges, entitled, not surprisingly, 'Oranges'. One chapter recounts an effort to grow limes from seed, due to the pervasive presence of a virus in existing trees. Essentially, they grew hundreds of seedlings from limes, and got a tiny number of plants that grew limes. All the others produced some other citrus fruit. So,...
9
You don't plant the whole bulb, but split them into cloves, and plant each of the cloves separately. Each clove will develop a new bulb that will be oriented correctly. I doubt it matters if the tapered end of the clove is pointed up or laterally since the stored mass is used to grow the new leaves which then create the new bulb.
However, if you plant the ...
8
Yes, your arugula's crop season is coming to an end, as bstpierre notes. Mine finished going to seed and dried out completely by last week (I live in southern California, so you can compare the weather here with your location).
You certainly have planted them very close to each other, which is why they aren't tall/the leaves aren't bigger (in comparison, ...
8
Invasive plants that will be easy to establish and grow enthusiastically all over the fence will need cutting back every year.
You might be better off compromising with something somewhat slower to establish and easier to maintain.
Something also to consider is dealing with the cuttings of an enthusiastically growing plant. Woody plants are more difficult ...
8
That seems a good idea, since the plants useful for your dragon surely are used to the same climate of it.
You could plante it if
the soil is the same that you use for your animal
the manure is not dangerous for your animal
there is space enough for animal and plants
I can start with saying that spinach, broccoli and Kale (Brassica oleracea Acephala Group,...
8
Based on your photo of the trees on the "berm", there almost is no berm. It looks like root balls are almost just sitting on the ground surface with a little bit of soil around otherwise completely exposed root balls. No, you don't want to plant your trees too deep, but you also don't want your root balls to be exposed to the atmosphere. If your berm has ...
8
ViSu, You reminded me of the same experience I and my friends had before. In our college days, we planted a number of saplings on a barren land\hill slope.
As you are going to plant in a hilly area (which could be really hot these days), you need to take care of few things:
Ensure your saplings are not very small. (Small plants can be eaten by local ...
8
I have done this successfully several times, but in a warmer zone (Lancaster, PA, zone 6b). I put the bulbs in a 33 degree F. refrigerator for about 2 weeks first, reasoning that it would prepare them for the cold (~15-20 deg. F. at the time). They all survived, each time.
Things to note:
If you use the fridge, make sure there is no fruit in it, or the ...
8
About half an inch to an inch is sufficient - you don't want them much longer than that because its harder to pot them without damage, and once roots start appearing, its surprising how fast they grow. Try not to damage them when transferring to a soil medium - make a hole large enough to accommodate the rootlets without squashing or bending them, and gently ...
7
An article at slate.com describes how food labs measure calories, and where the calorie numbers come from on food labels. It's good for background info on the process.
Unless you have a remarkably well-stocked and well-equipped lab in your basement, you're not going to be able to test vitamin content at home. As far as I can tell, literature dealing with ...
7
Look up the last frost date for your zip code here. Duluth, for example, has a last frost date of May 21.
Or, as Ed Staub points out in a comment below, for a better picture of the situation go to the original source of the data at the National Climatic Data Center (1971-2000):
View the data sheet for your state.
In the "State and Station Name" column, ...
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