Hybrid Or Open Pollinated
Open-pollinated vegetable varieties reproduce themselves in one of two ways: cross-pollination between two plants (via wind, insects or water) or self-pollination (between male and female flower parts contained ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Gardening Articles: Care :: Seeds & Propagation
To hand pollinate, first identify male and female buds that will open the following day. They often have a yellowish color lacking in younger buds, and gap at the tip. Mark these buds with tape so you can find them ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Sunny Sedum
This group of succulents comes in a range of shapes and sizes, from tiny to tall. Low-growing types such as golden stonecrop (Sedum acre) and white stonecrop (S. album) form moss-like mats, making great ground covers ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Grafting
Within a month after grafting, expect new growth from both rootstock and scion. The rootstock will send out suckers during the first year. Remove them down to the very base of the tree to redirect the energy from the ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
How To Have The Earliest Corn
Every vegetable plant has a growing point, and a frost-sensitive plant can be killed if its growing point is hit by a freeze. In the first weeks of growth, corn's growing point lies below the soil surface, protected ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Easy Slipping Sweet Potatoes
If your frost-free season is at least 90 days, you can grow good sweetpotatoes. The old-fashioned way is to start slips by sprouting a tuber in a glass of water. But the process is too slow and the tubers available ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Hardening Off Tomato Transplants
About 10 days before you intend to plant, put your transplants outdoors in an area where they'll be protected from the direct sunlight and wind. Leave them out for a few hours and bring them back inside. Repeat this ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Best Herbs For Indoor Growing
Broadleaf thyme (Plectranthus amboinicus or Coleus amboinicus): Also known as Spanish thyme and Cuban oregano, this plant has broad, fleshy leaves unlike those of ordinary thyme. Wonderful, spicy thyme-oregano flavor ... [... more]
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Garden Guru: Howard Dill
Dill still grows giants but not for competition. In fall, visitors come to enjoy the pumpkin patch on his 90-acre farm, which has been in the family for five generations. He plants 10 acres in pumpkins for Halloween ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Broccoli Know-How
Start seeds indoors or direct sow into the garden 10 to 12 weeks before the first expected frost in your area. If you buy transplants, plant them 6 to 8 weeks before the first frost. For best germination when direct ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Fish Emulsion Stops Damping Off
Canadian researchers grew cucumber and radish seedlings in a peat-based, potting soil mix. One group was treated with a 4% fish emulsion solution. Another group received the equivalent dosage in inorganic fertilizer. ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Confessions Of A Plant Thief
I have a guilty secret. I am a plant thief. It must be genetic, because my granny was a plant thief too. Dearie, as she was known, would enter one jar of jelly in the local county fair just so she could get into the ... [... more]
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