“When is the best time to plant tomato seeds?” Question from Diana of Indianapolis, Indiana
Answer: This is an easy question to answer! It takes around six to eight weeks to grow tomatoes from seed to ready-to-plant starts. And, tomatoes produce fruit between 65 to 85 days after planting, depending on the variety, so you want to give them plenty of time to produce good fruit through the warmth of summer. It’s also good to know that determinate or bush-type tomatoes produce earlier than indeterminate or vining tomatoes.
I always start my tomatoes indoors for the best results. Then, once the threat of frost has passed, I plant them outdoors. Please read this great Black Gold article Growing Tomatoes from Seed to Harvest. It will tell you everything that you need to know to grow the best tomatoes possible from seed.
“In an effort to keep down the insect population of my indoor veggie garden, I’ve been sterilizing my soil in the oven or microwave. I’ve had whitefly and fungus gnat infestations from using Miracle Gro and other soils right out of the bag, so someone told me to sterilize, and it seems to work. However, if there are beneficial microorganisms in your Black Gold soil, I fear that sterilization may kill them. So, my question is this… should I heat sterilize my Black Gold organic soil before using it indoors? Or is that defeating the purpose of the soil’s ingredients?”Question from Holt of Georgia
Answer: Theoretically, fresh, straight-out-of-the-bag potting mix should be pest and disease-free. Black Gold® gets good grades in this arena, but if a bag gets slashed or torn during transport or is improperly stored, the contents can pay the price. (Only buy Black Gold® bags that are undamaged with contents that are not waterlogged.) Otherwise, you shouldn’t have to worry. Still, if you prefer to play it safe, soil sterilization is certainly helpful with preventing damping-off (click here to learn more), and it would kill any harboring pest eggs, but beneficial microbes will also pay the price.
The chief potting soil beneficials to consider are mycorrhizae and the good microbes in earthworm castings and sometimes compost. Other soil components, like Canadian Sphagnum peat moss and bark, are not particularly rich in any worthy beneficial microbes accessible to plant roots. Currently, we do not add mycorrhizae to any of our Black Gold® soils (unlike some of our Sunshine® mixes), but we do add earthworm castings and compost to quite a few, including our Black Gold® Natural & Organic Potting Mix. Sterilization would certainly kill any soil good guys, but if you are determined to sterilize, it should not impact your growing dramatically. And, you can always beef up your soil after sterilization by adding Black Gold® Earthworm Castings Blend from a well-sealed bag, or dry mycorrhizae spores, which are available at most garden stores.
Even after the sterilization of greenhouse pots, surfaces, and soil, pests may come. Every open door, window crack, or new plant brought indoors is a threat. When it doubt, fight back early using smart IPM. We have lots of blogs on the topic. (Click here to read an article about managing the worst indoor plant pests, and watch our video below about beating fungus gnats.)
“What is the minimum temperature for growing ginger plants outdoors?” Question from Susan of Pembroke Pines, Florida
Answer: Culinary ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a true tropical plant that originates from Southeast Asia. It survives in USDA Hardiness Zones 9 to 12, which means that it can withstand outdoor cold reaching down to 25 to 30 degrees F, no colder. Temperatures on the coldest end will still stress plants out and cause their foliage to die back, so it’s best to keep them in a warm, humid location if the weather really takes a cold turn. But, ginger should grow really well in your zone 10 location under normal weather conditions.
“I planted garlic bulbs for the first time and chose the hardneck variety ‘Music’. I understand that they will be fully mature around the first of August. Where is a good place to cure the bulbs for the duration? I live in a USDA Hardiness Zone 6 area.” Question from Belinda of Fort Wayne, Indiana
Answer: I have actually grown ‘Music’ garlic with great success. It’s a hardneck garlic, which means it has hard “necks” above the bulbs that keep them from being braided, unlike softneck garlic. Hardnecks are also more cold hardy and have fewer, larger cloves than softnecks. ‘Music’ is also a porcelain garlic, which means thin, white, satiny skins surround the extra-large cloves.
Time to maturity depends on the garlic variety and growing location. ‘Music’ is an early to midseason variety. In Indiana, I would expect it to be ready for harvest sometime in July.
In spring, your garlic plants will emerge and leaf up. By summer, each will have tall, upright, oniony leaves and produce a heron-shaped stem and bud; remove the stems and bulbs as they appear, or they’ll deplete the cloves below of energy. But, don’t throw them the stems away. They taste great stir-fried or sautéed.
Dig up the garlic bulbs when the leaves have declined significantly and start to turn brown. Wipe the bulbs clean of dirt, and hang them to dry for a week or two. ‘Music’ is an unusually good keeper for a hardneck. Count on its bulbs to keep for up to several months, if properly stored in a cool, dark place. (Click here for more tips on how to grow garlic.)
“I’m looking for asparagus that will grow in USDA Hardiness Zone 10b.” Question from Lori of Venice, Florida
Answer: Asparagus generally survives in USDA Hardiness Zones 3-8 and requires a winter dormancy period to successfully grow and produce spears. In northern regions, plants can produce for up to 30 years, but they don’t tend to fare well down south where winters are warmer.
With that said, some varieties will produce spears in Central Florida, but they generally stay productive for just three to five years. One of the best of these varieties is the California-bred ‘UC-157’. (Click here for a good source.) This is the asparagus that you want to grow in your part of the world. To get special planting instructions for Central-Florida gardeners, visit the University of Florida’s page on the subject (click here to view).
Licorice mint is one of the best species for New Mexican gardens. (Image by Jessie Keith)
“I have rooted Agastache cuttings in perlite and seed starting mix, but now they are ready for real pots and soil. What would you suggest for the soil or soil mix?” Question from Melissa of El Prado, New Mexico
Answer: Hyssops or hummingbird mints (Agastache spp.) are fragrant perennials in the mint family with lovely flowers beloved by hummingbirds and bees. Like many mints, they grow best in soil that is well-drained and moderately fertile. Black Gold Waterhold Cocoblend Potting Mix is a great organic option for potted perennials. It has excellent water-holding capacity to help them access ample moisture in your southwestern garden.
Enjoy your Agastache! They are certainly one of my favorite garden flowers for beautiful blooms, fragrance, and pollinator attraction. My favorite western species is drought-tolerant licorice mint (Agastache rupestris). It has fine, silvery leaves and clusters of hummingbird-attracting flowers in shades of rose, orange, and purple. It’s also native to your state! You won’t find a prettier species, in my opinion.
“We live in Miami and planted gladiolus bulbs this spring. They bloomed beautifully! How are we supposed to cut them, so they bloom next spring? Should we dig them up or just cut the leaves?” Question from Brenda of Miami Florida
Answer: Gladiolus hybrids will thrive year-round as perennials in your Miami garden (USDA Hardiness Zone 10), so they don’t need to be dug up in fall. Cut back the foliage as it starts to turn yellow. The plants will experience some dormancy before putting forth new foliage and then flowers.
Gladiolus species are native to Africa, Southern Europe, the Middle East, and Asia and garden hybrids are mixes of quite a few species from these areas. Where native, gladiolus undergo either a cold-season or dry-season dormant period. Because you have very little seasonal cold, the main thing that will kill your glads is excessive soil moisture during dormancy. So, make sure that their soil is fast draining and very porous. Plant them in light soil that is raised and well amended with organic matter, such as Black Gold Peat Moss. You may also want to amend further with a mineral additive, such as Gran-I-Grit or even sand, to further increase drainage. Over time, happy gladiolus can naturalize in southern gardens.
Some of my favorite glads are heirlooms with old-fashioned charm (click here for a good source). I also love the elegant Byzantine gladiolus (Gladiolus communis ssp. byzantinus), which is a species bearing long-blooming spires of purple-red summer flowers.
“My heirloom tomato plant is growing beautifully. However, it has not one tomato on it, while another bush, under same growing conditions, is more prolific though it still does not have ample tomatoes. Is there something I am doing/not doing correctly? During the long summer days the beds do get over 6 hours of sun a day, as the days are getting shorter they are down to about 51/2 right now. I use no chemical pesticides. I only have two tomato plants and check them daily.” Question of Ann Marie of Holbrook, New York
Answer: Several things can keep otherwise healthy looking tomato plants from producing ample good fruit. These are 1) imbalanced nutrition and 2) too little sunlight. Tomatoes are heavy feeders that need high nutrition, regular watering, and at least eight hours of direct sunlight for good fruit production. All of these are necessities.
Fertilizer is easy. Choose a fertilizer formulated for tomatoes and feed your plants regularly, as recommended on the package. Adding additional bone meal is also helpful in reducing the chance of blossom end rot, a common nutrient deficiency of tomatoes.
Sunlight may not be as easy to provide, depending on your yard, but eight or more hours are needed for fruit-producing vegetables, like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and squash. More is even better. I plant my veggies where they can get all-day sun for maximum output.
If you plant only a couple of tomatoes, try growing them in large containers and moving them to a sunnier part of the yard. This will enable to provide them with more sun and better control their soil, nutrients, and water. Black Gold Natural & Organic Potting Mix is a great potting mix choice. Please watch the video below to learn more about how to grow great tomatoes in containers.
“I have a large, 1/2 whiskey barrel in my flower garden, planted with various types of marigolds. Since Mother’s Day, when I planted them, I’ve fertilized them every two weeks. I am faithful about deadheading them as needed, on a daily basis. I water as needed. They are just glorious this year! 1) Should I continue to fertilize them? How long can I expect them to last? Thanks so much!” Question from Diane of Newark, Ohio
Answer: I love marigolds, too. They are heat tolerant, tough, beautiful, and so easy to grow. It sounds like you are doing everything right! Continue to fertilize them until mid-September, and they will keep blooming until the first frost of autumn. Late-season bees and butterflies that gather pollen and nectar towards the end of the season will thank you.
If you like to save seed, I would also suggest letting a few blooms go to seed, starting in late September. Once the plants have all succumbed to frost, remove the mature seedheads and pull the withered plants from your whisky barrel. Through winter, store the seeds in a paper bag kept in a cool, dry place. Then the following April, refresh the barrel’s potting soil (Black Gold Natural & Organic Potting Mix is excellent) and sprinkle the seeds on the surface. Keep the soil moist, and they should start sprouting once the soil warms. I like this method because it’s free and effortless. Open-pollinated plants typically don’t look just like their parents, but the variation in the flowers from year to year is a fun surprise.
“I can never seem to grow zucchini right. Is there a type of soil that would be best for this?” Question from Amy of Oil City, Pennsylvania
Answer: We have gotten this question a lot, both with respect to zucchini and summer squash (both are the same–one is just green and elongated.). I have provided links to several of these Ask a Garden Expert answers. But, to directly answer your question with respect to soil, provide your zucchini with soil that is well-drained and rich in organic matter. It grows best in a near-neutral pH and requires a fertilizer for fruiting vegetables. You will also need to grow it in full, all-day sunshine.
Ask a Garden Expert Answers For Zucchini and Summer Squash Growing
