Frequently Asked Questions
Cool season vegetables prefer cool daytime temperatures, while warm season vegetables prefer warmer daytime temperatures. Cool season vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, and lettuce will tolerate light frost whereas warm season...
There are a number of vegetables that are relatively easy to grow. Peppers, bush beans, leafy greens, and even tomatoes often make the easy to grow vegetable lists. Be sure to select vegetables that you are most likely to eat as you...
Yes, many vegetables can be grown in small plots or in containers. Consider selecting more compact or dwarf varieties of vegetables for these situations.
Vegetables That Can Be Successfully Grown in Containers or Small Plots...
Raised beds provide several advantages over conventional garden areas. Wet, poorly drained sites can be improved by constructing raised beds. A properly prepared raised bed increases drainage, thereby promoting plant growth and increasing crop...
Dormant lawns are in jeopardy of dying if dry conditions persist over an extended period. It's best to water the lawn if the turfgrass has been dormant for 4 to 6 weeks. Apply 1 to 1 1/2 inches of water in a single application. This will not...
The appearance of the turfgrass is the best way to determine when to water the lawn. The ideal time to water a lawn is at the first signs of water stress. Turfgrasses that have adequate supplies of water are normally dark green in color. For cool...
Hand Pulling
Mechanical control of weeds through hand pulling and cultivation as well as the use of mulches to suppress weed growth are effective organic options for weed management.
Using Boiling Water
Pouring...
In certain situations, a gardener can use herbicides to supplement other weed control strategies. Several factors limit the usefulness of herbicides in the home garden. Most home gardens contain a variety of plants in a small area. This restricts...
Mulches control weeds by preventing the germination of weed seeds. Established weeds should be destroyed prior to the application of the mulch. In addition to weed control, mulches help conserve soil moisture, reduce soil erosion, prevent...
Cultivation and hand pulling effectively control most annual weeds. It is very important to destroy these weeds while they are small, before they produce thousands of seeds, guaranteeing a weed problem for many years in the future. Like annual...
Keeping ahead of weeds and controlling them when they are small is essential for good weed management. This requires persistence throughout the entire growing season to remove weeds as they emerge. There are essentially two types of weeds in our...
Place the jade plant (Crassula argentea) in a sunny window where it receives at least 4 hours of direct sunlight. The jade plant is a succulent which stores water in its foliage and stems. Overwatering (watering too...
The umbrella tree (Schefflera actinophylla) is native to rainforests in Australia and New Guinea. In the home, place the umbrella tree in bright, indirect light near an east, west, or south window. Allow the potting soil to...
Crabgrass is an annual weed. In flower and vegetable gardens, hoeing and hand pulling are the best control options. When cultivating the garden, avoid deep tillage. The roots of many vegetables and flowers grow near the soil...
Deadheading is the removal of spent or faded flowers. There are several benefits to deadheading garden phlox. Deadheading improves the appearance of plants, may encourage a second flush of bloom, and prevents self-seeding. (...
Squash and other vine crops are monoecious. Monoecious plants have separate male and female flowers on the same plant. Male and female flowers are similar in appearance. However, female flowers have small, immature fruits at...
Misshapen fruit may develop if pollination is inadequate. When pollination is incomplete, the fruit develops unevenly because the ovary wall enlarges more adjacent to fertilized seeds. Inadequate pollination may be due to low...
Blueberry plants should come into full production by the fifth or sixth year. Gardeners can expect to harvest 5 to 10 pounds of fruit per plant from mature highbush blueberries. Half-high blueberries generally produce 1 to 3 pounds...
The small, white, popcorn-like objects are likely cottony maple scale. Cottony maple scale is an insect. It is most commonly found on silver maple trees. However, it can also be found on other maples, oak, linden, hackberry,...
The frequency of watering is determined by soil characteristics, weather conditions, type of plant material, and other factors. In general, however, a deep watering once a week in dry weather should be adequate for most fruit, vegetable,...
Early morning (5:00 to 9:00 am) is the best time to water the garden when using a sprinkler, garden hose, or any other device that wets the plant foliage. When watering is completed, the plant foliage dries quickly. The rapid drying...
Apply a mulch around landscape plantings and garden areas to conserve soil moisture. Mulching reduces the rate of evaporation from the soil surface and also limits weed competition. Organic materials, such as grass clippings, clean...
Cedar-apple rust is likely responsible for the yellow spots on the crabapple leaves. Cedar-apple rust is a fungal disease. The fungus requires both a crabapple or apple and a cedar (juniper) to complete its life cycle. Crabapple...
The bleached appearance may be due to lace bugs. Lace bugs are sap feeding insects commonly found on the leaves of shade and ornamental trees in Iowa. The most commonly affected trees are hackberry, sycamore, and oak. Adult lace...
The greenish worm is probably the pear slug. The pear slug is not an actual slug. It’s the larval stage of an insect (sawfly). The pear slug feeds on pear, cherry, plum, and several other woody plants.
The slug-...
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