Hello, I am trying to grow a raised vegetable garden. Was going well until I have been infested with these creatures. They are all over my zucchini and squash flowers and under leaf. They are spreading to my cucumbers. I have cut off severely infested leaves. Have sprayed with a white oil spray but it doesn’t seem to be working. Please help me save my garden ..read more

Hello Everyone, First two pre-apologies: I'm new to the forum pages, so I hope this is the appropriate one to ask my question. I did have a brief look but didn't find a thread that seemed to relate to my question, apologies if I missed it My question is whether or not coconut coir is useful as a filler for a new raised bed? I understand that it is poor in nutrients, but would it work if I added manure, compost and other nutrient rich material? Is there a better filling material available... Read more ..read more

Taking a wee bit of inspiration from an earlier video where Mark busted a couple of myths growing from different scraps and those tiny potatoes, I thought why not start a thread where we can either share our experiences of seeing or hearing a myth and the outcome after trying it and/or challenging or trying something for each other. First myth is in the tomato growing Now i do feel there is a lot of baloney in this, but what better way to find out than by trying it myself! Will... Read more ..read more

A sad day today in little old Whanganui, New Zealand. We had a bit of a snow flurry which has never happened in my 33 years being on this beautiful green planet! I'm quite concerned as I've planted 40 odd seed potatoes a couple to 3 weeks ago and 2 days ago the little green leaves finally popped through. The snow wasn't heavy and almost disappeared as soon as it hit the ground but I know we're in for a frost tonight. I've covered the plants with a mulch/compost cover and hoping for the... Read more ..read more

Looking to add some shade cloth to my garden over the summer months here in Florida and noticed most varieties are some sort of plastic. Does anyone else worry about chemicals leeching from the cloth into your garden? BPA and other nasties ..read more

Hi SSM peeps, looking for views/experiences with using neem oil for pest control on crops for human consumption. As spring approaches my subtropical backyard so does an armada of pests. This winter I have spent more time preparing for pest control than things like bed and soil prep after a horrid pest season last year. Today a package of organic pest control products arrived to add to my arsenal, one being neem oil. I’ve never used it before. I read the instructions and it says not to use on... Read more ..read more

Hi everyone, I am building a greenhouse and it's big enough to house a couple of trees, I was just wondering being in a Heat Zone 6 and Cold Zone 9b climate, what would you put in there, or what would do well? I have my heart set on a coffee tree and possibly avocado. We can get down to -4C here and up to at least 45C in the shade in summer. Looking to get a semi-tropical/tropical plant I cannot grow normally here. Thanks for your time in advance ..read more

I have what I believe to be either turmeric or ginger growing and it's now showing it's first signs of browning - ever. I don't know when I started it, but it's been a good couple of months. It's been at this size for at least the past 2 months, probably longer. When should I harvest and start over ..read more

There must be a patch of northern hemisphere in my front yard. Maybe a magical portal to the other side of the planet that my plants sneak through to lap up some Summer sunshine when I'm not looking. Last Winter... or was it the Winter before? I can't remember, was one of them, a random pumpkin vine appeared in my front yard. I let it grow to see what it would do, because it appeared in Autumn, when pumpkin plants are supposed to be dying off for the year. Not this one, it grew all Winter... Read more ..read more

Hi I found this morning that one of the stems on a potato plant-ling in my raised garden bed had been snapped off. I'm just wondering will it still grow? and or come back? Or is it now RIP for that potato plant Cheers Naomi ..read more