It's that time. You walk outside. There are brown leaves. Spent flowers. Old stems. Empty containers. Plants that look like they've officially submitted their resignation letters. And suddenly you get the urge to: 𝐂𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐍. 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆. 𝐔𝐏. 😂 Pull it. Cut it. Sweep it. Bag it. Scrub it. Stack the pots. Put everything away. Then stand on the patio admiring how wonderfully CLEAN everything looks. But before you go into full garden-cleaning mode... 𝐏𝐔𝐓 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐓𝐄. ✋😂 Because here's something gardeners are learning more about: 𝐀 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐝𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. Some plant material absolutely SHOULD be removed. Especially when pests or disease are involved. But other stems, leaves, and seed heads may be providing: 🐝 Shelter 🐞 Overwintering sites 🦋 Habitat 🐦 Food 🌱 Seeds for next year So today's cleanup isn't about making everything spotless. It's about figuring out: 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐆𝐎𝐄𝐒. 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐘𝐒. 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍. Welcome to 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐂𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐔𝐏! 🧹🍂 🔴 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓: 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐌 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐒 Let's start with the easy decision. If you had a plant with a serious disease problem...𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐈𝐓 𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑. Remove affected: 🍂 Leaves 🌿 Stems 🍅 Fruit 🌱 Plant debris And clean up material that has fallen around the container. Why? Because some plant pathogens can survive in infected plant material. If we leave that material sitting beside next year's garden, we may be giving the problem a head start. That's not the kind of Second Spring we're trying to create. 😂 🍄 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐆𝐎 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓? This is where we need to be careful. A properly managed hot compost pile may reach temperatures capable of destroying some pathogens and weed seeds. But 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐓 𝐄𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐄. So if you're dealing with plant material affected by a serious disease and you're uncertain whether your composting system can handle it, the safer option may be to dispose of that material according to your local yard-waste or trash recommendations rather than putting it into your home compost.

A couple of weeks ago, caterpillars ate all of my kale. I'm pouting. On Friday it was ok. I did a weekend show. Monday all the leaves were chewed to the veins. Yesterday, I cut everything back to the stalks and dunked it in a bucket of very soapy water. When I was done, I searched the area and picked up all that I could find. Then I harvested everything else in the area and dumped the soapy water across the area where the kale was planted. Not good for the soil life, but a good flushing should wash it out. My next question with the experiment: Will the kale and parsley come back? I'll let you know.

has anyone dealt with this? if so, is there a remedy? I started melrose pepper seeds in 2.25 inch deep seed compartments (as seen in the first image) in buffered peat moss (pH 5.8) with micro nutrients and some perlite straight out of the compressed block....I added some crushed pumice for better drainage. seeds germinated and grew fast. they are in a shade house during the day with a shade cloth that doesn't cut much light. when seedlings had 2 sets of true leaves and a third starting to emerge, I watered them with commercial 20-20-20 at 1/4 strength. they grew even faster. one week after fertilizing I transplanted them into 4 inch pots with a home-made potting mix of 1/3 home-made compost, 1/3 peat moss and 1/3 crushed pumice. I added 1 tblspn of dolomite lime per dry gallon of peat moss to my mix and a couple handfuls of a slow release, non-water-soluble organic fertilizer pellets. 3 or 4 days after transplanting, I hit them with 1/4 strength mix of the 20-20-20 commercial fertilizer. I'm on the coast in Costa Rica...it's tropical and warm here with a strong sun. a couple days I put them in full sun for a little while and one of those days I neglected them and the pots got very hot. around that time, the new leaves coming out are curled upward as seen in the 2nd photo. anyone seen this before? did the heat stress them out? are they getting hit with too much fertilizer? anyone know? help.

We've spent a LOT of time talking about what we can do with our plants as the season changes. We've learned how to: ❄️ Protect them from frost ♻️ Reuse our potting mix 🏠 Bring certain plants indoors ✂️ Take cuttings or divisions But there's another way your garden can give you a head start on next year. And this one requires almost NO storage space. We're talking about...🌱 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒! Those tiny little packages your plants have been quietly making all season. And here's the amazing part, inside something small enough to fit on the tip of your finger may be everything needed to start an entirely new plant next year. That's pretty incredible when you stop and think about it. It's also pretty incredible when you stop and think about how much money we spend buying seeds while our gardens are outside... 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄. 😂 So today we're learning how to collect some! 🌱 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍: 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐓? Technically, lots of plants produce seeds we can collect. But...𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐘 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐄. And not every saved seed will produce exactly the plant you're expecting. For beginners, the easiest place to start is with plants that: 🌱 Produce obvious seeds 🌸 Are easy to identify ☀️ Have seeds that can mature and dry on the plant 🧬 Are open-pollinated varieties if you want offspring more likely to resemble the parent Some plants make seed saving ridiculously easy. Others turn it into a science project. We're starting with ... 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐘. 😂 🌼 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐋𝐀 – 𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐃 Remember our calendula? If you've stopped deadheading a few flowers, you may already have seed heads developing. After the flower fades, allow the seed head to mature and dry. Calendula seeds are wonderfully strange-looking. They're curved. Bumpy. Sometimes almost like tiny little dried caterpillars. Once you've seen them, they're pretty easy to recognize. Let the seeds mature and dry well before collecting them. Then store them for next year. 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐋𝐎𝐓𝐒 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬.

It's moving day! The temperatures are dropping. Our Second Spring garden is cruising along. But some of the plants we've enjoyed all summer are beginning to look nervously toward the house. 🌿 "Sooooo...is there room for me in there?" Maybe.😂 Because today we're talking about: 🏠 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐄! Every fall, container gardeners face the same question: 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫? Sometimes the answer is: 𝐘𝐄𝐒! Sometimes it's: 𝐌𝐀𝐘𝐁𝐄... And occasionally it's: 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟒𝟎-𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐭. 😂 Because overwintering doesn't necessarily mean dragging every container into the living room. We have options! We can: 🏠 Bring the entire plant indoors ✂️ Take cuttings 🌱 Divide a plant 🪴 Move something into a protected location ❄️ Leave cold-hardy plants outside 🗑️ Say goodbye to plants that have completed their season The trick is figuring out which option makes sense for WHICH plant. But before anything crosses the threshold, we need to talk about: 🐛 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒. 🚨 𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄 #𝟏: 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄 Please don't look at your lovely herb pot and think: "𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆!" then carry it straight to the kitchen windowsill beside your houseplants. Because your herb may not be traveling alone. Outdoor plants can be carrying: 🐛 Aphids 🕷️ Spider mites 🪰 Whiteflies 🐜 Ants 🥚 Insect eggs 🐌 Slugs or snails 🪰 Fungus gnats or other organisms in the potting mix And outside? Many of these aren't a huge problem because predators, rain, weather, and the larger ecosystem help keep things in balance. Inside your warm house? You may have just opened: 𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐋𝐋-𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐒. 😂 Warm temperatures. No frost. No rainstorms. No predators. All-you-can-eat plants. They'll leave you a five-star review. 🔍 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏 𝟏: 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐄 Before bringing ANY outdoor plant inside look carefully. And I mean REALLY look. Check: 🌿 Tops of leaves 🔍 Undersides of leaves 🌱 New growth 🌿 Where leaves meet stems