Vegetable Gardens
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The value of compost to a garden is probably not what most people think. Compost is not a substitute for fertilizer if you’re trying to grow crops that have a high nutrient demand. The real value of adding composted amendments to your garden is to loosen the soil and minimize compaction, improve the drainage and…
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UGA Extension Agent Paul Pugliese is looking at a backyard vegetable garden, and we discover a common summertime issue; herbicide injury. What is it? And how to prevent.
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March is a great time to plant Irish potatoes in North Georgia. There are literally hundreds of cultivars of potatoes that come in every shape, color, and size imaginable. Potatoes can be white, red, purple, blue, and yellow. The Irish potato gets its name from the history of the Irish potato famine. The popular term…
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I can never tell if my clients are serious or just pulling my leg when it comes to old wives’ tales and folklore related to farming, gardening, and predicting the weather. I’m a big fan of the classic movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. This movie underscores the absurdity of the whole Groundhog Day tradition. …
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It’s that time of the year when our Extension office gets inundated with calls about vegetable garden problems. It seems like problems are starting earlier this year. In fact, it’s so early in the season that there really shouldn’t be many insects and diseases affecting vegetables—yet. Most insects and diseases take time to build up…
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I may be a little biased, but I believe the best Father’s Day gifts are garden books, tools, gloves, seeds, or plants. Each of these items involves me and my son getting our hands dirty in the garden. The best gifts are the those that create lasting memories of planting or building something that we…
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This is the time of year that everyone is asking about how and when to fertilize their pastures, lawns, and gardens. My favorite request is “could you come out to my house and look at my lawn or pasture and tell me why I can’t grow anything?” I’ve looked at many pastures, lawns and gardens…
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Every summer, we receive calls about ants getting into vegetable gardens and crawling all over people’s plants. In particular, okra and southern peas seem to be a common problem for nuisance ants. Ants are attracted to the sugary nectar produced in flowers and may also be attracted to other sap-feeding insects such as aphids, if…
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If calcium is deficient in developing tomato fruits, an irreversible condition known as blossom-end rot will develop. Blossom-end rot occurs when cell wall calcium is deficient during early fruit development, and results in cell wall membrane collapse. Blossom end rot is a physiological disorder of tomatoes and not caused by a plant disease. Symptoms include…