Growing Blueberries

more popular with our American gardening cousins. Australians probably don’t grow blueberries because they don’t think they’ll grow well here. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact we’ve successfully grown blueberries here in sunny subtropical Queensland. So if we can grow these scrumptious berries so can you!

Blueberry Growing Conditions

• Blueberries are very fussy when it comes to your soil. They need a nicely composted free draining soil. Don’t even think about growing them in clay soils – they don’t like “wet feet” which clay encourages.
• The other big consideration when it comes to your soil and blueberries is the pH level. Blueberries thrive in a highly acidic soil between a 4 and 5 pH. Basically this is the same type of soil that azaleas and camellias love, so if you have luck in your ornamental garden with these flowers you should be right with blueberries. Acidic soils “unlock” minerals like sulfur and zinc to blueberries, which makes them grow and grow.
• During spring you should get new light green growth. If this is yellow or looks sick your pH is too high. Add peat moss around the plant and cover with mulch. Mulch is very important to blueberries as it helps retain moisture (when they can dry out in summer) and keeps weeds down, which should hopefully not effect blueberries’ shallow root system.
• If you have a less acidic soil consider digging in peat moss, and depending on how much of a fundamentalist organic gardener you are you might even consider sulfur added to the soil a few months in advance of planting. Mulch with acidic materials too such as pine needles or sawdust.
• Blueberries like a sunny position but will also get by in some shade (but not too much, otherwise flowering might be effected).
• During the flowering and fruiting season they’ll need a lot of water – usually around two inches a week.

Blueberry Garden Care

• Blueberries need chilling; so it’s important to buy a variety who’s chilling requirements match your climate:

Highbush
Best grown in Northeast and Northwest America, and in southern parts of Australia

Half-high

Grows well in the American plains where night temperatures drop considerably in winter

Low bush
Keep going north into the depths of Canada and that’s where you’ll find this extremely cold hardy compact variety.

Southern highbush and Rabbiteyes
Suits the American south (and here in Southeast Queensland), these are the right varieties for cool and mild winters

• Try to buy locally from nurseries to make sure you buy varieties that grow where you live.
• Most blueberries will yield a lot better if you grow more than one type of plant within the same variety, and flowers at the same time. For example here in Brisbane we grow two early ripening types of southern highbush – Sharpeblue and Misty. Rabbiteyes must have two types of plants otherwise they won’t produce berries.
• Blueberries aren’t that greedy with fertilising, in fact it’s best to only organically fertilise around three times in spring – and then that’s it. Too much fertiliser will encourage leaf growth but not berry growth. We put down a layer of manure and mulch and give the odd liquid manure drink (with sulphate of potash included).
• You can prune dead, diseased and old wood toward the end of winter or very early in spring before much action starts happening to your plants. The odd prune is good as berries are usually formed on newer wood.
• Blueberries are very easy to look after for organic gardeners. They don’t get many diseases or pests. Most growers report the only real pest is birds. They can be deterred with netting. Or you might just be lucky like us (touch wood) and the birds haven’t worked out that those dark blue balls are very yummy.

Harvesting Blueberry Gardens

• Ok, you’ve waited patiently for weeks now, seen the gorgeous little white bell shaped flowers turn into green small berries, they start changing light purple then dark blue. “At last,” you say, “Harvest time!” But this is unfortunately not the case. Even when the berries turn blue they’re not ready. In fact they’re still very tart. You’ll need to wait at least a week for the sugars and flavour to come out.
• When you only have one or two berries it’s easy to remember when they first turned blue, but later in the harvest you’ll hopefully have dozens and dozens and you won’t remember which berry is ready when. Here’s my experience. Look at the underneath of the berry. If there’s a little green circle at the point the berry meets the stem – it’s not ready. If there’s no circle wait a day (if you can) and it should (hopefully) be ready. Of course with experience you’ll get better at working out when they’re ready.

Lightly twist the berry off the stem, pop into your mouth and enjoy!

Green Beans

the air and fix it into the soil on their roots. This means whatever you grow after your beans will benefit from the extra nitrogen in the soil.

Growing Conditions For Garden Beans

• Beans are susceptible to frosts so they should only be grown in warmer months, unless you live in a subtropical climate where you can grow them all year long.
• They love sunny well drained beds.
• Beans like a soil manured the previous season, you might also add a little lime before sowing.
• In a 4 bed rotation system beans are grown in the same bed after you’ve harvested your winter brassicas (cauliflower and broccoli).

Garden Care For Bean Growing

• There is a lot of variety with beans. The best tasting beans we’ve had so far is Blue Lake and Butter beans. Bush, or dwarf, beans are low growing while climbing beans start reaching for the sky.
• Climbing beans are far more productive than bush beans. Tie together some tall stakes into a pyramid and plant a few seeds at the base of each stake.
• Remember to direct sow your bean seed. Transplants don’t work very well.
• Keep an eye out for bean bugs. They look like ugly lady beetles with too many spots on an orange shell. You might also see them on your potatoes. Squash them and their fuzzy larvae before you get too many otherwise they’ll eat all your beans’ leaves.

Harvesting Garden Beans

• To avoid damaging the plant always harvest beans by cutting their pods off with scissors or a knife.
• Pick your beans frequently, it encourages flowering. Which means even more tasty beans!
• When your beans are on their last legs cut them off at the ground, leaving their nitrogen fixed roots in the soil.

Beans are an easy vegetable grow and are extremely handy for cooking so you might want to consider growing beans too.

Pepper Plants

some other parts of Asia as well. Peppers or capsicums (as they are known in some parts of the world) are enjoyed by everyone in a variety of dishes. Hot and not-so-hot peppers are both equally enjoyable in various sorts of foods and for a gardener, growing peppers is easy and in fact is one of the most common home gardening plants.

Grow Pepper Plants – Choose The Right Variety

Bell peppers are not the only type of peppers so if you are interested in planting peppers, you should know about the varieties of peppers available and choose the right one to grow in your garden. If you would like to grow peppers, these are some of our recommendations:

Hot Peppers

• Cayenne
• Red Chili
• Jalapeno

Salad Peppers

• Sweet Banana
• Gypsy

Hybrid Bell Peppers

• Lady Bell
• Bell Boy
• Purple Bell
• Chocolate Bell

Unlike previous generations of gardeners, the current generation interested in growing garden peppers has more than just the ordinary green variety available to them. If you are growing pepper plants, depending on what type of garden pepper you choose, you will find a plethora of colors including but not limited to yellow, red, orange and even purple.

When To Grow Pepper Plants

Winter is the best time to start growing pepper plants. Even if your part of the country gets very cold, you can grow peppers indoors to start out with and once spring sets in, you can transplant the peppers outside to your garden. Warm weather is perfect for planting pepper because the cold and frost and wet soil do not help when growing garden peppers. Temperatures above 50 – 55 degree Fahrenheit are best. If it is colder, then start by growing pepper plants indoors.

Pepper Gardening Tips

When planting pepper outside in the garden or transplanting from pots into your garden you must ensure the garden peppers are properly spaced to allow them to grow to their maximum potential. If you are planting peppers in a row, place them at least 18 to 24 inches apart. If you are aiming for a scattered growth, then a distance of 14 to 18 inches is more than enough.

As far as soil is concerned, you must choose garden soil with proper drainage to grow peppers. Fertile, well moisturized soil is ideal. If your region is prone to dry weather and dry winds, make sure the soil does not dry out and keep it well irrigated or your pepper plants may become dehydrated plants and die.

Harvesting Garden Pepper Plants

If you are a newbie gardener, planting pepper is ideal because you do not need any real expertise and even harvesting garden pepper plants is very easy. Garden peppers do not really need to grow to any particular size. Bell peppers are usually mature when they are about 3 to 4 inches long and firm.

Before you pick the garden peppers, make sure they are firm and break away easily from the pepper plant. If they do not, the garden pepper plants are not mature enough. If you ar growing a hot a variety of pepper, as an added precaution you might want to wear gloves when picking the peppers because your skin might become irritated.

Planting peppers is easy and convenient and garden peppers not only add color to your garden but are also very handy because you can use them for cooking.

Growing Citrus Fruit Trees

Citrus fruit trees can be planted at any time during the year and can be found being sold in containers now days. If you are living in a cold region it would be best if you planted your citrus plants in spring or early summer. The reason this should be done is to give the citrus tree enough time to establish itself before winter.

• Citrus fruit trees are known to grow well in light, loamy soil as they prefer good drainage.
• When planting your citrus tree be sure to dig the planting hole a bit wider than that of the container containing the citrus tree.
• When planting the citrus tree make sure that the soil is slightly more than the level of the ground. Always remember to fill the planting hole with a good garden soil and compost. Make sure that the tree is firmly planted, thereafter make a wide, shallow basin around it and water the tree well.
• In some areas that can be very windy at time. It is best to stake the young trees.
• Mulching the tree with compost is very important for the growth of the tree. Keep the compost from the stems of the tree, if not water could get onto the stems and cause stem rot.
• Remember in order for your citrus tree to bear well it needs regular watering and fertilizing. It is important that the tree receives a lot of citrus tree care and water during the time the flowers are setting and fruits start developing. A lack of water around this time can lead to a bad fruit set and you would not want that after your hard work. Always remember never allow your tree to dry out during the remainder of the year.

Grow Citrus Tree: Dwarf Citrus

Dwarf citrus trees are small and remarkably easy to grow and  can be grown indoors with a lack of trouble. There are however a few things to note when planting your dwarf citrus tree.

• Make sure that the pot size is correct. The pot size will vary depending on the age of the tree, a 1 year old tree usually requires a pot that is 6 to 9. However as the tree gets older the size of the pot will change, mature trees usually require a 16 to 20 diameter pot.
• Always make sure your you have enough drainage holes. When filling the pot with soil, be sure to use ¾ light, well drained commercial soil for best results. When filling the soil into the pot ensure that all the roots are covered in soil, spread the roots across the soil.
• It would also be best if you place the pot on a saucer of pebbles, this will allow air and water to flow through the roots easy.
• Also add a fertilizer that has a 2-1-1 ratio for best results and remember to water thoroughly.
• Sunlight is the order of the day so make sure your tree gets around 8 to 12 hours of sunlight per day.

Citrus Tree Diseases

Citrus tree diseases can be a nightmare and as a result citrus tree care is very important if you want to manage your citrus tree well. You will find many diseases that can affect citrus trees, namely Citrus canker, Melanose, Greasy spot and Sooty mold.

• The best way to deal with these citrus tree diseases would be, in the case of citrus canker, which is a highly contagious disease which causes yellow halo- like lesions or scabs on fruit, to use Liquid copper fungicide which works well with this disease.
• Melanose is a disease where by a fungus infection takes over the fruit, prompt pruning is the best way to combat this disease.
• Greasy spot is also a fungus disease, the signs of this disease can be seen by yellowish- brownish blisters spots on leaves. To control this disease collect and remove all fallen leaves, this reduces the chance of new spores.
• Sooty mold is another fungus that is a problem to citrus, it causes blackening of the leaves. Insect control is the best way of controlling this citrus disease.

If you have a citrus disease it is not the end of the world, use this information and others to help control the spread of the disease.

Citrus gardening is a pleasure, understanding how to go about citrus gardening is the key to having a fabulous gardening experience. Follow the easy steps and you will be sure to have a beautiful citrus garden.

Why Should I Be Buying Plants Online?

Online shopping is all the rage these days, but buying plants online… is that wise? A good reason to buy plants online is that one is offered a great selection of plants that one may not find in a local store. If you are looking for those rare plants that you have always wanted to grow but never known where to find them chances are you could order plants online. Plus, you can compare prices of different online plants, strike the best deal which is excellent when you want to hunker down for the recession and save some money. You can pick up quality plants and even find out growing conditions before paying for your online plants. Sometimes you may even find attractive discounts when you order plants online. Do all this while sitting comfortably in your living room and having them delivered to your doorstep.

Where to Buy Plants Online?

If you are convinced that maybe buying plants online is a good idea, don’t just jump on to eBay and place your bids. If you are not sure where to buy plants online, the best thing to do is ask your local nursery or at least run a Google search and look for websites that will let you order plants online and deliver the online plants to you. Some online nurseries where one can order plants online are:

• Jackson’s Nurseries: Offering a wide range of garden plants after growing most of their varieties at competitive prices.
• Dutch Gardens: It has been supplying Holland’s finest bulbs and plants for nearly a century now and can help you buy the best bulbs.
• Breck’s Bulbs: Another wonderful nursery for mail order plants online and purchase quality bulbs.
• Best 4 Plants: Founded in 1963, this nursery provides shrubs, perennials, grasses, ferns, bulbs and garden tools.
• Greenwood Nursery: Offers hundreds of conifers, hardwoods and shrubs with reasonable seedling costs.

Ordering Plants Online – Tips

If you are new to the business of ordering plants online, don’t worry it is not rocket science and it will definitely not take you too long to figure out how to buy plants online.

• Buy from an online plants nursery not an online store such as eBay or even Walmart!
• As it is not easy to buy online plants without seeing them, read reviews about them by other buyers to get a better idea before buying plants.
• Before you order plants online make sure their growing conditions are conducive to where you live. Otherwise you may face a big problem later on.
• In order to buy plants online, know their botanical and common name so that you may compare prices at different nurseries – ofline and online.
• Read and understand the company policy before ordering plants online and check the sizes of the mail order plants.
• Keep a record of orders, shipping dates, deadlines for shipping and order early because quantities are often limited.

Welcoming Online Plants At Home

Sometimes mail order plants are shipped bareroot to save costs and many gardeners worry about how to handle bare root plants. Don’t worry if this is how your  online plant arrives but make sure you plant them immediately when they arrive so that they may not dry up.

Take time to make your selection and you may soon be a proud gardener who is not only able to pick up plants at the local nursery stores but can also order plants online easily. Buy a small quantity at first and if you are happy with your purchase you can be more ambitious in quality and quantity when you buy online plants thereafter.

Reference:

1. Why should you buy plants online? – My Ideal Garden