Archives for Grow Food
The Best Nitrogen to Phosphorus Ratio for Growing Kohlrabi
Kohlrabi can look extremely confident from above. Big leaves. Strong stems. A plant that appears to know exactly what it is doing. Then you move the leaves and find the…
How to Grow Sweet Potatoes for Slips, Vines, and Storage Roots
Sweet potatoes feel like one of those crops that should be harder than they are. The vines are dramatic, the harvest is hidden underground, and the curing step sounds a…
Indeterminate Tomatoes: What They Are and How to Grow Them
Tomato labels can be oddly intimidating. You go looking for a plant that will give you tomatoes, and suddenly you are asked to understand words like determinate, indeterminate, semi-determinate, heirloom,…
How to Grow Runner Beans for Food and Beauty
Some plants earn their place in the garden twice. Runner beans are one of those plants. They climb. They flower. They feed pollinators. They make a trellis look alive. And…
How to Grow Eggplants in a Home Garden
Eggplants look a little dramatic before they ever reach the kitchen. The leaves are broad. The flowers are pretty. The fruit can be glossy, purple, white, striped, round, long, tiny,…
Chlorine for Plants: The Micronutrient Gardeners Rarely Need to Add
Chlorine is the nutrient name that causes the most confusion. Plants do need chlorine, but they take it up as chloride, not as pool chemical, bleach, or chlorine gas. Chloride…
Nitrogen for Plants: Leafy Growth, Deficiency, and Too Much of a Good Thing
Nitrogen is the nutrient that makes a garden look awake. It is tied to the green color in leaves, the proteins and enzymes plants use to grow, and the steady…
Zinc for Plants: Growth, Micronutrients, and Soil Testing
Zinc is a small nutrient with a big influence on growth. Plants use zinc in enzymes, growth regulation, protein production, and chlorophyll-related processes. When zinc is short, plants may stay…
Boron for Plants: A Tiny Nutrient With a Narrow Safe Range
Boron is the micronutrient that makes me want gardeners to slow down. Plants need boron for growing points, cell walls, flowering, pollen function, fruit and seed development, and sugar movement.…
Copper for Plants: A Micronutrient to Understand Carefully
Copper is essential for plants, but it is not a nutrient to toss around casually. Plants need very small amounts of copper for photosynthesis, enzyme activity, lignin formation, and healthy…