Growing White Button Mushrooms Growing white button mushrooms doesn’t require sunlight, which is especially nice for the indoor gardener whose windows are full up with plants. They can also be grown at any time of year, with winter actually preferable, making for a great gardening opportunity when everything outside is cold and bleak. Growing white button mushrooms takes spores, tiny microscopic things that will grow into mushrooms. You can buy mushroom growing kits made up of organic material inoculated with these mushrooms spores....

Pothos And Water: Growing Pothos in Water Vs. Soil All you need to start growing pothos in water is a healthy pothos vine, a glass container, and all-purpose liquid fertilizer. Your container can be clear or colored glass. Clear glass works well for growing a pothos in water and allows you to easily see the roots. However, algae will grow slowly in colored glass, which means you won’t need to scrub the container as often....

Do Sunflowers Transplant Well? Put sunflowers in their permanent location when planting. Due to their taproot, moving plants is not advisable. It is nearly impossible to move growing plants with taproots once active growth has started. Can you transplant sunflowers from a starting pot? If you want to get started early growing this plant, you may grow from seed in a container. Transplanting sunflower seedlings shortly after sprouting is the best practice....

What is a Himalayan Lantern Plant? Himalayan lantern plant (Agapetes serpens) is a member of the Ericaceae family. It is native to the cool Himalayas and grows as an evergreen shrub. It is drought tolerant once established and can tolerate low temps for a short period, down to 22 degrees F. (-6 C.). The plant produces a large woody tuber at the base. Long arching branches of 3 to 5 feet (1-1....

About Powdery Mildew of Carrot Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that is favored by dry weather with high humidity and temperatures during morning and evening hours with temperatures between 55 and 90 degrees F. (13-32 C.). The pathogen also infects related plants such as celery, chervil, dill, parsley, and parsnip of the family Apiacae. While studies have shown that 86 cultivated and weedy plants are susceptible, a particular pathogen strain is not able to infect all host plants....

What is a Casaba Melon? Like other melons, casaba belongs to the species known as Cucumis melo. There are varietal subdivisions of C. melo, and casaba and honeydew both belong to the winter melon group. Casaba melons are neither smooth like honeydew, nor netted like cantaloupe. The skin is rough and deeply ridged. There are several varieties of casaba, but a common one grown and seen in supermarkets in the U....

Planting and Care of Chocolate Flower An herbaceous perennial, the chocolate scented daisy sometimes grows to 2 feet (61 cm.) in height and the same in spread. Growing chocolate flower plants with abundant growth may take on the form of a sprawling groundcover, so allow plenty of room when planting the chocolate scented daisy. Chocolate flower care can involve pruning and clipping the plant to keep it within boundaries. The plant can be trimmed back by one-third in summer if it begins to look untidy, followed by another show of the fragrant blooms....

Centaury Plant Description Also known as mountain pink, common centaury flower is a low-growing annual that reaches heights of 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30.5 cm.). Centaury plant (Centaurium erythraea) consists of lance-shaped leaves on erect stems growing from small, basal rosettes. Clusters of petite, five-petaled, summer-blooming flowers are pinkish-lavender with prominent, salmon-yellow stamens. Flowers close at midday on sunny days. This hardy mountain wildflower is suitable for growing in USDA plant hardiness zones 1 through 9....

Lemon Tree Insect Pests Some lemon tree pests are insects that affect most of the plants in your garden. Aphids are a good example. Masses of these small insects appear with the new, green foliage in springtime. They can damage young trees if not controlled by natural predators such as the ladybug. Bringing in ladybugs to control aphids is a good, organic option for treatment. If the leaves of your lemon tree curl and you see little passageways carved into the foliage, your lemon tree pests may include the citrus leaf miner....

Diseases of Mayhaw Diseases of mayhaw trees are most commonly caused by bacteria and/or the spread of fungal spores. While some diseases only cause minimal damage, others may cause complete loss of crops. Knowing and recognizing the signs early will prevent further spread of disease among your trees in future growing seasons. Rust – Mayhaw trees may be infected by various types of rust, in particular, cedar hawthorn rust. Rust is caused by fungal spores transmitted by the wind....

Plants that Grow Next to Geraniums Companion planting with geraniums is so beneficial because they deter some very common and destructive pests. Geraniums are known to repel earworms, cabbageworms, and Japanese beetles. Because of this, the best companion plants for geraniums are those that are prone to suffering from them, like corn, roses, grapes, and cabbage. Scented geraniums are also believed to deter spider mites, leafhoppers and cotton aphids, meaning good scented geranium plant companions are almost any vegetable in your garden....

Container Grown Baby’s Breath Plants Have you tried growing Gypsophila in your garden without success? This is a possible issue if you planted into clay soil, as the tiny seeds of this plant cannot overcome and break through the heavy clay. Even amended soil only containing partial clay may be too heavy for these seeds. Of course, the solution is growing baby’s breath in a container. Gypsophila planted in the ground can become invasive in some areas, another good reason to grow this elegant plant in a container....

This warm-climate plant grows year-round in USDA plant hardiness zones 9b and above, but gardeners in more northern climates can grow ginger in a container and harvest the spicy roots year-round. Although you can start any time of year, spring is the optimum time for planting ginger in a container. Want to learn about growing ginger in containers? Read on. How to Grow Ginger in a Pot If you don’t already have access to a ginger plant, you can purchase a chunk of ginger about the size of your thumb or a little longer....

Starting a Vegetable Garden Indoors Starting a vegetable garden indoors is easy. At its most basic, all you need is a container for soil, light, and a way to keep the water off your floor. This last one is important – you don’t want to water all your new containers and find most of the water sinking into your floorboards. Buy inexpensive dishes to put under your pots to collect extra water....

Growing Corsican Mint Corsican mint plants tolerate full or partial sunlight. Nearly any type of moist, well-drained soil is suitable. Keep in mind that, like most mint plants, Corsican mint self-seeds readily and can be somewhat aggressive. This plant is suitable for growing in USDA plant hardiness zones 7 through 9. It freezes in colder climates but usually self-seeds in spring. Using Corsican Mint In addition to its uses as a groundcover in the garden, Corsican mint is a valuable culinary plant and great for containers....

What is Culver’s Root? You may have seen Culver’s root flowers (Veronicastrum virginicum) growing along riverbeds and roadsides in the east, from New England down to Texas. They appear in summer, with long white racemes of small flowers, wildly popular with bees. The spiky flowers look like candelabras, with their many branches tipped by the inflorescences. Occasionally, you see blue or pink flowers if Russian varieties have been grown nearby and the plants hybridize....

Should You Stake Lily Plants? There is no real reason in terms of the health of the plant to stake lilies in the garden. Your perennial blooms will come back next year, whether they droop now or not. The main reason for staking lilies at all is to keep up appearances. Your perennial beds just don’t look that nice when all the flowers droop over and land in the dirt or mulch....

However, growers frequently do not consider which types of pollinator they would like to attract. Shapes of flowers can actually impact which species of insects visit the garden most often. Learning more about flower shapes and pollinator preferences can help growers make the most of newly established flower gardens. Does Flower Shape Matter? While it’s true that most pollinators will be attracted to a wide range of flower types and flower shapes, attracting pollinators with flower shapes better suited to them is possible....

Get started as early in spring as possible so you can harvest the cabbages before the peak of summer. If you live in a mild climate, you can grow a second crop in late summer for harvest in winter or spring. Read on for more Earliana cabbage info, and learn about growing this sweet, mild cabbage in your own garden. Growing Earliana Cabbage Variety For an early harvest, start seeds indoors....

Zoysia Grass Problems Invasive – Zoysia grass is a very invasive grass. The reason you can plant plugs and not have to seed the lawn is because zoysia grass will crowd out all other species in the lawn. Then when it has taken over your lawn, it will start in on your flower beds and your neighbor’s lawn. Temperamental color – Another one of the zoysia grass problems is that unless you live in a consistently warm climate, the color of your lawn can go rapidly from green to brown at the first sign of cool weather....