Do you have a patchy, brown lawn or tomatoes that won’t grow? Gardening expert Frank Ferragine takes on some of the most common gardening woes and has ideas for fixing them!
#1: Yellow tomato plants
The leaves of tomato plants turn yellow when they have blight. These plants should be removed from the garden so they don’t affect other plants. If you’re planting more in the future, make sure you put them in a different spot and look for VFN on the tags, which stands for virus-free.
#2: Patchy brown lawn
Lawns naturally turn brown and go dormant during hot weather. If they’re very patchy, the problem may be grubs or chinch bugs. To test for chinch bugs, place a white towel near the brown spot and they’ll jump on top. To get rid them, try watering more often. If it’s grubs, use nematodes.
#3: Beetles
To get rid of beetles, use the pick and squish method. You can also use beetle traps or a bedsheet to keep the beetles out, while still letting the sunlight through.
#4: When to harvest veggies and herbs
The best time of day to harvest is at sunrise, when the flavour of the herbs and veggies is most saturated.
#5: Sad-looking containers
Pay attention to drainage at the base. If there’s not enough drainage, your plants could be sitting in water. Also make sure to fertilize and replace any nutrients that have been washed out from watering.