When I sprout lavender I start them in seed trays and place an ice cube on top of each cell and they always sprout for me it's my easy quick stratification technique. Watermelon takes patience for sure.
The only time I've grown a perfect cauliflower head was by accident. Somehow a seed self-planted in a weird place. The leaves looked so healthy that I let it go...even though I was 100% sure it wouldn't head, and I did NOTHING to help it along. I didn't even water it! Some time later, I walked by and saw the most perfect white head of cauliflower I've ever seen! Amazing.
i got an over winter variety and planted in march. they grew all season and should make a flower in april. they are over a yard tall and have made tons of leaves for the chickens! i hope ive got 5 big cauliflowers to harvest soon!
I will, because I am a second year gardener as well. I tried celery in my first year. It didnt turn out like what you buy in the store. It was more like a bush. But the stalks were good and my wife dried the leaves to use as a seasoning. Dont let video's scare you, just do a lot of research.I am trying watermelons this year as an example and have read and watched a ton on them. Go for what you want to try, just realize that no matter what the learning experience is what really matters this early in our gardening life. Anything you harvest is just icing on the cake.
@@MIgardener That is what I did immediately after! I'm still scared because it seems pretty straight forward, just a little fussy, so I'm wondering if I'm missing something lol. I'm growing the pink-stemmed celery (that I got from you!), so hopefully the blanching doesn't ruin the pink. We'll see! Celery will be my big experiment this year :)
@@gretchenlynn89 Why are you scared. Don't be. You're going to make mistakes along the way, everyone does. Don't let that stop you. Most of your garden should be plants that are easy to grow as you learn and experiment with the more difficult crops.
I honestly love this series. It inspires me to grow anything I want even though it might be a bit of a challenge. I can't wait for spring. And also thank you Luke, for helping me and so many other gardeners with your very helpful advice.
My rookie mistake: choosing so many of these seeds - I had no idea they were so difficult to grow! Up for the challenge, ok with the outcome whatever = learning. Thanks for the head's up - and wish me luck!
Jessie Zamarron You’d be amazed at what all does actually grow in just straight compost! I had onions, spaghetti squash and a potato plant (oh and tomato plants) all have sprouted in my bins before by accident too haha
The best way to grow peanuts....have a neighbor that feeds the squirrels and let the squirrels plant the peanuts. I had a peanuts plant grow next to my mailbox last season! I harvested it right before our first frost and it was the perfect specimen! I gave the peanuts to the squirrels to say thank you! 😂
@@voxintenebris6367 Actually pretty funny, my wife was feeding squirrels with peanuts (in their shells) and sure enough we found peanut plants growing hither and yon in our grass.
I split my gardening time between GA and AL. I have a hard time beating back the volunteer watermelons from all the spit seeds (sure, insert Southern stereotype joke here). However, after 15 years, I've only managed one sad little head of iceberg lettuce. Some of these are more about your climate zone than skill level. Love the channel!!
I think it's largely about zone too. Peanuts are easy in the south. Celery gets bitter where I am, and you can grow it, but you won't want to eat it! If you're on the west coast, artichokes are a breeze. I put 20 gallons of chipped leaves on mine to overwinter them, and it's still not a sure thing they made it. I've gardened in four vastly different places, and in the Willammette Valley of Oregon, you had but to drop a seed and wait. Everything worked there to perfection, all kinds of veg. Dahlias were gorgeous, hydrangeas were twelve feet tall, roses, all kinds of flowers, every fruit but the tropicals, nuts that grow almost nowhere else, these huge blackberries called Marionberries... never a sign of disease, and no mosquitoes to make gardening awful. Sigh. So, so easy!
@Steve Laubach true I was so sad that I couldn't get 1 cauliflower in past 5 years of my gardening. In all channels it looks so easy to grow cauliflower. I wonder what mistake I do because I get broccoli every year
The key to cilantro is growing it every year in the same spot and letting it self seed. The first year I grew the Slot Bolt it bolted very quickly. I have allowed it to self seed for the last 5 years and it doesn't bolt for me until the end of summer. It is acclimated to my climate. The seed is prescious to me now but I do share with people in my area so they can now have truly all slo bolt cilantro. Word of caution it is now in my grass and will take over a large area if you allow it. I harvest it in the grass now. 😂 Good luck.
Totally, I just plant a lot and hope for a few leaves from each plant. Trying it inside this year in hopes that I can keep it from getting too hot too fast
cilantro is not a challenge if you let it reseed, its an all purpose plant. greens, pollinator food in midsummer (it attracts aphidius wasps, which are aphid parasites so you want them there!) and then finally coriander seeds for both next year and to eat. Cilantro will even reseed if you're in a warm enough zone, so start some early and let it go to seed, you might get tender cilantro shoots in the fall! Dill is the exact same way!
I've been gardening only 3 years now, and my first year my watermelons were my best crops! You are absolutely right, you gotta know when to harvest them!
Actually trying Lavender for the first time this year. I've been gardening for about five years now, and it has been a learning experience. Had my first watermelon failure last year, but going to try again. Great series, and I think you're pretty bang on for difficulty level.
Kristina Grinton I barley started growing this year first year and I put my lavender seeds in a damp paper towel or napkin and put them in the fridge for about 3 weeks and I took them out and planted it and they barley sprouted today I’m excited (good luck)
I have 1 year of gardening under my belt, plus helping my mom as a kid. I grew 2 ice box watermelons from starts last year. I'm so proud of myself after watching this! My patience paid off. They were tiny but delicious! I watched this as a what not try to grow yet. So excited for my second year of gardening!
@@ninjamom1602 I think I got lucky that year with the Watermelons it's not been easy since. But I've discovered that whatever seeds itself grows best and easiest. Sorry it took so long to respond, buried in email. 😶🌫
@@kayladionyssiou3636 Hey! Thanks for taking the time to respond. 🫶 No worries! I appreciate the update. This year is my first attempt at a garden🤞🤞💚 A lot of my squash got borers already😭 but my eggplants, peppers and tomatoes and tomatillos are doing well.... so far😅🙏🤞 and weeds! Lol those are growing great🤪💚 happy gardening!!
@@ninjamom1602 I head somewhere if yiu put the squash plants out a little later you can avoid the squash beetles, I wonder if that's true for the squash borers. Might be worth testing. I don't have any clear dates or times, sorry.
Completely accurate - all three levels. Gardening for many years and except for artichoke, which I gave as a perennial here in California, all the levels are perfect. Watermelon a bust every year as too dry, etc. thanks for watching out for everyone, Luke.
I have heavily clayey soil in eastern WA and Ive grown spearmint and many other mints in the ground outdoors from seed with no issues at all. No mulch, just a thin cover of native soil. They don't spread nearly as fast in soil with so much clay either. I wouldn't put mint in a light loam like a raised bed tho... I also did the same with watermelon. Success on the first try in native soil, I just fertilized them every week with a different mix of organic nutrients and there was alot of manure in the ground already. They had a fence to the north and to the west and plenty of ground cover and grass nearby. I had a TON of wild pollinators already too.
I'm somewhat new at gardening. I planted a few plants on the side of my garage (tomatoes, cucumber, eggplants, and bell peppers all of them were from plants that I bought from the stores) plus as a child, my sisters brother and I would help our parents in the garden mostly pulling weeds and watering the plants but this year I'm growing in my new raised beds seeds most of which came from Migardeners. Thank you I feel a little overwhelmed. I think the biggest problem I'm having the fear of failing. Not knowing when to start what seeds at what time. I thought about starting indoors but I don't have space or the lighting setup to start indoors this year. I'm hoping to be better prepared next year. So everything is going outside this year which is what my dad did successfully every year in Rockford Ill. So I consider myself more of an intermediate that going all the way. Wish of luck.
Watermelon needs really hot summers to heat up the soil. It also needs a kinda sandy soil to get the tap root to travel down deep. I can't grow watermelon at my place because I have clay soil, but it grows great at my parents house across town with lose soil.
Hey, Palillo and Moi... Yes, it helps to have loamy soil...but you can also coax things along with a little "heat-loading". Paver stones and black weed fabric near the roots. The paver stones heat up during the day and then dissipate the heat during the night. It's not a lot, but it is enough to help me get Honeydew and Watermelon to reach maturity in a cooler, "marine" climate. Kate in Olympia, WA.
Thanks Luke! Grew peanuts successfully last year in eastern WA. They weren't very prolific because our season was too short but they produced nontheless. Gonna try my hand at cauliflower this year.
I'm in Benton County myself and this will be my first full season. Been buying lots of different types of seeds. Have peanuts but by the looks of it, will have to hold off. Any suggestions?
@@babc4323, compost, balanced fertilizer, water. Be heavy handed with all of these. You're in deep sand with amazing drainage. But it doesn't retain nutrients very well. Lots and lots of compost will help. Oh, mulch. It will help to reduce evaporation from the soil and hold the water that didn't drain away so that the wind doesn't dry it out too quickly. I'd consider laying drip line or soaker hoses to make watering easier, because you may find yourself needing to water every morning.
Thank you so much for this video. I consider myself an intermediate beginner. Many half-hearted failed attempts, and then finally after taking a break, success last year with Ruth Stout gardening and plants from the garden store. This year we will see how things go from seed. Since I'm a beginner, this video helped give me realistic expectations for some of the things I've chosen. I knew cauliflower was hard, I didn't realize it was THAT hard. And with my celery, I would actually be very happy with a bush, we love the leaves. So much great advice here. Thank-you. And btw, when you start talking, it just makes me smile, your enthusiasm is infectious.
I've been gardening for about 15 years and tried Ruth stout for my potatoes last year. It was my first attempt and I over watered, I think but the SPIDERS grew great in that organic straw! Lol. Imma try it again this year😆
This is my first year planting in the grow bed. I find that the new seed packages have if the plants are container friendly or frost tolerant, etc and I found that really helpful. Maybe skill level can be added in the future. Thanks for all the great info!
I grow cilantro every year, then let it flower and harvest the seeds, which are coriander. The cleaned dried seeds can be ground fresh when needed for an even better flavor than getting the store bought spice.
I had the smallest mint plant I'm talking like a twig and it's literally a bush now. It's HUGE. And we've tried to contain it too we didn't let it go wild. Luke isn't kidding when mint will take over.
I grew watermelon on my first try last summer. I chop it up to beginners luck. I moved it from the ground in my backyard because it wasn’t growing to a container in the front yard. I got one watermelon while in the container. I than moved it out of the container into the ground and got two more watermelons.
Seems location is what determines the difficulty for some plants. Course my only successful plants were tomatoes, basil (rip), Swiss chards and a radish and I live in southern Texas.
This video was fascinating to me. I think I'm a intermediate gardener (or advanced beginner) and I was struck by the mention of cold stratification for lavender. I have a row of (still somewhat small) lavender plants behind my mailbox that are the result of a series of fumbling early gardening efforts. I grew the plant from seed with no difficulty, it got huge and after cutting it back I attempted my first propagation from cuttings. I had not intended to propagate the plant when pruning it, I was just cutting it back for space, but all but one of the (randomly sized) cuttings rooted in solo cups, hence my growing lavender hedge. I did not stratify those seeds, and I definitely followed the instructions on the seed packet. I had no difficulty with germination. However, since then I have failed in every single attempt to germinate seeds of other plant that requires cold stratification. I have tried a multitude of ribes (currants, gooseberries, etc.), haskaps/honeyberries, parsley, hardy orange (poncirus trifoliata) ,and more. All have failed. I've tried in different ways: with some period in the freezer before the fridge, in soil blocks instead of paper towels, for varying periods of time, and I have never gotten a sprout. I guess I'll consider myself "leveled up" when I can nail cold stratification. Looking back it's amazing I had any success with an "advanced" level plant as a noob. Beginners luck, I suppose.
Haha! Yes it spreads. I love it so much!! You know you can do a lot of things with it? Not just minth tea but you can also put it in salads, smoothies, taboulé, etc! Have you tried chocolate minth? It's sooo good! 😁
@@PlantesPotager My great grandmother used to put the sheets and pillow cases out on her mint patch under the redwood trees in her back yard when we were going to be staying at her house. When we went to bed at night they smelled so great.
@@danielc.1169 that's exactly what I'm doing. My chips have been deteriorating for almost a year but my ground underneath is still rock hard clay. Although it is moist! :-) in fact Tuesday I'm planting my potatoes in it- my first planting in it :-) -- so I'm planting into troughs of compost and rabbit manure and see what happens. The one mistake I think I made already was putting the chips too thick it's about 8 to 10 to 12 in thick
@@danielc.1169 in fact I'm putting in a lot of perennials and I might make it into like a food Forest. There's a guy who has a channel on RUclips in New Jersey I'm trying to copy. He just laid wood chips down on his grass and the next spring started planting and he's got a beautiful Food Forest
@@danielc.1169 I will do that! I bought giant sunflower seed just for fun but ill do that with the root. Also starting some blocking 14 comfrey for compost tea and deep roots...
Great series, Luke! This is my 4th year of gardening and this year I’ll be trying a few of your advanced options. With your growing guides in my corner, I got this... I think 🤔
You are awesome narrator. I get inspired every time I watch your videos. You cover all sides of growing. Really appreciate your approach to gardening. Thank u
Thank you so much for the series! Very informative. Maybe you can touch upon cold hardy vegetables for your next series. I’m in MN and finding what I can grow can be daunting.
I've never had much problem planting..Most of the things I've put in the Michigan soil grew. I have noticed micro climates and amount of water played big parts in gardening. I do think the lack of snow in Michigan for the past 10 years will change the planting abilities for some. I feel it will change the nutrients and water tables of the State. Now I live in Miami.
Thank you so much for this video. I truly did not have a clue about lavender and stratification. I just bought a bunch of lavender seeds from you to plant around my driveway and I would have been so bummed when they didn't germinate. I just watched your lavender stratification video. So helpful. I agree with cauliflower. I did get some nice but small heads of cauliflower last fall. I have learned that cauliflower is a total waste of time in the spring in my area. They get purple blotches from the sun and are devoured by insects. Now I only plant in the late fall and then I cover them with plastic into the winter. They seem to love that and they remain white and I have no pest problems. They are also heavy feeders. I need to do a better job of feeding them this fall.
I am so glad to see this video. I have had such a hard time with all those plants. Last year, I grew a celery stalk from bottom cutting, and it grew about a foot tall, but was all scattered and skinny. Good to know that there is something to that. Also, I tried cauliflower and broccoli from plants, and thought it all died out. When the heat became brutal, I let my garden go to the weeds, then fall coolness came and I went to clear out the weeds...woohoo, had a huge, beautiful head of white, white, white cauliflower underneath it all! Have not been able to do it since. hahaha
I don't have a problem growing cauliflower where I am. When the heads form we pull the leaves of the plant together and tie them over the head so the heads don't get discoloured by the sun and remain white
I'm from the Salad Bowl of California, the Salinas Valley. Celery, iceberg, cauliflower, broccoli, artichokes all grow there. 75° average. Lots of fog every day, so not the sunniest place. I'm now in the Sunniest city in the U.S. I'm going to try all of these and hope for the best.
Loved the series! I am 5 year in ground gardener but have been growing things since I was a teenager. I'd love to figure out watermelon as my boys could live off it alone! Glad you confirmed it is difficult!!
Yikes, trying a couple of these tough ones this year. I've been gardening on my own for about 10 years, but we move often so it really hinders my ability to get to the expert level stuff. This will be my first year using a grow light and starting onions from seed. Fingers crossed! But this year we are in a good growing area. Finally more than 3 months long!
Thank you for such great information. You have inspired me over the past year to start a LARGE raised bed garden and was even able to get my seeds from you!! I have even started my own channel to share my homesteading and gardening in 2020!! Thanks so much for all you teach!
Watermelon plants are incredibly easy to grow here in North Carolina, and I have learned when you grow them on black weed barrier, they stay pest free. The barrier gets too hot for cucumber beetles to come around, and the melons love the heat. However, they are awful to harvest. I always lose track of them and they usually wind up overripe. I think in two years I’ve only properly harvested a melon once. They’re a challenge, indeed.
A few additional crops I'd like to know more about and would love to see you discuss.........squash/pumpkin, garlic, and berrries. Berries in themselves are probably a video on their own with all the types that can be grown.
I live in Idaho and have raised a garden for most of my life this year I have ordered or purchased onion seed , water melon , lavender, celery artichoke for my garden to try but after this video maybe I am tryin to many items this year I have about 5 acers to play with and have about 200 line items for my garden with 5 or more types of items with different harvest time for my family as in harvest time I hope that I can make this a great garden like both of my grandparents did when they were alive but our weather and water and tractor work are working against me for the time to get all started and ready then my mother which was going to help just broke her leg love your videos'
Really good synopsis of difficulty. I have and a garden of my own since 1982 and still learn. I can say the difficult ones really are and I always wonder how a farmer can make a living what with weather and temperature fluctuations, and that before global warming was even considered. Thanks for your extremely informative videos on so many issues facing us home and small holding gardeners!!
I started my spearmint germination with the rockwool medium for our airoponics living wall in our home basement, needed mint for over winter months. It ended up germinating within two weeks. And producing small hair like roots, gave it a seedling nutrient for 3 days then once she had 4 nice little tiny leaves I plunked her into my airoponics living wall. She thrived like super crazy over the winter, had to prune her back several times, including g her root system so she did not get to big for the airoponics pipe. She flowered indoors ,and I just transplanted her to my outside garden pot a couple weeks ago. She did get a bit of frost, but is already showing signs of good recovery. Our tarragon came back, even though it over wintered out in a little plant pot, on our deck, Through -45C winter conditions. In Manitoba Canada we have long harsh cold winters. Nice to see some plants are hearty enough to even survive our winters!
Here on Vancouver island, I have peanuts growing in the oddest of places in my yard. In fact, they are coming up right now. I didn't plant them--the local squirrels were hiding them. Initially, I didn't really pay much attention until I noticed a peanut shell attached to the base of one plant. Always enjoy your show. Darryl
I'm a beginner gardener. I only started it up last year or so down in Florida. I've had no trouble getting Spearmint to grow at all, really. I have a whole container full of the stuff. My biggest issue with is actually keeping it alive. Leaf miners love tearing into it, I get unknown black spots on leaves, and some of them turn reddish-brown and don't look healthy at all for some bizarre reason.
I have issues with those black spot in Florida, less so in mint and more in basil. It should look like a star. It look like a fungal disease, but it's a worm growing in between the leaves, and the pesticide can't reach it. I ended up just growing my basil indoor.
Started gardening in 1975 and while I agree with you except everyone of your hard to grow veggies are hard to grow because of were you live .just about everyone of your hard to grow veggies grow easy and wonderful on the west coast Oregon zone 9. With no problems ..ive grown in Calif Oregon Colorado and now in Kansas .and all those veggies grew without any trouble in Oregon 1 mile off the beach..by far the best growing I ever experienced..
I must have accidentally had good timing as I grew iceberg last year and it was beautiful. Tasty. Crisp. I was so surprised. Hope it works out again. I should have taken notes.
I grew crimson sweet watermelons successfully in an outdoor hydroponic reservoir. It was a 27 gallon tote, and it had to be refilled about 4 times before harvest. They consume a TON of water and nutrients. I had active aeration, the watermelon was in the sunniest spot I could find, and I started it around the beginning of July for an early September harvest. I would guess that they are more difficult to grow in soil since the soil is susceptible to drying out.
I use 1 of 2 methods to blanch my Cauliflower, 1 way is to use twine or what you would prefer, to tie up the leaves. Gather them up and tie at the top checking every few days until ready to harvest, 2nd method is just bend and bust the center of the stem folding all leaves over the developing head and checking every few days until harvest. With the 2nd method you might need to put something that can weigh down the leaves as they will try to go upright again. I suppose you could try a blackout cloth of some sort though a light colored one might be best.
I grew Purple of Sicily Cauliflower last year and will forever be a staple from here on out. Trick was I started them in early January indoors. And then when you start seeing a head bring up your green leaves and loosely tie them together. This keep most pests off as it heads or bulbs up, and also keep the sun scald from messing with you color.
I have a college textbook of vegetable crop production which covers many details and different growing situations, such as field production or smaller home gardens. I also use other gardening books. They are so helpful. I am glad I can read. And I can tell you, mint is like a wave of terror lurking beneath the soil with vey healthy roots that run and mat. I am using a pitch fork right now every day to lift those roots and remove them one foot at a time, to reclaim some of my garden.
Heh heheh...2nd year gardener and yeah I have broccoli and caulis in the patch. We shall see what happens. Zone 9b so it is just getting cool enough for them to grow and should stay that way until harvest in Feb/March. First time trying so fingers are crossed. If all else fails and they bolt, the bees can enjoy the flowers. Also had great success with iceberg lettuce for trying the first time this year, too. Harvested the first round in Oct. I admit it was still a bit too warm when I planted so used a shade cloth (over a fine net to keep out the evil leaf sucking buggies) for most of their growth time. Second round is in and now it is at a nice low to mid 60s so hoping they will be even better. Whatever happens I will be glad to learn something from it so I can get better at growing veggies. Thanks for this series!
I bought cauliflower plants instead of seeds, and then used row cover to protect them from insects. I used only organic products and fertilized them with seaweed extract, and manure tea. Then I just tied up the leaves around the head when they started getting large, so that they blanched. They turned out fine and delicious - no petroleum taste from sprays that are used on ones sold at our grocery store!
I live in southern ohio, 6B and this will be my third year growing. Last year I successfully grew two squash and one pumpkin; along with many other things. The hardest part was telling if they were ripe, but I think I did well we ate them. But this year Im growing watermelon I hope it does well and I can tell if its ripe. I saw your watermelon video last year and I hope Ill be able to tell. My problem with pumpkins and squash was pollination(had to hand pollinate) and timing I planted too late because I just get seeds from my Nepali neighbors. My lavender didn't grow last year because I didn't stratify so thanks for the tip. and im trying your pink plume celery this year so I hope I can grow at least one successfully, that's the goal. Also I did spearmint for the first time last year starting from seed and transplanting to a container and it was seemily very easy I did not know it was hard to grow. Thanks for your series.
Hey Luke! I just purchased a bunch of seeds on your website what a great selection you have! I wish you would plug your store more often on your videos 99 cent seeds?! Cmon thats awesome! You take paypal which is great too. Keep up the great work bro you are changing the world.
As a kid we grew celery, dad use a crock tube (that used to be used for septic systems). Cauliflower , dad would grow it in the shade garden, then come right before frost we would cover it with about 3 ft of straw and harvest during the winter; the same with cabbage.
Can you please do a video on growing celery? I’m in Southern California and an advanced gardener, but I would love to grow celery and be able to harvest the root as well.
I bought a lovely chocolate mint plant that was perfect for my garden.. until I saw this and now it's going to be in isolation on the porch. Can't wait for my new seeds order to get here. Hope all is well.
My first year I grew sugar baby watermelons and I actually waited too long because I was afraid they would be white inside. Here’s hope that this year I’ll get it right
Cauliflower is so easy...I grow it all winter. Mine went through 3 snow storm this year and was the best I've had. Cool weather takes care of any bug problems. I grew broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage all winter at 4200ft in California. They all did excellent. Still harvesting in March...planted in August.
I live in zone 3 and have never actually stratified my lavender before sprouting and it always works. Tho anything else that needs to be, like apples and peaches, I have had to
I didn’t have issues growing cauliflower, but I had broccoli nearby and my cauliflower cross pollinated with the broccoli. I ended up with green broccoli. Onions for me are like weeds. I keep getting new onions every spring in a bed that I’d like to plant something else in. I think that I finally got the onions eradicated and I got carrots planted this season. We’ll see if I end up with onions and carrots in the same bed.
So true! I have struggled with growing lavender and celery. I have tried several times with no results. Thanks for the tips about blanching and stratifying. I will check out your other videos. Which lavender do you think is best to make into lemonade or to bake with?
Great video, Luke, helps to understand where each type of plant and variety falls in skill level. Working our way up to advanced but might be structural limitations like space, sun and length of growing season.
My very first year of gardening, in the dry desert of Las Vegas, I grew so much watermelon we couldn’t eat it fast enough! We had the personal size mini watermelons and I was so proud of myself! It was sweet and juicy and wonderful! That was about 6 years ago. I have never been able to grow watermelon successfully again! 😂😂😂 it was a nice confidence boost though!
I found a bolt of tulle on sale (far cheaper than row cover) and I keep all brassicas covered as soon as I see that first butterfly. Otherwise, all I'd ever get is a naked stem.
Lol: my 1st garden last year I grew onions in containers...not perfect, but was successful. I bought seedlings from farmers market tho, so the timing & correct type was decided for me.
Kim McDonagh a local farmers market is definitely your best bet to being able to grow any type vegetable because it could obviously grow in your climate area 😉👍
When I sprout lavender I start them in seed trays and place an ice cube on top of each cell and they always sprout for me it's my easy quick stratification technique. Watermelon takes patience for sure.
Interesting process on the lavender. I might give it a try this year.
Bless you!
Will try again using your method 🙌💟🙌
Bless you!
Will try again using your method 🙌💟🙌
You are a genius, thank you
The only time I've grown a perfect cauliflower head was by accident. Somehow a seed self-planted in a weird place. The leaves looked so healthy that I let it go...even though I was 100% sure it wouldn't head, and I did NOTHING to help it along. I didn't even water it! Some time later, I walked by and saw the most perfect white head of cauliflower I've ever seen! Amazing.
Back to Eden love those accidental plants! I had accidentally pumpkins one year.
Cut to me ,a year 1 gardener, who will try growing cauliflower this year 🙃
@@TvTriangel I'm in the same boat!
i got an over winter variety and planted in march. they grew all season and should make a flower in april. they are over a yard tall and have made tons of leaves for the chickens! i hope ive got 5 big cauliflowers to harvest soon!
Was it growing out of a compost pile by chance? The warm soil may have helped it along.
"You have to know how to grow lavender in order to grow lavender"
Quote of the year
John Miller 😂🥰
Right??
We have lavender and basically don't maintain it or do anything. I guess I was just a good space for them. But we started them from nursery plants.
As a second year gardener, I just started my celery today. Pray for me
Check out our growing guide for more confidence! :D
I will, because I am a second year gardener as well. I tried celery in my first year. It didnt turn out like what you buy in the store. It was more like a bush. But the stalks were good and my wife dried the leaves to use as a seasoning. Dont let video's scare you, just do a lot of research.I am trying watermelons this year as an example and have read and watched a ton on them. Go for what you want to try, just realize that no matter what the learning experience is what really matters this early in our gardening life. Anything you harvest is just icing on the cake.
This is my first year trying celery too. Going to have to heavily research
@@MIgardener That is what I did immediately after! I'm still scared because it seems pretty straight forward, just a little fussy, so I'm wondering if I'm missing something lol. I'm growing the pink-stemmed celery (that I got from you!), so hopefully the blanching doesn't ruin the pink. We'll see! Celery will be my big experiment this year :)
@@gretchenlynn89 Why are you scared. Don't be. You're going to make mistakes along the way, everyone does. Don't let that stop you. Most of your garden should be plants that are easy to grow as you learn and experiment with the more difficult crops.
I honestly love this series. It inspires me to grow anything I want even though it might be a bit of a challenge. I can't wait for spring. And also thank you Luke, for helping me and so many other gardeners with your very helpful advice.
My rookie mistake: choosing so many of these seeds - I had no idea they were so difficult to grow! Up for the challenge, ok with the outcome whatever = learning. Thanks for the head's up - and wish me luck!
I’m from California and a cauliflower grew without me planting it! Grew in a compost pile. Still growing not dead so far 🌱
Jessie Zamarron wow! I can’t even imagine that 😄
Jessie Zamarron You’d be amazed at what all does actually grow in just straight compost! I had onions, spaghetti squash and a potato plant (oh and tomato plants) all have sprouted in my bins before by accident too haha
I'm praying and waiting for this to happen to the pepper seeds I threw into my worm bin
Yay!!😃
The best way to grow peanuts....have a neighbor that feeds the squirrels and let the squirrels plant the peanuts. I had a peanuts plant grow next to my mailbox last season! I harvested it right before our first frost and it was the perfect specimen! I gave the peanuts to the squirrels to say thank you! 😂
😍
I love squirrels. It is certainly in the squirrels' interest to get it right when planting peanuts!
@@voxintenebris6367 Actually pretty funny, my wife was feeding squirrels with peanuts (in their shells) and sure enough we found peanut plants growing hither and yon in our grass.
@@herbgellis9735 That sounds amazing, that was a well judged investment on your wife's part!
Love it. Lol I'm going to leave some out for the squirrels in my yard.
I split my gardening time between GA and AL. I have a hard time beating back the volunteer watermelons from all the spit seeds (sure, insert Southern stereotype joke here). However, after 15 years, I've only managed one sad little head of iceberg lettuce. Some of these are more about your climate zone than skill level. Love the channel!!
😂
I think it's largely about zone too. Peanuts are easy in the south. Celery gets bitter where I am, and you can grow it, but you won't want to eat it! If you're on the west coast, artichokes are a breeze. I put 20 gallons of chipped leaves on mine to overwinter them, and it's still not a sure thing they made it. I've gardened in four vastly different places, and in the Willammette Valley of Oregon, you had but to drop a seed and wait. Everything worked there to perfection, all kinds of veg. Dahlias were gorgeous, hydrangeas were twelve feet tall, roses, all kinds of flowers, every fruit but the tropicals, nuts that grow almost nowhere else, these huge blackberries called Marionberries... never a sign of disease, and no mosquitoes to make gardening awful. Sigh. So, so easy!
Yes, exactly. I’m a total novice but a lot of things he’s mentioned I’ve been able to grow easily because of my zone and long growing season.
You can grow lettuce in the winter in the south just pick a sunny place
@@wendysgarden4283 I grew a couple of artichokes in my Zone 4 area.
It took a lot of work though, lol.
I’m glad you were honest. So many garden channels make it “super easy” to grow anything”...HA!
I don’t think it’s honestly; it a need to post a video.
Because it is
@Steve Laubach true I was so sad that I couldn't get 1 cauliflower in past 5 years of my gardening. In all channels it looks so easy to grow cauliflower. I wonder what mistake I do because I get broccoli every year
Cilantro always a challenge. Even the nobolt wants to bolt.
The key to cilantro is growing it every year in the same spot and letting it self seed. The first year I grew the Slot Bolt it bolted very quickly. I have allowed it to self seed for the last 5 years and it doesn't bolt for me until the end of summer. It is acclimated to my climate. The seed is prescious to me now but I do share with people in my area so they can now have truly all slo bolt cilantro. Word of caution it is now in my grass and will take over a large area if you allow it. I harvest it in the grass now. 😂 Good luck.
Totally, I just plant a lot and hope for a few leaves from each plant. Trying it inside this year in hopes that I can keep it from getting too hot too fast
cilantro is not a challenge if you let it reseed, its an all purpose plant. greens, pollinator food in midsummer (it attracts aphidius wasps, which are aphid parasites so you want them there!) and then finally coriander seeds for both next year and to eat. Cilantro will even reseed if you're in a warm enough zone, so start some early and let it go to seed, you might get tender cilantro shoots in the fall! Dill is the exact same way!
Yea second for self seeding. Cilantro is like a weed in my garden takes no effort and I pull more out than i eat just to make room for other plants.
@@AnimeShinigami13 Im in Canada and get -40C winters and my cilantro self seeds just fine.
I'm 60 y/o, and have been gardening since I was a child, (farm girl). However, I'm always learning so much from Luke!!
I've been gardening only 3 years now, and my first year my watermelons were my best crops! You are absolutely right, you gotta know when to harvest them!
Actually trying Lavender for the first time this year. I've been gardening for about five years now, and it has been a learning experience. Had my first watermelon failure last year, but going to try again. Great series, and I think you're pretty bang on for difficulty level.
Kristina Grinton I barley started growing this year first year and I put my lavender seeds in a damp paper towel or napkin and put them in the fridge for about 3 weeks and I took them out and planted it and they barley sprouted today I’m excited (good luck)
I have 1 year of gardening under my belt, plus helping my mom as a kid. I grew 2 ice box watermelons from starts last year. I'm so proud of myself after watching this! My patience paid off. They were tiny but delicious! I watched this as a what not try to grow yet. So excited for my second year of gardening!
Congrats! This was 2 yrs ago, hows it going now? Any new discoveries
@@ninjamom1602 I think I got lucky that year with the Watermelons it's not been easy since. But I've discovered that whatever seeds itself grows best and easiest. Sorry it took so long to respond, buried in email. 😶🌫
@@kayladionyssiou3636 Hey! Thanks for taking the time to respond. 🫶 No worries! I appreciate the update. This year is my first attempt at a garden🤞🤞💚 A lot of my squash got borers already😭 but my eggplants, peppers and tomatoes and tomatillos are doing well.... so far😅🙏🤞 and weeds! Lol those are growing great🤪💚 happy gardening!!
@@ninjamom1602 I head somewhere if yiu put the squash plants out a little later you can avoid the squash beetles, I wonder if that's true for the squash borers. Might be worth testing. I don't have any clear dates or times, sorry.
@@kayladionyssiou3636 its okay! I planted more lol I have 0 idea what I am doing. Just enjoying doing it lol 🤙💚🤪 Thanks so much!
Completely accurate - all three levels. Gardening for many years and except for artichoke, which I gave as a perennial here in California, all the levels are perfect. Watermelon a bust every year as too dry, etc. thanks for watching out for everyone, Luke.
I have heavily clayey soil in eastern WA and Ive grown spearmint and many other mints in the ground outdoors from seed with no issues at all. No mulch, just a thin cover of native soil. They don't spread nearly as fast in soil with so much clay either. I wouldn't put mint in a light loam like a raised bed tho... I also did the same with watermelon. Success on the first try in native soil, I just fertilized them every week with a different mix of organic nutrients and there was alot of manure in the ground already. They had a fence to the north and to the west and plenty of ground cover and grass nearby. I had a TON of wild pollinators already too.
I'm somewhat new at gardening. I planted a few plants on the side of my garage (tomatoes, cucumber, eggplants, and bell peppers all of them were from plants that I bought from the stores) plus as a child, my sisters brother and I would help our parents in the garden mostly pulling weeds and watering the plants but this year I'm growing in my new raised beds seeds most of which came from Migardeners. Thank you
I feel a little overwhelmed. I think the biggest problem I'm having the fear of failing. Not knowing when to start what seeds at what time. I thought about starting indoors but I don't have space or the lighting setup to start indoors this year. I'm hoping to be better prepared next year. So everything is going outside this year which is what my dad did successfully every year in Rockford Ill. So I consider myself more of an intermediate that going all the way. Wish of luck.
Watermelon needs really hot summers to heat up the soil. It also needs a kinda sandy soil to get the tap root to travel down deep. I can't grow watermelon at my place because I have clay soil, but it grows great at my parents house across town with lose soil.
that's good to know. I'm trying them this year with clay soil, so I won't be crushed if they won't work!
Hey, Palillo and Moi... Yes, it helps to have loamy soil...but you can also coax things along with a little "heat-loading". Paver stones and black weed fabric near the roots. The paver stones heat up during the day and then dissipate the heat during the night. It's not a lot, but it is enough to help me get Honeydew and Watermelon to reach maturity in a cooler, "marine" climate. Kate in Olympia, WA.
Thanks Luke! Grew peanuts successfully last year in eastern WA. They weren't very prolific because our season was too short but they produced nontheless. Gonna try my hand at cauliflower this year.
I'm in Benton County myself and this will be my first full season. Been buying lots of different types of seeds. Have peanuts but by the looks of it, will have to hold off. Any suggestions?
@@babc4323, compost, balanced fertilizer, water. Be heavy handed with all of these. You're in deep sand with amazing drainage. But it doesn't retain nutrients very well. Lots and lots of compost will help. Oh, mulch. It will help to reduce evaporation from the soil and hold the water that didn't drain away so that the wind doesn't dry it out too quickly. I'd consider laying drip line or soaker hoses to make watering easier, because you may find yourself needing to water every morning.
Thank you so much for this video. I consider myself an intermediate beginner. Many half-hearted failed attempts, and then finally after taking a break, success last year with Ruth Stout gardening and plants from the garden store. This year we will see how things go from seed. Since I'm a beginner, this video helped give me realistic expectations for some of the things I've chosen. I knew cauliflower was hard, I didn't realize it was THAT hard. And with my celery, I would actually be very happy with a bush, we love the leaves. So much great advice here. Thank-you. And btw, when you start talking, it just makes me smile, your enthusiasm is infectious.
I've been gardening for about 15 years and tried Ruth stout for my potatoes last year. It was my first attempt and I over watered, I think but the SPIDERS grew great in that organic straw! Lol. Imma try it again this year😆
This is my first year planting in the grow bed. I find that the new seed packages have if the plants are container friendly or frost tolerant, etc and I found that really helpful. Maybe skill level can be added in the future. Thanks for all the great info!
*never has grown plants*
*wants to plant a herb garden*
*gets spearmint, cilantro, and lavender*
*watches this video •_•, oh shi-*
parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme
🤣
youtube an herb spiral garden. They will teach you a lot and they aren't hard to do.
I grow cilantro every year, then let it flower and harvest the seeds, which are coriander. The cleaned dried seeds can be ground fresh when needed for an even better flavor than getting the store bought spice.
Cilantro grows very well on a window with at least 3 hours of sunlight
Herbs are super cool you can plant them in jars!
We have some on the apartment patio!
Stevia is another toughie, at least it is for me. Any tips on that one? Great video btw. Thanks!
I had the smallest mint plant I'm talking like a twig and it's literally a bush now. It's HUGE. And we've tried to contain it too we didn't let it go wild. Luke isn't kidding when mint will take over.
I grew watermelon on my first try last summer. I chop it up to beginners luck. I moved it from the ground in my backyard because it wasn’t growing to a container in the front yard. I got one watermelon while in the container. I than moved it out of the container into the ground and got two more watermelons.
Seems location is what determines the difficulty for some plants. Course my only successful plants were tomatoes, basil (rip), Swiss chards and a radish and I live in southern Texas.
This video was fascinating to me. I think I'm a intermediate gardener (or advanced beginner) and I was struck by the mention of cold stratification for lavender. I have a row of (still somewhat small) lavender plants behind my mailbox that are the result of a series of fumbling early gardening efforts. I grew the plant from seed with no difficulty, it got huge and after cutting it back I attempted my first propagation from cuttings. I had not intended to propagate the plant when pruning it, I was just cutting it back for space, but all but one of the (randomly sized) cuttings rooted in solo cups, hence my growing lavender hedge. I did not stratify those seeds, and I definitely followed the instructions on the seed packet. I had no difficulty with germination.
However, since then I have failed in every single attempt to germinate seeds of other plant that requires cold stratification. I have tried a multitude of ribes (currants, gooseberries, etc.), haskaps/honeyberries, parsley, hardy orange (poncirus trifoliata) ,and more. All have failed. I've tried in different ways: with some period in the freezer before the fridge, in soil blocks instead of paper towels, for varying periods of time, and I have never gotten a sprout.
I guess I'll consider myself "leveled up" when I can nail cold stratification. Looking back it's amazing I had any success with an "advanced" level plant as a noob. Beginners luck, I suppose.
The Spearmint part was interesting, I bought starts so it has only been a plague to me. Good lord how these plants propagate.
Every type of mint does! I grow peppermint, but only in containers, else it gets all over the place.
Haha! Yes it spreads. I love it so much!! You know you can do a lot of things with it? Not just minth tea but you can also put it in salads, smoothies, taboulé, etc! Have you tried chocolate minth? It's sooo good! 😁
@@PlantesPotager My great grandmother used to put the sheets and pillow cases out on her mint patch under the redwood trees in her back yard when we were going to be staying at her house. When we went to bed at night they smelled so great.
@@markwalker3499 oohh! What a nice idea!!! And what a lovely grandmother! ☺️
@@PlantesPotager yes! Have you tried watermelon blended with lime & mint?? So delicious! I happen to LOVE the chocolate mint in that
Spearmint is a great plant to share. All mints are crazy giving. That's Georgia.
Had my first year of gardening, just past. I'm enjoying your videos!
Haha! What I learned from this video is that all the plants I really want to grow are in the really hard category!😂😂😂
@@danielc.1169 that's exactly what I'm doing. My chips have been deteriorating for almost a year but my ground underneath is still rock hard clay. Although it is moist! :-) in fact Tuesday I'm planting my potatoes in it- my first planting in it :-) -- so I'm planting into troughs of compost and rabbit manure and see what happens. The one mistake I think I made already was putting the chips too thick it's about 8 to 10 to 12 in thick
@@danielc.1169 in fact I'm putting in a lot of perennials and I might make it into like a food Forest. There's a guy who has a channel on RUclips in New Jersey I'm trying to copy. He just laid wood chips down on his grass and the next spring started planting and he's got a beautiful Food Forest
@@danielc.1169 I will do that! I bought giant sunflower seed just for fun but ill do that with the root. Also starting some blocking 14 comfrey for compost tea and deep roots...
Great series, Luke! This is my 4th year of gardening and this year I’ll be trying a few of your advanced options. With your growing guides in my corner, I got this... I think 🤔
You are awesome narrator. I get inspired every time I watch your videos. You cover all sides of growing. Really appreciate your approach to gardening. Thank u
I'm so glad all the things I have trouble with were on your list! Now I know it isn't just me! Thanks :)
yes you are right ,thank you!
Thank you so much for the series! Very informative. Maybe you can touch upon cold hardy vegetables for your next series. I’m in MN and finding what I can grow can be daunting.
I feel lucky, I tried to start my spearmint in my aerogargen and have a great plant now. Who knew it's an advanced seed!
I've never had much problem planting..Most of the things I've put in the Michigan soil grew. I have noticed micro climates and amount of water played big parts in gardening. I do think the lack of snow in Michigan for the past 10 years will change the planting abilities for some. I feel it will change the nutrients and water tables of the State. Now I live in Miami.
Thank you so much for this video. I truly did not have a clue about lavender and stratification. I just bought a bunch of lavender seeds from you to plant around my driveway and I would have been so bummed when they didn't germinate. I just watched your lavender stratification video. So helpful. I agree with cauliflower. I did get some nice but small heads of cauliflower last fall. I have learned that cauliflower is a total waste of time in the spring in my area. They get purple blotches from the sun and are devoured by insects. Now I only plant in the late fall and then I cover them with plastic into the winter. They seem to love that and they remain white and I have no pest problems. They are also heavy feeders. I need to do a better job of feeding them this fall.
How do you have time to run the seed company and do all these videos?
I am so glad to see this video. I have had such a hard time with all those plants. Last year, I grew a celery stalk from bottom cutting, and it grew about a foot tall, but was all scattered and skinny. Good to know that there is something to that. Also, I tried cauliflower and broccoli from plants, and thought it all died out. When the heat became brutal, I let my garden go to the weeds, then fall coolness came and I went to clear out the weeds...woohoo, had a huge, beautiful head of white, white, white cauliflower underneath it all! Have not been able to do it since. hahaha
That's awesome☺️
Someone else in the comments had a similar experience growing cauliflower. Very interesting.
I don't have a problem growing cauliflower where I am. When the heads form we pull the leaves of the plant together and tie them over the head so the heads don't get discoloured by the sun and remain white
I'm from the Salad Bowl of California, the Salinas Valley. Celery, iceberg, cauliflower, broccoli, artichokes all grow there. 75° average. Lots of fog every day, so not the sunniest place. I'm now in the Sunniest city in the U.S. I'm going to try all of these and hope for the best.
There are definitely some strong regional differences here. In Phoenix, artichoke, lavender, and melon are easy.
Concise and to the point, plant what your zone allows for the best harvest, which will feed your tummy and ego💚
Loved the series! I am 5 year in ground gardener but have been growing things since I was a teenager. I'd love to figure out watermelon as my boys could live off it alone! Glad you confirmed it is difficult!!
This is about my 5th or 6th year now. Always a challenge but always something to learn and good to know.
Yikes, trying a couple of these tough ones this year. I've been gardening on my own for about 10 years, but we move often so it really hinders my ability to get to the expert level stuff. This will be my first year using a grow light and starting onions from seed. Fingers crossed! But this year we are in a good growing area. Finally more than 3 months long!
Thank you for such great information. You have inspired me over the past year to start a LARGE raised bed garden and was even able to get my seeds from you!! I have even started my own channel to share my homesteading and gardening in 2020!! Thanks so much for all you teach!
Watermelon plants are incredibly easy to grow here in North Carolina, and I have learned when you grow them on black weed barrier, they stay pest free. The barrier gets too hot for cucumber beetles to come around, and the melons love the heat. However, they are awful to harvest. I always lose track of them and they usually wind up overripe. I think in two years I’ve only properly harvested a melon once. They’re a challenge, indeed.
Oh no I've just started onion broccoli and celery and now I'm worried hahaha
Awesome video and yes totally agree with several of them... watching this helped me realize I didn’t fail alone...
I winter sowed lavender and set it out in January! It’s sprouted and growing more each day! Zone 6.
A few additional crops I'd like to know more about and would love to see you discuss.........squash/pumpkin, garlic, and berrries. Berries in themselves are probably a video on their own with all the types that can be grown.
He has growing guides on berries.
I am a beginner gardener and have started a pot is white wax onions,some have sprouted
I live in Idaho and have raised a garden for most of my life this year I have ordered or purchased onion seed , water melon , lavender, celery artichoke for my garden to try but after this video maybe I am tryin to many items this year I have about 5 acers to play with and have about 200 line items for my garden with 5 or more types of items with different harvest time for my family as in harvest time I hope that I can make this a great garden like both of my grandparents did when they were alive but our weather and water and tractor work are working against me for the time to get all started and ready then my mother which was going to help just broke her leg love your videos'
Really good synopsis of difficulty. I have and a garden of my own since 1982 and still learn. I can say the difficult ones really are and I always wonder how a farmer can make a living what with weather and temperature fluctuations, and that before global warming was even considered. Thanks for your extremely informative videos on so many issues facing us home and small holding gardeners!!
I started my spearmint germination with the rockwool medium for our airoponics living wall in our home basement, needed mint for over winter months. It ended up germinating within two weeks. And producing small hair like roots, gave it a seedling nutrient for 3 days then once she had 4 nice little tiny leaves I plunked her into my airoponics living wall. She thrived like super crazy over the winter, had to prune her back several times, including g her root system so she did not get to big for the airoponics pipe. She flowered indoors ,and I just transplanted her to my outside garden pot a couple weeks ago. She did get a bit of frost, but is already showing signs of good recovery. Our tarragon came back, even though it over wintered out in a little plant pot, on our deck, Through -45C winter conditions. In Manitoba Canada we have long harsh cold winters. Nice to see some plants are hearty enough to even survive our winters!
Here on Vancouver island, I have peanuts growing in the oddest of places in my yard. In fact, they are coming up right now. I didn't plant them--the local squirrels were hiding them.
Initially, I didn't really pay much attention until I noticed a peanut shell attached to the base of one plant. Always enjoy your show.
Darryl
These three episodes were incredibly helpful, Luke; thank you so much. P.S. Love the artwork on the wall.
Yep. Tried and failed watermelon last year in MN. Trying a smaller variety this year.
I'm a beginner gardener. I only started it up last year or so down in Florida. I've had no trouble getting Spearmint to grow at all, really. I have a whole container full of the stuff. My biggest issue with is actually keeping it alive. Leaf miners love tearing into it, I get unknown black spots on leaves, and some of them turn reddish-brown and don't look healthy at all for some bizarre reason.
I have issues with those black spot in Florida, less so in mint and more in basil. It should look like a star. It look like a fungal disease, but it's a worm growing in between the leaves, and the pesticide can't reach it. I ended up just growing my basil indoor.
Started gardening in 1975 and while I agree with you except everyone of your hard to grow veggies are hard to grow because of were you live .just about everyone of your hard to grow veggies grow easy and wonderful on the west coast Oregon zone 9. With no problems ..ive grown in Calif Oregon Colorado and now in Kansas .and all those veggies grew without any trouble in Oregon 1 mile off the beach..by far the best growing I ever experienced..
I must have accidentally had good timing as I grew iceberg last year and it was beautiful. Tasty. Crisp. I was so surprised. Hope it works out again. I should have taken notes.
I can't agree with everything but a lot of what you said is right on . I live around the Orlando area in Florida.
I grew crimson sweet watermelons successfully in an outdoor hydroponic reservoir. It was a 27 gallon tote, and it had to be refilled about 4 times before harvest. They consume a TON of water and nutrients. I had active aeration, the watermelon was in the sunniest spot I could find, and I started it around the beginning of July for an early September harvest. I would guess that they are more difficult to grow in soil since the soil is susceptible to drying out.
I use 1 of 2 methods to blanch my Cauliflower, 1 way is to use twine or what you would prefer, to tie up the leaves. Gather them up and tie at the top checking every few days until ready to harvest, 2nd method is just bend and bust the center of the stem folding all leaves over the developing head and checking every few days until harvest. With the 2nd method you might need to put something that can weigh down the leaves as they will try to go upright again. I suppose you could try a blackout cloth of some sort though a light colored one might be best.
I grew Purple of Sicily Cauliflower last year and will forever be a staple from here on out. Trick was I started them in early January indoors. And then when you start seeing a head bring up your green leaves and loosely tie them together. This keep most pests off as it heads or bulbs up, and also keep the sun scald from messing with you color.
I have a college textbook of vegetable crop production which covers many details and different growing situations, such as field production or smaller home gardens. I also use other gardening books. They are so helpful. I am glad I can read. And I can tell you, mint is like a wave of terror lurking beneath the soil with vey healthy roots that run and mat. I am using a pitch fork right now every day to lift those roots and remove them one foot at a time, to reclaim some of my garden.
Heh heheh...2nd year gardener and yeah I have broccoli and caulis in the patch. We shall see what happens. Zone 9b so it is just getting cool enough for them to grow and should stay that way until harvest in Feb/March. First time trying so fingers are crossed. If all else fails and they bolt, the bees can enjoy the flowers. Also had great success with iceberg lettuce for trying the first time this year, too. Harvested the first round in Oct. I admit it was still a bit too warm when I planted so used a shade cloth (over a fine net to keep out the evil leaf sucking buggies) for most of their growth time. Second round is in and now it is at a nice low to mid 60s so hoping they will be even better. Whatever happens I will be glad to learn something from it so I can get better at growing veggies. Thanks for this series!
I'm going to attempt to grow salsify for the first time this season
You have saved me soooooo much time! Thank you!
I bought cauliflower plants instead of seeds, and then used row cover to protect them from insects. I used only organic products and fertilized them with seaweed extract, and manure tea. Then I just tied up the leaves around the head when they started getting large, so that they blanched. They turned out fine and delicious - no petroleum taste from sprays that are used on ones sold at our grocery store!
Advanced Gardeners Rise UP
AGRU!
I’ve enjoyed ya videos for a while now. I also enjoy your good and positive vibes. Keep up the good work. Much love from north Texas!
Great video series Luke!
Interesting video. I tried celery last year, and I totally agree with your observations. Not an easy vegetable to grow.
I live in southern ohio, 6B and this will be my third year growing. Last year I successfully grew two squash and one pumpkin; along with many other things. The hardest part was telling if they were ripe, but I think I did well we ate them. But this year Im growing watermelon I hope it does well and I can tell if its ripe. I saw your watermelon video last year and I hope Ill be able to tell. My problem with pumpkins and squash was pollination(had to hand pollinate) and timing I planted too late because I just get seeds from my Nepali neighbors. My lavender didn't grow last year because I didn't stratify so thanks for the tip. and im trying your pink plume celery this year so I hope I can grow at least one successfully, that's the goal. Also I did spearmint for the first time last year starting from seed and transplanting to a container and it was seemily very easy I did not know it was hard to grow. Thanks for your series.
Oh! super fine mist bottle is an absolute must for spearmint. And all of this for a plant that once it hits outside will crush your garden.
Hey Luke! I just purchased a bunch of seeds on your website what a great selection you have! I wish you would plug your store more often on your videos 99 cent seeds?! Cmon thats awesome! You take paypal which is great too. Keep up the great work bro you are changing the world.
Am sooo excited got some of my MIGardener seeds today!!! Can’t wait to get started with them!!
As a kid we grew celery, dad use a crock tube (that used to be used for septic systems). Cauliflower , dad would grow it in the shade garden, then come right before frost we would cover it with about 3 ft of straw and harvest during the winter; the same with cabbage.
Keep barrels or large containers around the garden for herbs and plants that take over
Can you please do a video on growing celery? I’m in Southern California and an advanced gardener, but I would love to grow celery and be able to harvest the root as well.
I bought a lovely chocolate mint plant that was perfect for my garden.. until I saw this and now it's going to be in isolation on the porch. Can't wait for my new seeds order to get here. Hope all is well.
wow this really made me feel better, almost everything i have trouble with is in this video
My first year I grew sugar baby watermelons and I actually waited too long because I was afraid they would be white inside. Here’s hope that this year I’ll get it right
Trying califlower and brocoli for the first time. now that I have a large garden space. Cristina Moser
blessed! Year I did a patuna by seed a lot of my flowers I buy and transplant,cause im not patient!
Cauliflower is so easy...I grow it all winter. Mine went through 3 snow storm this year and was the best I've had. Cool weather takes care of any bug problems. I grew broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage all winter at 4200ft in California. They all did excellent. Still harvesting in March...planted in August.
I live in zone 3 and have never actually stratified my lavender before sprouting and it always works. Tho anything else that needs to be, like apples and peaches, I have had to
I didn’t have issues growing cauliflower, but I had broccoli nearby and my cauliflower cross pollinated with the broccoli. I ended up with green broccoli.
Onions for me are like weeds. I keep getting new onions every spring in a bed that I’d like to plant something else in. I think that I finally got the onions eradicated and I got carrots planted this season. We’ll see if I end up with onions and carrots in the same bed.
i loved this series . gonna try a few of the advanced seeds this year
So true! I have struggled with growing lavender and celery. I have tried several times with no results. Thanks for the tips about blanching and stratifying. I will check out your other videos. Which lavender do you think is best to make into lemonade or to bake with?
Great video, Luke, helps to understand where each type of plant and variety falls in skill level. Working our way up to advanced but might be structural limitations like space, sun and length of growing season.
My very first year of gardening, in the dry desert of Las Vegas, I grew so much watermelon we couldn’t eat it fast enough! We had the personal size mini watermelons and I was so proud of myself! It was sweet and juicy and wonderful! That was about 6 years ago. I have never been able to grow watermelon successfully again! 😂😂😂 it was a nice confidence boost though!
When you said thump test for the watermelon, I literally heard it in my head.
brussel sprouts and broccoli are also very tricky, they always bolt when it's get hotter, or get eaten by bugs
I found a bolt of tulle on sale (far cheaper than row cover) and I keep all brassicas covered as soon as I see that first butterfly. Otherwise, all I'd ever get is a naked stem.
Lol: my 1st garden last year I grew onions in containers...not perfect, but was successful.
I bought seedlings from farmers market tho, so the timing & correct type was decided for me.
Kim McDonagh a local farmers market is definitely your best bet to being able to grow any type vegetable because it could obviously grow in your climate area 😉👍