Gardening ideas & tips for the average gardener.
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From The Ground Up

Tip: With moisture comes weeds and diseases

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION - www.extension.umn.edu Keep scouting for plant issues, especially on your more long-term perennial plants. Continue to water the root areas of plants as cooler temperatures occur to help plants move into dormancy.

Weekly vegetable update 9/8/2021

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION - www.extension.umn.edu It's really starting to feel like fall. Many farmers are harvesting a flush of carrots and beets, and cool season crops like lettuce, chard, and Brassicas are coming along nicely. The drought is still persistent, but a few weeks of...

A quick guide to harvesting and storing melons, squash, and pumpkins

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION - www.extension.umn.edu The tendril on this watermelon is beginning to dry up. It will be ready to pick soon. Melons are one of the trickiest plants to grow, because the guidelines around harvest are confusing and often contradictory. Gardeners often struggle...

Preparing your vegetable garden for fall

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION - www.extension.umn.edu Fagiolina del Trasimeno cowpeas saved from my garden this year Fall is an abundant and satisfying season in the garden. Your hard work throughout the season has produced a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Flowers continue to bloom...

Spots, specks, and scabs: Squash and Pumpkin Fruit Damage

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION - www.extension.umn.edu Many winter squash and pumpkins are ready for harvest already. The dry season has meant that fruit that did get enough water generally look good, though there are still spots where cosmetic issues exist on the fruit. It's hard out...

Success of fall lawn seeding depends on rain

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION - www.extension.umn.edu This lawn has gone dormant due to lack of rain. In a normal year, seeding your lawn in late summer or early fall is widely considered the best time. Weed pressure is somewhat lessened, yet there is still enough rainfall and time to...

Cracks, rots, and tough spots: Tomato quality issues

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION - www.extension.umn.edu If you have been able to water your vegetable garden, 2021 has been a great year for growing tomatoes. The drought has meant there is little water available to kickstart plant disease, so while August is typically when diseases like early...

Powdery mildew in flowers and vining vegetables

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION - www.extension.umn.edu Powdery mildew on zucchini While this dry growing season has limited the appearance of most plant diseases, diseases that aren’t as dependent on water have still cropped up this year. This includes a group of common plant diseases that...

Plant pathology basics: Some plants are diseased, which ones are now at risk?

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION - www.extension.umn.edu Now that most of the state has gotten rain in that last week, vegetable diseases that have been held back by the drought are rearing up. The appearance of any disease often prompts questions about how far that disease can spread and what...

Weekly Fruit Update - Sept. 1, 2021

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION - www.extension.umn.edu In this week's fruit update: Japanese beetle and SWD trap counts Grape harvest target parameters, and pests to watch for Apple harvest progress and what to watch for Fall-bearing raspberry SWD info Japanese beetle average trap counts...