Growing Guides ·
How Do Macadamia Nuts Grow? Years to Crop, and a Hard Shell
Macadamias grow on evergreen trees that take 7 to 10 years to bear from seed. The nuts drop when ripe — you harvest from the ground, not the branch.
Fruits & Berries
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How Do Pineapples Grow? On the Ground, One Per Plant
Pineapples do not grow on trees but on a low ground plant, one fruit per plant, from hundreds of flowers fused into one. How they grow, and how long it takes.
Growing Guides ·
How Is Star Fruit Grown? Carambola From Tree to Harvest
Carambola is a subtropical tree that fruits twice a year and needs no pollinator. The one real caution is oxalate, which matters if kidneys are impaired.
Growing Guides ·
How Many Blueberry Bushes Should I Plant? Two, Minimum
One bush fruits poorly; two different varieties cross-pollinate and yield far more. Here is the arithmetic by household, and the spacing that lasts.
Growing Guides ·
Prickly Pear Cactus Propagation: Pads, Callus, Patience
A pad twisted off at the joint and left to callus for two weeks roots easily. Rushing the callus, or burying the pad deep, is what kills them.
Growing Guides ·
When to Plant Blackberry Bushes: Late Winter On
Bare-root canes go in while dormant, containers any time the ground works. Know whether yours fruits on floricanes or primocanes before you prune.
Growing Guides ·
Is Lemon Balm Invasive? It Seeds Rather Than Runs
Lemon balm spreads by seed, not by runners like mint. That makes it easier to control — if you cut the flowers before they set.
Growing Guides ·
Are Strawberries Easy to Grow? Yes, With Two Catches
Strawberries are among the easiest fruit to start and the easiest to neglect. The two things that decide a crop, and why year three disappoints.
Growing Guides ·
How to Grow Figs: Sun, Restraint and a Hard Prune
Figs fruit better in poor soil and a cramped root run than in a pampered bed. Planting, the two crops a year, and how far north you can push them.
Growing Guides ·
How to Grow Blueberries: It Is All About Soil pH
Blueberries need pH 4.5 to 5.5 and will slowly starve above it. Getting the soil right, why you want two varieties, and the pruning that keeps fruit coming.
Growing Guides ·
How to Grow Grapes: Prune Hard, and Prune in Winter
Grapes fruit on shoots from last year's wood, so timid pruning gives a huge vine and no crop. The two training systems, and why summer pruning is separate.
Growing Guides ·
How to Grow Blackberries: Planting, Pruning and Picking
Thornless erect varieties on a two-wire trellis, pruned on the floricane-primocane cycle. Planting, feeding, and the one pruning rule that decides your crop.
Growing Guides ·
Can You Eat Crab Apples? Yes, and They Make Better Jelly
Crab apples are edible, sour, and unusually high in pectin — which is exactly why they set jelly no other fruit will. The one part to avoid, and which trees to pick.
Growing Guides ·
How to Grow a Lemon Tree in a Pot, Anywhere
Lemons fruit year round and survive cold winters in a container, given light and the right watering. Why grafted trees matter, and what leaf drop is telling you.
Growing Guides ·
How to Grow Strawberries (And Get Fruit the First Year)
Strawberries are easy to grow and easy to get wrong. Which of the three types to plant, why you pinch the first flowers, and how to keep a bed producing.
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