Are there known things that can be done when growing hot peppers to help them develop their hot properties? The frequency with which I encounter sweet hot peppers is annoying to be honest.
I had heard of hügelkultur years ago from friends who were starting to use these methods in their garden. Well, I just learned about it a couple of weeks ago in some of the gardening videos I have watched. I live in the Sacramento area, zone 9b. Practicing water conservation is necessary. I recently became a gardening enthusiast, and figured this was right up my alley.
There is a raised bed on this rental property, which I finally got some life into (worms! 😁), after 2 years, and want to get approval for more raised beds. I would like to apply hügelkultur methods to these beds when I start them. I do not have much in the way of finances to work with, so where would you all recommend I start?
Also, what are your favorite books on hügelkultur? I will look for them at the library.
Please, and thank you! 🙏☺️
I live in zone 9b, near Sacramento, California. While we have had some unusually cool weather, recently, they have been in the ground for a month, and like last year, are not growing, but are developing flowers, lots of them. Last year, I made the mistake of planting too late, it was too warm, and they struggled to do more than produce one small, sweet jalapeño. I am a novice gardener. We love jalapeños and want to have lots of them! What do they need for optimal growth? Not sure how this raised bed was handled before we moved in, but we are doing this organically. Anyone willing to share their experience with growing jalapeño peppers and what worked for them? (Please reference your zone.) I will be adding straw mulch, but have been waiting for some directly sown seeds to come up. If I can or should amend around the peppers, I would like to do that before I mulch.
This is my first successful year growing strawberries. The ants are loving my strawberry pot. Are they considered pests, beneficial insects, or can I consider them harmless?
THEN: Last year, I had strawberry plants, for the first time, and they never produced anything. I got rid of them, not realizing they can be perennial. This year, I got one volunteer strawberry plant! Beyond thrilled, let me tell you. 😁💚
YAY!: The volunteer caused me to double down and try again. I bought more, and the largest and strongest plant, so far, is the volunteer. It is also the only one producing strawberry flowers, so far.
NOW: I am invested in this process, now, and added four more everbearing strawberry plants, planning to overwinter them this time in hopes of a much better strawberry harvest, next year.
Q: I cut the first runner coming from the volunteer, but had a thought stopping me from cutting the one in the photo. There are three more available “pockets” in this strawberry pot. Can I use the runners to fill them? If so, when, and how do I do this? Do I let them grow a bit and cut them to propagate? Anyone with experience willing to share their knowledge, please advise! 🙏