r/SoCalGardening

The banana bunch I cut off the tree is ripening nicely. Took about 10 days or so.

I’m in socal, zone 10b. This is in my backyard (house is west-facing). Due to cats, kids, and space concerns- I’m starting everything outside. I figured it’s fine since we get plenty of sun and no frost here anyway?

I’m fairly new to gardening, especially starting from seed. Anyone have insight on my set-up? It seems to be going pretty well so far but I’m wondering if the pop-up provides too much shade? I use coco coir, perlite, and worm castings as the medium and bottom-water plus use a spray bottle to keep the tops moist.

Does anyone use grow lights indoors here or is that just silly in zone 10b? Thanks for any thoughts on this!

Until I moved into my current place here in Los Angeles, I had never heard of Surinam cherries aka Pitanga aka Brazilian cherries (i’m gonna stop with the alternate names because these beauties have more nicknames than a Wu-Tang Clan member).

I’ve never tasted a fruit like these. They’re sweet, they’re tart, they’re bitter, there are one of the most complex and hard to describe flavors I’ve ever experienced.

The plants are about 8 to 10 feet tall and require almost no care at this stage. I just walk out of my place and harvest anywhere from a few to a couple small handfuls every morning. They typically ripen from around May to June, but with the unseasonably warm spring here we’re getting them a lot earlier.

Also, my little guy Bagel says hi and insisted on making a cameo there in the 2nd pic.

Come support the library and take home a new plant friend (or two). Flowers, veggies, succulents, and more!

Hi everyone,

In Southern California, finding the right shade to protect plants from the brutal afternoon heat is often just as important as finding full sun.

I built a free browser tool where you type in your address, and it instantly generates a 3D model of your property and surrounding buildings. I recently added a "Sunlight Heatmap" feature that calculates exactly how many hours of direct sun hit different parts of your yard across the entire year.

I originally built this to calculate solar panel yields, but I am wondering if it is actually useful for mapping out microclimates and planning beds to avoid the harsh western exposure in our region? It runs entirely in the browser. I would love your honest feedback!

I’m in Los Angeles, these are all in full sun. My Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye seems to have dwarfed in the pot. It’s 1/3 th size of the others I planted all of these at the same time, same soil. Is this normal? Anyone know if it’s just a slow grower?

In order:

Vivacious, Carbon Cherokee, Gargamel, Sungold, Fantastic (trying a cloth pot for the first time), Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye (in terra cotta pot).

Hello peeps! I’ve been hard at work clearing my backyard and my husband and I have decided to put in raised beds, but I don’t know how close to put it to the wall or what other option should take in this spot?

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask. Big Bear Lake is in Southern California, but I'm not sure if our 7000 foot elevation counts as SoCal Gardening.

Lifelong Gardner here, but first time in an Alpine environment. If I plant in mid May, and protect in the event of Frost, does that allow enough growing season? I've read a few things, and it sounds like it's either a maybe, or I'm wasting my time.

One more factor, my backyard is the San Bernardino national Forest so with all the large conifers, sunlight is varied/filtered.

Any opinions or recommendations would be appreciated.

Hello, plant friends! Please help me diagnose and treat my baby Gloxinia.

This video is from 4/14/26, and since then her new buds have also turned brown, so I'm a little worried about her.

We live in zone 10b in Southern California, and she sits by a south-facing window that gets morning and early afternoon sun. She lives in the soil and pot (with drainage) that she came in from a small, local nursery.

At first, I had her on a bookshelf about 7 feet from an east-facing window, but I moved her when I noticed her small buds turning brown. I was also initially watering her only when her soil was completely dry, but now I know to keep her more moist.

Since I started watering her to keep her soil moist (every 2-4 days), her leaves have grown. However, I'm still unsure about the white spots on her leaves and the brown buds. Before I take her out and inspect her roots, I want to know if it looks like a fungal or pest problem. Even though I haven't seen any pests on her, I know it's a possibility.

I appreciate your help, as I'm a beginner at gardening and want this little love to thrive.

I'm also a beginner at posting on Reddit, and I do have pics of her from today (4/19/26), but I don't know how to upload more than one media file...hopefully I can add those photos in the comments?

Thank you!

Not sure what’s going on with my jasmine - LA; 4-6 hours of sun. Recently started showing like this

Overall it's ok (see last photo) but there are lots of little scratches in the bark. The cats did used to use it as a scratching post. Could that be it?