Do Determinate Tomatoes & Beans Exist?

I am sure you have heard of determinate tomatoes and beans. I have known about them for years and knew they formed bushes and produced all of their fruit at one time. After that, they stop growing.

Turns out that most of the things I thought I knew about determinate plants is wrong! Not only that, but 99.9% of the gardening information about determinate plants online, in books, in seed catalogs and even Master Gardening Groups is incorrect.

Why should you care? This myth can cause you to grow the wrong type of vegetable.

A tomato plant showing both main stems and side branches.
Determinate tomato (Tiny Tim), black line is the main stem, blue and red lines are side branches. The blue stem clearly shows the terminal flower cluster. It is late August in zone 5 and new tomatoes are still forming. Grown in DWC hydroponics.

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Do Squash and Pumpkins Need Sun to Ripen?

Does the fruit of squash and pumpkins need light to complete its ripening process? Should you remove leaves so that sun can get to the fruit to speed up ripening? If pumpkins are picked green, should they be left in sunshine or not?

  • Most answers in Google on this topic and many other gardening topics is wrong.
  • Sunlight is not required to ripen fruit.
fall display of pumpkins, wall nuts and leaves.
Pumpkins and Squash for Halloween, source: Depositphotos

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When Should You Harvest Peppers?

Peppers come in many colors; green, yellow, orange, red and even purple, but when is the best time to pick them? Will they ripen after you harvest them? If they ripen indoors are they as good as vine ripened ones? Let’s have a close look.

  • Peppers can be picked before they are fully ripe.
  • Peppers will continue to ripen once they are picked if they are picked at the right maturity stage.
  • Fully ripe peppers are not the hottest ones.
pepper plant with several peppers, some yellow, some red, some green, some partly red.
Which of these peppers should be picked?, source: Depositphotos

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How To Fertilize Tomato Plants

Discussions about fertilizing tomatoes is mostly about selecting the right NPK and rarely discusses the amount to use. When quantity does come up, most comments suggest following the instructions on the box. But are the instructions on the box correct? Are the instructions complete enough so that you can apply the correct amount?

This post will compare some commercial products to see what they suggest and then I’ll compare that to reliable agricultural recommendations to see how much fertilizer gardeners should be using to grow great tomatoes.

hand placing fertilizer on a tomato plant
How much fertilizer should you add? source: Depositphotos

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How to Fill Raised Garden Beds Properly

You built some great raised garden beds and now you need to fill them but soil is heavy to move and expensive. You look around for a better alternative and find a hundred suggestions online. Which is the best option?

I started using raised beds back in 1974 and have tried a lot of variations over the years. In this post I’ll combine the science with my experience and tell you what works and what doesn’t, and give you the best option for filling raised beds.

raised bed using 2 x 8 lumber, with no soil
Wooden raised bed ready for filling, source: Laird Kitchen & Bath

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Hybrid Vegetables Can Be Toxic

Did you know that hybrid vegetables can be toxic? If you are a strong proponent of heirlooms you are probably jumping up and down with joy and if you grow a lot of hybrids you are probably wondering if I have lost my marbles! Let me be clear, most hybrids are perfectly safe to eat, but there are a few special cases where they are not safe.

Understanding these cases of toxic hybrid vegetables provides insights into the risk of saving seeds and using natural means to develop new cultivars.

Hybrid Vegetables Can Be Toxic
Hybrid Vegetables Can Be Toxic

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How to Grow, Harvest and Eat Hostas

It’s hard to find an ornamental garden without at least a couple of Hosta, but did you know hostas can be grown as perennial vegetables? Hostas, also called plantain lilies, have found their way into almost every garden in Zones 3 through 8, and for good reason – they’re resilient, beautiful, drought tolerant, shade tolerant, and low-maintenance yet not aggressive. For the same reasons, hostas make a wonderful addition to a perennial vegetable garden.

How to Grow, Harvest and Eat Hosta

How to Grow, Harvest and Eat Hosta, harvesting shoots, source: Practical Self Reliance

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Soak Garlic Before Planting – Good Idea?

I have never soaked garlic before planting but it might be a good idea. There is certainly a trend towards soaking with water, fertilizer, fish emulsion or disinfectants. This post will examine these techniques to see if they affect plant growth and the size of harvested garlic.

Soak Garlic Before Planting - Good Idea?
Soak Garlic Before Planting – Good Idea? source: Yellow Birch Hobby Farm

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How to Grow, Harvest and Eat American Groundnuts

American groundnut (Apios americana) is the North American equivalent to the South American potato. Unlike common potatoes, American groundnut is a perennial flowering vine which produces numerous tubers along its root system. The entire plant is edible though the tubers are highly valued by foragers and wild food enthusiasts for their nutty, slightly sweet flavor.

How to Grow, Harvest and Eat American Groundnuts
How to Grow, Harvest and Eat American Groundnuts, source: James St. John and Good Morning Aomori

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How to Grow Asparagus for Decades-Long Harvests

Asparagus is one of the best options for cold-climate gardeners interested in growing perennial vegetables. Most people – and mainstream plant retailers – have never heard of the perennial vegetables that grow in cold climates. You might be hard pressed to find American groundnut tubers or Good King Henry seeds but it’s easy to find asparagus cultivars and accompanying recipes and friends to use them up. Plus, asparagus prefers cooler climates and will continue to produce an abundance of delicious spears for up to 30 years.

How to Grow Asparagus for Decades-Long Harvests
How to Grow Asparagus for Decades-Long Harvests, source: Muffet

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