Gardening can be as simple as planting a seed and watching it grow — although that level of ease typically only happens to boys named Jack, who possess magic beanstalk seeds.
But here are some questions and answers about how it all works, with expertise provided by Contra Costa Master Gardener Janet Miller.
Q. Can you plant from seed or seedling, if you’re planting now?
A. It rather depends on what you’re planting. It’s still too early for warm season crops, but not for the cool weather ones.
Q. What type of light should I use to start seeds indoors?
A. For a home gardener, a fluorescent or LED light will be the best.
Q. I’m a brand new gardener with a new lemon tree in a container. I tend to have a gardening style of neglect. What should I be doing right now? I do have a few little green fruits the size of nickels.
A. First, make sure you have a large enough pot. For a new tree, a 5-gallon pot should be sufficient but after two to three years, a 15- to 20-gallon pot will be necessary. Feed the tree with a citrus fertilizer in the spring time. Water infrequently but deeply, when the top 6 inches of soil is dry.
Q. Is it important to remove Meyer lemons from the tree rather than leave some on to use later?
A. No, citrus is one of those fruits where it’s OK to leave the fruit on the tree until needed. If the tree starts producing too much fruit, pick some make room for new lemons and ease the weight on the branches.
Q. I grow jalapeños every year. Can anything be done to increase the heat of the peppers?
A. First, select varieties that are bred for extra heat and check their Scoville Heat Unit rating, which ranks peppers from 0 (bell peppers) to 1,000,000 (ghost peppers). Jalapeños can range from 2,500 to 8,000 SHU. Then make sure they are getting six to eight hours of sun — more is better — and reduce watering, keep nitrogen levels low and let the peppers age on the plant.
Q. My backyard is very hot and gets a lot of sun. I have really only successfully done tomato plants and some summer squash. Suggestions for other things that might do well?
A. If tomatoes and squash have done well for you, then you should also be able to grow peppers, eggplant, okra, cucumbers, beans, winter squash and pumpkins — all the warm season veggies.
If you find that some of your crops are showing sunscald you can protect them with shade cloth, but with no more than 50 percent UV protection. Be sure to amend your soil with plenty of compost.
Q. What’s the best place to grow okra?
A. Okra actually grows quite well in the warmer parts of the Bay Area, if you’re able to grow tomatoes and eggplants, okra should do just fine. The plants need at least six to eight hours of sun per day. Wait to plant until well after the danger of frost and when night time temperatures are at 50 degrees or above, usually in late May.
Q. Are there any veggies that can be grown with 4 to 6 hours sun?
A. Many! The bigger plants need the most sun, but smaller plants — including many herbs and leafy vegetables — do well with less sun. If you want to grow tomatoes, look for “patio” varieties or cherry tomatoes. The smaller the fruit, the less sun they require.
Q. Can you recommend any edible plants for a partial shade hill?
A. Leafy greens such as kale, chard, sorrel and mustard greens would do well, along with parsley, cilantro and dill.
Q. Can you treat cilantro and parsley the same? Sometimes my cilantro seems much less hardy…
A. Cilantro is an annual cool season plant, even though we like to grow it in the warm season to go with our tomatoes. It does the best in spring and fall. You can harvest it for a few months, then it will begin to go to seed, at which point you can leave it for beneficial insects or cut it down and plant something else.
Parsley is a biennial, so it will last for at least two seasons. It is also more heat and cold tolerant. Continue to harvest parsley to slow it from going to seed. Once it has formed seed heads, however, its life cycle is complete. You can leave the flowers to attract beneficial insects until the plant begins to die back. Then cut it down and plant something else.
Q. What do you think of “Three Sisters” planting, i.e. corn, squash and beans?
A. It’s a very old method credited to our Native American ancestors. The corn provides support for the beans, the beans provide nitrogen for the squash and the squash shades and protects the soil. It’s an excellent example of symbiotic gardening.
Q. How long should I grow a cover crop? And what’s the best process to transition to the next crop? Do I turn the plants into the soil?
A. Grow the cover crop until it begins to flower, but before it sets seed. Cut the crop just above the soil line, leaving the roots intact and chop it into smaller pieces. It can then be lightly worked into the soil or spread on the garden bed and covered with a bit of finished compost, allowing it to break down into the soil.
Q. What do you recommend for planting under pine and oak trees?
A. Plants under pine trees need to be acid loving, shade loving and able to tolerate dry soil. Among them, Ajuga reptans (ground cover), azaleas, columbine, bergenia and Pieris.
Plants under oak trees should be shade loving and require little to no summer water, as irrigating under an oak in the summer can cause serious damage to the tree. A few suggestions are Heuchera (coral bells), sword fern, Rhamnus californica (coffeeberry), helebores and many native salvias such as Salvia spathacaea or any of the tougher Salvia greggii.
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