FoxFarm Blog

What's At Stake?

This time of year, the garden gets overgrown in a hurry.  Even gardeners who like a free-flowing, natural look should consider the benefits of staking those tall perennials that start to flop over.

• Keeping plants off the ground helps prevent the spread of soil-borne disease.
• Well-staked, upright plants make it easier to water at ground level without getting the plants wet.  This means that more water gets down to the roots, and you avoid the risk of powdery mildew or sun scorch on leaves, both of which can be caused by getting the plants too wet.
• It makes it easier to mulch, which helps hold water in and protect root systems (naturally, we like Happy Frog Soil Conditioner, with its beneficial microbes, earthworm castings, and bat guano, for a mid-summer mulch)
• It can make an untidy, seedy garden look fabulous in a hurry.

Don't feel the need to go out and buy fancy stakes, however.  Here are a few ideas for easy, affordable garden stakes:

• Take a ball of twine and a pair of scissors into the garden.  Ornamental grasses and floppy perennials like yarrow or catmint can easily be redirected into an upright shape by just  gathering the stems together and tying a piece of twine around them.  While you're at it, cut out any dried or tired stems--this will reinvigorate the plant.
• Use branches that were too big to go in your compost pile.  Strip off the leaves, trim to the right size, and place two or three around a drooping or overgrown shrub.  Most people will hardly notice the branches, and it will keep the plant upright but still natural.
• Recycle old, broken tomato cages to stake annuals like cosmos, delphinium, zinnia, or sunflower.  Alternatively, wrap a little chicken wire or metal fencing around the plant, forming a loose cage.  These kinds of materials can be used over and over in the garden.

Fruit Trees

It's easy to forget about fruit trees this time of year.  They've already bloomed, and the bees have already worked their magic and helped them to set fruit. Your trees may have clusters of hard, round fruits the size of grapes that will become apples or peaches in a few months. But while you wait for your harvest, here are a few things to think about:

Check the leaves for signs of disease. Fruit trees are prone to a wide variety of diseases, so if you see spots or leaf curl, the best thing to do is to pick a few leaves, seal them in a plastic bag, and bring them to the nursery for identification.  Minor infestations can usually be handled by picking off the affected leaves and throwing them away, but if you do need to try fungicide or other treatment, be sure and ask for an organic product as your first line of defense.

Watch out for pests. Unfortunately, we are seeing more and more exotic pest infestations, like the light brown apple moth infestation taking place in California.  Contact your county agricultural extension office if you see any unfamiliar pests on your trees.  Soft bodied insects can be controlled with a targeted spraying of Don’t Bug Me, and organic products like biopesticides with Bt can help control caterpillars.

Water and feed, water and feed.  The two go hand in hand.  Plants just can't access the fertilizer in the soil unless they have an adequate supply of water. Water deeply once a week. Try our Happy Frog Tomato and Vegetable to help ripen your crop, and use Big Bloom as a root drench to add essential nutrients. And then, stand back and wait.  It's almost harvest season!

Vacation!

Sooner or later, you're going to have to abandon the garden and go on vacation with your family. We understand-it's not fair that they expect you to go to the beach just when the garden is really taking off. But just think of it this way: it's an excuse to give your plants a little extra boost just when they need it the most. So before you find a plant sitter and start typing up watering instructions, look around and see what you can do to help your plants survive on their own.

Mulch. If the ground is looking a little bare, this might be the perfect time to add a layer of Happy Frog Soil Conditioner to help hold moisture in and add beneficial microbes, which help plant roots extended their reach and acts as water and nutrients located far away.

Feed. Giving the vegetable garden an extra boost now will guarantee a luscious harvest when you get back from vacation. If you haven't been feeding the vegetable garden all summer, this would be the perfect time to work in some Happy Frog Tomato & Vegetable to really get things going.

Water. If you're going to be gone for a week or less, give the garden a good, long soaking. Walk around with a hand shovel and dig in the dirt around some of your plants to make sure that the water has soaked in. It may be that one exceptionally deep soaking will be enough to get your garden through the entire week. If you're going to be gone longer, consider adding soaker hoses or drip irrigation so that it easy for a neighbor to turn on the faucet and get the watering done. And if you really want to get fancy, put the irrigation on a timer and tell the neighbors that all they have to do is come over and help themselves to your ripe tomatoes!

Our Friends the Pollinators

Pollinators and other beneficial bugs are gardener's best friend. The last thing you want to do is eliminate all the bugs from your garden. Broad-spectrum insecticides don't just kill the pests -- they also kill the natural predators that eat those pests. We understand that a targeted spraying might be necessary from time to time, which is why we offer the environmentally friendly Don't Bug Me product for a safe way to kill soft bodied insects. Used it once you have identified the pest, and only when you are sure you are spraying the pests directly.

Most importantly, remember that the best thing that you can do for your garden is to encourage a healthy bug population. Choose plants that produce tiny clusters of flowers, because these flowers tend to attract beneficial insects like ladybugs. For example, plant alyssum, yarrow, Queen Anne's lace, catmint, and feverfew in the garden. All of these plants reseed or re-grow every year, so once you plant them, you can enjoy them season after season. After they've stopped blooming, cut them back to encourage more growth. Most of all, pay attention to what plants attract honeybees, ladybugs, lacewings, and other bugs, and let them flourish.

Parsley, Sage, FoxFarm, and Thyme

You're grilling dinner outside, you're making fresh salads from the garden, and before long, you'll be canning your own tomatoes.  So what's missing? If you've never grown your own herbs, you're in for a treat.   Herbs are surprisingly easy to grow as long as you can answer this question: are you growing an annual or a perennial?

Annual herbs include basil, cilantro, parsley, and dill.  They thrive on warm weather and plenty of sun.  If you're lucky, some of them may set seed and grow naturally in your garden, but for the most part, you'll need to start with fresh plants every year.  The easiest way to grow annual herbs is to plant them together in a container in a location where they will get plenty of sun.  Annual herbs do best in a high quality potting soil like Ocean Forest, and they will benefit from regular feedings with a liquid fertilizer like Grow Big, which will encourage a leafy green growth but will not force them to bloom.  Pinch off buds as soon as they begin to form in order to encourage more leaves.  If temperatures get above 90°, move the pot to a shadier location.

Perennial herbs include rosemary, sage, thyme, and lavender.  These herbs thrive in warm, dry, sunny Mediterranean climates and they do best in poor soil with no fertilizer at all.  That's right, you heard us, we're telling you not to fertilize.  Perennial herbs grown in poor soil have to struggle to survive, and that just concentrates the flavor in their leaves.  Just make sure that they are planted in well drained soil and give them plenty of water during their first year while they are getting established.  It's okay to let perennial herbs bloom, but at the end of the growing season, sheer those blooms back to encourage new growth for next year.

Amazing Annuals

It's hard to resist those blooming annuals that fill the garden centers this time of year. We are especially tempted by anything tall. The idea that a plant can start out as a tiny seedling in June and grow to over 6 feet tall by August is almost too amazing to be true. But if there's one thing in your garden that requires a little extra pampering, it's your annuals. They're only going to be around for a few months, so you might as well get the most out of them.

Annuals need rich soil, regular fertilizer, and consistent watering to do their best. Work in our Happy Frog soil conditioner, which has beneficial microbes added, and get everything off to a good start with our organic Jump Start fertilizer. Once plants get ready to bloom, regular feedings of Big Bloom will keep them going. Some of our favorite annuals:

Cosmos -- There are two tricks to getting these daisy shaped annuals to grow tall and bloom for several months. First, they've got to have some heat. Give them a warm, sunny spot, preferably against a wall or a fence where they can enjoy a little radiant heat. Second, be sure to pinch off the top bloom. This will encourage the plant to branch out and grow taller.

Sunflowers -- Sunflowers also require plenty of heat, and they need protection from snails. To keep them blooming over a long season, plant a few more seedlings every few weeks. Sunflowers can be prone to powdery mildew, so try to avoid overhead watering.

Zinnia --- If you choose the right varieties, zinnias can grow into hefty plants that will attract butterflies all summer long. Skip the dwarf varieties and look for plants with the word "giant" in the variety name. Zinnias also suffer from powdery mildew, so try to keep the plants from getting wet, and be sure to cut the flowers as they bloom to encourage more growth.

And Now For a Word About Our Feeding Schedules

Here at FoxFarm, we cater to fanatics. Whether you’re growing giant tomatoes, luscious herbs, prize-winning roses, or the greenest organic lawn in town, you know that every detail counts. That’s why we obsess over quality and scour the planet for the finest ingredients, including high phosphorus bat guano, premium earthworm castings, fine- screened forest humus, and rich marine ingredients.

But that’s not all. We also test our ingredients in our own greenhouse and develop detailed feeding schedules for our most demanding customers. Go here for the perfect 12 week plan for bringing seeds and cuttings into bloom. We show you how to use our liquid fertilizers together, and add in our high-octane solubles for an extra boost.

And if you’re a hydro grower, we’ve got the schedule for you. It covers nutrients, reservoir changes, pH and light levels, and everything else a hydro grower needs to know. Both schedules are also available in Spanish. Try them out and let us know what you think! If you’ve got suggestions, feedback, or awesome photos of your garden, send them to us. We’d love to hear from you.

Dirt Boy!

Thanks to the folks at Roseburg Hydroponics in Oregon for sending us a photo of young Isaiah hiding out in a pallet of Ocean Forest.  Don't try this at home!  (or if you do, send us a photo...)

Pamper Your Roses

Roses go wild this time of year. The trick is to keep them blooming all summer long. Here’s what we’re using in our own rose gardens this year:

American Pride is the time-release plant food that rose lovers swear by. It combines high-tech soluble nutrients and minerals with the long term benefits of natural ingredients like earthworm castings, bat guano, and cottonseed meal. If you want the best of both worlds, American Pride is for you.

Organic rose growers love our Peace of Mind and Happy Frog Rose Food. Both have the same great ingredients, including beneficial microbes, humic acid, and alfalfa meal, and Happy Frog comes in a handy new resealable pouch that makes it easy to store all season long. Scratch a little in and around your rose bushes and water well.

We believe in going easy when it comes to pest and disease control. It all starts with healthy plants, which is why we recommend a mulch of Happy Frog Soil Conditioner to encourage strong roots. A foliar feeding of Big Bloom liquid fertilizer can perk up plants that are feeling poorly, and a targeted spraying of Don’t Bug Me will control softbodied pests like aphid and whitefly. Most of all, we believe in getting to know your garden and preventing problems before they start. Pick off disease or infested leaves and throw them away, feed your plants well, and you’ll have bouquets of roses all summer long.

Green Gifts for Mother’s Day and Beyond

2007 is shaping up to be the year of going green. With Mother’s Day coming up tomorrow, many of us have been thinking about how to go green with our own gift giving. What can we buy for Mom that is eco-friendly, biodegradable, reusable, organic, seasonal, personal, and maybe even a little bit handmade? A container garden, of course.

It starts with the right container. Maybe Mom is a recycled wine barrel kind of gal. Or maybe her tastes run toward glazed Italian pottery. Or it could be that a terra-cotta pot painted by the grandchildren would become her most prized possession. Just make sure the container has holes for drainage in the bottom, and if it’s going on her patio, think about adding a set of “feet” to keep the pot elevated and prevent staining.

Fill the container with Ocean Forest or Happy Frog potting soil, and pick up a pouch of Happy Frog all-purpose organic fertilizer. Mix according to package directions, reseal the pouch, and save the rest for Mom so that she can continue to feed her plants every month or two.

Now comes the fun part. Choose plants that she will love. Maybe she’s a foodie who will flip out over an assortment of purple and green basils. If she’s a flower lover, go for snapdragons, bachelor buttons, and dwarf sweet peas. Or fill her home with the fragrance of assorted lavenders and scented geraniums, which she can transplant to the garden later in the year.

And don’t limit green gifts to Mother’s Day—Father’s Day, graduations, weddings, anniversaries, and birthdays are all a good time to share a little horticultural love.