This is John Kohler with GrowingYourGreens.com.
Today we have another exciting episode for ya.
What I’m gonna do today is answer your questions.
So if you post a question on my channel page or email me through YouTube, it may actually
end up in a video like this, or it may not get answered at all.
The best place to post a question is right below the video!
Right down below, and many times I do read the comments, but a lot of times I don’t
answer it.
I just don’t have the time to answer every particular comment although I try to answer
as my as I can.
In any case, let’s get right into the questions today.
First question is from Mayor of Poof City: For your Chilean guava berries, does it need
acidic soil like blueberries?
Half peat moss and half soil, or twenty-five percent peat moss in a pot?
So the Chilean guava berries, also known as ugni berries, also known as tazi berries,
I just got them in the pot.
I just transferred them into the pot with some compost.
I never even really paid attention to the soil, to be honest with you.
I know that some people say you’re supposed to have some acidic soil and I haven’t found
that to be true.
The one thing that I have found to be true is that you don’t want them to get too dry.
They don’t like drying out, especially in a pot.
I have been successful making some fruit in pot culture, although I’m gonna be getting
those in the ground as soon as possible and put them in a good sunny spot, I think would
be my recommendation.
So yeah, if you want to do some good compost and add some acidic soil in there, might be
good, but I’ve had good luck without it.
That being said, I probably would plant it in alkaline soil either.
The next question is from anitagoforadump2008: I was just thinking about planting more potatoes
next week when I thought to myself while browsing YouTube in the few years I’ve been watching
your videos, John, it has occurred to me that I haven’t ever seen you grow potatoes.
I know they’re fairly cheap to buy but is there a reason you never grow them?
I’m nosy like that, asking questions.
Maybe if you don’t get around to answering this now, you could put it in one of your
videos when you ask your questions and answer them.
Thanks John, I’ve always been inspired by your videos.
So you are absolutely correct, actually, I haven’t grown potatoes, maybe a couple years
back I threw some potatoes in my compost pile and they grew without me knowing it.
But in general, I encourage people to grow what they eat.
I don’t generally eat potatoes—I mean, I think potatoes are a good crop and most
people’s vegetables in the United States, especially kids in school getting school lunches
and all this kind of stuff, potatoes is probably one of the number one consumed vegetables
in the form of French fries and hash browns and all the different potato products that
are made.
They tend to be a more calorically dense food but not so nutritionally dense.
Yeah, I think that potatoes are good and better than a Snickers bar, but that being said,
I’d rather devote the space in my garden to growing something like leafy greens that
I will enjoy much more.
Another thing I like to tell people is grow what is expensive to buy, and easy to grow.
So, leafy greens are two dollars, three dollars for a bunch, potatoes are ten pounds for a
dollar, depending on what time of year it is and where you live.
That being said, if you are a potato connoisseur, by all means, grow your potatoes, because
I am all for genetic diversity.
And you know there’s literally hundreds of varieties of potatoes.
Purple ones, pink ones, red ones, in all different colors, and if you go to the store you usually
only get the russets.
So another reason to grow your potatoes if you want them.
That being said, I would rather grow something like Jerusalem artichokes, which have actually
five times the amount of iron and in my opinion is a lot more nutritious food.
Also, in my opinion, they grow a lot easier.
Literally, they grow as weeds, so if you got some of my Jerusalem artichoke starts, hey,
post down below and let me know how they’re growing for you.
So the next question is from vxxtoke: John, I have a question.
I live out here in Tucson and got interested in starting a garden.
Do you think fun, direct sunlight from AZ would be perfect?
In other locations it ends up burning my plants.
Ivxx All I could think of in that question he’s
asking, he wants to start a garden and if it’s good to grow a garden in Arizona.
Well, as you know, Arizona is the desert southwest.
Can actually get quite hot there in the summer.
I know there’s other gardeners on YouTube growing down there in Arizona, they have a
YouTube channel and are doing it successfully.
I am growing in Las Vegas, which has a similar climate, and you can do it.
So that being said, it’s very important to dial in how you’re growing and actually
what you’re growing.
So it’s very important to get some good soil, grow in some good compost.
Spend ninety percent of your money on the soil, because the soil—I mean, you plants
growing in that desert soil, that drains very quickly.
Doesn’t have a lot of organic matter.
And your plants may not grow as well.
Also, it probably wouldn’t be a good thing to be growing lettuce in the summertime in
Arizona.
Grow things that are gonna do well.
The easiest plants that comes to mind, growing in the summertime in the hot weather…
Eggplants.
They seem to do really well.
Also, peppers.
Tomatoes when it gets to hot can be iffy, so if you do grow tomatoes, you want to get
a variety that is more heat tolerant and will to well in the hot heat of the summer time.
In addition, cherry tomatoes tend to do quite well.
And of course, my good old favorite tree collards have actually done quite well in the desert
in Las Vegas.
Also you could look toward landscaping trees, even cactuses.
You grow cactuses for the cactus pads and the cactus fruits.
And also there’s many trees7 of the desert that produce edible food.
One of my favorites is actually mesquite, so…and also, of course, some standard fruit
trees may do well in your area but be sure to check with a local university extension
office and find out what crops you could grow at what times.
And that might help you out a little bit to get you started.
Also be sure to check the local resources if there’s any farmers, urban farmers, or
growers in your area.
Learn from them because they are going to be the true experts on what to grow in your
area because they are already doing it and hopefully they’ve been doing it for a number
of years.
So the next question is from Kim Bacarink: Hey, John, I have a question.
Does diatomaceous earth affect earthworms and beneficial soil microbes?
I would like to use it in my garden, but I don’t want to harm the allies.
Thanks, Kim B. Alright, Kim, well I do use a diatomaceous
earth in my garden on some occasions.
And for those of you that don’t know, DE or diatomaceous earth, is basically like fossilized
shells that are ground up into a fine powder.
So, number one, very important, if you are using DE, you need to get a good face mask.
I do have a friend that actually used DE on his cats to get rid of the fleas because that’s
a good natural flea treatment for pets because if you rub it in their fur, it’ll basically
desiccate or dry out the fleas and they won’t longer be alive.
That’s also how it works on the insects in your garden.
So if it does do this to the bad insects, absolutely right, it will do this to the good
insects as well.
DE is not selective.
It’s not like “Oh, I’m only gonna go after the bad insects!”
So you may want to be cautious about that.
Sometimes you can use DE as a soil amendment for some of the nutritional qualities.
Now in the soil, if you do it in small amounts, I don’t think it’s necessarily gonna harm
the earthworms, because once the DE get hydrated with the moist soil, I don’t think it’s
gonna have a big effect on them.
I don’t know how it’s gonna affect the soil microorganisms.
I personally don’t think it’s gonna be a real big issue because it’s just another
mineral.
And once it’s kind of wet down, it’s not gonna have the same effect as when it’s
dry.
If you do want to get it for insect protection, I do recommend you get a duster to apply it
so you get a nice fine dusting of it.
And once again, make sure you use a respirator, maybe even some eye protection and do it when
it’s not windy—because man with that stuff blowing around, it’s gonna be worse than
the rock dust.
So the next question is from StinkyMinkyShoes: John, you are brilliant.
Thanks for all the videos—why thank you—Do you have any affordable non-invasive and low
maintenance ideas for keeping cats out of your garden and using it as a little box and
destroy all your hard work?
Thanks.
Well, I have a really good video, I think it’s entitled On Keeping Cats Out of Your
Garden so I went to my friends Ronnie and Min’s house and they actually showed me
how they’ve been doing it and it’s basically by using some galvanized wire fencing.
Galvanized wire fencing and just putting it over their beds and pretty much you only need
to do that when your beds are still full of dirt.
If they start growing plants in there, then the cats won’t really go in there, but when
the cats see an empty bed, it’s like a big litter box for them.
Another thing you can do is around the edges, you can put up some fencing, like either some
plastic fencing or bird netting and just put I up a couple feet so they just can’t even
get in there.
And that’s another easy way to do it.
Once again, once you have everything established and the plants are pretty tall, and hopefully
you’re growing a lot of stuff so it’s gonna fill in all the empty space, they won’t
have space to walk.
Plus, one of the things I like to do in one of my raised beds is actually plant things
so close that I don’t need to use a mulch so that I just have things growing everywhere
so that it’s more food production and also less mulching.
Sometimes I think with mulching, it gives certain pests a place to hide, such as slugs
and snails, which I have been having an issue on and I’ll have an upcoming episode on
those little buggers soon!
So down to the last question.
Last question’s from ifl77sf: Can I add crushed calcium vitamins for a vegetable garden?
You could absolutely do anything you want to do!
Now, crush calcium vitamins, maybe they’re expired or something, I’d probably powder
them up and sprinkle them all over my garden.
I wouldn’t just put them on one plant or anything.
You’re probably fine, because they are meant for human consumption and they’re probably
from an oyster shell, although they maybe from something else, but that’s definitely
an expensive calcium supplement to use in your garden.
I would probably—if you do need to add calcium in your garden, better yet, just buy a calcium
supplement from the fertilizer, feed store.
It’s gonna be much less expensive and just the right stuff to use anyways.
That being said, on adding calcium…adding calcium can and will change your pH.
So depending on where your pH is now, it may be a good thing, or it may be a bad thing
to add the calcium.
So I encourage you before adding any major amounts of calcium to your garden, to get
its soil tested so you know where you’re at to see where the added calcium will take
you because soil pH is very important to growing plants.
Some plants like acidic soils, like blueberries for example, and some plants like more alkaline
soils.
And then there's your soils that need to go in between and a lot of plants will grow in
this sort of range and if you get out of balance, then you’ll have complete failure in your
garden.
So definitely good to keep it in range and check your pH before adding a lot of extra
calcium.
But I can’t see really a bottle’s worth of vitamin supplement calcium—as long as
it’s from a natural source—I couldn’t see that being a problem if you distribute
it evenly over a large area.
So hopefully you guys enjoys this question and answer time with me.
I really enjoy answer your guys’ questions because it’s really easy for me.
I don’t have to think ahead, plan, shop—I don’t have to go anywhere.
I don’t have to do anything.
I just print out the questions and I answer them for you guys.
So if you have a question that wants answered, hey, email it to me through YouTube, or post
it on my channel page and maybe I’ll answer your question next time.
So once again, this is John Kohler with GrowingYourGreens.com.
We’ll see you next time and keep on growing.