Gardening Q&A

September/October 2023 California Bountiful magazine

As a California Bountiful reader, you have the opportunity to get your seasonal gardening questions answered by gardening expert Pat Rubin. Here are a few questions from our readers.

Do some houseplants produce more oxygen than others?

I’ve heard for years that some houseplants produce more oxygen and remove more harmful chemicals from the air than others. The best houseplants for the job include Boston fern, snake plant, aloe vera and spider plant. The nice thing about this list of indoor plants is that they are all easy to grow.

I tried to force hyacinth bulbs last year, but after I took them out of the freezer and put them in forcing jars, they rotted. Everyone says this is easy to do. What went wrong?

You put them in the freezer. That’s what went wrong. If the bulbs aren’t specially labeled for forcing (all that means is that they have been pre-cooled), then you need to put them in the refrigerator for a few weeks to give them a good cooling, not a freezing. Try that this year and you’ll have good results with your hyacinths.

July/August 2023 California Bountiful magazine

As a California Bountiful reader, you have the opportunity to get your seasonal gardening questions answered by gardening expert Pat Rubin. Here are a few questions from our readers.

My vegetable garden did pretty well, but I didn’t get a lot of produce from it even though it’s pretty good size. What am I doing wrong?

Most people plant their crops too far away from each other and think everything has to be planted in rows several feet apart. If you are planting directly into the ground and doing weed control with a tractor and need 3 feet between rows, then continue what you’re doing.

But most gardeners these days have turned to raised beds. Whether you are planting into the ground or a raised bed, force yourself to plant your vegetables as close together as you can, especially things like peppers, eggplant and beans. Stagger them a bit and you can get almost twice as many in a bed.

Arrange your tomato cages so they touch each other and stagger them a bit. Plant radishes or greens around them. Use every inch, and whenever you take out a crop, add compost before planting another so you are constantly feeding your soil.

Why are my cucumbers bitter?

This is a very common problem. Cucumbers contain cucurbitacin compounds that make their leaves bitter and unappealing to browsing, munching animals. We don’t eat the leaves or stems so we don’t notice. Sometimes the bitter taste affects the cucumbers, mostly just under the skin, so peeling helps. Some people say it can be reversed by cutting and rubbing the cut ends together.

The best solutions are to give them plenty of water and make sure your soil is healthy and has plenty of compost. Too much hot weather combined with too little water and poor soil makes a great scenario for bitter cucumbers. Finally, there are varieties less susceptible to bitterness. Look for varieties labeled “non-bitter” or “burpless.”

May/June 2023 California Bountiful magazine

As a California Bountiful reader, you have the opportunity to get your seasonal gardening questions answered by gardening expert Pat Rubin. Here are a few questions from our readers.

How do I take cuttings of my rose geranium?

Now is a good time to take cuttings of scented geraniums. They are growing readily, but the new growth is mature enough to root. It’s a race between rooting and rotting. Cut a 6-inch-long piece off the ends of the plant. Strip off the lower leaves and cut the remaining ones in half (this helps prevent the plant from losing too much moisture through the leaves while it is making roots). Trim the base of the stem another inch or so and stick the cutting in a pot filled with a coarse planting mix. You can put several cuttings in a pot.

Place the pot where it will get plenty of shelter from hot afternoon sun. Water it thoroughly. Give it a good sprinkling every day. Keep the foliage moist, but don’t let the soil become waterlogged.

The key is to look at the cuttings every day so you will notice immediately if they aren’t getting enough water, for example. It takes about six to eight weeks for roots to grow. I have to admit I give the cuttings a tug every once in a while to see if roots are forming. I can’t resist!

I planted gladiolus last year. The bulbs are coming again, but there are lots of what looks like tiny glads coming up as well. What are they?

Those are baby glads. The mother plant produces “cormels” (these are baby corms; gladiolus are grown from corms, not bulbs). They will eventually be mature enough to produce flowers (and even more cormels). Most gardeners don’t want hundreds of gladiolus in one spot so they pull them out. You can toss them or plant them elsewhere.