Yield Ideas, Tips & Guides

Ranging from $500 to $5,000 per kilogram, saffron, or the Red Gold as it is commonly referred to, takes a total of about 150,000 flowers to produce just one kilogram! Now you know why it would be a great idea to have its plant at home!

Not having used fiery colours for a few weeks, that is what I had in mind for today’s IAVOM contribution but, having picked a stem of Alstroemeria ‘Indian Summer’ as my starting point, I found there were no suitable blooms on Dahlias ‘David Howard’ or ‘Totally Tangerine’ to continue my planned theme. However, there was a single bloom on new Dahlia ‘Blyton Softer Gleam’, albeit looking slightly more yellow than the colour that attracted me in the catalogue, so this was snipped and the search continued.

What is going on with this Roma tomato?

Corn yields have set records in five of the last seven years, which should mean promising days ahead for one of the country’s most important crops.

My family didn’t grow asparagus when I was a child. We found it. My dad had a sharp eye for the tender green spears that grew wild along roadsides near our home in Piqua, a wisp of a town in southeastern Kansas. He could spot even a single spear when he took the family on Sunday afternoon drives, stopping our Plymouth Fury to gather the crop.

It’s always a great day when I pick the first snap peas. A lot of the harvest never makes it to the kitchen. Snap peas—which snap like green beans and look and grow just like regular shelling peas—have one delicious difference: The pods are as tender and sweet as the peas inside. I could say I grow snap peas because they yield more food per square foot than shelling peas. But that’s not it. I truly enjoy the eat-it-all peas in the pod, whether I’m snacking on them in the garden, tossing them with pasta, or featuring them in a soup.

The weather in the U.S. intensifies every year. Right now, a heat wave has sent temperatures soaring across the country while Florida is experiencing a rare flash flood emergency. And it is likely to continue being extreme: according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there is an 85 percent chance that this hurricane season will have more storms than average and, with that, more rainfall.

Slugs are a common garden pest, notorious for wreaking havoc on plants and crops. They leave unsightly trails of slime and damage leaves, stems, and roots, which can significantly reduce garden yields. Traditional chemical pesticides can be harmful to the environment, beneficial insects, and even pets. However, a natural and effective alternative exists in the form of nematodes, specifically Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita, which offer an eco-friendly solution to slug control. Understanding Nematodes

If you’ve ever wondered how to grow peanuts or why the average home gardener would even want to, you’re in the right place—and you’re in for a treat. Peanuts are easy to grow, tasty, and protein-packed. What’s more, they’re not only good for you, but they’re also good for your soil. Much more than a garden novelty, peanuts are practical and prolific. They can be eaten fresh out of the pod, pounded into peanut butter, or otherwise preserved for the long haul. Best of all, individual plants can yield as many as 40 to 50 pods each. In this article you’ll learn all about how to grow peanuts. Meet the peanut Hailing from South America, the peanut (Arachis hypogaea) isn’t technically a nut like pecan

What if I told you about some delicious vegetables that produce many from one plant? Fresh harvest for all the family members right from a single container!

South Carolina is blessed with year-round fresh green vegetables, and winter is for collard greens. They grow best in cool weather, and a brisk cold freeze makes them sweet. Collard greens are rich in vitamins and minerals, especially calcium. Just last week, I was fortunate to find a large bag with three healthy just-picked heads for just $3.00 at the farmer’s market and started planning my first-ever attempt at canning greens.

With DIY projects and home renovation ideas filling our social media feeds daily, achieving the home of your dreams has never been more affordable and accessible. Just like any other facet of home decorating, DIY home decor trends come and go, often following suit with standard interior design trends. 

The hurricanes, floods, droughts and wildfires linked to human-caused rises in global temperatures and changing weather patterns are decimating harvests of essential food crops around the world, driving a crisis in global hunger never before seen in the modern era. According to the World Health Organization, between 691 million and 783 million people faced hunger in 2022, an increase of 122 million people when compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019. 

Succession Planting: How to Grow Crops for a Continual Harvest

Pruning peppers is easy to do, and it has many benefits for keeping your plants healthy, and maximizing their yields.

Left: James Devaney; Right, Rob Kim / Getty Images

While this may sound something straight out of some fairy tale, but this actually works! Tickle, and see your tomatoes producing bumper fruits!

Of these two shoots pruned from a blueberry plant, which would have produced larger, higher quality berries?

Gardening for a Holistic and Sustainable Lifestyle: Combining Insights from GardenAdvice’s Latest Initiative on growing your own fruit and vegetables based on the meals you love to eat.

Stocks Strawberries are subject to several serious virus diseases, and at one time these threatened to make commercial cultivation quite uneconomic and garden culture most disappointing. However, there has been considerable improvement in the general health of strawberry stocks since the introduction of a government scheme of inspection.

Taking root cuttings is a great way to propagate herbaceous perennials during the colder months while the plants are dormant. The process is simple and effective: it can yield lots of healthy and vigorous new plants from just one parent plant. Try it with Japanese anemones, oriental poppies, verbascum, acanthus and drumstick Primula denticulata.

Ranging from versatile and vitamin-rich vegetables like vibrant ‘Velvet Bean’ to the unique Violet Artichoke, each of these Vegetables that Start With V adds a unique flavor to your plate and a color to your garden!

Courtesy of Giada Paoloni

Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.

Bees are some of our most important pollinators and are crucial to our food sources and biodiversity. Beekeeping is a fun hobby that can help keep the insects in your garden for maximum blooms and yields. It also helps increase the general population of these threatened insects. Keeping bees over winter takes a bit of preparation, but knowing how to preserve the colony to sustains its usefulness year after year.

With advancements in plant breeding techniques, an increasing number of plant varieties have been developed that are covered by intellectual property rights. These may be subject to various legal protections like Patents, Variety Protection Certificates, and sometimes even Utility Patents. Let’s have a detailed look at the Plants that are Illegal to Propagate on a Large Scale.

Have you always longed to make wine from tasty sun-warmed grapes gathered from your own backyard? While I live in the ideal wine-growing region (USDA Zone 9b) near the well-known Napa Valley, you’ll be amazed to learn that backyard viticulture is entirely possible anywhere within USDA Zones 4 through 10. Growing wine grapes isn’t hard, but there are a number of key requirements that guarantee success, beginning with growing the wine you love! If you adore a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon at the end of the day, plant Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. When Chardonnay is your preference, you’ll need to grow grapes that produce a full-bodied Chardonnay. The following are some viticulture tips for planning and planting your own personal vineyard.

The light-colored discoloration on these zucchini plant leaves is known as Squash Silverleaf Disorder (SSL) and is the result of immature whiteflies feeding on the squash leaves. SSL reduces the plant’s ability to photosynthesize, leading to stunting and reduced yields.

A fall garden can be a great and bounteous place—not a space that makes us mourn for the glory days of summer but somewhere that allows us to revel in the beauty and abundance of the season.

Even though it may be autumn, it is not too late to sow and grow. With the right strategies, even in cooler climate zones, it is possible to grow your own throughout the whole of the year. The key is to choose the right strategies and the right crops and varieties for your specific situation.

Every garden, no matter how large or small, has at least some features of a functioning ecological system. By tracing the food chains in a garden, we can learn to appreciate the function of the natural world around us and also gain a deeper appreciation of our place within the system as a whole.

Imagine biting into a slice so sweet, it’s like nature’s own candy—only juicier! Whether you’re a backyard gardener aiming for watermelon glory or a consumer on the hunt for the ultimate fruit indulgence, we’ve curated a list of the most Sweetest Watermelon Varieties to give you the nature’s best! What’s more! We have also included top tips on How to Pick the Sweetest Watermelon!

Scope creep is something that can sneak up on you when you are working on a project in the garden. If you are unfamiliar with the term, it is often used in project management to describe when the scope of a project alters over time and is not properly defined or controlled.

Thistles are some of the most common weeds that can turn into an invasive nightmare if not cared for properly. Check out these Weeds with Thistles to learn more about these plants.

As the nights begin to draw in and summer's heat fades fast, we may spend less time in our gardens and mourn the departure of the sun. But for me, fall is absolutely my favorite time of the year. Though the days are shortening rapidly and the summer garden may be fading fast, there is a lot to love about a garden in this season. 

The existence of Blue Dragon Fruit has sparked curiosity and debate among horticulturists, fruit enthusiasts, and the general public. However, the question remains: Is it real, or is it merely a myth? Let’s find out!