All Growing Guides

With 5 hours of sun, grow leafy greens, herbs, radishes, and root vegetables. Fruiting plants like tomatoes need more or a grow light.

Flowers stop blooming from heat, lack of deadheading, too much nitrogen, or end of season. Deadhead regularly and avoid over-fertilizing.

Bitter cucumbers come from heat stress, inconsistent watering, or harvesting too late. Peel, salt, or soak to reduce bitterness.

Kids stay interested when they see fast results. Radishes sprout in 4 days. Sunflowers grow taller than them. Here's how to garden with kids.

With no natural light, you need a grow light. A $30 LED shop light, 2-4 inches above plants, 14-16 hours per day, grows most herbs and greens.

Hand-pollinate tomatoes by tapping flowers or using a small brush. Do it in the morning, when pollen is dry.

Hardening off acclimates indoor seedlings to outdoor conditions over 7-10 days. Skipping it causes sunscald and transplant shock.

Grow lights burn plants when too close or too intense. Keep LED lights 2-4 inches above leaves, run 14-16 hours daily, and do the hand test.

Harvest lettuce by cutting outer leaves at the base, leaving the center intact. The plant regrows from the center for 4-6 weeks.

Water seedlings when the top inch of soil is dry. Not on a schedule. The finger test is the only reliable method.

Heirloom seeds are open-pollinated and 50+ years old. Hybrids are crosses of two varieties. GMOs are lab-modified.

Kitchen herbs die from overwatering, not enough light, or cold. Basil is the most common casualty. Water less, light more, keep warm.

Basil grows indoors with 6+ hours of light and temperatures above 60°F. It's ready to harvest in 50-60 days. The main killers are cold and overwatering.

Beets sprout in 5-10 days and mature in 55-70 days. Each seed ball produces 2-3 seedlings, so thin to 4 inches. Both roots and greens are edible.

Broccoli takes 60-80 days from seed to harvest. It's a heavy feeder and needs cool weather. After the main head, it produces side shoots for weeks.