Charles asks…
Is it possible for me to build my own a garden greenhouse?
One of my best friends is a gardening fanatic and I notice that I become more and more interested in gardening. I am planning to have my own garden but you know the day is cold now. I wonder is it possible for me to build my own a garden greenhouse? How to do that?
GardenersCardiff answers:
Firstly it’s brilliant you want to get into gardening. I can tell you that you will get lots of good exercise and if you opt for growing fruit and veg, your grocery bills are going to come way down.
Yes, you can build your own greenhouse. These mostly come in kit form from a DIY supplier and they have a range of sizes to choose from.
Here’s a guide on building a greenhouse – http://hometipster.com/Gardening/how_to_build_a_greenhouse.aspx
Also, considering you are new to gardening, check out our How To Gardening section – http://hometipster.com/Gardening/home.aspx There are loads of guides and videos that will show you how to grow all sorts of things plus a whole lot more.
Hope you find this useful and good luck with your gardening 
James asks…
Help with what to plant in new garden?
I’m new to the whole gardening thing; I have an area outside I’d like to plant in…it’s a raised area next to the house surrounded by rocks. It gets lots of sunlight throughout the day. Any suggestions what to plant there? I want a variety of height and color. Can I go to a garden store and just buy a bunch of flowers?
GardenersCardiff answers:
Welcome to gardening!
Since you are new, you will want things that are easy to care for. I chose a bunch of culinary stuff for my bed: Tomatoes, green peppers, basil, oregano, sage, and lemon balm. You may want to actually put the lemon balm and oregano in containers, because these two plants are related to mints. Which can spread aggressively. I also got marigold seed.
Check at your local nursery: There should be someone who can advise you there. And take a look at the Arbor Day foundation site for planting zones: There has been some change in climate since the zones were first established.
Good luck!
Linda asks…
What can I grow in a small garden with poor sunlight in London?
Hi,
I am new to gardening and I have a small garden with poor sunshine. I would like to grow plants (trees) or some vegetables, what do you suggest? I really would like to plant lemons but I guess I needs lots of light for them!
Thank you
GardenersCardiff answers:
One of the coolest things you can do in a place like london is to grow smaller things, pretty much anything in a hydroponic garden atmosphere. It works so incredibly well. ‘
Also if you want to grow outdoors use low light herbs and things. They are gorgeous to look at and you can use them in your foods or for other things as well.
Amazon has this thing to grow stuff inside that I love. Its pretty expensive but it works. There are also little lights that you can use to grow things inside that don’t take up much space. I live in a cooler climate like you in the winter time so growing things outdoors isn’t always easy but you can do it inside very nicely wtihout much room.
I’ve tried pasting in the link twice but it won’t work to show you teh image so here is the link to the product.
Http://www.amazon.com/AeroGrow-AeroGarden-Gourmet-Herb-Black
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Maria asks…
I want to start growing my own vegetables how do I go about this and what are the best veg to start with ?
My 4 year old won’t eat vegetables and both hubby and I love them, so we thought that we would grow our own with the help of ‘junior’. Any ideas folks?
GardenersCardiff answers:
Great idea! Kids love planting anything. Carrots, string beans and radishes are always fun to grow and are very easy. Buy tomato plants and any other vegetables which need a longer growing season. Cherry tomatoes are child-bite sized and they don’t require anything except sun, water and a little fertilizer. Plant a few pumpkin or squash seeds too. Even if your child won’t eat them he’ll have fun setting up a nice fall display. Don’t forget to plant some flowers, especially sunflowers. We still proudly display a picture of our grandson when he was four next to a GIANT sunflower. He’s almost 16 now and everyone loves it.
Get a vegetable gardening book from your library or go online for information. When you know what, WHEN and where you want to plant go to the garden center and get one of these: composted soil, peat moss or composted cow manure. To prepare a bed turn the soil over with a shovel. Add the “rich” soil and work it in well making sure to break up any clumps and removing rocks. Now take a rake and smooth it all over. Gather your seed packets and plants and share an afternoon of work, fun, satisfaction and making memories none of you will ever forget.
Chris asks…
What books do you recommend for beginning gardeners?
I’ve purchased my first house and I need to seed parts of the yard so that some of the grass will grow. Plus I want to grow my own vegetables. What books would be good for this city girl to read?
GardenersCardiff answers:
Stop by your public library and browse their gardening section. That way you can sample various books for free. Later you can buy one or two from a bookstore, once you decide the best one for you.
Probably look at the Ortho, Sunset or Home Depot ones for starting out. When you buy one, you probably want a more comprehensive one than those.
Donald asks…
If I want to start growing my own vegetables and fruits?
I want to grow my own stuff so we don’t waste money going to the grocery store. Where and how should I start?
Thanks.
GardenersCardiff answers:
Your question has various answers. I thought I would instead give you some gardening videos to watch. That will give you an idea of how to plant fruit trees, small fruits such as blueberries, potatoes etc. Good luck.
Http://naturehills.com/gardening/blogs/helpful_gardening_tips/archive/2009/04/02/vertical-gardening-video-part-two.aspx
http://naturehills.com/gardening/blogs/helpful_gardening_tips/archive/2009/03/28/vertical-gardening-video.aspx
http://naturehills.com/gardening/blogs/helpful_gardening_tips/archive/2009/03/22/square-foot-gardening.aspx
http://naturehills.com/gardening/blogs/helpful_gardening_tips/archive/2009/02/07/tomato-planting-video-from-seed-starting-to-outdoor-garden.aspx
http://naturehills.com/gardening/blogs/helpful_gardening_tips/archive/2009/03/26/planting-potatoes-video.aspx
http://naturehills.com/gardening/blogs/helpful_gardening_tips/archive/2009/02/02/growing-blueberries-in-your-own-backyard-video.aspx
http://naturehills.com/gardening/blogs/helpful_gardening_tips/archive/2009/02/24/the-garden-girl-shows-us-how-to-plant-cumumbers-in-this-video.aspx
http://naturehills.com/gardening/blogs/helpful_gardening_tips/archive/2009/01/31/planting-blueberries-in-a-container.aspx
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Charles asks…
What do you do when there really is something under your kids bed?
and no unless you carry a gun around in the house, shooting it straight off isn’t an option, 10 pts. to most methodical or comical
GardenersCardiff answers:
Well first you have to buy: Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them by J.K rowling. Read the book and try and determine what exactly is under the bed. If its not in the book, then call Dan, the magician he is listed in every phone book under Magical Drunk, and note: Not danny, dan, you don’t want his cousin Danny, he’s a drunk every day, while Dan only gets drunk on the weekends. Anyway
he’ll tell you what you have and then once you have determined go to Pest-World (Note all Pest-Worlds are located in the back of Wal-Marts, usually there’s a door way in the gardening section, the door looks like a gnome, but its a door, I know, but true) The company has all sorts of pests and pesticides. What you need is: Rea’s Bottle of Nuclear Radiation. That will kill the monster. Note: you may have a gilopie, which eats your socks and rapes your cats, they usually live under beds, but I’d confirm it. The radiation should work. I also suggest that you seal off that room for about two weeks afterwards.
Donald asks…
What Do I Need To Make A Paintball Gun Work?
I don’t want to actually play paintball, I just want something to play around with, shoot things in my backyard and stuff. I went to some classified sites and see all these things called hoppers etc. What are all these things and which ones are necessary just to shoot some garden gnomes and things like that? lmfao :p Thanks everyone!
GardenersCardiff answers:
Buy a tippman paintball gun they can go for under $130
James asks…
The garden gnome outside my window brought friends and they’re taunting my cat. What would you do?
GardenersCardiff answers:
I’d bring my Tommy gun..
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Sandy asks…
Does anyone know where online or in-store I can find button mushroom spores (not the illegal mushrooms)?
I’ve searched all over the internet and all I can find for Button mushroom spores is results from Google and Bing that say “Button mushroom spores” and then when I click on the link, all the website has is spores for the hallucinogenic magic mushrooms. I don’t want to grow that stuff.
Last year and the year before I grew Pink Oyster mushrooms, Blue Oyster mushrooms, and Shiitake mushrooms from mushroom kits. But I don’t want to use a kit because then I can’t grow as much as I want. I’m not trying to start my own business. I don’t want to grow as many Button mushrooms as possible so I can sell them off. I don’t even want to give them away as freebies. I just love the taste and I’ve had success in the past with the kits and I’d like to try Button mushrooms.
A friend suggested to me why I don’t just buy Button mushrooms at the produce section at the grocery store and try to collect spores from the gills underneath the caps that way. I’ve already read about that. It apparently doesn’t work because many of the spores are collected through the air ducts in the warehouses where companies grow mushrooms and also the fact that who knows how old the mushrooms themselves are, plus the fact that they’ve been refrigerated can kill off the spores.
I’ve heard the best way to inoculate your medium (in my case, my friend’s mother in southern Illinois has a sheep farm and collects the dung and sells it as fertilizer for plants, and I bought some of that in bags) is to use a plastic syringe that has a mixture of some kind of liquid (probably distilled water) and the spores themselves and to put the needle into the middle of your medium and inoculate that way. I’ve seen the syringes they sell online for the magic mushrooms, but I don’t know if they do it the same way for gourmet mushrooms.
I’ve already checked Ebay. No one sells spores of any mushroom kind there. Probably because they don’t want people growing their own mushrooms and competing with their business of selling dried mushrooms on Ebay.
Thanks for any info. I really appreciate it =)
GardenersCardiff answers:
Here is a long list
http://www.shroomery.org/8689/Mycology
I grew a whole bunch of oysters a few years ago. Straw works great. The basic instructions are that you pasteurize the straw by dipping it in very hot water to kill the mold spores and then innoculate it with your grain spawn. I used about half a gallon to each basket. I got the baskets at the 99 cent store by the way.
I grew a culture by scrapping off some store bought mushroom onto a potato dextrose agar pitri dish..
Http://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy122/bob45ana/threebasketsstraw.jpg
http://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy122/bob45ana/Largestrawoyster.jpg
Carol asks…
What is Permiculite? (vermiculite?)?
I need to know what Permiculite is!
I think it has something to do with cultivations so ill put it in the gardening section.
I saw it on this video>> http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-grow-your–own-hallucinogenic-mushrooms-1642/
he says it at 6:03 and 8:52
please get back to me (osciaran@hotmail.com)
I need to know what Permiculite is!
I think it has something to do with cultivations so ill put it in the gardening section.
I saw it on this video>> http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/…
he says it at 6:03 and 8:52
please get back to me (osciaran@hotmail.com)
ps id rather if you didnt use Wiki to get answers i want expirence not people looking for points
GardenersCardiff answers:
Mark T has it correct…I mix 1/3 vermiculite 1/3 perlite and 1/3 peat moss to start my seed in…If you ar3e running large areas you can buy this stuff in large bags at Home depot for 12.99 verses paying 3.99 for a small bag that is about 3 gallons… You get at least 20 of these small bags in in one large bag..lowes and ace does not have larger bags…That will be 80.00 buying in small bags verses paying 12.99 for the same amount..
Chris asks…
Your Question Where can you buy White Button (Agaricus Bisporus) Mushroom Spawn in the U.S.?
I am trying to grow my own mushrooms, without a kit, from scratch. It is my impression that I need spawn not spore, but am having a very hard time finding them to purchase. I appreciate any help anyone can give.
GardenersCardiff answers:
Http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkxxH91RK_5IAanFXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTByZWgwN285BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA3NrMQR2dGlkAw–/SIG=119v8jc10/EXP=1247168711/**http%3a//www.fungi.com/
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