UC ANR is committed to providing an accessible and inclusive web experience for all users. If you encounter an accessibility barrier or need content in an alternative or remediated accessible format, please contact anraccessibility@ucanr.edu.
You can use fireplace ash in your garden, but use it sparingly. Central Coast soils tend to be slightly alkaline. Our water is also slightly alkaline (pH 7.2 to 7.5). Ideal soil pH for growing most plants is 6 to 7. Wood ashes are also alkaline, having a pH as high as 8-9.
Several factors may cause fruit to split. The most common cause of cracking/splitting is water. If the fruit is repeatedly wetted by rain or sprinkler water, the drops that hang on the tip of the fruit will lead to cracking.
All commercially grown avocados are grafted or budded in the seedling stage. When plants are grown from seed, they usually do not produce fruit which is true to the parent variety.
In commercial pineapple production, pineapple tops are used for propagation. Before you start, you need to remember that pineapple is a tropical plant, so will need to be kept in a greenhouse or indoors during the frost season. Also a mature plant is quite large.
Different varieties of avocado have different harvest dates. The most popular variety Hass has a long harvest season and may be picked any time between January and October. The fruit will hang on the tree for over a year.
Most pear varieties need to be conditioned for a time in order to ripen properly. Conditioning involves a period of cold treatment. The period of cold treatment varies according to the variety. Therefore, pick the pears as usual when they are mature but still firm.
Depending on the variety, potatoes take from 80 to 120 days to mature. As a rule-of-thumb, I suggest 100 days to start digging from the date of planting. If you like new potatoes, you can try digging early to check their size and maturity.
Problems may include skin cracking, split pits, and skin russeting. The last one is the easiest, so I will start there. Russeting of nectarine fruit is usually caused by the feeding activity of thrips.
There are several possible options. You can fill the boxes with 100% bagged planting mix. This medium is available at most garden stores and is composed of composted sawdust and cow manure or forest products and biosolids, etc. One hundred percent compost is another option.
Spring time is tree and shrub planting season. This is the time of year when bare root fruit and shade trees are available, when new crop roses are available, and it is also a good time to establish potted trees and shrubs of all kinds.
