Most tomato varieties will need staking or trellising to keep plants manageable, prevent vigorous tomato varieties from overwhelming other nearby vegetables, maximize growing space and maintain garden tidiness by requiring tomatoes to grow up rather than outward, allow for easier harvesting, and to reduce or prevent disease and pest problems caused by tomato fruits and […]

Follow these practices to extend your pea harvest into the warmer months. Harvest regularly. Harvest pea pods regularly, every day or every other day, to encourage production of new pods and maximize yield from peas over a possible bearing period of weeks to months. Pea plants may produce few new pods while maturing seeds in […]

Healthy soil and regular fertilization with nitrogen are critical to growing corn successfully in California home gardens. For complete information about soil and fertilization needs of corn in  your area, go to GardenZeus and enter your zip code. For basic information about growing corn see GardenZeus Secrets of Success for Growing Corn in the California […]

Pole snap beans can be tricky seasonally because they are intolerant of frost and cold temperatures, which may be common overnight during winter in many of California’s inland areas; and also of hot temperatures above about 85°F. For precise suggestions regarding the best times of year to grow pole snap beans in your area, go […]

GardenZeus recommends heat-tolerant cucumber varieties for Southern California’s inland areas for both late-winter/spring-to-summer and fall planting windows. Slicing cucumbers: Poinsett 76 is a favorite open-pollinated, heat-tolerant, flavorful variety that is also disease-resistant (including mildews). Marketmore and Marketmore 76 are classic favorites for their long harvest period and reliable fruit production under moderate environmental stress. Straight […]

Cucumbers have a reputation for being easy to grow, but GardenZeus expert Darren Butler has found that this is not necessarily so in the warm Southern California inland areas. Cucumbers prefer a narrow temperature range of about 55° to 85°F for growing and fruiting, and there is no 60-day growing season in your zone that […]

Most gardeners and cooks know that tomatoes should not be stored in the refrigerator, but they may not know why. The ideal storage temperature for fruits and vegetables varies among the many different varieties. Those fruits native to warmer regions are typically injured by temperatures as low as the common house refrigerator. Their cells begin […]

GardenZeus earns commissions on sales made through links in this article. There is no additional cost to you. In most areas of California, summer squash is grown during the warm season from early spring through midsummer or fall; However, with an appropriate selection of varieties, many mild winter areas can grow summer squash year-round. Zucchini […]

The Three Sisters is a traditional Native American agricultural grouping or companion-planting combination that includes corn, beans, and squash, with corn providing a natural trellis for beans and vining squash, beans fixing soil nitrogen theoretically to the benefit of all three crops, and squash providing a living mulch with large leaves that cool the soil and discourage […]