1. How much fertilizer do I measure for a gallon?
Answer: measure out 1/2 oz. which is a level measuring spoonful.

2. How long does a water soluble fertilizer last?
Answer: About 2 weeks from time of fertilizing.

3. What is the best water soluble fertilizer for blooming plants?
Answer: our 10-52-8. Reason: the high phosphate promotes rooting and blooming.

 
Gardening Tips From Our Master Gardener

1. To start poinsettias, cut off a slip about 6 inches long and place it in wet sand in a can during the month of July. Make holes in the container for drainage. Turn a glass over it and leave it there. Keep the sand moist, but not too wet. It takes a while to root, so be patient. By fall, it will be ready to pot.

2. If you cut the bottom out of a gallon-sized plastic milk jug and remove the cap to let in fresh air, it will make an excellent cover for your small garden plants. And remember, they are transparent enough to admit sunlight.

3. For beautiful, blooming plants that will double in size right before your eyes, try this once a month treatment: add 1/2 oz. of 15-30-15 to a gallon of water once per week.

4. To help those cheery little winter birds, fill a string mesh bag with suet and scraps of leftover food and hang it from a tree limb. They will enjoy the winter a little more with your help.

5. For starting seeds indoors, it's best to plant them in a small amount of soil. Gradually add more soil as the plant grows. Do this and your plants will be much stronger and do better after you set them outside.

6. To keep weeds down and save you a lot of time weeding, put two layers of newspaper between your rows.

7. A good cost saving method for planting pole beans is to plant them next to sunflowers. The beans will climb the lower part of the sunflowers and you won't need to buy any poles.

8. If you stick our 14-7-7 planting tablets in the soil alongside your African Violets, they will bloom longer, prettier and more abundantly.

9. Add a teaspoon of mild detergent to revive a vase of wilted flowers. Two aspirin is another great method for vase plant revival.

10. Eating rhubarb leaves is not a good idea, they're poisonous. Eat only the stems. You should pick the stalks when they are as thick as your thumb by twisting them off, not cutting them, at the base of the plant. For easy and efficient harvesting, gather the outside stems first.

11. Here is a simple technique to help keep your garden fresh green peppers from spoiling so fast in the refrigerator. Wash them and hollow out the insides, cut them into whatever sizes you want, dry them, put them in a dry plastic bag and put them in the freezer. When you need green peppers next, in whatever amount, you will have them right there in the freezer, still fresh.

12. To speed up ripening of unripe tomatoes, place them with other fruit, especially pears.

13. Here is a tip for herb garden fanatics: to keep mint, lemon verbena, etc. from taking over in your herb garden, pull out the amount you need by the roots. Enough root will remain in place for the plants to continue growing.

14. An easy way to tell if sweet corn ears are ready for harvest is to make sure the top of the ear is round, not pointed.

15. Ferns will love it if you add 20-10-5 planting tablets, 1 per container, especially if you do this once every six months.

16. If you like fresh cooked rhubarb for sauce, cook it with whatever water adheres to the stalks after washing, don't add any more water, just add sugar to taste. This method will ensure your sauce won't be runny.

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