Good morning, i am building a new small greenhouse in 8B. Typical winter lows 25°F. Max winter low in the past 30 years 13°F. The greenhouse is 9x10 x14" high at the peak. Hand built. Couldn't find a kit with the dimensions I wanted. Dirt floor with no perimeter frost wall. We typically don't get any frost in the ground at all.

Can I grow kumquats in the ground here inside the greenhouse?

We have a sad Meiwa kumquat for the past 3 years in a pot. I have an outdoor shed with a few windows that I have kept zone 9's alive over winter, for the past twenty five years. Small electric oscillating heater used to keep it just above 36°F.

Very excited to finally have the greenhouse. I am willing to devote a large portion of the greenhouse to the kumquat. Should I get an additional one? I am looking at the Fukushu kumquat as well. Thank you for any suggestions.

This popped up while we were out of town over the weekend and I haven’t seen anything like it before.

I frequently find these in the soil but don’t know what insect they grow into. Google search was inconclusive. Thanks!

Hi all,

Following up on last month's post about our Podocarpus hedge (coastal SoCal, 15 ft tall, 75 ft long) with the white coating and heavy leaf drop. Thanks to all of you here that shared their expert advice.

An arborist diagnosed giant whitefly. Two weeks ago a company did a pruning and a root injection plus a spray of fertilizer and mild insecticide.

The white coating has noticeably reduced, but the hedge is still shedding leaves fast.
Is ongoing leaf drop normal after treatment, or a sign of something else?

How long did your hedge take to recover?
Thanks for any experience you can share!
—M

I know it’s October, but is it possible these tomato plants will still give me a yield? I planted a little late (early June) and still haven’t had any tomatoes. I’m in Laguna Niguel.

We moved to a house this summer with a long row of silver sheen pittosporum along a fence line. They looked amazing when we moved in (probably because it wasn't high heat of summer yet, and they were planted less than a year ago). Now we have had 3 sudden deaths since moving in, and I've been reading that this tree can be difficult to keep alive in SoCal due to climate and root rot potential. I am now hesitant to replace with the same plant.

What do folks recommend as a native replacement that has a similar wispy look? This tree line is next to a paved patio area, so I am trying to avoid copious amount of berries to clean up.

Just getting into gardening and would like to plant garlic. I get the sense the window for planting is narrowing and I'm worried if buy online they will arrive late (although most sites are sold out of varieties like California Early and Late). Is there anywhere in LA that has bulbs I can get in person?

Just love my yellow hibiscus.

I planted some greens and chamomile. The lettuce and Arugula grew well but everything else didn't. The dill sprouted but is still small. The cilantro grew a bit but seems small. The chamomile is small as well and only a few sprouted. The chamomile was planted the same time as ghe dill.Could this be due to the heat last month? Should I replant when its cooler? I live in zone 10b Southern California.

Hey y’all, I’m a terrible gardener but I nonetheless continue to try. I’ve lived in PS for several years but the only outdoor plants I’ve kept alive are my bougainvilleas. I’m building a big planter in my yard and want to scatter some seeds and would love to get some input on what to get. I’m mostly interested in colorful flowers but I’ll take any and all suggestions!

I also would really like to eventually get a tree but I know the soil here is pretty tricky so I’m wondering if planting a tree would even be doable for 1 person with no equipment or if it would make more sense to get a tree in a planter. I’m still learning so go easy on me!

Picked all my pepper plants today. Cant wait for my collards to grow now.

What are people's experiences with Deep Drip stakes in SoCal? For context, I am new to gardening and irrigation systems, but want to set myself up for success as I transition my garden to more California native bushes and plants. I have 5 year old established California sycamore trees that I want to graduate from surface drip irrigation around the trunk area to periodic deep watering at the drip line. Saw the 36 inch stakes and thought these could be a good idea, but wanted some feedback. I am also interested to hear about experiences using these for bushes or plants versus surface drip irrigation watering. Thanks!

Hi! Looking for some help with my white sage. I planted two of the same sage side by side. The one on the left/top was originally overtaking the one on the right/bottom, so I cut it back. Now the one on the right is doing really well… and the one on the left has grown back, but for some reason all its leaves are so small and it looks a bit skinny / is not filling out. What did I do wrong, and what can I do now to bring the one on the left/top back to life?

I’ve been enjoying growing vegetables and herbs in my planters, but I need some help with my potted citrus. I feel like this heat and constant weather change has wrecked them.

For context, I got these last January and they had no fruit and were considerably smaller. The lemon tree has grown some fruit (which almost might be ripe). The lime tree has sprouted a couple flowers, which haven’t survived because it coincided with the heat wave. I have used some insecticidal soap on both, but I’m not sure what else to do. Should I prune them?

I’d appreciate any help or direction, thanks!

Can someone help diagnose what’s wrong with my Podocarpus Henkelli? Many of the leaves have started turning brown rapidly. This started maybe two months ago.

Here’s some care information. I planted them 5 years ago. I live in San Diego and the soil in the area is hard and clay like. I water them 18 gallons each once per week in the summer (currently). Less or not at all in the winter. Some of them are on a retaining wall and those ones have always done significantly worse than the ones on ground level.

I didn’t know the flowers were so pretty

It was so hard for me to find this plumeria at a nursery and after a couple months it just bloomed! My neighbor has a great big one that I always look at and I’m so happy to see this flower today