Gardening and Landscaping Stack Exchange
Gardening and Landscaping Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [harvesting]

Questions about when and how to harvest crops.

Gardeners grow a range of plants for eating. Different plants have different requirements - e.g. they might die when harvested, or harvesting might promote more fruit/veg growth. Use this tag for questions about when to harvest, how best to harvest, and how frequently.

You should use this tag in conjunction with the relevant tag(s) for the crops that you are inquiring about.

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Storing apples - how do I improve my success rate?

Here's my apple store a few weeks after I put them into storage: As you can see, already quite a high failure rate. And even for the apples which still look sound as of today, are they still at risk? Or if they've got this far without rotting are…
Tea Drinker
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Is "Days to Harvest" measured from planting date or sprouting date?

I have several Ferry-Morse seed packets, which, on the back, show what the expected "Days to Harvest" is. I am wondering if this "Days to Harvest" should be measured from the date I planted the seeds or the date I saw the sprouts first coming up?
NeutronStar
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How do I tell if a Green Fig is ripe?

There is a Kadota (I think) fig tree in our yard - the fruit is massive, slightly squishy, and the holes at the bottom of the figs are starting to open and they're starting to pale. How do I tell if they are ripe or not? They're only drooping…
Vervious
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Should I lift my onion crop?

Looks like my onion crop is done (end of August). The green part has died right back and I've got just the bulb sat a little way into the soil. I don't have a good rodent-proof cool dry dark outdoor storage place to put the onions. If I lift them…
Tea Drinker
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Harvesting beans to prolong cropping - but how thorough do I need to be?

It is said that if you let your runner/french beans reach full maturity, the plant stops producing. So I harvest my beans (even if only to throw/give them away) regularly to prolong cropping. How thorough do I need to be? Is it sufficient to…
Tea Drinker
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Does it matter if my cabbage forms its heart some way off the ground?

My cabbages have been growing strongly, but until recently mostly big loose leaves, not hearts. Now they're beginning to heart up, but some way up the stalk and off the ground (about 12-15cm up the stalk, possibly more [photo probably shows the…
Tea Drinker
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Which types of broccoli are cut-and-come-again?

I grew two types of broccoli this year. One was monaco I think, and the other one I'm not sure about (maybe calabrese?). We started harvesting the monaco more than a month ago and per this question we have been getting a good crop of secondary heads…
Tea Drinker
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Why did my potatoes not grow?

I planted red and new potatoes in early May. They were planted 6-8 inches deep. The potatoes were sprouted potatoes from our local hardware store. Our soil is heavy clay but the potatoes were planted in purchased hummus which had been worked into…
Andre
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What should new tomato growers know about growing tomatoes?

Can I leave ripe red tomatoes on the vine until I'm ready to use them? How long do they stay good on the vine? Will picking them cause them to go bad faster or does it make any difference?
beta
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My broccoli has started to head up. Anything I should know?

First time broccoli planter. A couple of my plants have just started to form heads, is there anything special I need to do? How do I know when its ready? Also, what is the proper way to harvest broccoli when it is ready? Finally I have read here…
wax eagle
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How many spears can I expect from an average asparagus plant ready for harvest?

Pictures of young asparagus plants seem to indicate multiple spears will come from a single plant. But pictures of mature plants are harder to interpret. I want to know so that I can determine how many asparagus plants I should plant.
Om Patange
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Can I still use the mint leaves after the plant has flowered?

I have been gone a few weeks. Now my mint has all flowered. Can I still use the leaves? I want to make a batch of mint jelly.
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Duration of harvest season from Bush Bean plants?

Was wondering what a typical duration of production for a conventional bush bean is. I know a lot of factors such as how well the plants are cared for and heat can play into it. Here in the Northeast US I've had a solid three weeks of beans out of…
Jakkwylde
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When and how should I harvest galangal?

I was given some galangal a couple of years ago, which is now thriving in my garden. Is there a best time/season to harvest galangal, and can one just retrieve a small portion of the rhizome as required, or is it best to dig the whole lot up and…
long
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How do you tell when pumpkins are ready to harvest?

I have several large pumpkins on a vine but am not sure when to pick them. I have heard they are similar to potatoes in that you wait till the vine starts to die before harvesting.
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