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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Can a Japanese Maple Tree be Tapped for Sap to be Used in Syrup?

I have a large Japanese Maple tree (about twenty feet tall) in my yard and am wondering if it can be tapped for sap to be made into syrup. Is this possible or would it just be a waste or taste bad? If it is possible, can you please provide any…
NoAlias
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Do ground cherries ripen after picking?

I read that you should let ground cherries physalis pruinosa, also known as Stawberry Tomato, fall to the ground and then pick them. It is going to freeze and the plant is loaded with fruit. If I pick the the fruit and let them stand, will they…
Audrey Hinton
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Advise from experienced farmers

I don't know whether I should ask this question here or not, but I could not find any stackexchange website related to agriculture, so I found this website most near to agriculture, and I think that there are experienced plant growers of many…
Praveen Yadav
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My potato plants don't seem to flower - when should I harvest them?

I have read this question on harvesting potatoes after they flower, however mine don't seem to be in any hurry to flower. I was given them by a friend months ago, planted them, and I have a mass of leaves that have been up all summer, but I have no…
Rory Alsop
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Is there any reason not to keep lemons on the tree after they are ripe?

Are there any known problems with leaving lemons on the tree after they are ripe? Last year I had a heavy crop and I just picked them as I needed them. The following spring the tree lost most of its leaves and produced only one single lemon this…
Aaz
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Is there anything wrong with letting cucumbers get large?

The top and light green cucumber is the one in question. I thought it was fitting to use a cherry tomato for scale. Is there anything wrong with letting a cucumber grow that large? Is there a well understood difference in flavor or texture? Any…
Justin Helgerson
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Best time to harvesting blue vates kale

I am growing kale and this is the first year. It is the blue vates variety. My question is when and how to harvest. Days to maturity is 65 days (and it has been 65 days since I started the seeds indoors) but I don't think the plant has matured. I…
JStorage
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When should I harvest balsam for balsam bags?

I've found plenty of information about when to harvest balsam for making wreaths, but I really don't care about if the needles stay attached - I'm actually interested in if there are specific times when I should harvest so that they maintain their…
Joe
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Will a 1/2" tap hole injure a maple tree?

I'm planning to tap a maple tree in my yard this year and have hand carved a spile from a small piece of cherry I had in the garage. Most online materials I've found recommend drilling a hole 5/16" - 7/16" depending on the spile size. In this case…
But those new buttons though..
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What can I do with unripe tomatoes when prepping a bed for winter?

I have about 12-14 healthy tomato plants that I have uprooted and chopped up to till back in for their nutrients, but I'm wondering if I can do anything with the 20+ green (unripe) tomatoes that happen to fall off as the cages were removed.
O'Mutt
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Will onion sets overwinter in USDA zone 4?

I have garlic, and ornamental onions and chives planted. They overwinter, how about those bargain onion sets I bought? I planted the bag of twenty or thirty but it was a dry summer and those I harvested were not much bigger than when I put them…
kevinskio
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How to tell when grapes are ready to harvest?

I live in the Arizona desert and have some grapevines that came with my house. After 10 years of dodgy production and greedy ground squirrels, my vines are relatively full of grapes. Based on their appearances, and the fact that they're surviving…
Brian Nickel
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Is spinach which has bolted as unusable as bolted lettuce?

Bolted lettuce is famously unusable because your sweet salad leaves turn bitter. But does the same apply to spinach? It's a lettuce type crop (and equally prone to bolting in hot weather) but it's basically a bitter leaf anyway and typically cooked…
Tea Drinker
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How can I have lettuce growing year-round?

I've got this lettuce, similar to the red leaf, ruffly variety. It seems to grow only during summer and autumn. I can't coax it into sprouting from the seeds I harvest at any other time of year, which is pretty disappointing as I really want to have…
Emi
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When to harvest lettuce seeds

I am growing lettuce for the first time in. I have harvested a few lettuce leaves and the plant is now flowering. The flowers have been for around 20 days now. I wanted to save he seeds from this plant. Could some one suggest the right time to…
saleem
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