Questions tagged [vegetables]

Any edible plant or part of a plant. For questions if an unknown plant is edible use the [edible] tag.

Vegetables are plants. Technically they exclude actual , although many so-called vegetables (e.g. peppers, , and ) are the fruit of the plant in question. Questions about anything typically grown in a vegetable garden are on-topic for this tag.

For questions about a particular vegetable, use in combination with a tag for the specific vegetable you're asking about (e.g. or ).

If you're having a problem with a vegetable (leaves turning yellow, plants die, etc), use in addition.

This tag can also be used for general questions about vegetable gardening (getting started, mulching, fertilizing, watering, etc), so please add the appropriate tags for these questions too.

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Is it bad to water plants in the evening?

Is it bad to water plants after the sun has gone down or near dusk? If so, why?
Jim Geurts
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Crop rotation theory v. practice

Every guide to growing vegetables will have an early section on rotating roots, brassicas and legumes. There might even be a little diagram with neat evenly spaced and sized areas marked out for each group. It always sounds so simple in theory. But…
Tea Drinker
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What's the best mulch material for a vegetable garden?

I want to lay mulch down around my already established plants to help retain moisture and discourage weeds. Is there a recommended material for this? Or at least some materials I should know to avoid? Update: The choices I'm looking at right now…
Shane
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My lettuce is flowering - does that mean it has bolted?

I planted a batch of "zesty blend" lettuce seeds. They seem to be doing fine, but suddenly they started flowering: Have they bolted? They look healthy otherwise. Still edible?
Caffeine Coma
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How do I grow a usable vegetable garden indoors?

I'm from a very rural area and love to garden, however, for work I just moved into an apartment in the city. I miss being able to grow vegetables and so I attempted to start some leaf lettuce indoors, however, almost every plant died quickly. I'm…
JToland
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Does eating fruits and vegetables watered with greywater affect your health?

Does using greywater on your fruit and vegetable garden affect your health in a negative way? Greywater is the run-off or cast off water that lolls about when you do normal washing around the home. The sink water when you're doing the dishes, the…
Eight Days of Malaise
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What's the most effective way to harvest rhubarb?

I've got a big, lovely rhubarb plant in my yard which I'd hoped to be able to harvest a few different times over the course of a summer. How should I harvest my rhubarb to encourage it to regrow quickly? Should I cut it off near the base, pull it up…
JSBձոգչ
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How do cucumbers happen? What does "very poorly pollinated cucumber" mean exactly? How can pollination be "uneven"?

This answer to Strange Fruit from Tomato Plant begins: That looks like a poorly pollinated cucumber (the type of distortion on the fruit is exactly what you'd see if pollination were uneven). Apparently my understanding of the "birds and the bees"…
uhoh
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What is the best way to prevent animals from eating my garden without a fence?

We have a raised bed garden that does well for the most part. For aesthetic purposes, my wife will not let me put a fence around the garden. Most of the veggies and herbs do well and do not get eaten by the various critters. But sometimes they…
Mike Ohlsen
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How do I grow root vegetables in pots/grow-bags?

We have a flat (apartment) with no garden, but would love to grow root vegetables such as potatoes and carrots. Is it possible to grow these in a pot, container or grow-bag, or do they need too much depth for this? If it is possible, what containers…
robintw
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What vegetables will grow well in limited sunlight?

Our backyard receives limited sunlight due to three massive trees in a small area. There is only about 2 hours of direct sunlight per day to my vegetable patch. Could I get some suggestions for vegetables that can be grown with limited sunlight? I…
going
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How should I properly prepare a raised bed vegetable garden?

When building a raised bed for a vegetable garden, what do I need to do to properly prepare the soil? It is going to be mixed with different types of vegetables and herbs that I will rotate out all year long. Should I buy the more expensive garden…
Jacob Schoen
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What is "Compost Tea" good for?

I have read that you can get a tumbler type of composter and collect the "juices" from the composter. This is referred to as "compost tea". Does anyone know what the real usage of this is? Some perusal of the Internet would suggest that holds some…
Randy
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What is an easy vegetable to grow in a hot, dry summer / cool, wet winter climate?

I want to try growing vegetables. What is an easy veggie to start with? I live in a climate with hot, dry summers and cool rainy winters.
Jonathan
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What food crops grow well in a hot/dry desert climate?

I live in Las Vegas, where year-round rainfall is very low, and summer temperatures can be very high. The humidity is very low, the sky is nearly always sunny, and spring and fall temperatures can remain warm. Wind is frequent. I have an interest in…
Bryson
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