Garden Troubleshooting

By Elaine Applebaum, UC Master Gardener of Placer CountyQ: Last year the Master Gardener Office diagnosed nematodes as the cause of my tomato crop and told me to change the location of my tomato bed next year. Unfortunately, I forgot all about it and planted this year’s tomatoes in the same place. Help…

By Trish Grenfell, UC Master Gardener of Placer CountyQ: My tomatoes this year are flowering but producing no fruit. I have also noticed that the bees seem to be absent also. Is this why I am not getting any fruit? A: There are many reasons for blossom drop but lack of honeybees is not a major…

By Trish Grenfell, UC Master Gardeners of Placer CountyQ: There are dark spots on the bottoms of most of my tomatoes. What is wrong and what should I do? A:  Blossom-end rot is a disease that strikes tomatoes, peppers, watermelons, among others. It is not caused by a pest but instead by…

By Lynn Lorenson, UC Master Gardener of Nevada CountyFrom The Curious Gardener, Spring 2012Forget those blankets, plastic sheets, and pine-bough teepees. Learn to love where you live. Choose plants to fit the climate. You will be rewarded with a healthy, beautiful landscape. References are found in…

Laurie Meyerpeter, UC Master Gardener of Placer CountyFrom The Curious Gardener, Winter 2012Mistletoe. It’s weird, it’s poisonous, it’s a parasite, and yet we love mistletoe so much we manufacture plastic likenesses of the plant to hang it in our homes every winter! Is that weird or…

by Ann Wright, UC Master Gardener of Nevada CountyFrom The Curious Gardener, Spring 2022 Weeds—these harbingers of spring can be tough garden pests, challenging even the most seasoned gardeners. There are many ways to manage these unwelcome plants that crowd our new seedlings, sometimes harboring…

By David Warman, UC Master Gardener of Placer CountyFrom The Curious Gardener, Winter 2021            Every gardener and homeowner is concerned for the safety of themselves and their family, particularly their children and pets. Using pesticides responsibly will help…

by Elaine Kelly Applebaum, UC Master Gardener of Placer CountyFrom The Curious Gardener, Spring 2023                                                           …

By Bonnie Bradt, UC Master Gardener of Nevada CountyFrom The Curious Gardener, Fall 2021Many of us “Foothill Dwellers” love it here, for the enjoyment of the natural world surrounding us. Sometimes however, that natural world comes in the form of critters, large and small, that love the same veggies,…

By Shirley Porter, UC Master Gardener of Nevada CountyFrom The Curious Gardener, Summer 2010 We’ve had an abundance of rain in the foothills this Winter and Spring. I alternate between wishing for "just one sunny day” to get out and work in the garden and feeling very glad that the earth is replenishing…