In Need of Some Gardening Help

Welcome to gardening! It's a great thing to do.

You mentioned the strawberries having had berries. Did you eat them? If so, great! Don't expect much change in the strawberry plants after that, they may grow just a bit, but mine never went like gang-busters or anything like that. They just sort of sat there and stayed green, didn't make any more berries until the next year (now some varieites are ever-bearing, that means they will make multiple crops in one summer--I don't know what yours are). If you didn't eat the berries, and the berries have vanished, maybe the birds got them; in any case it doesn't sound like you have to do anything to "save" them. I'd just leave them alone for a bit.

I don't grow rhubarb, so can't help you there. If it is too much water, leave off for a little while and see what happens. Do check for bugs, if you see something eating the rhubarb, pull it off and get rid of it.

Also, I don't know if you have this in NM, but in Ohio we have what is called the "County Agricultural Extension Agent", it is through the university. This person can help answer gardening questions. If you have them they can be a good resource because they are familiar with local conditions. (I live in NE Ohio, rather different from Albuquerque!)

If you followed the planting directions for the rhubarb with regard to spacing, I wouldn't thin it. If, however, you planted it too close together, then maybe thinning it will help.

I would also check your newspaper to see if there is a garden columnist. I know the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper has one. You could ask that person your questions.

You could also try local garden clubs and nurseries. Most people are happy to share their knowledge, and you might make some friends as a bonus.

Hope that helped!

Good luck and have fun!

K. Z.

Hopefully you'll get some expert help, but I wanted to let you know that we planted strawberries last year and didn't get anything from them and they did look pretty sad at one point. They survived the winter even with the several hard freezes we had down here, and this year they are spreading and going like crazy! Like I said, I'm no expert, but ours just seemed to take off the second summer so maybe your's will too.

Also, I had terrible luck with broccoli last year, didn't get anything. Tomato and cucumber seem to work the best for us. We planted a lemon tree just in a pot on our patio this year and it is growing and producing fruit like crazy.

Good luck,
K.

strawberries are sensitive to specific soils, i would check on the soil that you're using.

I'm a fairly new gardener here in the Land of Enchantment. And one thing to remember is that any failures help you in future years AND help improve your soil. So even if your yields are light, your education is heavy and your soil very much improved!

Here are some local resources to look into:
The Gardener's Guild on Central is a great resource!
Bernalillo County extension is having some great classes this year.
www.thesourceabq.com is also having some good classes.

Have fun!

Just general info:

There's 4 kinds of fruit & veggie "food"

- Soil Amendments
- Vegetative
- Fruiting
- Miracle Gro

First off: Avoid miracle gro like the plague. It creates a, well an addiction is probably the easiest way to describe it. You have to keep feeding it and feeding it and feeding it, or the plants become really sick. It also tastes pretty lousy. Makes things look pretty, sure, but they don't actually grow strong.

Soil amendments are what you add to the soil, usually before planting. They include fertilizer (usually chicken or cow poopity poop), compost, blood meal, bone meal, etc. These all act as long term food, and are slow acting and safe.

Vegetative plant food are (chem or organic sourced) foods that encourage lots of strong vigorous green growth. Height/ strength/ etc. Vegetative is the stage before they start "fruiting" (aka veggies, fruits, grains... fruiting means producing the parts we eat, except in the case of lettuces/etc.). Vegetative foods discourage fruiting, because the plant is busy growing growing growing. I prefer organic vegetative foods, because they're less "tricky". Aka, it's really easy to "burn"/over fertilize with chemical fertilizers. You can still burn with organic ones, but it's harder. A sign you've BEGUN to over fertilize is that the tips on the leaves of your plants will turn brown. Continue to do so, and they'll die. If you notice burned tips... FLOOD your garden for a good 15-20 minutes, and it will leach out some of the nutrients which are hurting your plants.

Fruiting plant food is safe to give during the fruiting phase of development, and doesn't impede the process, and doesn't make the fruits (this includes veggies, grains, actual fruit, etc.) taste bad. Many vegetative foods are safe to use, but impart a flavor to the fruiting body that you just don't want, and any vegetative food makes the fruiting take longer, and less energy goes into THEIR production. This is one reason why even organically grown fruits and veggies don't taste as good as home grown. Even organic, they're doing things on a massive scale... so they can't adjust as easily as the micro farmer.

Happy Gardening!!!