Two Minutes in the Garden

Can you remove disinfectants from tap water before using it on your plants -- and do you know which disinfectant your water has? And can fluoride be toxic for plants? FROM Empress of Dirt: Why Your Garden Needs Mulch & How To Do It Right

Is it safe to use unfiltered tap water on our plants? Lots of people do, but are there risks -- especially from substances like chlorine and fluoride added at water treatment plants? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: 5 Good For The Earth (& You) Garden Resolutions (2022)

It's been more than 30 years since research at NASA showed that it's possible for plants to remove pollutants from the air. But is the air in our home fresher because we have houseplants? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: Pros and Cons of Using Bt for Caterpillars (In Home Gardens)

We wouldn't have air as we know it without plants, but do our houseplants act as an air filter? And was that really proven by NASA? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: The Problem With Buying Beneficial Nematodes For Grub Control

It's the season for poinsettias -- and for warnings on social media about how you're putting your pets at risk by having poinsettias in the house. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: How to Grow an Avocado from Seed (Easy Method)

They're sold as an alternative to pesticides to kill a wide range of insects. But will they make a difference to your garden or lawn? And are they safe to use? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: Why Your Garden Needs Mulch & How To Do It Right

You can buy nematodes to apply to your lawn or garden to control a wide range of insects. How do beneficial nematodes control pests? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: Clever Ways to Fill Tall Raised Beds & Save On Soil

We know that unhappy limp look plants give us, especially on hot, dry days. Should we reach for the watering can or is there something else at work here? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: 2022 Handy Garden Checklist (What To Get Done Each Month)

We know the properties we'd like the soil in our raised beds to have -- what should we put in the mix to get them? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: 7 Unfortunate Garlic Growing Mistakes You Can Avoid

Is there such a thing as ideal soil for raised beds? If there is, how do you know you're actually getting it when you place an order or go to the garden center? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: Best Small Pond Ideas for Patios & Gardens

There are lots of lighting options -- especially with LEDs -- and we may feel uneasy about whether we're providing our plants the right kind of light. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: How to Clone Orchids With Keiki Paste

The oxygen we breathe, the food we eat, and most of the dry weight of the plants in our garden -- they all come from photosynthesis, which depends on plants getting the light they need. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: Using Heat Mats For Seed Starting

Leaf mold is a favorite organic addition to garden soil, and one that you can have at almost no cost just by keeping your fall leaves and letting them rot. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: How to Properly Store Herbs & Spices (Are They Still Good?)

Even if you plan on sticking with soil, hydroponics tells us a lot about plants -- and soil. And if it appeals to you, then it's a way to grow plants year-round. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: How To Grow Swiss Chard Indoors (Seed to Harvest)

Fall is peak garlic planting time. What do we need to know to grow garlic in our garden ... and whatever happened to garlic seeds? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: How To Grow Pineapple From Seed (Two Methods)

Saving seeds can be simple ... or complicated depending on how ambitious you get. What are some of the challenges you may face saving seeds? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: Getting Started With Seed Saving (Flowers, Fruit, & Vegetables)

They're a popular source of blues, purples, pinks and other colours in the fall garden ... although, as far as botanists are concerned, most of them aren't actually asters. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: Planting Potted Mums Outdoors as Year-Round Perennials

Keiki paste is used to propagate certain kinds of orchids -- but what's in it, does it really work, and can we use it on other plants? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: How to Grow Pineapple As a Houseplant

There are more species of rust fungi than any other plant pathogen. Once you have it, there's not much you can do about it, but you can make things more challenging for the rust. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: 10 Spectacular Fast-Growing Flowers

Willow water, honey and many others are touted as natural alternatives to rooting hormone. But do they work as well as rooting hormones -- or at all? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: How to Harvest Sweet Pea Seeds

Rooting hormones an easy way to improve the odds that our cuttings will take root -- and also to speed up the process a little bit. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: 20 Easy Plant Propagation Tutorials for Gardeners

There's a whole slew of amendments to buy or make -- and many do some good for our plants. But there's also a lot to be said for keeping things simple. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: Make a Robin Nesting Shelf (Free Plans)

You hear all the time that some plants need well-drained soil, but what does that mean, exactly? How do we know if we have it and what can we do about it? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: How to Harvest Zinnia Seeds

They're the world's most abundant animal. Almost all of us have nematodes in our gardens. They do a lot of good for the soil but some of them can badly damage your plants. NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: How to Cure Winter Squash for Storage

It has lots of enthusiastic supporters among gardeners -- and it also gets called snake oil. Can we come to any conclusions about compost tea? NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: How to Ripen Tomatoes After Picking