Grow it well, season after season.

Bury 2/3 of the stem at transplant, roots form along the buried section.

Pinch the first flower off, the plant doubles in size before fruiting.

Stress (less water, less feed) makes peppers hotter, not cooler.

Pick when skin is glossy. Dull skin means seeds inside have gone bitter.

Trellis them, you'll get 3x the yield in 1/4 the space.

Pick at 6 to 8 in long. Bigger fruit becomes seedy and stops new flower production.

Cure in the sun for 10 days after picking, doubles storage life.

For a giant pumpkin, prune to one fruit per vine.

Tap test. Ripe melons sound hollow, unripe ones sound dull.

Slip test. Ripe melons separate from the vine with a gentle tug.

Sow into loose, deep soil. Rocks and clods cause twisted roots.

Eat the greens too, they're more nutritious than the root.

The fastest crop in the garden. Sow in succession every 10 days.

Light frost sweetens the root.

Cure in a shaded, airy spot for 2 weeks before storage.

Snap off scapes (flower stalks) in June, bulbs grow 30 percent bigger.

Hill soil up around the stem as it grows for longer white shanks.

Hill soil over stems every 2 weeks, more stem = more tubers.

Cure at 80F and high humidity for 10 days to develop sweetness.

Cut outer leaves, the plant keeps producing for 2 months.

Bolts in heat. Plant heat-tolerant varieties (Malabar, New Zealand) for summer.

Pick outer leaves only, the plant produces for 6+ months.

One of the few greens that produces from spring through hard frost.

Hot weather and dry soil make it bitter. Grow it cool and wet.

Cut the main head with 6 in of stem, side shoots produce for another 6 weeks.

Tie outer leaves over the head when it reaches egg-size, keeps it pure white.

Twist the head a quarter turn 2 weeks before harvest to prevent splitting.

Top the plant in early September, all the energy goes to sprout size.

Pick daily once production starts, missed pods stop new flowering.

Pole beans outproduce bush 3 to 1 over a full season.

Pinch off all flowers year one, the plant builds roots for a massive year two.

Soil pH must be 4.5 to 5.5. Add pine needles or sulfur to lower it.

Prune fall-bearing varieties to the ground each winter for the easiest care.

Trellis on 2 wires (3 ft and 5 ft) to keep canes upright and pickable.

Prune hard. Remove 90 percent of last year's growth every winter.

Plant 2 different varieties within 50 ft for pollination.

Pick when stem snaps off with a gentle upward twist, ripen on counter for 5 days.

Thin fruit to 6 in apart, the remaining peaches double in size.

Most varieties need a pollinator partner, check before you buy.

Net the tree 3 weeks before harvest or birds take everything.

Blooms early, plant on a north slope to delay flowering past frost danger.

In cold zones, grow in a pot and overwinter in an unheated garage.

Container citrus needs feeding 12 months a year, no dormancy indoors.

Yellow leaves usually mean overwatering, not nitrogen deficiency.

Pick when fruit is heavy and slightly soft, color is a poor ripeness indicator.

Mulch heavily, avocado feeder roots live in the top 6 in of soil.

Skin should crack slightly when ripe, that's the signal to pick.

Cure or brine fruit, raw olives are inedibly bitter.

Needs one male per 6 to 8 female vines for pollination.

Astringent varieties must fully ripen on the tree, eat-when-soft.

Pinch flowering tops weekly to keep leaves producing.

Bolts in heat. Once it flowers, let it go to coriander seed.

Soak seeds 24 hours in warm water before planting, doubles germination.

Always plant in a pot. In the ground it will take over the entire bed in 2 years.

Wet feet kill rosemary faster than cold. Plant in gritty, drained soil.

Best flavor comes from plants grown in lean, rocky soil.

Flavor peaks just before flowering, harvest then for drying.

Replace plants every 4 to 5 years, woody sage loses flavor.

Self-seeds aggressively. Let one plant flower and you have dill forever.

Divide clumps every 3 years, doubles your stock and refreshes growth.

Buy French tarragon plants, never seeds. Seed varieties are flavorless Russian tarragon.

Prune by 1/3 after flowering, prevents woody, sparse plants.

Cut hard after flowering, regrows fresh leaves in 3 weeks.

Sweeter and milder than oregano, doesn't survive freezes outside zone 9.

Don't plant near dill or coriander, they cross and you lose all three.

Water at the base only, wet leaves cause black spot.

Plant in succession every 2 weeks for blooms from July through October.

Cut flowers above a node, two new stems grow back for every one cut.

Plant around the vegetable bed, the smell deters cabbage moths and aphids.

Don't feed nitrogen, you'll get tall plants and no flowers.

Pinch the central shoot at 12 in tall, the plant bushes out and triples flower count.

Plant eyes (buds) no deeper than 2 in. Too deep means no flowers ever.

Treat as annuals in warm zones, they need 12 weeks of cold to rebloom.

Let foliage die back naturally, never cut green leaves, that's how the bulb feeds itself.

Plant rhizomes barely covered. Bury them and they rot.

Mulch heavily, lilies hate hot soil even though tops want full sun.

Acidic soil (pH 5.5) turns flowers blue, alkaline (6.5+) turns them pink.

Tropical varieties die at 30F. Hardy types (rose mallow) come back from roots.

Deadhead spent blooms, otherwise the plant goes to seed and stops flowering.

Tolerates frost. Plant in early September for blooms through Thanksgiving.

Pinch the central stem at 4 in for a bushy plant with 5x the flower spikes.

Overwinter in a cool garage at 50F, regrow from cuttings next spring.

Tuberous types want morning sun and afternoon shade.

Wilts dramatically when dry but bounces back fully within an hour of watering.

Cut flower stems just as the bottom florets open, full color holds when dried.

Leave seed heads through winter, goldfinches feed on them in November.

Self-seeds freely, fills a meadow in 3 years from one plant.

Cut back by half after first flush, second bloom comes in 4 weeks.

All parts are toxic. Plant where pets and kids won't sample it.

Won't transplant. Direct-sow where they should grow.

Provide a moss pole, leaves get the iconic splits only with vertical support.

Nearly indestructible. Roots in plain water in 7 days.

Overwatering is the only way to kill a snake plant. When in doubt, wait.

Thrives on neglect, dies on attention. Water sparingly.

Wipe leaves with a damp cloth monthly, dusty leaves photosynthesize 30 percent less.

Hates being moved. Pick a spot and leave it for years.

Brown leaf tips mean tap water minerals. Switch to filtered or rainwater.

After blooming, cut spike to the second node, often produces a second bloom.

Never get leaves wet, water spots permanently mark the fuzzy foliage.

Pot up the babies, one plant gives you a dozen gifts a year.