Why Fall Pea Seedlings Yellow and Stall: Is Wet Soil One Possible Cause?
Your pea seedlings went in with such promise, and now the leaves are turning yellow and the vines are not climbing. Wet, cool garden beds…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 10, 2026
Written by
Ethan Brooks
1,744 Articles
Gardening Tips
Orange Pustules Point to Garlic Rust, but Purple Leaf Blotches Need a Closer Look
You walk out to the garlic bed and spot strange marks on the leaves. Is it rust, or…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 10
Gardening Tips
Deer start chewing your fall vegetable beds harder in November, and a simple fishing-line fence keeps them out
Walk out to your fall bed one morning and find the kale chewed down to stubs, and you…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 10
Gardening Tips
Yellow Blotches and Gray Fuzz on Fall Spinach May Be Downy Mildew, and Cool, Damp Conditions Can Favor It
Pale yellow blotches on your fall spinach can be alarming, especially when the bed looked fine last week.…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 10
Gardening Tips
Onion Transplants in Texas and Florida: Why Day Length Matters for Bulbs, Not Bolting
Plant an onion in the wrong spot on the calendar or the wrong day-length type, and you may…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 10
Gardening Tips
Snapdragons in Texas and Florida Beds: Should You Pinch Them for Fuller Growth?
Snapdragons love cool weather, which makes fall and winter a great time to add them to Southern beds.…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 10
Gardening Tips
Garlic leaves turning yellow at the tips in November usually mean the cloves are sitting in soggy soil
You planted garlic a few weeks ago, and now the leaf tips are turning yellow. It is easy…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 10
Gardening Tips
Does Garlic Need Chilling in Texas and Florida? What Rounds Really Mean
You plant a handful of garlic cloves, green shoots pop up, and then the harvest turns out to…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 10
Gardening Tips
8 vegetables you can still sow this November and be picking before spring arrives
November might feel like the end of the garden year, but in the South it is really a…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 10
Gardening Tips
These 8 plants quietly stunt your peppers when you grow them too close
Your pepper plants get plenty of sun, water, and fertilizer, yet they stay small and drop flowers. The…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 10
Gardening Tips
Limp Christmas cactus segments can have several causes, and checking soil moisture and roots helps you find the problem
A Christmas cactus with floppy, wrinkled segments can make any gardener nervous, especially when the holiday season is…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 10
Gardening Tips
These 9 flowers still go in the ground this November and bloom bigger next spring
November feels like the end of the gardening year in most places, but in the South it is…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 10
Gardening Tips
Your fig tree needs these few steps before the first frost hits, or winter kills it back to the ground
A fig tree can look lush and happy all summer, then turn into a pile of black, mushy…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 10
Gardening Tips
What to do with your Christmas cactus in November so it’s packed with buds by the holidays
It is November, and you are peering at your holiday cactus, hoping to spot little buds. Whether you…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 9
Gardening Tips
Long, dark nights may encourage your holiday cactus to set buds
A holiday cactus with no buds in early November can make any gardener nervous. The plant is waiting…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 9
Gardening Tips
Spinach seedlings that collapse at the soil line overnight are rotting from damping off, and drier mornings save the rest
You walk out to the fall spinach bed and find a few seedlings lying flat, like they gave…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 9
Gardening Tips
Dull Rubber Plant Leaves? Wipe Away the Dust for a Cleaner, Glossier Look
Rubber plants have big, leathery leaves that are supposed to look shiny. When that glow fades, many gardeners…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 9
Gardening Tips
Why Do Pothos Leaves Turn Yellow and Drop When the Heat Kicks On? Dry Air and Cold Glass Are Worth Checking
Your pothos looked fine all fall, then the heat came on and the leaves started turning yellow and…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 9
Gardening Tips
Purple, stunted fall cilantro in Texas and Florida beds: could phosphorus uptake trouble be one explanation, or is waterlogged soil to blame?
You planted cilantro for crisp fall flavor, and now the leaves are turning purple and the plants have…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 9
Gardening Tips
Snow peas flowering in your Texas or Florida garden drop their blooms after a warm November spell, and mulching the roots keeps pods coming
You check your snow peas and find blooms on the ground instead of pods on the vine. It…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 9
Gardening Tips
Yellowing Bottom Leaves on Fall Bok Choy? Check the Roots Before You Decide What’s Wrong
Yellow leaves at the bottom of your fall bok choy can make your stomach drop. The color alone…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 9
Gardening Tips
Water stress can contribute to stringy and pithy celery stalks, and steady moisture may help prevent water-stress problems in fall beds
You cut into a celery stalk you have babied for months, and it is tough, stringy, or dry…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 9
Gardening Tips
Why Christmas Cactus Buds and Flowers Drop: Checking Drafts and Other Possible Causes
Few things sting like watching a Christmas cactus loaded with buds start shedding them just before the show.…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 9
Gardening Tips
If your fall cucumbers keep growing vines but stop setting fruit, poor pollination may be one reason
Your cucumber vines are lush and green, yet the fruit has stopped coming. That can feel like a…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 9
Gardening Tips
Why fall pepper plants may hold green fruit longer as the weather cools
Your pepper plant is loaded with fruit, but the peppers just stay green as the days cool off.…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 9
Gardening Tips
8 Reasons Your Jade Plant Starts Dropping Leaves Once It Comes Indoors for Winter
Your jade plant looked plump and happy on the patio, and now green leaves are piling up on…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 9
Gardening Tips
These 12 surprising ways squirrels help your yard will make you rethink chasing them off this winter
Most gardeners see a squirrel and think of dug-up bulbs and raided bird feeders. But those busy little…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 9
Gardening Tips
These 9 yard clues tell you rats are moving in before they reach your house this winter
Rats rarely show up inside a house without leaving signs in the yard first. In the South, mild…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 9
Gardening Tips
Brown Tips on Your Spider Plant? Check Whether Dry Winter Air Is One Cause, and What Else to Rule Out
Crispy brown tips on a spider plant can show up fast once the heat kicks on. Many gardeners…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 9
Gardening Tips
Why a Cooper’s hawk circling your backyard feeders is a warning sign worth paying attention to
A sudden hush falls over the feeder, and every small bird vanishes into the shrubs. Then a long-tailed…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 8
Gardening Tips
Brown, Mushy Spots on Stored Winter Squash: Sort Out the Bad, Protect the Rest
You reach for a butternut or acorn squash from the pantry and find a soft, brown spot. It…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 8
Gardening Tips
Your fall lettuce bolts and turns bitter in Texas and Florida warm spells, and shade cloth buys you weeks
You planted lettuce for crisp, mild salads, and then a stretch of unexpectedly warm days rolls in. Leaves…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 8
Gardening Tips
Milk-Jug Cloches for Fall Lettuce: Temporary Protection on Cool Southern Nights
A chilly forecast can make you worry about the little lettuce plants you set out this fall. A…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 8
Gardening Tips
Pick Green Tomatoes Before Frost: Which Ones Can Ripen Indoors
A cold snap is on the way, and your tomato vines are still loaded with green fruit. You…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 8
Gardening Tips
Pale Mines on Fall Swiss Chard and Beet Greens Show Past or Current Feeding, So Inspect Each Mine Before You Act
Pale, squiggly tunnels on your chard or beet leaves can make a gardener’s stomach drop. Those marks are…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 8
Gardening Tips
Leggy kale stems flopping over in your fall bed may steady with a little soil, but fertilizer should wait for a soil test
A kale plant leaning sideways in your fall bed can make you worry about the whole winter crop.…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 8
Gardening Tips
Why Fall Lettuce Turns Translucent and Slimy After a Freeze, and When to Harvest
You walk out after a frosty night and find your lettuce looking glassy, floppy, or soggy. It is…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 8
Gardening Tips
Your fall carrots taste bland and woody when you dig them before the first frost sweetens the roots
Few garden snacks beat a crisp, sweet carrot pulled straight from the bed. Plenty of gardeners hear that…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 8
Gardening Tips
Cilantro sown in Texas and Florida gardens may stay leafy longer in cool weather, but planting dates vary by region
Cilantro has a reputation for flowering and turning bitter just when you finally have a good patch going.…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 8
Gardening Tips
Aphids clustering under your fall kale and collard leaves multiply fast in mild weather, and a hard spray of water knocks them back
Flip over a kale or collard leaf this fall and you might find a crowd of tiny soft-bodied…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 8
Gardening Tips
Young Lemon and Lime Trees in Texas and Florida: When a Trunk Wrap May Help in a Freeze
A cold snap can turn a healthy citrus tree into a worry overnight. Gardeners in Texas and Florida…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 8
Gardening Tips
Why Your Potted Meyer Lemon May Drop Tiny Green Fruit Indoors: Watering Swings and Other Stresses
You spot a few tiny green lemons on the floor under your Meyer lemon, and your stomach drops.…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 8
Gardening Tips
Your geraniums look finished after the first cold nights, but overwintering them this way brings back bigger blooms next spring
That tired pot of geraniums on your porch may be worth keeping, if you act at the right…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 8
Gardening Tips
Your fig tree survives the cold and fruits heavier next summer when you do this before the first freeze
A fig that took years to settle in can lose its top growth in a single hard freeze.…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 7
Gardening Tips
Why Mature Cabbage Heads Split After Heavy Rain and What Southern Gardeners Can Do
A firm cabbage head that looks perfect on Monday can be cracked open by Friday. It often happens…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 7
Gardening Tips
Mustard greens turn tough and peppery hot when you wait for a warm spell to pick them
Mustard greens can go from a crisp, tangy treat to a chewy, harsh-tasting pile of leaves if they…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 7
Gardening Tips
Frost Blankets on Fall Cabbage and Broccoli: When Sunny Afternoons Can Overheat Leaves
A cold snap is coming, so you tuck a cover over your cabbage and broccoli and feel good…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 7
Gardening Tips
Collard greens wilting by afternoon in a cold snap are fine, but waterlogged roots are what actually kill them
Your collards looked fine yesterday, and now the leaves are hanging limp after a chilly night. It is…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 7
Gardening Tips
Peace lily leaves turning brown all over usually trace back to one of these 7 simple fixes you can make today
Few things sink a plant lover’s heart like a peace lily covered in crispy brown leaves. The good…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 7
Gardening Tips
Before you toss the basil after a cold snap, root stems from healthy, undamaged growth for a chance at winter leaves
Basil is one of the first herbs to give up when the weather turns cold. But if some…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 7