Ethan Brooks, Author at Complete Gardening

Gardening Tips

If Your Bean Plants Flower Heavily but the Pods Stay Flat and Empty in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

You walk out to your garden expecting a bumper crop and instead find a wall of pretty white…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 15

Gardening Tips

If Your Okra Plants Grow Tall but the Pods Turn Woody and Tough in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

Okra is one of the South’s most reliable summer crops, but August has a way of turning a…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 15

Gardening Tips

If Your Eggplants Bloom All Summer but the Flowers Keep Dropping in Late Heat, Here Is Why

Watching your eggplant push out flower after flower all summer, only to see them fall off before a…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 14

Gardening Tips

If Your Pepper Plants Stop Setting Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, One Overnight Problem Is Usually Behind It

Your pepper plants look healthy, the flowers keep coming, and yet nothing is turning into actual peppers. That…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 14

Gardening Tips

If Your Squash Plants Suddenly Wilt and Collapse in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

Walking out to your garden and finding a squash plant that looked fine yesterday now drooping flat on…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 14

Gardening Tips

If Your Tomato Plants Wilt Every Afternoon in Late-Summer Heat but Perk Up by Morning, Here Is Why

Watching your tomato plants droop in the afternoon heat can send any gardener into a panic, but that…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 14

Gardening Tips

If Your Zucchini Plants Turn Out All Flowers and No Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

Staring at a zucchini plant loaded with bright yellow flowers and still no squash on the vine is…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 14

Gardening Tips

If Your Cucumber Leaves Turn Yellow From the Bottom Up in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

Yellow leaves creeping up from the bottom of your cucumber plant are easy to misread, especially when the…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 14

Gardening Tips

If Your Pepper Plants Suddenly Drop Their Leaves in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

Watching your pepper plants shed leaves during a scorching August heatwave is alarming, and your first instinct might…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 14

Gardening Tips

If Your Tomato Plants Grow Tall and Leafy but Set Almost No Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

Your tomato plants look fantastic from a distance, green and full and climbing toward the sun, yet the…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 14

Gardening Tips

If Your Cucumber Plants Stop Producing New Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, One Pollination Problem Is Usually Behind It

Your cucumber vines are loaded with flowers, but the fruit just isn’t showing up. Before you pull the…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 14

Gardening Tips

If Your Hydrangeas Grow Big Leaves but No Flowers Right Now, One Pruning Mistake Is Usually Behind It

Staring at a hydrangea covered in lush green leaves but not a single bloom can be genuinely frustrating,…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 14

Gardening Tips

If Your Cucumber Vines Suddenly Wilt Overnight in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

Walking out to your garden and finding a cucumber vine that was thriving just yesterday lying flat and…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 14

Gardening Tips

If Your Cucumber Leaves Curl Upward and Feel Leathery in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

Walking out to your cucumber patch on a scorching August morning to find the leaves cupped upward and…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 14

Gardening Tips

If Your Zucchini Fruit Rots at the Blossom End in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

Few things are more discouraging than watching a zucchini you have been tending for weeks turn brown and…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 14

Gardening Tips

If Your Pepper Flowers Drop Off Before Setting Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

Watching a pepper plant covered in blooms but never producing a single fruit is one of the most…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 14

Gardening Tips

If Your Tomato Skins Crack in Rings Around the Top During Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

Pulling back a tomato plant’s leaves to find a ring of cracks circling the stem end is one…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 13

Gardening Tips

If Your Tomato Fruit Splits Open After a Late-Summer Watering Swing, Here Is Why

Few things sting a gardener more than walking out after a summer storm to find ripe tomatoes split…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 13

Gardening Tips

Zucchini Leaves Turning Silvery or Mottled? Check for These Causes Before You Spray

Seeing silvery or mottled patches on your zucchini leaves can send a gardener straight to the pesticide shelf,…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 13

Gardening Tips

If Your Potted Tomatoes Stay Small and Dry Out by Afternoon, Cramped Pots and Late Watering Are Usually Behind It

Watching your container tomatoes wilt by noon and produce tiny, stalled fruit is one of the more frustrating…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 13

Gardening Tips

If Your Squash Leaves Show a White Powdery Coating in Late-Summer Heat, Powdery Mildew Is Usually Behind It

Spotting a white, flour-like coating spreading across your squash leaves can be alarming, especially when the plants were…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 13

Gardening Tips

Potted Pepper Plants Staying Small? Cramped Roots May Be One Reason – But Check These Signs First

Peppers growing in containers can be surprisingly sensitive to the space their roots have to work with, and…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 13

Gardening Tips

If Your Cucumber Fruit Grows Fat at One End and Pinches at the Other in Late-Summer Heat, Uneven Pollination Is Usually Behind It

Pull a cucumber off the vine and find one end swollen and the other end narrow and pinched,…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 13

Gardening Tips

If Your Pepper Leaves Turn Yellow and Drop From the Bottom Up in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

Watching your pepper plant shed its lower leaves one by one in the August heat is genuinely unsettling,…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 13

Gardening Tips

If Your Tomato Leaves Show Yellow Blotches and Brown Patches in Late-Summer Heat, Early Blight Is Usually Behind It

Spotting yellow blotches and brown patches on your tomato leaves in the middle of summer is enough to…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 13

Gardening Tips

If Your Cucumber Plants Suddenly Wilt and Collapse in Late-Summer Heat, Squash Vine Borers Are One Possibility Worth Confirming

Few things are more disheartening than walking out to your garden and finding a cucumber vine that was…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 13

Gardening Tips

A Cucumber Vine That Wilts and Keeps Declining May Have Bacterial Wilt – Especially When Cucumber Beetles Are Present

Few things are more discouraging than walking out to a thriving cucumber patch and finding a vine flat…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 13

Gardening Tips

If Your Pepper Flowers Keep Dropping Off Before They Set Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

Few things are more frustrating in the summer garden than a pepper plant loaded with blooms that never…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 13

Gardening Tips

If Your Cucumber Leaves Develop Yellow Halos and Angular Brown Spots in Late-Summer Heat, Bacterial Leaf Spot Is Usually Behind It

Spotting yellow halos and angular brown patches on your cucumber leaves can feel alarming, especially when your plants…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 13

Gardening Tips

If Your Zucchini Stops Setting Fruit and the Tiny Ones Shrivel in Late-Summer Heat, Poor Pollination Is Usually Behind It

Walking out to your zucchini patch and finding a row of shriveled, brown baby squash is one of…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 13

Gardening Tips

If Your Cucumber Leaves Turn Bronze and Stippled in Late-Summer Heat, Spider Mites Are Usually Behind It

Walking out to your cucumber patch one August morning to find the leaves looking dull, dusty, and covered…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 13

Gardening Tips

If Your Tomato Fruit Shows Sunken Black Patches on the Bottom in Late-Summer Heat, Blossom End Rot Is Usually Behind It

Pulling back a tomato leaf to find a dark, sunken patch on the bottom of your fruit is…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 12

Gardening Tips

Tiny Zucchini Rotting at the Tip? Here Is How to Tell What Is Really Going On

Watching a tiny zucchini turn brown and mushy at the tip before it ever reaches your kitchen is…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 12

Gardening Tips

If Your Tomato Leaves Roll Up Tight and Leathery in Late-Summer Heat, Physiological Leaf Roll Is Usually Behind It

Walking out to your tomato plants on a blazing August morning and finding tightly curled, leathery leaves can…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 12

Gardening Tips

If Your Tomato Plants Grow Tall and Leafy but Set No Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, Excess Nitrogen May Be Contributing – But Heat Is Often the Bigger Problem

You walk out to your garden expecting to find tomatoes ripening on the vine, but instead you see…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 12

Gardening Tips

If Your Bell Peppers Turn Soft with Sunken Tan Patches in Late-Summer Heat, Sunscald Is Usually Behind It

Walking out to your pepper bed and spotting pale, papery patches on your fruit can send a gardener…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 12

Gardening Tips

If Your Potted Pepper Plants Stay Small and Weak in Late-Summer Heat, One Container Feeding Mistake Is Usually Behind It

Watching your container peppers sit there small and struggling while the summer heat cranks up is genuinely frustrating,…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 12

Gardening Tips

If Your Cucumber Fruit Grows Fat at One End and Pinches at the Other in Late-Summer Heat, Uneven Pollination Is Usually Behind It

Pull a cucumber off the vine and find one end swollen like a club while the other tapers…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 12

Gardening Tips

Yellow Mottling and Curling on Cucumber Leaves Could Be CMV – But Heat Stress and Other Look-Alikes Deserve a Closer Look First

Spotting yellow mottling and curled leaves on your cucumber plants in late summer can stop a gardener cold.…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 12

Gardening Tips

If Your Eggplant Flowers Fall Off Without Setting Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, Poor Pollination Is Usually Behind It

Watching your eggplant bloom beautifully and then drop every flower without producing a single fruit is genuinely frustrating,…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 12

Gardening Tips

If Your Pepper Plants Drop Their Flowers in Late-Summer Heat, Night Temperatures Are Usually Behind It

You walk out to check your pepper plants on a sweltering August morning, and the ground beneath them…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 12

Gardening Tips

If Your Zucchini Leaves Develop Silvery White Patches in Late-Summer Heat, Powdery Mildew Is Usually Behind It

Spotting white or silvery patches on your zucchini leaves can send a gardener into a panic, especially when…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 12

Gardening Tips

If Your Cucumber Vines Stop Producing in Late-Summer Heat, One Feeding Mistake Is Usually Behind It

Walking out to a garden full of sprawling, dark-green cucumber vines and finding almost no new cucumbers can…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 12

Gardening Tips

Squash Wilts in the Afternoon but Recovers by Morning: How to Read the Clues and Find the Real Cause

Watching your squash or zucchini droop on a hot afternoon can make any gardener nervous, especially when the…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 12

Gardening Tips

If Your Cucumber Leaves Turn Yellow and Crispy in Late-Summer Heat, Underwatering Is Usually Behind It

Watching your cucumber leaves go yellow, brown-edged, or crispy during a late-summer heat stretch is genuinely stressful, especially…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 12

Gardening Tips

If Your Tomato Fruit Develops Sunken Black Patches on the Bottom in Late-Summer Heat, Blossom-End Rot Is Usually Behind It

Spotting a dark, sunken patch on the bottom of your tomato can stop a gardener cold, especially after…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 12

Gardening Tips

If Your Tomatoes Split and Crack Open in Late-Summer Heat, Uneven Watering After Rain Is Usually Behind It

Walking out to your garden and finding a ripe tomato split wide open is one of the more…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 11

Gardening Tips

If Your Tomato Leaves Roll Inward and Feel Leathery in Late-Summer Heat, Physiological Leaf Roll Is Usually Behind It

Walking out to your tomato plants on a blazing August afternoon to find the lower leaves curled into…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 11

Gardening Tips

If Your Tomato Leaves Turn Yellow From the Bottom Up in Late-Summer Heat, a Nitrogen Problem Is Usually Behind It

Walking out to your tomato plants and spotting a cluster of yellowing lower leaves can send a gardener…

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 11

Ethan Brooks

If Your Cucumber Vines Wilt at Midday Even With Wet Soil in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Bean Plants Flower Heavily but the Pods Stay Flat and Empty in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Okra Plants Grow Tall but the Pods Turn Woody and Tough in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Eggplants Bloom All Summer but the Flowers Keep Dropping in Late Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Pepper Plants Stop Setting Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, One Overnight Problem Is Usually Behind It

If Your Squash Plants Suddenly Wilt and Collapse in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Tomato Plants Wilt Every Afternoon in Late-Summer Heat but Perk Up by Morning, Here Is Why

If Your Zucchini Plants Turn Out All Flowers and No Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Cucumber Leaves Turn Yellow From the Bottom Up in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Pepper Plants Suddenly Drop Their Leaves in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Tomato Plants Grow Tall and Leafy but Set Almost No Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Cucumber Plants Stop Producing New Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, One Pollination Problem Is Usually Behind It

If Your Hydrangeas Grow Big Leaves but No Flowers Right Now, One Pruning Mistake Is Usually Behind It

If Your Cucumber Vines Suddenly Wilt Overnight in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Cucumber Leaves Curl Upward and Feel Leathery in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Zucchini Fruit Rots at the Blossom End in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Pepper Flowers Drop Off Before Setting Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Tomato Skins Crack in Rings Around the Top During Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Tomato Fruit Splits Open After a Late-Summer Watering Swing, Here Is Why

Zucchini Leaves Turning Silvery or Mottled? Check for These Causes Before You Spray

If Your Potted Tomatoes Stay Small and Dry Out by Afternoon, Cramped Pots and Late Watering Are Usually Behind It

If Your Squash Leaves Show a White Powdery Coating in Late-Summer Heat, Powdery Mildew Is Usually Behind It

Potted Pepper Plants Staying Small? Cramped Roots May Be One Reason – But Check These Signs First

If Your Cucumber Fruit Grows Fat at One End and Pinches at the Other in Late-Summer Heat, Uneven Pollination Is Usually Behind It

If Your Pepper Leaves Turn Yellow and Drop From the Bottom Up in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Tomato Leaves Show Yellow Blotches and Brown Patches in Late-Summer Heat, Early Blight Is Usually Behind It

If Your Cucumber Plants Suddenly Wilt and Collapse in Late-Summer Heat, Squash Vine Borers Are One Possibility Worth Confirming

A Cucumber Vine That Wilts and Keeps Declining May Have Bacterial Wilt – Especially When Cucumber Beetles Are Present

If Your Pepper Flowers Keep Dropping Off Before They Set Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Cucumber Leaves Develop Yellow Halos and Angular Brown Spots in Late-Summer Heat, Bacterial Leaf Spot Is Usually Behind It

If Your Zucchini Stops Setting Fruit and the Tiny Ones Shrivel in Late-Summer Heat, Poor Pollination Is Usually Behind It

If Your Cucumber Leaves Turn Bronze and Stippled in Late-Summer Heat, Spider Mites Are Usually Behind It

If Your Tomato Fruit Shows Sunken Black Patches on the Bottom in Late-Summer Heat, Blossom End Rot Is Usually Behind It

Tiny Zucchini Rotting at the Tip? Here Is How to Tell What Is Really Going On

If Your Tomato Leaves Roll Up Tight and Leathery in Late-Summer Heat, Physiological Leaf Roll Is Usually Behind It

If Your Tomato Plants Grow Tall and Leafy but Set No Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, Excess Nitrogen May Be Contributing – But Heat Is Often the Bigger Problem

If Your Bell Peppers Turn Soft with Sunken Tan Patches in Late-Summer Heat, Sunscald Is Usually Behind It

If Your Potted Pepper Plants Stay Small and Weak in Late-Summer Heat, One Container Feeding Mistake Is Usually Behind It

If Your Cucumber Fruit Grows Fat at One End and Pinches at the Other in Late-Summer Heat, Uneven Pollination Is Usually Behind It

Yellow Mottling and Curling on Cucumber Leaves Could Be CMV – But Heat Stress and Other Look-Alikes Deserve a Closer Look First

If Your Eggplant Flowers Fall Off Without Setting Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, Poor Pollination Is Usually Behind It

If Your Pepper Plants Drop Their Flowers in Late-Summer Heat, Night Temperatures Are Usually Behind It

If Your Zucchini Leaves Develop Silvery White Patches in Late-Summer Heat, Powdery Mildew Is Usually Behind It

If Your Cucumber Vines Stop Producing in Late-Summer Heat, One Feeding Mistake Is Usually Behind It

Squash Wilts in the Afternoon but Recovers by Morning: How to Read the Clues and Find the Real Cause

If Your Cucumber Leaves Turn Yellow and Crispy in Late-Summer Heat, Underwatering Is Usually Behind It

If Your Tomato Fruit Develops Sunken Black Patches on the Bottom in Late-Summer Heat, Blossom-End Rot Is Usually Behind It

If Your Tomatoes Split and Crack Open in Late-Summer Heat, Uneven Watering After Rain Is Usually Behind It

If Your Tomato Leaves Roll Inward and Feel Leathery in Late-Summer Heat, Physiological Leaf Roll Is Usually Behind It

If Your Tomato Leaves Turn Yellow From the Bottom Up in Late-Summer Heat, a Nitrogen Problem Is Usually Behind It