Harvesting Green Tomatoes Before Frost Gives Mature Fruit a Chance to Ripen Indoors
A cold night can end your tomato season in a hurry, and plenty of green fruit may still be hanging on the vines. Some of…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 31, 2026
Written by
Ethan Brooks
1,744 Articles
Gardening Tips
Fall-planted spinach and lettuce seedlings vanish overnight when slugs move in after cool rains, so set these traps now
You plant a neat row of spinach and lettuce, a cool rain rolls through, and the next morning…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 31
Gardening Tips
If your beets have leafy tops and tiny roots this fall, late thinning may help if they’re crowded
Few things feel more puzzling than a fall bed of beets with big, glossy leaves and roots the…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 31
Gardening Tips
A coyote in your backyard this fall means doing these 9 things before you ever turn and run
You step outside with your morning coffee and spot a lean, gray-brown animal staring back at you from…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 31
Gardening Tips
If your fig tree still has hard green fruit on it now, pinch the tips and next year’s crop comes in earlier
Few things test a gardener’s patience like a fig tree loaded with hard green fruit while the season…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 31
Gardening Tips
Why your fall-planted onion sets bolt and send up flower stalks before they ever bulb
You planted onion sets in fall, and now a few plants are pushing up a tall, round-topped flower…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 31
Gardening Tips
Your potted aloe turns mushy and brown at the base indoors this winter because the pot never drains
A soft, brown base on your indoor aloe is worrying, especially when the plant was fine on the…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 31
Gardening Tips
Fall peas flowering without pods? Check for frost, heat, water stress, and a row cover
You check the pea row and see plenty of pretty flowers, but the pods just are not showing…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 31
Gardening Tips
Is your potted lavender sitting in soggy mix this winter? Check the pot’s drainage first
Lavender can look healthy in the fall and still struggle later when the weather turns cool and wet.…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 31
Gardening Tips
These 12 Common Houseplants Hide Toxic Sap That Sickens Curious Cats, Dogs and Toddlers
That pretty plant on your windowsill might be hiding a nasty surprise inside its leaves and stems. Many…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 31
Gardening Tips
Potted peppers you bring indoors before frost may survive winter, and some might even fruit
That pepper plant on your patio has worked hard all summer, and one cold snap can end it…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 31
Gardening Tips
Why Orchid Buds Drop Before Opening: Is Watering to Blame?
You wait weeks for those little buds to swell, and then they shrivel and fall off before a…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 30
Gardening Tips
Could a Heater Vent Be Behind Your Christmas Cactus Dropping Its Buds?
Few things sting like watching Christmas cactus buds fall just before the holidays. If your plant sits near…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 30
Gardening Tips
Your amaryllis bulb sits leafy and bloomless every December because it never got its fall rest, and here’s how to give it one now
A pot full of strong green leaves and no flower stalk can feel like a plant that is…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 30
Gardening Tips
Your fall lettuce bolts and turns bitter after a warm November spell, and shade cloth saves the rest of the bed
You walk out to the garden and your lettuce looks like it grew a tiny tree overnight. The…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 30
Gardening Tips
Potted Rosemary Gray and Brittle After a Cold Night? Check for Cold Injury
You step onto the porch after the first chilly night and your rosemary looks dull and feels crisp.…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 30
Gardening Tips
Overwintered lettuce in a cold frame wilts on sunny afternoons because you forgot to crack the lid
You walk out on a bright winter afternoon and find your lettuce flopped over like it gave up.…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 30
Gardening Tips
Why Christmas Cactus Buds Drop: Check Moisture and Changing Conditions
You spot tiny pink buds on your Christmas cactus, and then a few days later they are lying…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 30
Gardening Tips
Selective harvesting and covering the planting can extend Swiss chard harvests in suitable winter conditions
Swiss chard often looks finished once the first cool nights arrive, but many plants still have leaves to…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 30
Gardening Tips
A quarter-turn may reduce splitting risk for a mature cabbage head that is still intact, but a cracked head needs harvesting
A heavy fall rain can leave cabbage heads cracked wide open, and it often happens just as they…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 30
Gardening Tips
Your potted citrus tree drops half its leaves right after you bring it indoors, and a sunnier spot with less water stops it
You carry your container lemon or lime inside before a cold snap, and a few days later leaves…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 30
Gardening Tips
Got a lawn full of fallen leaves? Mowing them into the grass feeds it better than raking
Those fallen leaves blanketing your yard do not have to end up at the curb. With a mower…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 30
Gardening Tips
Brown, Crispy Hydrangea Leaves This Fall: What They Mean and When Watering Helps
Walk out to your yard in fall and your hydrangea may look like it gave up overnight. Crispy…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 30
Gardening Tips
Your fall tomato seedlings for next spring? No: your leftover potting mix grows fungus gnats indoors unless you bake it first
Tiny black flies hovering over a tray of tomato seedlings can ruin a gardener’s mood fast. Old potting…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 30
Gardening Tips
Harvest Fall Collards from the Bottom Up to Keep the Leaves Coming
A healthy collard plant can feed you for weeks, but only if you pick it the right way.…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 30
Gardening Tips
Leggy, Yellowing Potted Geraniums Indoors: When Pruning May Help Them Branch and When Light or Watering Matters More
You hauled your potted geraniums inside before the first cold snap, and now the stems are stretched and…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 29
Gardening Tips
Hosta leaves left to rot over winter hide the slugs that shred them next spring, so clear them now
Ragged, lacy holes in hosta leaves can make a lush shade bed look chewed up by midspring. Slugs…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 29
Gardening Tips
Brussels sprouts that stayed loose and leafy all fall tighten up fast once you top the stalks
Few things are more frustrating than a Brussels sprout stalk covered in fluffy, open sprouts instead of tight…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 29
Gardening Tips
Mulch Piled Against Fruit Tree Trunks Can Give Voles Cover and Put Bark at Risk
Tidying up around a fruit tree usually means adding mulch, and it is easy to leave that mulch…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 29
Gardening Tips
Geranium cuttings may root on a bright windowsill and give you plants for spring, with timing based on your climate
Those bedding geraniums that looked so good all summer do not have to end up in the compost…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 29
Gardening Tips
Brown Spider Plant Tips? Watering Is One Thing to Check
Those crispy brown tips on your spider plant can make a healthy green plant look tired fast. The…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 29
Gardening Tips
Removing suspect tomato debris this fall can reduce one source of early blight next season
Those brown, spotted leaves piling up under your tomato plants may look harmless once the season winds down.…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 29
Gardening Tips
Your fall cauliflower heads turn yellow and fuzzy when the sun hits them, so tie the leaves up now
A white cauliflower head that turns yellow or looks fuzzy can make any gardener worry. The cause is…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 29
Gardening Tips
Fall radishes all leaves and no bulbs? Excess nitrogen is one possible cause
You sowed radish seeds in fall, watched a thick carpet of green leaves rise, and then pulled up…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 29
Gardening Tips
Why your fall kale leaves are covered in tiny holes and green caterpillars, and how to stop them
Your kale looked perfect last week, and now the leaves look like lace. Green caterpillars are hiding on…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 29
Gardening Tips
How to Save Tomato Seeds From Your Best Plant: What Fermenting Does and Doesn’t Do
You found one tomato plant this summer that beat all the others, and now you want that same…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 29
Gardening Tips
Snakes slip into your yard this fall under leaf piles and woodpiles, so clear these hiding spots first
Cooler fall nights send snakes looking for cozy, sheltered spots, and your yard may offer plenty of them.…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 29
Gardening Tips
Hummingbird feeders left up into November help late migrants refuel, so keep yours clean and full a few weeks longer
A tiny hummingbird zipping past your window in late fall can leave you wondering if the feeder should…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 29
Gardening Tips
Carrots left in the ground after frost turn sweeter, and a thick straw blanket lets you dig them all winter
Pulling every carrot before the first cold snap feels like the safe move, but it may not be…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 29
Gardening Tips
Got a Lemongrass Clump Going Strong in the Garden? Pot Up a Division Before Frost to Overwinter It on a Sunny Windowsill
That big lemongrass clump in your yard can be a lot harder to replace than it looks, and…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 29
Gardening Tips
A two-tier fence may deter deer from your fall vegetable beds when natural forage runs short
Walk out to your garden one morning and find your kale and chard chewed down to stubs, and…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 28
Gardening Tips
Leaving your dahlia tubers in cold, wet ground turns them to mush, so dig them up after the first frost blackens the leaves
Those bold dahlia blooms start underground, in fat tubers that hold next summer’s flowers. When winter turns freezing…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 28
Gardening Tips
Spearmint Oil Reduced Stink Bug Trap Attraction, But Sealing Gaps Protects Your Doors Better
Every fall, stink bugs start crowding onto porches and creeping toward warm indoor spaces. A popular claim says…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 28
Gardening Tips
Rabbits chewing the bark off your young fruit trees this winter can seriously threaten them, so install a roomy trunk guard early
A young apple or pear tree can look perfectly fine in November and have a ring of missing…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 28
Gardening Tips
When to Mulch Fall-Planted Garlic in the South: What Extension Guidance Really Says
You tucked your garlic cloves into the ground this fall, and now you are wondering if a blanket…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 28
Gardening Tips
Are Green Onion Leaves in Fall a Good Sign? What Southern Gardeners Should Know
Green onion leaves poking up in a fall garden can make you wonder if something went wrong. In…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 28
Gardening Tips
Crispy Brown Japanese Maple Leaves This Fall? Dry Soil Could Be One Culprit
Your Japanese maple was supposed to glow this fall, but the leaves are dry, brown, and crunchy instead.…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 28
Gardening Tips
Severe cold can damage strawberry crowns and threaten a later crop, so match winter protection to your region, forecast, and bed
Strawberry plants can look tired and flat in winter, and it is natural to worry about next spring’s…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 28
Gardening Tips
Your shady corner under the oak tree fills in with blooms when you plant these 7 ground covers this fall
That bare patch under your oak tree does not have to stay dusty, rooty, and empty. Grass struggles…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 28
Gardening Tips
Got overgrown tomato and pepper plants that are finished producing? Pull them now to cut down on carryover problems
That tall, tangled tomato or pepper plant in your bed may have given its last fruit weeks ago.…
By Ethan Brooks · Oct 28