It’s easy to grow fresh, nutritious and tasty vegetables in your own yard, community garden plot, or even in containers on a deck or patio. The University of Wisconsin – Madison Division of Extension offers home vegetable gardeners a tremendous number of resources to learn how to grow vegetables, as well as how to prevent and control diseases and insects. Browsing our publications and fact sheets will help you be successful in achieving a bountiful harvest.
Making your own compost is an easy, practical, and satisfying way to make use of yard waste and table scraps. With this publication, designed for the home gardener, you’ll be composting like a pro in no time!
Crop rotation in the home vegetable garden involves changing the planting location of vegetables within the garden each season. Crop rotation is used to reduce damage from insect pests, to limit the development of vegetable diseases, and to manage soil fertility. Learn the basics in this factsheet.
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Squash bugs are an emerging problem in Wisconsin. In recent years, these insects have become more prevalent, causing damage to vine crops in home gardens and commercial fields alike. Squash bugs feed on all vine crops, but pumpkins and squash are their preferred hosts. This factsheet covers identification, life cycle, management and more.
Sherry Combs, formerly of the UW-Madison Soil and Plant Analysis Lab Revised: 10/27/2007 Item number: XHT1151 Is your soil pH too high? Probably not, although the popular press urges most gardeners to question whether their garden soil pH is ‘right’. Only a soil test for pH can indicate whether the pH is ‘right’, and ‘right […]
Karen Delahaut, UW-Madison Fresh Market Vegetable Program Revised: 5/17/2012 Item number: XHT1085 The word phenology is derived from the Greek word phaino meaning “to show” or “to appear”. Phenology is a branch of science that studies the relationships between periodic biological events—usually the life cycles of plants and animals—and environmental changes. Natural events such as […]
Karen Delahaut, UW-Madison Fresh Market Vegetable Program Revised: 8/6/2012 Item number: XHT1086 Indicator plants are not always suitable for the timing of pest management practices. You may not have the critical indicator plant nearby to time local activities, or there may not be a good indicator plant for a particular pest’s crucial life stage. Another […]
Karen Delahaut, UW-Madison Fresh Market Vegetable Program Revised: 8/6/2012 Item number: XHT1087 Common Vegetable Insects that can be monitored using degree days or indicator plants Cabbage Maggot Base temperature = 43°F 300, 1476, 2652 DD43 for 1st, 2nd, & 3rd generations flies 1st generation eggs are laid when the common lilac is in full bloom […]
Growing plants in containers (referred to as container gardening) is an easy way to grow and maintain vegetables. Find suggested varieties suitable for container gardening here.
Diseases of vegetable plants can pose a challenge for the home gardener. While cultural methods are the preferred options for disease management in home vegetable gardens, if diseases become problematic, fungicide treatments are also an option. This guide will help identify some of the common, and most suitable, fungicides.
From apples to zucchini – no matter what types of plants you grow – it’s likely something spider mites will attack. The most common spider mite, the twospotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae), is a general feeder that attacks a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and ornamentals. Learn about this the biology of this tiny pest, the type of damage it causes and how to manage it in this article…
Aphids may be viewed as just another pest for gardeners to try to eliminate, but they’re really fascinating insects, with bizarre lifestyles and eating habits and they’re also dinner for lots of other insects. Forming colonies covering the leaves and stems of plants, these small sap-sucking creatures reproduce incredibly fast and a few also transmit plant diseases. Learn more about this large group of insects and how to manage them in the garden in this article…
Rhubarb is the first “fruit” of the season – used as a fruit, but grows like a vegetable. With huge leaves on long red to green petioles it can also make a dramatic statement in the garden. This old fashioned perennial is very easy to grow, coming back bigger year after year with little care. To learn more about rhubarb, read this article…
Aphids are soft-bodied, sucking insects that are sometimes called plant lice. They feed on plant sap and subsequently excrete a sugary substance (called honeydew) that can attract ants as well as support the growth of a saprophytic fungus called sooty mold. Learn about common aphids found in home gardens in this factsheet.
If you want to add some lemon zest to your garden, but can’t grow a lemon tree, consider trying some lemon-scented herbs or other plants. Many different plants contain the same chemical compounds that give lemons their distinctive fragrance. This article covers a collection of plants that have scents suggesting lemons.
