Boardash: ArcaMax Gardening Daily Tips for Sunday October 11, 2009

Saturday, October 10, 2009

ArcaMax Gardening Daily Tips for Sunday October 11, 2009

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Gardening Daily Tips
For You
Sunday October 11, 2009

Weigela (Weigela florida)
Q&A: Storing Potatoes
Q&A: Shade for Lily-of-the-Valley
Tip: Lime Gardens
Halloween Costume Safety Tips
Reader Photos

Weigela (Weigela florida)

Today's Featured Plant
Weigela (Weigela florida)

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Q&A: Storing Potatoes

Question: How should I store my potatoes so they last into winter? Is there anything I need to do to prepare them--for example, should I wash them?

Answer: For maximum harvest and good keeping quality, potatoes need time to fully mature. Potatoes should be dug 2 to 3 weeks after the tops die down. This will give the skins time to toughen up and become thick enough to protect them during storage. Once dug, potatoes need time to cure before storage. Don't wash them, but gently brush the excess dirt off, then allow them to cure for about 2 weeks at temperatures of about 45F, with good air circulation. Then you can store them all winter in a cool, dark location, with plenty of air circulation.

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Q&A: Shade for Lily-of-the-Valley

Question: I recently had to remove a tree, and now have a bed of lily-of-the-valley. Can you suggest some perennials to add to the bed to provide the shade necessary for the lily-of-the-valley to thrive?

Answer: For a hot sunny location, you might try the daylilies or hemerocallis. These plants will die back in the winter and allow the lily-of-the-valley to show at blooming time, then the straplike foliage of the daylilies will grow up to shade the ground cover. Different varieties of daylily are available in a wide range of colors to bloom early, mid and late summer and some of them rebloom as well.

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Tip: Lime Gardens

In areas with acidic soil, add lime. Based on a soil test, add lime to bring your pH to between 6 and 7. A general range is to add 40 pounds per 1000 square feet as a maintenance dose.

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Halloween Costume Safety Tips

When you're helping your kids pick out their Halloween costumes this year, take safety into consideration, too. Use this guide to safe colors for Halloween costumes to make sure they stay visible when they're out trick-or-treating in the evenings.

These tips and more, including pumpkin carving, how to make your own costume, and more, check out the ArcaMax Halloween guide.

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-- From the ArcaMax editors

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Sincerely,
ArcaMax Editors