Mums are one of the most popular fall flowers for their beautiful red, brown, yellow and pink blooms that perfectly encapsulate fall. But of course, sometimes no matter how hard you try, flowers have a mind of their own and may dry out or die before you can even enjoy them. Here are the four most common issues with mums and how to tackle them. Mum Leaves Are Turning Yellow If you are noticing your mums not looking as good as your next-door neighbors, you aren't alone. While mums are certainly tough and can withstand a lot of outdoor factors, they can wilt, shrivel up and not bloom just like any other flower or plant. But don't fret, we've got you covered so your mums can get the care they deserve and start looking as good as new. If you're noticing your mums leaves are discolored and turning from a bright green to an unsightly yellow color, it could be mildew on your mums. To help reverse this, as soon as you notice the discoloring of the mums, dust your mums with finely ground sulfur. Then, repeat this step once a week until buds turn a better color.1 Want more gardening tips? Sign up for our free gardening newsletter for our best-growing tips, troubleshooting hacks, and more! Flowers Are Turning Brown If you notice your mums drying out and turning from beautiful blooms to an unsightly brown or rust color, it's time to water, water, and water some more. Mums hate being dry and need a ton of moisture to keep looking fresh all day long. When grown in pots on your stoop, on hot days in early fall, it's common for mums to need water twice a day. When they are dehydrated, their leaves will start to droop, which you don't want at all. Fortunately, water will for the most part perk them up almost instantly.2 Mums Are Looking Untidy and Wilting Another common issue for mums is them looking disheveled and not as neat from when you first bought them. Mums can quickly go from looking perfect, to many blooms looking out of place, disorderly, and wilting. Luckily, this common issue is so easy to fix. Make sure to trim back any flowers that are looking depleted, and be sure to prune any dried up leaves or broken stems.3 Mums Aren't Blooming The last common problem is the worst of all: noticing your mums aren't blooming at all. This could actually be because of the kind of mum you purchased. There are thousands of varieties of mums and some are best for early season of fall versus the late season of fall. If your mums aren't blooming, you may have picked the variety of mums that require a longer period of darkness. Then, if the temperatures plummet, there's no way they will survive the cold. Another possibility is that the dark period your plants are being exposed to is being interrupted. This happens a lot when mums are planted or placed near street or front porch lights. These lights interrupt the darkness that your mums needs to thrive and can delay flower production.

Tomato plants are the most popular vegetable grown in the home garden, so all we want is for them to thrive and produce a bountiful harvest.1 Tomatoes Growing Guide. Cornell University. There are several ways to support tomatoes as they grow, but could coffee grounds be the secret ingredient to growing tomato plants successfully? The answer is no, but if composted properly, it won't hurt the plants. We share everything you need to know about using coffee grounds for tomato plants in the garden. Why Coffee Grounds Can Work for Tomatoes Coffee grounds contain nitrogen (about two percent) and trace amounts of phosphorus and potassium necessary for plant growth. But, scattering coffee grounds on the top of the soil or even working it in slightly is not effective. The caffeine residues in the used coffee grounds can actually suppress germination and slow the growth of some plants. The grounds don't release their beneficial components until organisms in the soil break them down—that can take months in a compost pile. The best way to use coffee grounds for tomato plants is to add them to your compost pile of leaves, grass clippings, and vegetable trimmings. Turn the compost pile often, and then use the organically rich mixture to enrich the garden or container soil before you add the tomato plants. Want more gardening tips? Sign up for our free gardening newsletter for our best-growing tips, troubleshooting hacks, and more! Should You Use Coffee Grounds to Fertilize Tomatoes? Coffee grounds should not be used as the sole fertilizer for tomato plants. The grounds do not contain the nutrient balance that tomatoes need to thrive, and adding too many grounds will affect the soil's pH. Tomato plants can tolerate slightly acid soils, as low as pH 5.5. But plants are the healthiest and most productive when the soil pH is 6.0 to 6.8. Suppose you use organically rich soil (that can contain some composted coffee grounds). In that case, you may not need to add a great deal of fertilizer when planting tomatoes or throughout the growing season. Benefits of Traditional Fertilizer vs. Coffee Grounds Coffee grounds contain just two percent nitrogen and mere traces of phosphorus and potassium, and it takes weeks or months for the grounds to break down enough to release these nutrients into the soil. Most tomato plants benefit from the application of a balanced NPK fertilizer a few times throughout the growing season. Avoid using a fertilizer that is high in nitrogen (N), as you will get excessive leaf formation and less fruit. Appropriate levels of potassium and phosphorus have positive effects on fruit sugar and acid content. Proper fertilization also produced tomatoes with more health-promoting carotenoids and red lycopene beneficial to human nutrition. Adequate plant nutrition is important in producing tasty tomatoes with better flavor and appearance.

Determining when to pick bell peppers depends on which variety you grew, but expect to wait 60-90 days to harvest. If you start the peppers from seed, they can take closer to 90-150 days to harvest. But we promise, it's worth the wait! These warm-season vegetables, from the time you plant until they are ready to pick, take longer than almost all other garden crops. Other influencing factors include temperature, water, soil composition, and pest control. Read on to learn when your bell peppers are ready to pick. 3 Signs Your Bell Peppers Are Ready to Harvest Peppers are 3-4 inches long. Most standard-size bell peppers mature at 3- to 4-inches long and wide with a blocky shape. Some giant varieties grow a bit larger, while others (like pimento peppers) may be tapered at the bottom. Fruits are weighty. All peppers should feel solid, slightly heavy, and firm to the touch with just a slight give when pressed with your thumb. Color blushes from top to bottom. Color should be uniform throughout with a glossy appearance. 5 Top Tips for Harvesting Bell Peppers Bell peppers come in a rainbow of colors other than green including red, orange, yellow, purple, white, and brown. As a general rule of thumb, differently colored peppers take longer to mature than green bell peppers. Follow these tips for the best pepper harvest: Pick green peppers anytime, but leave them on the vine another two to three weeks for a sweeter pepper with a richer color. Green peppers that have started to turn will continue to ripen and change color after picking if set out in a cool, dark location for several days. Ripening off the vine, though, can result in loss of sweetness and flavor. Don't try to pull peppers off the plant. Use a snipper or pruner to clip fruits and leave a good amount of stem attached. Harvest peppers right away when they show signs of insect damage or sun-scald. The undamaged portion is still edible. Remove any soft or mushy fruits and dispose of them. This directs energy into maturing viable fruits. How to Harvest Bell Peppers Peppers on each plant ripen at different times over several weeks. You may find one ripe pepper on your plant or several ready to harvest at once. Here's how to pick your peppers. When the recommended "days to harvest: approaches, check plants daily for mature fruit. Pick peppers on a dry day or in the morning after dew has dried. Working in wet plants can damage foliage or spread disease. Remove ripe peppers from the plant by supporting the pepper in your nondominant hand and using your dominant hand to clip the stem where it attaches to the branch. Use an appropriate cutting tool and never pull on the fruit or the branch. Pepper branches can break easily. Peppers without stems should be used right away. Store harvested peppers in the refrigerator crisper drawer for up to two weeks in mesh or plastic bags. Add a dry paper towel to plastic bags and leave bags open to prevent accumulation of moisture.