Two Minutes in the Garden: Gardening Tips, Science, Myths - Test

Are you using a balanced fertilizer in your garden? It may seem like a simple and effective way to provide nutrients to your plants, but it could also cause problems for your soil and for the environment.

NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: Indoor Seed Starting: Best DIY Setup on a Budget

Most countries use a confusing and outdated NPK labelling system for fertilizer packages. What do the numbers mean? Depending on where you live, it's probably not what you think. And why is a "balanced fertilizer" not so balanced after all?

NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: When to Take Down Hummingbird Feeders in Fall

Our plants can't live without them, but how do we know that they're getting them? Do we need to feed them to our plants? And what are these essential nutrients?

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Not everyone wants them in their garden, but others grow them deliberately. They aren't even plants. So what are mushrooms and are they okay around our plants?

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What kinds of soap should we be using -- or avoiding -- in the garden? What about liquid dish soap? And we're all familiar with soap, but what is it, exactly?

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Compost is great for your garden, but can you have too much of a good thing? What problems could there be if you use too much? Will it harm your plants ... or something else?

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What can you add to your compost pile? Is it any organic material, or are there some things you may want to avoid? What about dryer lint or hair?

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Calculating C:N ratios? Regular turning? For anyone who's been put off from composting because it sounds too involved -- it really isn't as hard as it's sometimes made out to be.

NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: Breaking the Eggshell Myth in Gardening

When it comes to building healthy soil, there may be no more important tool in the garden than compost. So what is compost, and how does it help our plants?

NEW FROM Empress of Dirt: How to Propagate Sweet Potatoes to Grow New Slips

We've heard that humus is good for our garden, but do we know what it actually is? And, for that matter, does ANYONE know what it actually is? And why has humus become a controversial topic?

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