This is where the magazine keeps its recurring reference material: sowing calendars written for temperate and subtropical climates, pruning notes for aromatic and traditionally used plants, substrate and drip irrigation advice for containers, and natural pest control with garlic, potassium soap, and neem oil. Infusion recipes with chamomile, mint, and lavender sit next to seasonal growing profiles, and the editorial team's agronomists and landscape designers answer reader questions about clay soils, drainage in pots, and light indoors. A Spanish-language version is available for Spanish-speaking readers. If you are not sure which guide fits your situation, start here and follow the thread that matches your climate and the space you actually have.
If a sowing calendar entry does not match your climate, or a pruning note leaves you unsure about your own plant, write to us. The same address handles questions about the guide center, the Spanish-language edition, and the weekly newsletter. Messages go to the people who prepare the growing profiles and the seasonal tasks, so it helps to mention your climate, whether you grow in open ground or containers, and which guide you were reading.
José Hernández
Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires
B8003APV, Argentina
Use this line for reader questions about growing guides and seasonal tasks.
Attach a photo of the plant or the soil if that makes the question clearer.
A few terms in this section are used loosely in everyday gardening talk, so it helps to be precise. What follows are the definitions and limits we apply when we write and label the reference material gathered here.
When a sowing calendar is marked for a temperate or subtropical climate, that describes the general pattern the dates were written around. It does not account for a cold snap, a coastal fog belt, or a balcony that traps heat against a wall. Treat the calendar as a starting rhythm and adjust it against what your own ground and containers are actually doing.
Garlic preparations, potassium soap, and neem oil are grouped here because they are household-scale and break down relatively quickly. That does not make them safe to apply at any dose, in any weather, or on any plant. Each guide states its own timing and contact requirements, and those conditions matter more than the ingredient list.
These pages focus on how aromatic and traditionally used plants are grown, harvested, and prepared at home. The material stays within gardening and is not intended to guide personal decisions outside cultivation.
The agronomists and landscape designers on the editorial team respond to reader questions about clay soils, container drainage, and indoor light as part of the magazine's regular material. Their answers are general guidance shaped for a broad readership, not a site visit, a soil test, or a direct assessment of your specific plot.
There are no accounts, no saved collections, and no search or filter tools behind these pages. These pages are reading material rather than a separate service workflow. The Spanish-language edition is available for Spanish-speaking readers as a translated companion to the English material, and the weekly newsletter delivers the month's sowing calendar with tasks matched to your climate. Everything else is reading.
Before you dig into the sowing calendars and pruning guides, here are the answers we repeat most often in the editorial inbox. They cover how the reference material is organized, how to pick the right guide for your climate, and where to go when something in your garden does not match the chart.
Begin with the seasonal growing profiles rather than the full calendar. They explain what each aromatic or traditionally used plant needs in terms of light, water, and container depth, so you can pick two or three that fit your balcony or patio before committing to a monthly schedule.
The calendars are split between temperate and subtropical climates, because the same task lands on a different month depending on your winter. If you garden on a balcony, treat reflected heat and wind as a local adjustment: a sowing date can shift by a few weeks even within the same climate zone.
Usually it is a combination of substrate and pot. Heavy, fine-textured mixes hold water longer, and a container without enough drainage holes makes it worse. The substrate and drip irrigation guides walk through mixing in coarse material, checking drainage before planting, and adjusting watering frequency instead of guessing.
They are not interchangeable, and combining them without a reason rarely helps. Garlic works as a short-lived repellent, potassium soap needs direct contact with soft-bodied insects, and neem oil interferes with feeding and reproduction. The natural pest control section explains when each one is the right tool and when it is the wrong one.
The editorial team works with agronomists and landscape designers, and their answers appear alongside the guides. Typical topics include clay soils, drainage in containers, and light levels indoors. If your situation is not covered yet, you can write to us through the contact page.
Yes. A Spanish-language edition is available for Spanish-speaking readers, with recommendations adapted to that climate. The English guides remain the reference for temperate and subtropical growing, and both versions follow the same editorial approach.
More reference material lives in the guide center itself. If you want to know how the magazine handles reader submissions and corrections, the editorial policy explains it in plain terms.