Jeff Lowenfels answers your only-in-Alaska yard and garden questions

Mail time!

Several readers have asked if there is any way to deal with all the rain. It seems to be water-logging containers. This is obviously not a good thing.

The simple answer is to make sure your containers are draining properly. This is pretty obvious, I know, but make sure they not only have drainage, but that the drainage isn't clogged and the pot is raised up enough off the ground surface so water can get out of the container if there is drainage.

Second, soil, be it in pots or in the ground, needs to have porosity. If yours doesn't drain well, add perlite, coir or even pea gravel to help things along. The rain we've been having shouldn't be causing problems, and if it is, you do need to take action — though it is pretty hard to add this stuff to existing plants with root systems. Try poking a chopstick or (dowel if you are dealing with an outdoor garden) into the soil to create openings, which can provide drainage and expose some of the deeper soil to air.

Finally, you might consider using woven pots — you know, those black foldable jobbies. These allow air to flow in and out and water to drain as well. It is one of the reasons these pots are so prevalent where cannabis is grown.

Speaking of cannabis, a couple of readers asked what is the word on male and female cannabis plants?

For those of you who are new to growing cannabis, there are male and female plants. As the plants develop, you will begin to see the precursors of their sex at the node regions where branches come out of the main stalk. Male flowers usually start to appear two weeks before the female flowers and look like little sacks. The female flowers have two feather-like stigmas that stick out of the node area. Using a Google image search can be helpful here.

The general rule is to destroy the male plants well before the female plants can be pollinated because you are mostly interested in sterile female flowers known as sinsemilla tips. As co-author of a microbial gardening book ("Teaming With Microbes"), however, I am here to tell you that the best thing you can do is cut male plants off at the ground level. Put the cuttings in the compost pile but use the pot and soil with the in-place male roots to plant your next crop. It is full of the microbes cannabis plants love because the male plant has been producing exudates and building up its soil's microbial population. These include the proper mycorrhizal fungus, Rhizophagus intraradices, which you will find makes a huge difference in the quality of your crop.

As an aside, the male flowers do produce THC and you can use them if you want. You just risk your female plants going to seed, which is not what you want, unless you want seeds for next year. And, the leaves can be used to make cannabis butters and ice hash.

Next, where has all the fireweed gone?

Good question. A few people want to know how we are going to tell when winter is six weeks out if we don't have fireweed flowers as we normally do. From time to time the fireweed season is a weak one. I suspect the rain has an impact. You will find flowers if you look carefully, albeit not nearly as many as last year. Stay tuned; winter is coming regardless.

Here is a great only-in-Alaska yardening question: What do you do when you notice bear claw marks cutting through the bark of your birch trees?

I had two cubs climbing trees this week. Their little claws do cut through the bark, but I have not had any problems when it happened in the past and never heard of anyone who has. I simply leave mine alone, but note their presence, because they make for great guest storytelling!

Finally, what to do about all the plants that take over perennial gardens? One of my neighbors has become totally annoyed with all the weeds in hers — except they are not weeds, but bullies in her perennial garden.

We all have runaway perennials. My advice is to get out the weed whacker or gas flamer and do some judicial clearing of the "weeds." Short of that, a hoe works. Don't bother digging roots of the soil. Just cut the offenders down and then come back in with an extra thick layer of mulch. Done for the year.

Jeff’s Alaska garden calendar

Harvest: Kohlrabi isn't supposed to be much bigger than a baseball. Lettuce anyone? Snap peas? Get 'em while they taste good.

Lawns: Now that the flush of dandelion flowers is gone, let the grass grow a bit longer to try and choke some of those dandelion plants out.

Delphiniums: Stake 'em if it isn't too late.