There are some tips that gardeners can ignore. They’re not backed up by research or science and can be a waste of time, energy, and money. Good gardening information is important to know. Garden smart and learn to recognize tips from other gardeners that might not be best for you and your garden. (Video #109)
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46 Comments
Won't make concrete without cement
On my second year of gardening and learning a lot from your channel. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you. I have been told a number of those myths…especially not to water on a sunny day. I also heard not to plant different types of peppers in the same bed because they will cross pollinate…and the peppers will taste the same. ie. cayenne and poblano peppers planted together can create more spicey poblano…it sounds like I can toss that caution out with the bath water! My mother taught me to put epsom salt granules in with tomatoes , magnesium and it sweetens the tomatoes.
I did have a aphid problem and a lot lady bug larvae showed up and demolished the aphids. But I think it’s because they were wild and in their own habitat.
Another myth is growing basil next to tomatoes to make them taste better.
It would be good if you could do a video on keeping a garden organic. I read about contaminated straw and hay and what about using a part of the lawn that was treated with weed and feed. What type of organic fertilizers do you use? What about using water from the roof that is caught in water containers? Also protection from birds, rabbits and beetles and insects that eat everything.
I have to cover many plants or they will be eaten before they can mature.
I love seed saving.. Great tip, grow all kinds of related plants together, get into creating new weird plants… LoL… Thanks for the video. I knew most of them. I'm a long time gardener. I was single digits when I planted my first stuff, as well as cooked things, my first recipe is in Crayon. I love saving seeds, making things up as I go along in the garden, Your garden seems to have to much bare ground though, I want it to be green, I eat the weeds, well some of them anyway..
Who in their right mind pours sugar to sweeten the soil,I do remember hearing someone ages ago suggesting it,, I called that out as an idiot idea… Plants like minerals as you said, and sugar poured out on the ground is a waste of sugar…Get your PH balanced for sweet tomatoes, plenty of water, a set of plants that like your area (unless you are growing them in a greenhouse which is one of the best ways to grow them, as they can live several years that way, ) sugar is for your table not your garden
I learned last year (the hard way) that Marigolds will choke out onions as well as weeds. I still think they have value in the garden, but not with my onions.
How do you add calcium to your soil? I know I have plenty of nitrogen in my soil, but I know my soil needs calcium as well as phosphorus and potassium. What is the best way to add those to my soil, while building the soil? I make my own worm compost.
QUESTION for SCOTT : what type of irrigation would you recommend for raised garden beds. Overhead spray or something underneath? I don’t know which. I know I can’t water them by hand… too many. Thank you. Zone 6b NW Arkansas.
My long suffering wife tells me, from something she read from a local "master gardener" on Facebook that turning over your compost soil destroys the soil microbes if the soil is wet from coming out of winter/snow melt. She could not find the source to show me, but i told her it's not true. The compost only benefits from the exposure to air. I don't need an arguement, but I know I'm right. Bob
The tip about mycorrhizae fungae is a real money saver, Gardener Scott, and total makes sense… I use wood chip mulch myself and see those white threads everywhere.
I'd thought about that rain situation. Plus if that is the only time that I can water my plants instead of letting them die from lack of moisture.
The only time you should be introducing predatory insects and beneficial fungi, is when you are in an enclosed environment that would otherwise keep them out 🙂
Love your channel! Common sense! Simple is better.
The first tip I ignored was that I had to dig my soil. Everything grows just fine without digging 😃
Clay is well amended with agriculture lime clay has a cupped shape Structure lime fills this in
The problem water on your leaves doesn’t haven’t to do with the sun and magnification drying out your leaves
If your plants leaves are wet they are ripe for insects and fungus
The only reason I avoid foliar watering is because my area is notorious for powdery mildew issues. It eventually shows up anyway, but I can get a few months more out of my plants if I practice deep watering at night
Epsom salts is another one 🙂
Another video where I have learned so much. Thank you again Gardener Scott! 😎
Do you worry about your dog eating the mulch?
May I add a tip for next time please? Don't buy worms. Set up your worm farm the way you want it and collect the worms all ready found in your garden. Collect them early in the morning. I live in a subtropical climate, and my worms have adapted to eating citrus. I wasted a lot of money buying worms from the internet when I had all I needed right outside. My internet worms died, but my garden thrives on local worms.
Thank you.
Thanks Scott… I'm a newbie… and you're presenting first class info…
I agree with the ladybug tip (didn't fall for the others because they didn't seem logical to start with). So I bought ladybugs, even built homes for them and bought food for them to establish a colony. Totally failed. They were Totally gone in two days. Lesson learned. Wish I had your channel back then. Thank you gardener Scott, great advice every single time.
I did have a pumpkin and spaghetti squash that cross pollinated and I got what I called Spaghetti Pumpkin from the seeds. Looked like pumpkin, but had a stringy flesh like the squash. OOPS. 😆
I have Ladybugs everywhere trying to get into my house.
As for Myco and not getting water on your plants leaves is more for INDOOR growing (Cannabis). especially when using premade soils and VERY bright lights. But water actually mostly falls right off the plant and drys very fast so generally I do not worry about burning the plant with the water because if that is happening then your light is too close and damaging the plant regardless of the water.
Thank you so much for your kind gardening advice. When it comes to gardening you are my main man. Novice like myself rely heavily on your wisdom and advice.
I had a ton of aphids on my first year garden and i got a container of ladybugs just about the time the local ladybugs showed up (slightly different color) for the aphids and i got to watch the imports mate with the locals during the feast. They dont lock together like other bugs ive seen but have a circular polishing motion. Sexy!
What about using mycorrhizae in containers? And isn't the idea of adding sugar or molasses to feed the fungus?
Great reliable advice, thanks. I'm looking for information on how to plant plants close enough to crowd out weeds–especially greens. Even though the desired plants compete with each other and may be smaller, isn't that preferable to weeds competing and robbing nutrients that yield nothing? Weeds are so discouraging because there is no time to spend days removing them only to see them return immediately, even in my raised beds. Advice?
Okay, so if Spinach is planted at closer spacing it will or won't affect size? Full size vs. Baby
I don't know if what I stuck under my tomato plants had anything to do with the results, but I have 8 foot tall tomato plants completely full of tomatoes. I buried kitchen vegetable scraps, a bunch of banana peels and ends, and some coarse Red Sea rock salt. I even managed to mend a broken branch (strong wind) with tomato leaves and plastic string and it has completely recovered. Cucumbers are also growing like crazy after a slow start. Yellow bell peppers keep flowering but nothing more… I already know what I'm going to do with my potato plants next season because of the strong wind we have here.
Love your content. One topic I disagree on is the idea that adding sand to clay creates concrete-like conditions. I’m also in Northern Colorado and my clay soil is rock hard when dry, nasty sticky when too wet and not too bad when the moisture is correct. Prior owner apparently added sand in some garden beds and they too are super hard when bone dry but get better fast when moisture added. In other words sand isn’t making the soil worse but I wouldn’t say it’s appreciably “better” either.
I do agree that adding organic matter is the way to go. I make+buy around 20 yards of compost per year and after 4 years finally starting to feel like I’m making progress on about an acre of garden.
I heard if you dump a bunch of laundry detergent, antifreeze and Mountain Dew on your plants when they're young, they'll get you even more high when you smoke them. Is that true?
This was an awesome video, some much valuable info. Getting ready to buy a new tree and thriled to know about not using the compost for the root ball, because I sure would have.
How about Epsom salt? They said help fruits from getting sour. Is it true?
I was also wondering how wild plants don't burn all their leaves after heavy rain when I first heard that watering tip.
What I like about this channel is Gardener Scott goes straight to the topic. On many channels, the topic only starts at 3/4 of the video.
Another thing I like is his topics are not the common ones every YouTuber deals with.
My place is overrun with lady bugs. I love them.
Mycorrhizae is definitely needed in the garden there are tons of different kinds and the spores are not all over the place most boars are located in only a few places on planet earth and only blow about 2 miles away so yeah if you live right next-door to Meadow Field that has the sport relations then yes absolutely you don’t need to buy it but if you live anywhere else in the world then yes absolutely you need to buy it.
Also the sugar thing sounds kind of absurd but when you go and look up black strap unsulfured molasses it is sugar and micros feed off of that heavily and as long as you don’t make an anaerobic environment whenever you create some form of liquid nutrient out of organic matter you can actually allow““ sugar in your garden it’s not the sugar that she would normally buy at the store but nonetheless it is sugar. Especially if you’re trying to feed the soil so the soil can feed the plant then in some cases not all unsulfured blackstrap molasses makes total sense.
My tip, based on experience: If you want ladybugs in your garden, plant dill. Then don't get bent out of shape when the aphids show up. (No pest control) Give it about 10 days and the dill will be loaded with ladybug larvae. The larvae look like weird little alligators and eat aphids like crazy.
Then watch the transformation of those little larvae turn into the cute little ladybugs that we know and love. Voila! You have a permanent ladybug population in your garden for future years.
Im pretty sure the seed packets makes the suggestion to put space between rows, because the assumption is being made that you are sowing directly into the ground where that space would create an area to walk. I don't think they take raised beds into account and only consider containers when it comes to size. From my perspective, they just want to sell you the seeds and just give you some direction to get you started. It's your responsibility as a gardener to grow your plants.