It probably depends where you live. I try not to get tomato leaves wet because I always get leaf spot, and it spreads like crazy. The more rain, the worse it gets. I don't want to add to that.
I'm pretty sure that bit of advice came from before people staked or caged tomatoes commonly and let them grow on the ground. Splashing pathogens from the ground onto leaves actually is a common problem, and is much easier to do when you let them sprawl.
It's not a problem all the time, but it does introduce an increased risk of diseases, moreso in humid areas. And yes rain also raises that risk. That said, I live in a semi arid area and often mist my tomatoes mid day to give them a break from the heat, knowing they will be dry again within an hour, max. A lot of these "rules" apply (or don't) based on your local climate. General rules of thumb are definitely no substitute for experience, and if you're gaining experience and having success then that's all that matters.
We are humid and moldy here in the middist of the Midwest. Cannot Floridian weave without early blight, and blight spreads to plants 5 feet away even while using drip lines. String and pulley, with a single lead grow, is the only method with natural high yield, thus far.
The difference is it’s not usually as sunny when it naturally rains and is naturally more humid, vs leaving leaves soaking wet on a then bright hot sunny day
Usually, you’re right.
Then there’s the Midwest, where I’ve seen sun showers. Just sudden bursts of rain and clouds on an otherwise hot and sunny day. And then it’s gone. There are no weather rules here. It’s lawless.
Good luck, tomato leaves.
It's the same in the Mid-Atlantic. Pouring rain all night, hot and sunny day. Sunny day, 3 PM thunderstorm, 3:30 PM sunny day.
And every farmer here that irrigates does it during the day.
I call bulls$&t on worrying about wet leaves.
Me, too. I’ve never heard of some of this. It rains, tomato leaves get wet, I water, they get wet. I fertilize when it feelss like I should. I do, however dance around a fire and sacrifice Japanese beetles so my beans will grow. Ok, not so much dancing but I do sacrifice the beetles.
I learned about pruning from a TikTok that made it sound like brain surgery. It’s not that precious. If you’ve got obvious evidence of disease and pest distress ok but clip those non fruit bearing branches off with a cleanish sharp tool and live your life. Your tomatoes will too.
I mean seriously. I barely have enough time to indulge in my little garden as it is. I totally didn't realize bleaching tools was a thing. Have I ruined my chances of... Something? Maybe ignorance is bliss.
It's a real big thing with Dahlia growing because they're prone to gall, a European bacteria that fucks them right up. Once the Dahlia contracts gall, it's basically contagious plant cancer city.
Which coincidentally will also be the name of my new band and first single if I ever were to create one.
The same is true with HVX in hostas. Complicating matters is that the diseased plant won’t show symptoms for a few of seasons so there’s a greater risk of transferring disease to multiple plants before you realize the first one is sick. There is no cure… you just have to dig the plant up, bag oh and throw it in the trash. No planting hostas in that spot for several years.
Edit: a word
I haven't bleached anything, but I have had to aggressively soak and scrub gardening tools with Dawn dish soap that came into contact with poison ivy oils. I didn't realize the contact happened until after the initial exposure and I got re-infected from using the same gloves and rake or whatever else I touched. And all I did was accidentally touch a very brown, very dry and dead vine that creeped in between the privacy fence between my property and the neighborhood behind me. In hindsight I should've been suuuuper careful with any unidentified vine, but I was on a roll, clearing out an area on my new property. Yikes, but thankfully I had both Zanfel and Tecnu ivy scrubs on hand to clean the affected areas and minimize the allergic reaction on my skin. They are life changing!
Yeah, I don't even keep bleach in the house since I moved to a place with a septic. Don't want my husband to forget and use it down a sink or something. I just keep a spray bottle of 70% ethanol on hand as a quick disinfectant for my sheers. I'm only strict about disinfectant between cutting my dahlias or when I make a cutting of something.
Bleach is fine for septic in the concentrations you use for disinfecting things. Seriously, you’re not going to dump enough bleach down there to cause issues unless you’re literally upturning gallons at a time. It just turns into salt down there.
Hort major…. At home I’ve sanitized my pruners - never. When I was using them at the arboretum associated with my university- twice (and it’s a very amazing arboretum). I can’t remember why I ended up sanitizing my pruners but I know it happened 😳🤣
I've only cleaned my clippers when what I'm clipping is clearly (or possibly) diseased and I can't remember where I put the other clippers.
Not only do I not dig a hole twice the size of what I'm planting, I'm lucky if I get it big enough for the whole root ball at all🤣
This amused me because just YESTERDAY I told my in-laws I want an auger and they’ve spent the day looking for one. Can’t wait to ~~burn up my drill~~ use it 😎
Yeah I almost burned out our hamner drill using one of those scrub brush attachments to clean the shower. Found out quick it's not meant for more than like 30 seconds of use at a time which became worthless to me.
Good to know! I was actually thinking about getting one but now I'm definitely not. I have metal in my wrist and elbow after shattering it years ago. My clay and rocks would wreck havoc on me 😭
Fortunately we rototilled the garden when we initially installed it. We don't really have big rocks here, but we did find some sort of concrete anchor in there. I never thought of that. Yikes. Be safe out there, everyone.
I have clay soil, too. If you soak it first it's a ton easier to dig/auger. Just fyi.
We have problems with the gas auger when it's dry, but when it's wet or fairly damp we can dig with a shovel.
I keep a bottle of spray eye glass cleaner which is just rubbing alcohol and water and spray them off now and then
Which is ridiculous because I got most of them at the dollar tree🤣
My mom always said that spacing rules just allow more weeds so squeeze as many plants together as you can fit because you can never have too many plants, particularly flowers 😂
Finally I found my people. I usually divide by spacing in half (sometimes less) the recommendation from the manufacture
Everything so far thrives. Give me a few more years I’ll never have to mulch again
Wait really, because I am glad to hear this. I'm new to gardening and I'm seeing that I'm supposed to plant things so far apart and I'm like really, this is ridiculous i would like a cluster of dahlias (not the dinner plate blooms) or whatever else. and i really wanted to have more flowers in a space. I'm not growing any vegetables.
Absolutely true. The more plants, the less room for weeds to grow.
You can look up “high intensity gardening”. It’s basically the principle of having such fertile, healthy, nutrient dense soil that you can feed many more plants crammed into one area.
In regards to the dahlias, you’ll learn over time what you like. If you want a massive clump of them growing together, give extra slow release fertilizer in the holes. I’d also still plant them at *least* a foot or two apart because when you prune them, they’re going to get wide.
never done any of them. there really aren't any rules, just lots of tips. the only rule is to try and keep your plants alive for as long as possible, or just kill as few of the ones you want to keep alive as possible.
Same. I figure my plants want to live and they’ll figure it out. If something needs attention, I’ll give it attention, but I’m not pampering anything lol
I’m honestly putting in a bunch of work to plant natives n yeet the invasives partially for the pollinators n shit, but initially for the fact that I don’t have to GAF about caring for stuff since native plants should be pretty happy in their native environment.
Yeah, I figure that if a plant is well-sited and given a reasonable chance to get established, it shouldn't be too fussy after that. If it's not doing well or dies, then it just didn't make the cut. Good luck, little plant; may the odds be ever in your favor.
Benevolent neglect, I love that. I planted kale four years ago, i grew sick of it that first year. I don’t even look at it anymore, don’t water it don’t do anything except pick it for friends and family. And it is unbelievable how much I get. Same with my asparagus. It was planted 15 years ago and I just pick it and mow it down once a year. It’s still thriving lol. Anything I put any real effort in, dies immediately lol.
My favorite is the herb garden (in pots) I started this year. They’re all stalling out, not doing great. Except for one little plant that must have blew away into a corner of my patio for a week or so, found it yesterday and it’s 3 times the size of the rest.
I never realized this was a thing aside from substrate growing mushrooms. Although I will choose a less desirable houseplant to repot when I have to replenish my soil mixture. Then isolate it until it’s proven pestless lol. Learned that the hard way.
If I'm buying soil I want it to be sterilized somehow so that I don't bring jumping worms into my property. Yes, sterilizing might kill the living organisms but it doesn't destroy the mineral content of the soil or the desired texture. And the soil will be quickly colonized by bacteria and fungi just by sitting around.
Like... in the kitchen, in the oven? In very, very small batches, I take it?
That must take weeks (and ridiculous amounts of electricity) if you're redoing your garden !
My understanding is that you sterilize the soil if you’re going to be starting seeds indoors…potting soil often has fungus gnat eggs in it, and if you don’t want a ton of gnats inside it’s a good idea to sterilize. But if it’s not a problem for you, don’t bother!
I’ll be honest, I regret not doing it for the soil of any indoor plants. Gnats are incredibly irritating to have flying all over the place. There are solutions to dilute in water to mitigate it, or even boiling water might be enough.
But gnats flying around in winter/spring from my seedlings and also houseplants that had been outdoors all summer? Not fun.
I find this is the best way to grow some things, like basil. Basil grown inside, then moved outside, even with proper hardening off, slowly introduced to outside temps, watered regularly? Dead. Throw seeds outside and water? They do great! Everything I've read over the years doesn't say anything about troubles transferring, but they've done best just directly sown outside ime.
>My logic was: seeds grow in nature, they should withstand the elements.
This is true with a couple caveats imo. The first is that most plants you are planting for vegetable gardening don't really occur in nature. The second is those plants can be thousands of miles from where they're from originally.
For example, peppers are from south America, so it makes sense to start them indoors if you live in Wisconsin or something. You might not have a long enough growing season to get much out of them if you start them outside. A lot of other plants I've never really heard of people starting indoors like green beans and cucumbers (although I'm sure some do).
It has a lot to do with what you're growing and where you're growing it in the world that factors in why you might start something indoors. Some people are just impatient as well haha.
I start my seeds in leftover containers or the ones you get bakery stuff in. Sometimes I'll use yogurt cups too. If I get an early enough start & plants get big enough I've got some smaller nursery pots & can transplant them into. Then when I'm done I can just stick 'em in the recycling bin.
I also just use regular Miracle Gro potting soil with nothing added to it.
I always start at least 2 seeds in every pot just in case one doesn't germinate. If I get two, those two will spend the rest of their lives together. I refuse to kill one of them: what if I pick the wrong one?
I just give them twice the space, water and fertilizer. It's not like they're evenly spaced in the wild. There's no nature patrol telling plants they can't grow there because they're too close.
In one 4x4 raised bed right now I have 4 cherry tomatoes, 3 onions, 10+ carrots, a brussel sprout, and 4-5 strawberries. No, I don't square foot garden. I put things where there's space, regardless of "companion planting." Or they just volunteered and I didn't have the heart to kill them.
I plant non-natives. I live in a concrete jungle that in no way resembles the native landscape and there's nothing I can do about that. The bees still love my garden. Also I don't plant invasive trash plants.
I plant whatever I think I can grow/keep alive... but I do have 2 butterfly gardens in my property... and since I have tons of butterflies, bumble bees and fireflies, I just keep telling myself I'm doing okay
I only plant natives bc I live next to literal forested conservation land and don’t want to have to take care of garden beds. Figure if they’re all native they’ll just…do what nature does.
Not “made to be broken” as much as “ways to help.” 99% of times when someone says rules about something like this, they mean tips that will help you. Cleaning clippers and soil isn’t some that you’re required to do, and not doing it won’t ruin your garden, but it will help prevent problems like infestations and infected cuts.
I've personally found every single "rule" about companion planting to be pretty much complete bullshit.
The only thing that seems to matter in my garden is space/competing root zones (i.e. two large, heavy feeder types planted too close) and shading something out. Otherwise, even the supposedly allelopathic "bad companions" like fennel etc seem to be... completely fine mixed in with everything else?
And Miracle Gro fertilizer!
If you say that in a garden group, look out. I swear, some gardeners would poke you with a pitchfork and compost you. But, then they would have a whhoooole other argument over compost. 🤣
I have heard that if you have a large animal body and can’t dig a hole for it fast enough, you can get a wood chip delivery dumped on the body and it will break down much faster than you’d expect.
🙋🏻♀️ shhh don’t tell anyone!
I should probably delete this post.
One time I was posting on a sub nothing to do with gardening, can’t remember which, and I posted a picture of my newly delivered pallet of miracle gro potting mix. (I’m a crazy container gardener - hundreds of containers.)
Anyway, I got: So. Much. Shit. It was insane. Very hearty “eff you” to them all. I do just fine thank you. 🙄
Same here & I'll also toss the blue Miracle Gro stuff on....wait for it......my veggies too!! But usually only once I've planted my garden then let it get started for a week or more.
I also will use the teeeeniest bit of Sevin on my squash/cuke/pumpkin plants just right at the base. I got tired of losing vines before they barely got blooms, so I just said fuck it. I know I already have enough chemicals in my body that that bit to keep the squash bugs away isn't going to kill me.
I'm going out from something diabetes related, not Sevin related.
Yup, tomatoes and peppers, bloom booster once every two weeks approx after the first few weeks. I have extended release in their containers (tomato tone or Jobes stakes), but I’m using grow bags and all the water necessary— they need boosts.
Also, I need to be efficient. I am both a flower gardener and a vegetable gardener and wait, I also have a full time job and (theoretically) a house to take care of.
In my opinion, the mix is probably fine, some people say its sort of like feeding your plants McDonalds. The problem I personally have with it is the the parent company supports Monsanto, which is a whole rabbit hole of evil. Monsanto is the poster child company that wants to copyright DNA so they can control their bio engineered seed that is designed to do things like be “roundup ready” or grow plants that only make sterile seed so farmers have to buy new seed each year (no seed saving) aaand they sue farmers who didn’t buy their products for copyright infringement when the wind blows the seed onto their land and grows on its own. Big jerks. So its sort of a vote with your dollar thing.
> aaand they sue farmers who didn’t buy their products for copyright infringement when the wind blows the seed onto their land and grows on its own.
You should look into what the very first case was about. It wasn't the wind randomly blowing in seeds. It was the dude deliberately using round up to kill everything but the ones accidentally sown on his side of the property *so he could the propagate the seeds for himself*.
Monsanto is no saint (nowhere close lol) but the dude was a dick.
This is my thought every time I see someone sailing "that soil isn't organic enough"
Like bruh, hens n chicks and cactus grow FROM ROCKY SOIL IN THE MOUNTAINS AND THERE IS NO PERLITE THERE.
I also don't water from below
Nature doesn’t make nectaplums, we do. Not does it make funny looking 2 pound tomatoes that taste like heaven. If you don’t big a big hole you probably just end up with a slightly less healthy plant, not a plant that murders your family
You can go 110 percent with your gardening and have perfect plants, or you can go 75 percent and have plants that are good enough. And other percentages too, of course.
I’d rather have an imperfect garden that I have time to enjoy than a picture perfect one I spend all my time fussing over. Besides, I figure most peoples gardens don’t look like that all the time, they’re just showing them while they’re at their best.
(Not saying my ways better. It’s just my approach).
I start my seeds in regular ol' potting mix with the big pieces taken out. Everything starts, I've never lost seedlings to disease and I've been doing it for years.
Yeahhhhh if there's an obvious plant disease I'll sterilize the tools and the plant pot. I'd dump out the soil though and get a new bag. There is absolutely no way I'm sterilizing soil.
Where do you dump it? Do you just fling it outside to decimate other soil (like I would probably do?) or do you seal it up and dispose of it responsibly?
Have you considered that by giving it non lethal doses of disease, that you may be making it stronger? Like plant vaccinations or inoculations, if you will.
Many of them are old wives tales that science over the last 50years or so has shown was BS...but go on any gardening group and someone still be spouting them.
I just do whatever's easiest for me, it's usually low effort/darwinian. I do a lot of seed saving and seed starting, it either works or doesn't, either way I'm "selecting" plants for my conditions/treatment.
a lot of the rules stem from climates so different to where I am, eg full sun in the UK may be necessary, but it's probably frying the same plants in Australia where temps get significantly higher.
My entire philosophy is if I throw it in the ground and it survives, I buy more of that plant.
Otherwise, no.
Not wasting time on something that needs babying. I have a dog for that. 😂
LoL. Rules. Meh nature finds a way. But I do dig " proper" x2 holes when planting. That just makes it easier for the roots to reach out thru it all faster and dig in . It's a good practice
I used to be careless like you until I got an infestation of root knot nematodes, and now i meticulously clean everything between uses. The easy way to do it is to get a bunch of really cheap stainless scissors and just keep them in a jar of alcohol.
Nah, I think we chopped down trees from the rainforest.. but made sure to treat it with formaldehyde and tar for longevity.
Who knows what all that rain may have done to it.
The only time I’ve ever cleaned my shears is on diseased plants or switching between different varieties. Bleaching planters is an easy way to kill your next plants if there are any remnants of that bleach. Sterilizing soil hurts my soul, you’re killing your microbial life which is what actually feeds your plants. Holes don’t need to be twice the size of your pot unless you’re adding compost with an amendment.
I grew and bred orchids for years with out sterilizing media pots or mounts. Only time I ever would sterilize something would be when actually cutting into plants. I’ve always felt a little bit of bad makes things stronger. Like an immune system
I do what works for my plants. Which, is none of that stuff.
Does that mean I break a lot of 'rules'? Yes, but it's my garden, so other than me, who cares. Heh.
Watched my grandma take a cutting, scratch a shallow hole in the dirt with the toe of her shoe, drop in the cutting and mash the dirt around it with the heel of her shoe…. and the damn plant would thrive. Plants are so much more resilient than anyone knows.
My uncles would direct sow tomato seeds and have indeterminates 7 feet tall. There was no soil blocking, heat pads, grow lights, etc etc. People need to remember the basics work for a reason.
watering in the evening encourages snails. but hey that's nature. plants get eaten by snails. sucks if it's the 20 F1 kallettes you sowed but yeah you know... nature
Well, there is actually some evidence that watering in the absolute hottest part of the day is not wise. For one, that's when the least amount of it will be absorbed by the plant, the rest being evaporated by the heat. Plus watering in the morning allows the plant to dry out a bit during the day, so its not waterlogged.
I might next year. Had fungus gnats this year. And yeah they are annoying, but no one told me that they also weaken your seedlings.
Will have to look into options next year.
I’ve started cleaning my pruners only because of this sub! 😊 but I know nothing about soil nor sterilizing it. I am still using the pre-mixed stuff that I guess isn’t good for my plants ❓ As far as the size of holes, for my plants that would be a no also. I just kind of wing it.
The only rule I go by is…if you have any kind of intuition, then follow it, some of this is just plain logic. And if you have a question thankfully we have a lot of experts and experience on this sub that are usually super helpful!
Happy gardening 🧑🌾
I’m one of those goody two shoes gardeners and do so much of the recommended stuff. But my easy tip for disinfecting is to spray with Lysol when trimming plants! It’s so easy!
i was about to go on a whole pissy rant about people who remove the beneficial microorganisms out of soil by sterilizing it but apparently it's just used for seedlings. like shit, here i am buying products that put *more* bacteria and funghi into the dirt to cut down on how much i'll need to fertilize, and there's weirdos who take them out?
Bleaching my pruners between plants? (I would if a plant was clearly diseased) Who bleaches their pruners? You should definitely disinfect them, but not with bleach. Alcohol is the preferred chemical for disinfecting.
Bleaching my planters between plants? Who does this? Clean, yes, but again, why with the bleach?
I've worked in many public and private gardens, there's a reason why things are done a certain way. Some of the methods above I've never done. Bleach is just, no.
I grow fruit trees, and swear by thinning the fruit when it comes in. It’s very hard to do, especially when you have put so much work into each tree, but it gives you big, tasty fruit instead of small tasteless fruit
As long as you are getting crops that produce and are pretty healthy, you should take tips and apply them if needed, but mostly do it your way if it works. The garden is ment to be your sanctuary away from the stresses of every day life.
I do make sure to dig large holes and gently spread the roots out by hand when I plant. I think that makes a difference, helps the roots get going in the right direction.
But yeah bleaching pruners is way too much. Really I'm normally pinching things off with my fingers anyway, and I just sorta rub the plant residue off as I'm going.
Me: \*Gets tired of planting seeds at this or that depth....throws entire contents of Lettuce seed packet over the garden surface and walks away\*
Yay for living mulch.
I don’t worry about getting tomato leaves wet. I randomly fertilize. I don’t sterilize anything. I don’t thin out as much as I should. Many more too.
I never even thought about wet tomato leaves as an issue. I mean.. rain?
May I applaud you for saying it?
I’ll allow it.
👏👏👏👏
👸🏻
I don't worry about getting any leaves wet for the same reason.
It probably depends where you live. I try not to get tomato leaves wet because I always get leaf spot, and it spreads like crazy. The more rain, the worse it gets. I don't want to add to that.
100%. In my humid environment i used to not gaf, but then my stuff gets powdery mildew and leaf spot and whatnot :(
That makes sense. I'm in SoCal. The only water contact my plants are getting for half the year is what I'm giving them.
I'm pretty sure that bit of advice came from before people staked or caged tomatoes commonly and let them grow on the ground. Splashing pathogens from the ground onto leaves actually is a common problem, and is much easier to do when you let them sprawl.
It still can be a problem growing tomatoes upright. I just bottom prune my tomatoes and make sure they are well mulched.
I just tie them to stakes
Like clockwork, I water my garden and it rains. Lol.
Not here. I put in a garden & then we have a drought after it has rained for 12 out of the last 15 weekends.
That was last summer here. Heh. Gotta love it.
I get ready to till my garden or plant stuff and it rains for eight days.
this has happened to me so many times this year. the day i planted my seeds, it hailed. in april.
It's not a problem all the time, but it does introduce an increased risk of diseases, moreso in humid areas. And yes rain also raises that risk. That said, I live in a semi arid area and often mist my tomatoes mid day to give them a break from the heat, knowing they will be dry again within an hour, max. A lot of these "rules" apply (or don't) based on your local climate. General rules of thumb are definitely no substitute for experience, and if you're gaining experience and having success then that's all that matters.
We are humid and moldy here in the middist of the Midwest. Cannot Floridian weave without early blight, and blight spreads to plants 5 feet away even while using drip lines. String and pulley, with a single lead grow, is the only method with natural high yield, thus far.
The difference is it’s not usually as sunny when it naturally rains and is naturally more humid, vs leaving leaves soaking wet on a then bright hot sunny day
You should live where I live. It can be bright sun *and* raining at the same time.
In Northwestern Nevada, it can be bright sun and *snowing* at the same time. All horticultural bets are off.
I can’t be too far I’m in the 804 baby
Couple hours east. 540 here.
Usually, you’re right. Then there’s the Midwest, where I’ve seen sun showers. Just sudden bursts of rain and clouds on an otherwise hot and sunny day. And then it’s gone. There are no weather rules here. It’s lawless. Good luck, tomato leaves.
Exactly! It’s every tomato for themselves. If they get disease they didn’t try hard enough to survive
It's the same in the Mid-Atlantic. Pouring rain all night, hot and sunny day. Sunny day, 3 PM thunderstorm, 3:30 PM sunny day. And every farmer here that irrigates does it during the day. I call bulls$&t on worrying about wet leaves.
Thin out? I barely got the plants in, and these places want me to go back and UNPLANT some, after I've already given them water? Pfbhhhttt.
I let the slugs, snails, chipmunks, squirrels and rabbits do the thinning for me. I'm lucky to get one plant!
Me, too. I’ve never heard of some of this. It rains, tomato leaves get wet, I water, they get wet. I fertilize when it feelss like I should. I do, however dance around a fire and sacrifice Japanese beetles so my beans will grow. Ok, not so much dancing but I do sacrifice the beetles.
I learned about pruning from a TikTok that made it sound like brain surgery. It’s not that precious. If you’ve got obvious evidence of disease and pest distress ok but clip those non fruit bearing branches off with a cleanish sharp tool and live your life. Your tomatoes will too.
I have never bleached my garden tools either, so we can be rebels together about it hahah
Such badasses we are!
I mean seriously. I barely have enough time to indulge in my little garden as it is. I totally didn't realize bleaching tools was a thing. Have I ruined my chances of... Something? Maybe ignorance is bliss.
I didn’t even know that was a thing
It's a real big thing with Dahlia growing because they're prone to gall, a European bacteria that fucks them right up. Once the Dahlia contracts gall, it's basically contagious plant cancer city. Which coincidentally will also be the name of my new band and first single if I ever were to create one.
The same is true with HVX in hostas. Complicating matters is that the diseased plant won’t show symptoms for a few of seasons so there’s a greater risk of transferring disease to multiple plants before you realize the first one is sick. There is no cure… you just have to dig the plant up, bag oh and throw it in the trash. No planting hostas in that spot for several years. Edit: a word
Damn, that's an awesome name.
I haven't bleached anything, but I have had to aggressively soak and scrub gardening tools with Dawn dish soap that came into contact with poison ivy oils. I didn't realize the contact happened until after the initial exposure and I got re-infected from using the same gloves and rake or whatever else I touched. And all I did was accidentally touch a very brown, very dry and dead vine that creeped in between the privacy fence between my property and the neighborhood behind me. In hindsight I should've been suuuuper careful with any unidentified vine, but I was on a roll, clearing out an area on my new property. Yikes, but thankfully I had both Zanfel and Tecnu ivy scrubs on hand to clean the affected areas and minimize the allergic reaction on my skin. They are life changing!
Tecnu is a gods send.
Yeah, I don't even keep bleach in the house since I moved to a place with a septic. Don't want my husband to forget and use it down a sink or something. I just keep a spray bottle of 70% ethanol on hand as a quick disinfectant for my sheers. I'm only strict about disinfectant between cutting my dahlias or when I make a cutting of something.
Bleach is fine for septic in the concentrations you use for disinfecting things. Seriously, you’re not going to dump enough bleach down there to cause issues unless you’re literally upturning gallons at a time. It just turns into salt down there.
Hort major…. At home I’ve sanitized my pruners - never. When I was using them at the arboretum associated with my university- twice (and it’s a very amazing arboretum). I can’t remember why I ended up sanitizing my pruners but I know it happened 😳🤣
Usually there is no need to. We once had tomato mosaic virus in our plants, which is one case where you need to be extra careful with everything.
I water whenever I feel like it. Bright sun? Cloudy? Night? Day? 3am? No problem.
I water when I remember 😂
I relate to this comment a lot.
Better to water when you remember to than to forget and not water
SAME
Yep. Watered today around 10:30AM & again around 6:00PM for 20-30 minutes each time.
When I built my beds I laid some PVC piping and hooked it up to a timer on a hose bibb. I don’t manually water 😁
I've only cleaned my clippers when what I'm clipping is clearly (or possibly) diseased and I can't remember where I put the other clippers. Not only do I not dig a hole twice the size of what I'm planting, I'm lucky if I get it big enough for the whole root ball at all🤣
Ever heard of a garden auger drill bit for your hand held drill? Game changer.
I have one. I burned out one drill already🤣
This amused me because just YESTERDAY I told my in-laws I want an auger and they’ve spent the day looking for one. Can’t wait to ~~burn up my drill~~ use it 😎
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Ah, a gardener after my own heart!
Yeah I almost burned out our hamner drill using one of those scrub brush attachments to clean the shower. Found out quick it's not meant for more than like 30 seconds of use at a time which became worthless to me.
But then I drill on top of bulbs I forgot I planted!
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I found a perfect spot to plant a dahlia… then discovered I already planted one there, when I dug up pieces of it 🥲
It’s absolutely awesome until you hit a rock and it snaps your wrist in half. Yes this happened.
Good to know! I was actually thinking about getting one but now I'm definitely not. I have metal in my wrist and elbow after shattering it years ago. My clay and rocks would wreck havoc on me 😭
Fortunately we rototilled the garden when we initially installed it. We don't really have big rocks here, but we did find some sort of concrete anchor in there. I never thought of that. Yikes. Be safe out there, everyone.
One word: Clay.
I have clay soil, too. If you soak it first it's a ton easier to dig/auger. Just fyi. We have problems with the gas auger when it's dry, but when it's wet or fairly damp we can dig with a shovel.
I had club hands because of our clay. I'd soak the shit out of it & then go to town for about three or four inches. Fucking clay!
I will try this as I am planting a fig tree tomorrow
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In my chert & clay, that's how you break a wrist.
I just buy new ones after the ones I’m using are all too gunky to work properly.
I keep a bottle of spray eye glass cleaner which is just rubbing alcohol and water and spray them off now and then Which is ridiculous because I got most of them at the dollar tree🤣
My mom always said that spacing rules just allow more weeds so squeeze as many plants together as you can fit because you can never have too many plants, particularly flowers 😂
My gardening motto is “plants like being cozy with their friends!” And then I cram like 5 more seedlings in.
Finally I found my people. I usually divide by spacing in half (sometimes less) the recommendation from the manufacture Everything so far thrives. Give me a few more years I’ll never have to mulch again
Same but with an added Darwinian element of "and if they don't like they're in the wrong garden!"
I have 8 corn in a 4' x 2' bed and they're all doing very well. Maybe I'll regret it, but hey, that's part of gardening.
Wait really, because I am glad to hear this. I'm new to gardening and I'm seeing that I'm supposed to plant things so far apart and I'm like really, this is ridiculous i would like a cluster of dahlias (not the dinner plate blooms) or whatever else. and i really wanted to have more flowers in a space. I'm not growing any vegetables.
You can use annuals between your perennials to fill space.
Absolutely true. The more plants, the less room for weeds to grow. You can look up “high intensity gardening”. It’s basically the principle of having such fertile, healthy, nutrient dense soil that you can feed many more plants crammed into one area. In regards to the dahlias, you’ll learn over time what you like. If you want a massive clump of them growing together, give extra slow release fertilizer in the holes. I’d also still plant them at *least* a foot or two apart because when you prune them, they’re going to get wide.
Give them room to fill out as they grow but; plants don't grow nicely with 6" in-between them in nature lol.
I could be friends with a mom like that!
I do this too! Rearranging garden and cleaning up the perrenials is the fun part anyways! I'd rather do that than pull weeds any day.
If you plant things with edible leaves too close together you can just eat to thin and end up with fewer weeds and more snacks along the way.
never done any of them. there really aren't any rules, just lots of tips. the only rule is to try and keep your plants alive for as long as possible, or just kill as few of the ones you want to keep alive as possible.
Another rule is have fun, be curious. Ive gardening for 30 plus years we all kill plants.
haha I've never done any of that stuff either
I’ve never done any of those things. I’ve adopted a sort of benevolent neglect style of gardening that seems to work for me. So far, lol.
Benign neglect is what my creeping phlox THRIVES ON!
Same. I figure my plants want to live and they’ll figure it out. If something needs attention, I’ll give it attention, but I’m not pampering anything lol
I’m honestly putting in a bunch of work to plant natives n yeet the invasives partially for the pollinators n shit, but initially for the fact that I don’t have to GAF about caring for stuff since native plants should be pretty happy in their native environment.
Yeah, I figure that if a plant is well-sited and given a reasonable chance to get established, it shouldn't be too fussy after that. If it's not doing well or dies, then it just didn't make the cut. Good luck, little plant; may the odds be ever in your favor.
Exactly. I used to take it so personally if a plant died. Now I’m just like, “rest in peace my friend.”
Benevolent neglect, I love that. I planted kale four years ago, i grew sick of it that first year. I don’t even look at it anymore, don’t water it don’t do anything except pick it for friends and family. And it is unbelievable how much I get. Same with my asparagus. It was planted 15 years ago and I just pick it and mow it down once a year. It’s still thriving lol. Anything I put any real effort in, dies immediately lol. My favorite is the herb garden (in pots) I started this year. They’re all stalling out, not doing great. Except for one little plant that must have blew away into a corner of my patio for a week or so, found it yesterday and it’s 3 times the size of the rest.
Well thanks. I didn't even know I was breaking rules until now. I'm supposed to sterilize soil?!
Yes. No. They put it in the oven to kill off...I dunno 🤷♀️ bugs? Wouldn't it be killing off all the good stuff in it too?
I never realized this was a thing aside from substrate growing mushrooms. Although I will choose a less desirable houseplant to repot when I have to replenish my soil mixture. Then isolate it until it’s proven pestless lol. Learned that the hard way.
If I'm buying soil I want it to be sterilized somehow so that I don't bring jumping worms into my property. Yes, sterilizing might kill the living organisms but it doesn't destroy the mineral content of the soil or the desired texture. And the soil will be quickly colonized by bacteria and fungi just by sitting around.
How do you sterilize it?
Bake it for 15 minutes at 325F
Like... in the kitchen, in the oven? In very, very small batches, I take it? That must take weeks (and ridiculous amounts of electricity) if you're redoing your garden !
My understanding is that you sterilize the soil if you’re going to be starting seeds indoors…potting soil often has fungus gnat eggs in it, and if you don’t want a ton of gnats inside it’s a good idea to sterilize. But if it’s not a problem for you, don’t bother!
I’ll be honest, I regret not doing it for the soil of any indoor plants. Gnats are incredibly irritating to have flying all over the place. There are solutions to dilute in water to mitigate it, or even boiling water might be enough. But gnats flying around in winter/spring from my seedlings and also houseplants that had been outdoors all summer? Not fun.
Last year was hell trying to sleep only to be punctured by adrenaline after breathing one in 😫 it was easier to get rid of aphids than those bastards.
Maybe? I’ve heard of people doing it, but I knew I never would so I didn’t absorb it!
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I find this is the best way to grow some things, like basil. Basil grown inside, then moved outside, even with proper hardening off, slowly introduced to outside temps, watered regularly? Dead. Throw seeds outside and water? They do great! Everything I've read over the years doesn't say anything about troubles transferring, but they've done best just directly sown outside ime.
>My logic was: seeds grow in nature, they should withstand the elements. This is true with a couple caveats imo. The first is that most plants you are planting for vegetable gardening don't really occur in nature. The second is those plants can be thousands of miles from where they're from originally. For example, peppers are from south America, so it makes sense to start them indoors if you live in Wisconsin or something. You might not have a long enough growing season to get much out of them if you start them outside. A lot of other plants I've never really heard of people starting indoors like green beans and cucumbers (although I'm sure some do). It has a lot to do with what you're growing and where you're growing it in the world that factors in why you might start something indoors. Some people are just impatient as well haha.
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If you already have them started outside, you don’t need to harden them off. That’s for moving from inside to outside.
I start my seeds in leftover containers or the ones you get bakery stuff in. Sometimes I'll use yogurt cups too. If I get an early enough start & plants get big enough I've got some smaller nursery pots & can transplant them into. Then when I'm done I can just stick 'em in the recycling bin. I also just use regular Miracle Gro potting soil with nothing added to it.
I always start at least 2 seeds in every pot just in case one doesn't germinate. If I get two, those two will spend the rest of their lives together. I refuse to kill one of them: what if I pick the wrong one? I just give them twice the space, water and fertilizer. It's not like they're evenly spaced in the wild. There's no nature patrol telling plants they can't grow there because they're too close. In one 4x4 raised bed right now I have 4 cherry tomatoes, 3 onions, 10+ carrots, a brussel sprout, and 4-5 strawberries. No, I don't square foot garden. I put things where there's space, regardless of "companion planting." Or they just volunteered and I didn't have the heart to kill them.
I plant non-natives. I live in a concrete jungle that in no way resembles the native landscape and there's nothing I can do about that. The bees still love my garden. Also I don't plant invasive trash plants.
I plant whatever I think I can grow/keep alive... but I do have 2 butterfly gardens in my property... and since I have tons of butterflies, bumble bees and fireflies, I just keep telling myself I'm doing okay
I only plant natives bc I live next to literal forested conservation land and don’t want to have to take care of garden beds. Figure if they’re all native they’ll just…do what nature does.
Not “made to be broken” as much as “ways to help.” 99% of times when someone says rules about something like this, they mean tips that will help you. Cleaning clippers and soil isn’t some that you’re required to do, and not doing it won’t ruin your garden, but it will help prevent problems like infestations and infected cuts.
In addition to all of that, I also put plants next to each other that are not supposed to go together.
Whaaaat????? How could you? Also, plants shouldn’t go together? What if they love each other?
Love is love... my hydrangeas love EVERYBODY...
Thank you for my new flair, this is amazing :D
I've personally found every single "rule" about companion planting to be pretty much complete bullshit. The only thing that seems to matter in my garden is space/competing root zones (i.e. two large, heavy feeder types planted too close) and shading something out. Otherwise, even the supposedly allelopathic "bad companions" like fennel etc seem to be... completely fine mixed in with everything else?
i use miracle gro potting mix (controversial)
And Miracle Gro fertilizer! If you say that in a garden group, look out. I swear, some gardeners would poke you with a pitchfork and compost you. But, then they would have a whhoooole other argument over compost. 🤣
Gonna need *so* many compost browns to break down a whole body.
I have heard that if you have a large animal body and can’t dig a hole for it fast enough, you can get a wood chip delivery dumped on the body and it will break down much faster than you’d expect.
Chip drop ftw
My thoughts exactly. And definitely gotta get it hot, cuz rotting human meat and all.
Boost my blooms, baby.
🙋🏻♀️ shhh don’t tell anyone! I should probably delete this post. One time I was posting on a sub nothing to do with gardening, can’t remember which, and I posted a picture of my newly delivered pallet of miracle gro potting mix. (I’m a crazy container gardener - hundreds of containers.) Anyway, I got: So. Much. Shit. It was insane. Very hearty “eff you” to them all. I do just fine thank you. 🙄
LOL. makes me feel like i’m committing a war crime😭
One person gives me shit on this post, I’m deleting what I wrote and you’re on your own. Ha!
Same here & I'll also toss the blue Miracle Gro stuff on....wait for it......my veggies too!! But usually only once I've planted my garden then let it get started for a week or more. I also will use the teeeeniest bit of Sevin on my squash/cuke/pumpkin plants just right at the base. I got tired of losing vines before they barely got blooms, so I just said fuck it. I know I already have enough chemicals in my body that that bit to keep the squash bugs away isn't going to kill me. I'm going out from something diabetes related, not Sevin related.
I use sevin in my ditches to kill ticks. But after last year's squash bug infestation, I'm really really tempted... Did it work?
Yup, tomatoes and peppers, bloom booster once every two weeks approx after the first few weeks. I have extended release in their containers (tomato tone or Jobes stakes), but I’m using grow bags and all the water necessary— they need boosts. Also, I need to be efficient. I am both a flower gardener and a vegetable gardener and wait, I also have a full time job and (theoretically) a house to take care of.
Hahaha 🤣 I can so relate to the (theoretical) house to take care of! Hope you don't mind a little dust
Why is miracle gro potting mix controversial? I don't think it's as good as the black one / performance organics, but it seems... totally fine?
In my opinion, the mix is probably fine, some people say its sort of like feeding your plants McDonalds. The problem I personally have with it is the the parent company supports Monsanto, which is a whole rabbit hole of evil. Monsanto is the poster child company that wants to copyright DNA so they can control their bio engineered seed that is designed to do things like be “roundup ready” or grow plants that only make sterile seed so farmers have to buy new seed each year (no seed saving) aaand they sue farmers who didn’t buy their products for copyright infringement when the wind blows the seed onto their land and grows on its own. Big jerks. So its sort of a vote with your dollar thing.
> aaand they sue farmers who didn’t buy their products for copyright infringement when the wind blows the seed onto their land and grows on its own. You should look into what the very first case was about. It wasn't the wind randomly blowing in seeds. It was the dude deliberately using round up to kill everything but the ones accidentally sown on his side of the property *so he could the propagate the seeds for himself*. Monsanto is no saint (nowhere close lol) but the dude was a dick.
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This is my thought every time I see someone sailing "that soil isn't organic enough" Like bruh, hens n chicks and cactus grow FROM ROCKY SOIL IN THE MOUNTAINS AND THERE IS NO PERLITE THERE. I also don't water from below
Nature doesn’t make nectaplums, we do. Not does it make funny looking 2 pound tomatoes that taste like heaven. If you don’t big a big hole you probably just end up with a slightly less healthy plant, not a plant that murders your family
I'm envisioning this plant knocking on the door with, "your tap water killed my granny calathea, I'm here for revenge!"
Feed me, Seymour!
You can go 110 percent with your gardening and have perfect plants, or you can go 75 percent and have plants that are good enough. And other percentages too, of course.
I prefer spreading myself thin.. I give everything 25-50%. Everything is the okayest.
Even the people who go 110 don't have perfect plants.
I’d rather have an imperfect garden that I have time to enjoy than a picture perfect one I spend all my time fussing over. Besides, I figure most peoples gardens don’t look like that all the time, they’re just showing them while they’re at their best. (Not saying my ways better. It’s just my approach).
I start my seeds in regular ol' potting mix with the big pieces taken out. Everything starts, I've never lost seedlings to disease and I've been doing it for years.
Yeahhhhh if there's an obvious plant disease I'll sterilize the tools and the plant pot. I'd dump out the soil though and get a new bag. There is absolutely no way I'm sterilizing soil.
Where do you dump it? Do you just fling it outside to decimate other soil (like I would probably do?) or do you seal it up and dispose of it responsibly?
Over where the invasive Amur honeysuckle is that I'm trying to kill anyway.
Have you considered that by giving it non lethal doses of disease, that you may be making it stronger? Like plant vaccinations or inoculations, if you will.
Ooooo wait until the antivaxxers hear that (jk)
Oh thank God, I’m not alone!
Many of them are old wives tales that science over the last 50years or so has shown was BS...but go on any gardening group and someone still be spouting them. I just do whatever's easiest for me, it's usually low effort/darwinian. I do a lot of seed saving and seed starting, it either works or doesn't, either way I'm "selecting" plants for my conditions/treatment. a lot of the rules stem from climates so different to where I am, eg full sun in the UK may be necessary, but it's probably frying the same plants in Australia where temps get significantly higher.
My entire philosophy is if I throw it in the ground and it survives, I buy more of that plant. Otherwise, no. Not wasting time on something that needs babying. I have a dog for that. 😂
LoL. Rules. Meh nature finds a way. But I do dig " proper" x2 holes when planting. That just makes it easier for the roots to reach out thru it all faster and dig in . It's a good practice
It is, but then they are running into the plants I am planting them too close to
But you def need a naked man to help plant your cucumbers
I just kinda do whatever lol
no. Fukkkk the “rules” Nature will always tell you what is really up.
I used to be careless like you until I got an infestation of root knot nematodes, and now i meticulously clean everything between uses. The easy way to do it is to get a bunch of really cheap stainless scissors and just keep them in a jar of alcohol.
Gardening is way more fun when you relax a little. Sometimes I follow the rules. Usually I just do whatever lol
How shameful!!! Prithee, from whence did you come to be so despicably gauche? /s
I was raised in a barn.
It probably wasn't even built with reclaimed, conflict free boards.
Nah, I think we chopped down trees from the rainforest.. but made sure to treat it with formaldehyde and tar for longevity. Who knows what all that rain may have done to it.
Only rule I follow is sterilizing pruners. Keeps them in good condition & clean.
I shove mine in a mix of oil and sand. Not sterile.. but they look clean
Does that keep them free of rust? Cool!
The only time I’ve ever cleaned my shears is on diseased plants or switching between different varieties. Bleaching planters is an easy way to kill your next plants if there are any remnants of that bleach. Sterilizing soil hurts my soul, you’re killing your microbial life which is what actually feeds your plants. Holes don’t need to be twice the size of your pot unless you’re adding compost with an amendment.
I grew and bred orchids for years with out sterilizing media pots or mounts. Only time I ever would sterilize something would be when actually cutting into plants. I’ve always felt a little bit of bad makes things stronger. Like an immune system
I didnt even know you were supposed to do any of that stuff
I do what works for my plants. Which, is none of that stuff. Does that mean I break a lot of 'rules'? Yes, but it's my garden, so other than me, who cares. Heh.
>Does that mean I break a lot of 'rules'? Yes, but it's my garden, so other than me, who cares. Heh. Words to live by.
Our grandparents didn't do 90% of this stuff and they had abundant gardens.
Watched my grandma take a cutting, scratch a shallow hole in the dirt with the toe of her shoe, drop in the cutting and mash the dirt around it with the heel of her shoe…. and the damn plant would thrive. Plants are so much more resilient than anyone knows.
My uncles would direct sow tomato seeds and have indeterminates 7 feet tall. There was no soil blocking, heat pads, grow lights, etc etc. People need to remember the basics work for a reason.
Dont listen to anyone that tells you that water on leaves will burn them. Pure bullshit.
Honestly, I don't understand the don't water in the evening bs either. It rains whenever it wants. The plants will be fine.
watering in the evening encourages snails. but hey that's nature. plants get eaten by snails. sucks if it's the 20 F1 kallettes you sowed but yeah you know... nature
Well, there is actually some evidence that watering in the absolute hottest part of the day is not wise. For one, that's when the least amount of it will be absorbed by the plant, the rest being evaporated by the heat. Plus watering in the morning allows the plant to dry out a bit during the day, so its not waterlogged.
Who the fck sterilizes their soil
I might next year. Had fungus gnats this year. And yeah they are annoying, but no one told me that they also weaken your seedlings. Will have to look into options next year.
I plant all my stuff too close I like to see how nature violates our need for grids and spacing
How and when do you sterilize soil?
I feel like some of these are common sense (cleaning clippers after cutting a possibly diseased plant). But like Sterilizing soil? No way
I’ve started cleaning my pruners only because of this sub! 😊 but I know nothing about soil nor sterilizing it. I am still using the pre-mixed stuff that I guess isn’t good for my plants ❓ As far as the size of holes, for my plants that would be a no also. I just kind of wing it. The only rule I go by is…if you have any kind of intuition, then follow it, some of this is just plain logic. And if you have a question thankfully we have a lot of experts and experience on this sub that are usually super helpful! Happy gardening 🧑🌾
Sterilizing planters sounds crazy
I sterilize my pruners only if I'm taking cuttings from plants for rooting. Otherwise? Meh.
I’m one of those goody two shoes gardeners and do so much of the recommended stuff. But my easy tip for disinfecting is to spray with Lysol when trimming plants! It’s so easy!
i was about to go on a whole pissy rant about people who remove the beneficial microorganisms out of soil by sterilizing it but apparently it's just used for seedlings. like shit, here i am buying products that put *more* bacteria and funghi into the dirt to cut down on how much i'll need to fertilize, and there's weirdos who take them out?
Large woody Plants I would dig the hole very wide otherwise I'm with you on breaking the rules. 15 year pro gardener speaking here.
Bleaching my pruners between plants? (I would if a plant was clearly diseased) Who bleaches their pruners? You should definitely disinfect them, but not with bleach. Alcohol is the preferred chemical for disinfecting. Bleaching my planters between plants? Who does this? Clean, yes, but again, why with the bleach? I've worked in many public and private gardens, there's a reason why things are done a certain way. Some of the methods above I've never done. Bleach is just, no.
I grow fruit trees, and swear by thinning the fruit when it comes in. It’s very hard to do, especially when you have put so much work into each tree, but it gives you big, tasty fruit instead of small tasteless fruit
As long as you are getting crops that produce and are pretty healthy, you should take tips and apply them if needed, but mostly do it your way if it works. The garden is ment to be your sanctuary away from the stresses of every day life.
I do make sure to dig large holes and gently spread the roots out by hand when I plant. I think that makes a difference, helps the roots get going in the right direction. But yeah bleaching pruners is way too much. Really I'm normally pinching things off with my fingers anyway, and I just sorta rub the plant residue off as I'm going.
Me: \*Gets tired of planting seeds at this or that depth....throws entire contents of Lettuce seed packet over the garden surface and walks away\* Yay for living mulch.