7 Incredible Gardening Hacks That ACTUALLY Work

[@lawrenberghanson4401]

Fun tips!! The grafting tip reminded me of an alternative living documentary I recently watched about Baldassare Forestiere. He was a very epic gentleman from Sicily, Italy in the 1900s who moved to Fresno. There was a golden age of farming citrus at that time but was duped into buying hardpan land. However, he didn't let that stop him and took advantage of the hardpan and figured out how to grow his citrus trees. One of the things he did was graft 7 different kinds of citrus on one tree. Only two of the grafts are still present after his passing but the tree is over 100 years old. You can still see the large nubs where the grafts were and grew.

[@puggirl415]

I loved that video by Kristin Dirkson. She finds some really interesting living spaces to document.

[@FrozEnbyWolf150]

I found that sweet potatoes don't really care what medium you use to root them, since it just has to retain water. I used woodchips instead of potting mix, and it worked just fine. All I did was sift the woodchips through a mesh, since I didn't want the large chunks.

[@jordanxfile]

I've had sweet potatoes sprout on their own in a paper bag. They look like weird little aliens. I live in an apartment, so gave them to someone who has a garden.🍠

[@jamesdagmond]

My sweet potato vines won't die even in the compost pile.

[@jdean1291]

Are there bloopers of you just crouching behind a bed waiting for a scene to start? There've gotta be haha

[@epicgardening]

SO many

[@siobhanmacleod7957]

They should release a music video of him hiding and then popping out from behind the beds. They can also include all the times they popped Jacques into the scenes. DJ Plant Daddy and The Hermit! 😂

[@gardengatesopen]

​@siobhanmacleod7957 👁 2nd the motion!

[@MyFocusVaries]

A short to the tune of I'm walkin on sunshine 🎶

[@chelseekpeace]

We NEED bloopers! 😅

[@bakedpt502]

It's worth noting that marcotted (air layered) tree's usually have a shorter lifespan and are generally smaller - this can be an advantage or disadvantage depending on context - but otherwise a pretty useful way to propagate trees!

[@epicgardening]

Fantastic point!

[@shanebekker]

So what method is best to clone a plant/tree?

[@yolandasotolopez]

I tried it And failed miserably

[@glenncombs3471]

I believe it is because the roots can't develop normally. Grafting can solve this, if possible.

[@bakedpt502]

@@shanebekker In depends on the species, really. But generally speaking - hard and soft-wood cuttings. Ideally you'd want to be grafting a scion onto a sturdy and well adapted root-stock. Marcotting is perfectely fine though, context is everything!

[@glenncombs3471]

I vaguely remember doing the sweet potato milk carton hack in third grade. (Mrs. Hendel, Maywood elementary, South Seattle, 1970). Great memory!

[@MrKoobuh]

When separating onion starts from a flat pack, a somewhat gentler (but messier) way to separate the roots is to soak the roots in a bucket of water, and separate them while swishing in water. If you're ham handed like me, you'll break far fewer roots. To plant, I push in moist soil straight down with a trowel, pull the soil to one side, gently place the roots down in the crack it opens, then pull the trowel out and firm the soil on the side I pulled the soil toward.

[@puggirl415]

Neat I'll keep air layering in mind. I do love to grow veggies that are sprouting rooting or otherwise don't get eaten in the garden. Another one that is good is to cut the bottom off of a celery and it will grow out of the center into a new plant with just water. I know some don't think celery is tasty or whatever negative experience they have. As a cook it is part of the mirapoix so I keep it in my garden for flavoring soups and stocks and other dishes. I hate to go and buy a celery just to use a few stalks so I like it in the garden.

[@smas3256]

Thank you Kevin. Amazing experiences you bring to the table and an opportunity for discussions in your community of subs. Also. Comments on many other channels and from content creators rave about your products. Sales are on a grand scale. Thank you.

[@kbjerke]

I accidentally forgot about a sweet potato that I'd left in the laundry room. It had sprouted multiple impressive slips all on its own by the time I discovered it! Seems they don't really need any encouragement. Thanks for the video!

[@epicgardening]

There you go!

[@smas3256]

Wild. Can the sweet potato last until planting time outside? With what you experienced, did you have a nice harvest? Was it an organic sweet potato? Thank you and Hope you see my questions.

[@kbjerke]

@@smas3256 To be honest, by the time I noticed that the potato had developed slips, it was already far along in the growing season. I did plant several in my raised and covered bed, and they developed a lot of greenery, but after the first frosts came, I dug them up and there were only a few tiny fingerlings. This was an experiment. I found that the earlier you start your slips in the New Year, the better. They will be happy indoors until the time is right to move them outdoors. Good luck, and best wishes to you!

[@Chet_Thornbushel]

I’m overwintering a pepper for the first time this year. I bought a jalapenoXfish pepper hybrid at a local garden expo and it grew incredibly slow and it produced NO BLOOMS at all! I just couldn’t stand pulling it and tossing it to the compost when frost was imminent so I dug it up and have it in a window inside. I really hope I can get some fruit off it this upcoming year to see how they are! It seems like such a cool cross that I’ve gotta get something from it!

[@IjeomaThePlantMama]

Hope it comes back! I'm overwinter some Polish bell peppers and birds eye chilis for the first time thos winter!

[@Aurora_on_AT]

When grafting your tomatoes, If you cut above the first node, you can allow the original plant to have 1 main stem from the original type, and with the graft, you can grow the second kind. With some training you can get 2 varieties from the same plant. It will impact the yield, however, is an excellent space saver. (You can do this with peppers too).

[@andralandi1108]

Those propagation spheres for air layering are an aesthetic game changer. I did air layering with some camellias last year using peat moss, plastic wrap, tape and aluminum foil. It worked, but it also looked like we were growing baked potatoes all season 😂😂😂

[@epicgardening]

Ahaahha

[@jonpinkston]

When I took Ag in high school, that's basically how we were taught to do it.

[@verleejenkins]

I have 3 eggplant, 2 peppers and 4 tomatoes overwintering in my window sill. Rather than using big ones this year, I used small cuttings. And thanks for the sweet tater hack! Love Botanical Interests, especially the extra seeds from both you and MI Gardener! I was born in San Diego but live in NW Arkansas now. God bless 🎉

[@gloriouslumi]

I've used cut up plastic straws and strips of nylon or ACE bandage to graft tomatoes. I've even used them to splint broken stems when I wait too long to provide support and they break in half 😱😱😱Just cut a slit in the straw to slip it around the cut area, and starting at one end wrap the plastic with a stretchy material. The slit and the material are both safeguards against constriction, though heavier tops may require more external support than just a clip or some plastic may require.

[@epicgardening]

Great tip!!!

[@tleigh4583]

I love doing the air layering hack on my indoor houseplants! Haven’t tried it in the garden yet

[@stephaniegagnon2583]

I have been trying to grow my own food for a couple years now. One I live were the UV gets to 11... so it’s been a crazy learning curve. Anyways the point I’m trying to make is this is the year I’m getting to start my raise bed gardens. I like your front yard and want something similar, I like those containers because I can add as I get more money and it will look cohesive. I’m super excited!!

[@NicolaiAAA]

I tried the sweet potato one last year after seeing someone else do it and it worked beautifully. Unfortunately they got sick so I was only able to harvest from one - and those were essentially fingerling sweet potatoes. Tasted nice roasted though! I really do want to do the pepper overwintering next spring though. I have plenty of seeds, but I think the overwintering option would be faster, plus if I keep them in their respective pots then I have more garden space! I do like the overseeding for certain things too. Especially green onions!

[@isabelladavis1363]

Love those delicate grafting clips … will need to find some for this years garden… thanks for sharing stay blessed

[@tannenbaumgirl3100]

Yes Kevin, I've been propagating trees with those blacks enclosures for 15 years.....always works, excellent method to propagate.

[@anonymousdude1994]

All trees can do this or?

[@Hyasbountifulgarden]

Hello can I do this with my pomegranate tree? Thanks

[@jeannamcgregor9967]

Depending on the season you can do that same lettuce-cutting hack with your own growing lettuce. Just cut about 1.5" above the soil-level, harvest all the leaves, and the plant will regrow. Sort of a radical cut-and-come-again method.

[@courtneycullen6289]

The hack for carrots might be nice for growing carrot top greens, which I love as a tasty herb when I am thinning carrot plants, but don't always think about when I am harvesting big carrots. Usually I just plant a bunch of excess. But I want to share my gratitude for ALL the pepper hacks over the years.

[@Canceriantigershark]

turnip and beet greens can be eaten as well as the carrot.

[@YeahMcMad]

Binging your videos bruz! Thank you for the info! Love from Australia!

[@JackCarregan]

5:59 I think the nurseries do this on purpose. Seeds arent that costly, they dont have to worry about how many of the seeds dont sprout. and then they are giving customers really good bang for their buck.

[@KeikoMushi]

Such a neat air layering tool shown in the first example. It also looks re-usable if handled with sufficient care.

[@KatieMarie]

I’m in zone 9a and I want to overwinter my peppers - do I need to put them in a pot and put them in the garage for winter? Or can I just cut them down like this and leave them in the garden? We get freezes here on the panhandle of FL - should I have the pepper inside when it freezes?

[@epicgardening]

If you heavy ulch the ground you're probably good in-ground, but I personally would go container - Kevin

[@KatieMarie]

@@epicgardening thank you! 🙏🏼 Should I only bring in during a freeze, or keep it in doors (my garage) until our last frost date?

[@timarheit7272]

With sweet potatoes, I take a couple cuttings before the first frost. Overwinter them inside in 1/2 to 1-gallon pots. They do quite well inside and I simply cut up most of the winter growth, root them in water and I generally have more starts than I know what to do with.

[@adigmon]

I live in Texas in 9a. I’ve started growing most of my peppers in grow bags. When it’s cold, I just move them onto my porch. If it freezes, I cover them. They keep producing peppers through the winter.

[@pennydox]

overwintering peppers is really useful for preserving pepper hybrids, or growing various peppers right next to each other, without fear of the next generation of peppers being cross-polinated, since the peppers will be from the same mother plant year after year.

[@danhogle1776]

So I have a question about winterizing peppers. I'm in zone 5B (upstate NY). I was wondering what you meant by move to a sheltered area? I don't have a ton of containers to move 20 plants in to. Could I use a gallon milk jug to cover them in place in the raised beds? Or do they need to come inside? What soil did you recommend if I had to move them to containers?

[@anonymousdude1994]

In all seriousness, I will use/try out the overseeding hack, the air propagation hack, and the sweet potato hack.. The other tips are legit too. The quality of the last couple videos has been the best gardening content on KZbin. I would like to see you re do the tomato experiment with the fish heads pulverized though. And maybe a couple fewer heads or maybe a water based slurry approach. Thanks guys

[@anonymousdude1994]

The other tips do work. Especially if you live in a warm zone like Cali 😎

[@epicgardening]

3 tips is a good hit rate! Thanks for the compliments, we have a killer team that helps :)

[@gardengatesopen]

Nothing like a good fish slurry video!!

[@julianspetsplants0309]

I love all your videos, the homestead, main channel, and Jacque's as well. I have been watching for a few years, and you were my inspiration to start my own gardening channel.

[@barbsoddznendz1896]

I put the bottom end of an organic store-bought celery in my garden about 6 months ago and it actually grew and is now large and producing a lot of stalks that I continually harvest.

[@Mulberrysmile]

I had a very large planter, but hadn’t really had success growing anything in it. I started putting the root portion of my cooking onions in it. They grew and I could use the leaves for cooking or salads. (I’d take only one or two leaves from different plants, not all the leaves from one plant.) They won’t grow a bulb, as they are biennial, but they do flower, and you can let them go to seed. The next year, the seeds sprout and you can leave them or transplant them for bigger bulbs.

[@sashachalmers2986]

Would you be able to do a video for overwintering peppers start to finish? What do I do after I've pruned and repotted? What care, sun, fertiliser, watering, etc does it need?

[@epicgardening]

Jacques has a 30min guide on his channel!

[@The-three-eyed-Prophet]

grafting tomatos has never worked for me so far but i give it a new tryy i also saw people grafting tomatos on a potato plant they call it a tomtato lol ...

[@scallywags12]

Air laying have been around for a long time. Also store bought organic lettuce can been regrown. I have done this many times. Cut celery 4 inches put in a jar of water. Once roots and green shoots show, plant up in a big pot or in the garden.

[@bethb8276]

Yes, I grew some beautiful Romaine just from planting the bottom of the cut off head..so much faster than growing from seed. I want to try celery next.

[@pappy451]

i currently use those rooting balls with great success . i turned 1 fig tree into 13 . . . while keeping the original tree growing . i also have used it with success on mulberry trees . my grandmother just used foil and sphagnum moss . no rooting hormone . but she had a green hand . . . never mind a thumb , she could grow anything !

[@anisaguine]

Regarding peppers, professional pepper growing little bird told me that usually after 5ish years of growing the plants start contracting diseases. Granted, he grows hundreds of plants, so maybe that's a lot of vectors for disease.

[@melanieallen8980]

overwintering capsicum (peppers) is great!! I love air layering.its fun!!

[@Simply.Owanda]

Pleeeease tell me with have more luffa videos coming! You Jacques, the other new dudes all sitting by the pond, having a bevvy and peeling luffa together lol! I dunno why I need that in my life 😅but it’s mandatory ☺️

[@fortpatches]

Do you have any videos on the overwintering? How/where do you maintain the plants during the winter? Do they need the cold -> hot transition to restart production?

[@cbmirada]

Love watching your videos, we have a big greenhouse that we use during the winter, but what we've found in our gardening is that the peppers of ALL types are getting cross pollinated, mixing the hot and the sweet peppers together 😢, is there a way to stop this, we don't have enough space to separate them alot, any ideas 🤔

[@audreyhenin1313]

Another amazing video, thanks Kevin for your hard work! Definitely gonna try the sweet potato milk carton trick!! I have to say I was pleasantly surprised to hear some Arc de Soleil in the middle of your video, great choice of music ;)

[@Joey-vw1id]

Hey Kevin great video! I'm wondering where you got those clips with the popsicle sticks when you did the graft on the tomato plant at the end of the video? I can sure use some of those clips! 💚🌿💯

[@victoriabarclay3556]

I live in the south but we still get nasty freezes. Overwintering peppers makes sense for that and for crop rotation

[@ChrisMusante]

I use rockwool on my strawberry runners - when I see the roots coming out of the dampened rockwool - clip and transplant. Simple and all you need is a piece of plastic wrap and a rubberband. The sun will kill any problems off - UV will penetrate the wrap.

[@kathieburchett]

THANK YOU SOO MUCH. This is exactly what I needed to grow most of these plants . You don't know how much you have helped me.❤😂🎉

[@warriormamma8098]

Thank you! Stay blessed!

[@partfish6290]

Oh I love eating raw potatoes. The crunch is so nice lol I had no clue other people did it too!

[@ShirleyJDavis]

What are the flowers that I can root by cutting around the stem and adding the soil. I have rooted some shrubs but not sure what other plants I might be able to root..

[@tristandaries1129]

With that opening, the channel definitely lives up to its name

[@Kraus-]

Truly an Eric Gardening moment

[@audreyorgnon7112]

Where can we find the little clips (the black one at the beginning and then the transparent one at the end with the grafting? At gardening shops? Also I'm interested in the high-tech cutter for grafting 😁thx

[@jordanxfile]

This was very nice; thank you. Butter was listening to you so carefully 🐔

[@nancyseery2213]

I have sprouting white onion bulbs from this summer's harvest. I was wondering if you ever replanted them?????? Will it work if you remove the outer layers and go down to the green sprouting part?????

[@fedupwithem6208]

That's a really nice knife. I used to have on similar to that and that steel will take an awesome edge.

[@LisaBoulders]

Wow, your website looks great. Glad your channel popped up in my feed.

[@HereIsMyStuff35]

Butter doesn't wants to be petted, she wants that nice fresh lettuce you cut up! :)

[@scorporsupremacy7948]

Hi. What are the clips you used on the tomato grafts called and where can I purchase some please ?

[@honestlee4532]

When I did the sweet potato hack, I just did it in my raised bed. You don't need to put it in an old milk carton. Just use any container with soil.

[@SeeScottWrite]

Love air layering, I learned it by accident before I knew it was a thing by playing around with some live sweet potato shoots and bits of cut up soda bottle with spare coir.

[@jackrobin365]

Hey Kevin hope you had a good thanksgiving, I just wanted to say it’d be nice to have a berry bush update if you still have them. Regardless thanks for the hard work always!

[@KishercegésGombóc]

I am trying to overwinter two peppers... One of them won't believe it is winter. Thrown out 31 flowers inside... It is a tiny plant cut back, maximum peppers were six the same time during the summer.

[@strawberryv54]

I'm so mad at myself i didnt see this before i threw out my dead peppers. Thank you Er..Kevin!

[@anonymousdude1994]

That’s not the Kevin I know. That intro was violent

[@gardengatesopen]

​@anonymousdude1994 ( whatcha sayin?? Do you think it might Eric in disguise!??? 🤫 Don't let "Kevin" hear!!!)

[@bethb8276]

​@gardengatesopen 😂. Actually "Eric" met the same fate as the pumpkin didn't he?

[@gardengatesopen]

@bethb8276 Well, yes? THAT'S the story. And the one now calling himself Kevin is stickin' to it! Truthfully, only the garden knows for sure who was left standing. The potatoes have eyes, so they MUST'VE seen something! But neither them, nor the chickens are squakin...

[@bethb8276]

@@gardengatesopen 🤣 cute!

[@nataliramirez6497]

Thank u for posting ❤ Your posts make my day happier

[@philippzwickis9701]

I threw bought sweet potatoes into the ground. I bought big ones in the super market to eat and picked the smallest ones just because price was per kg. At home I just threw the smallest ones into the ground about 15cm deep. 5 small ones planted pretty late in May actually made me about 3kg of normal sized sweet potatoes in September. (I live in northern Germany for that matter). So is just skipped ANY rooting process :D

[@terriblejustawful2825]

I leave the whole pepper plant in the ground, no pruning. Pretty much ignored it since i planted it years ago. My pepper plant is nearly 5' tall and looks like a tree now. I'm in North Georgia. I've also ignored my ginger and turmeric and they keep coming back.

[@monicamayer977]

I did peppers like that but some did not do well but brought them in again!

[@jacobwilliams3249]

Butter thought it was feedin time! Lol she was eyeballin u for a few lol

[@johnnyelvis]

What time of year would be good to put a rooting ball on an apple tree?

[@MrPotatoPoo]

When you overwinter peppers, should you be watering them?

[@epicgardening]

Maybe once a month

[@tretre1692]

With the over wintering of pepper plants, do we need to get bigger pots every year or is the same pot okay, with a medium sided pot?

[@epicgardening]

Bigger pots usually - root ball grows every year

[@jeromefridmann6108]

I am your humble ( and studious ) student ,Sir !! Thx. for spreading your valuable knowledge !!

[@wallyevans4228]

On propagating…do you water the medium like pear moss or coconut coir initially and or throughout the few weeks ?!

[@epicgardening]

Once a month MAX!

[@Kellibel]

Question about overwintering peppers: I’ve had mine inside for about a month and notice new growth on it. Am I supposed to let the new growth go or keep pruning it back until the spring?

[@epicgardening]

I usually prune that off until plantin gtime

[@CookieSweet4]

Using your milk carton starter approach for sweet potatoes, with an Average Last Frost Date of May 11th and a recommended beginning planting date for sweet potatoes for my area of May 18th. When should I begin the potatoes in the milk carton? I’m in Ohio zone 6b. I don’t want to start the process too early or late. Thanks!

[@blakebro1]

Is that your Rivian R1S?

[@AndiNewtonian]

Definitely gonna have to try the overwintering hack! We've got eggplants, jalapenos, and bell peppers still in the raised bed with a frost blanket over them. We were planning to pull them out this weekend, but easy enough to prune them instead. Worth a try, right?

[@dande9981]

how often do water that overwintering pepper in the pot?

[@epicgardening]

Once a month MAX

[@weilam03]

i 3d printed a few of those air layering pods

[@epicgardening]

Clever!

[@yoshideku117]

Please Kevin, do a video with some advices and cares for Apple trees pleeeease !❤

[@Hyasbountifulgarden]

Hi Kevin will this work in nectarine tree? Also when is the best time to do this? Thanks

[@roserizzo3094]

Great tips, thank you!

[@Devo491]

You can eat the leaves of sweet potato vines. Just cut off the end of a growing shoot, 2-3ft, and strip off the new, tender leaves. Bonus is this will cause the remaining stem to branch in several places, increasing the productivity.

[@Jardin-de-invierno]

In a past video you recommend a website to order trees from? I can’t find it again??? Can you help recommend a good website to order trees and berries from?

[@uma7894]

Now that I’ve already got sweet potatoes growing if I want propagate them I just take cuttings and sit them in a bucket if water for a week to root. That way I can eat all the actual sweet potatoes. (Admittedly I have the benefit of a climate where they don’t die off in winter.)

[@susettesantiago5509]

You are the man…..love the easy steps……

[@tygrahof9268]

Great tips! Worth a sub!

[@GardeningWithCoffee]

Love the information!

[@angelinaaleman6002]

Can’t overwinter peppers here in Fl due to root knot nematodes

[@liv_ryan]

How you liking the Rivian Kev? My mother is able to finally get hers late December.

[@epicgardening]

Huge fan.

[@BlueAlphaBelts]

I have a R1T and it's awesome!

[@grizzleknowsbest]

Please save me some of the seed starting trays.. cant wait for Sunday

[@Nephilim12340]

You should do a cooking or food presentation channel

[@lloydmcfarland4485]

Where can I get the air layering plastic cover? It’s NOT in the products page ……

[@georgesand3276]

Looks like someone at KZbin messed up. I turned off my ad blocker and still get the warning that I will be denied service. It's been nice watching you.

[@mewhotkoko]

I don't even put my sweet potatoes in a medium. They put out slips in plain air and I break off the slips and put them directly in the garden, no rooting necessary.

[@vinceveloce9897]

RE air-layering cutting the bark is effectively ringbarking it doesn't it defeat the purpose? Wouldn't it make more sense to leave some of the bark to allow the limb to still feed?

[@sallygiles132]

Hi , I’m in Devon uk, what month would I start sweet potatoes off using your method please, I’m zone 8 coastal. Thank you 🙏

[@epicgardening]

Early as possible as long as temps aren't below 50

[@VoteThirdPartyorFourth]

I'm overwintering with makeshift greenhouses

[@Chrysaphius86]

Yo where did you get that little knife you cut the lettuce with? Little is cool as hell, also could you do at some point a video about blackberry care??

[@epicgardening]

We stock on our store!

[@arnoldreiter435]

as always entertaining and informative......thanks