THE WORST GARDENING ADVICE!

[@LazyDogFarm]

What's the worst gardening advice you've ever been given? SHOP LAZY DOG FARM FIG TREES: lazydogfarm.com/collections/fig-trees 0:00 Intro 0:28 Bad Gardening Advice I Have Given 1:09 Bad Gardening Advice on Onions 4:19 Planting Vegetables on Double Rows 6:15 Putting an Egg in the Hole Beside a Plant 8:21 Putting a Fish in the Hole Beside a Plant 11:13 Can Worm Castings Transform Your Soil? 12:55 Don't Be Afraid to Feed Your Plants!

[@fayefaye3208]

Good morning, I went to elementary school in Funston, Ga

[@grasssnake3826]

Worst advice I got is about watering. Some people claim that watering in the heat of day will kill your plants and only water in the morning, which I agree morning is best but you'll kill your plants faster not watering waiting for the ideal times.

[@Mrbfgray]

Similar--probably just water saving propaganda but I've often heard the same about *top watering* plants in full sun, it doesn't hurt them in the slights that I've seen. I try to avoid hot time watering (most of my permanent plants, bushes, vines, trees are on timer) to save expensive water but no question better to water than not if they need it.

[@lindasbackyardgarden728]

So I always say well what about when it rains?

[@ryanbrand3946]

​@@lindasbackyardgarden728 its not sunny out

[@christineedwards4865]

@@Mrbfgray Top watering at any time is a bad idea for a lot of plants, like tomatoes, which are fairly susceptible to fungal diseases when the leaves are wet. That being said, I think top watering mid-day is better than the evening, because at least the leaves get some time to dry off, but in an arid desert environment watering in the evening could be better. It's not recommended to water mid-day because water droplets can concentrate sunlight similar to a magnifying glass and cause the leaves to get light burned. It depends on how sunny and hot it is, and like you say, a lot of the time you can do it without issue. It's usually much better to direct your water to the base of the plant if you can, and you can use mulch to conserve water.

[@Mrbfgray]

@@christineedwards4865 I know the hypothesis but I've never seen damage from midday sun overhead watering even at 114F. Ideals are not always practicle and mini emergencies happen. If tomatoes are wilting at any time and only viable watering is top--that's far better than letting them wilt worse to be damaged or killed. My desert conditions don't suffer near as much disease as most places seem to and I have plenty of mulch to prevent splash.

[@TheLeadShed]

We till in composted horse manure at the beginning of the season and that's all...plants grow like crazy

[@nonyadamnbusiness9887]

Have you gotten a dose of persistent herbicide yet? I prefer other livestock manure. Horse people like pure grass hay and pure grass pastures. The easiest way to get that is with Grazon. Other livestock owners like clover and alfalfa for the protein. You can't use Grazon on clover and alfalfa. The contamination rate is not high for horse hay, less than 1%, but lasts for years.

[@dls677]

Bad Advice: The idea that no-till plus heavy mulching works in all situations. On my site, this will work great in one spot but 100’ away, it can be a disaster - depending on the invasives present. Bindweed and Bermuda will love it.

[@tater357]

#1 Bad Gardening advice that I've heard just this year was "Not experimenting with a technique they've heard about and researched, but simply basing their theory on not being able to find enough evidence that it works". For all new Gardeners, ALWAYS be willing to try and experiment. NOT 1 way is the best. Don't be afraid to try something out of the norm. If it doesn't work, try something else. Chalk it up to experience and don't be afraid to learn.

[@LazyDogFarm]

Experimental design is key. If I want to test something, I must have an idea of the mechanism I'm testing. I must also define my variables and the quantitative data I will collect. If I can't quantify the mechanism, then I can't adequately explain the response. Also, plant size isn't always an indicator of production. You can have a monster tomato plant that makes few tomatoes because it has been overfed. Production could also be very dependent on pollinator activity in some vegetables. There are too many confounding variables and not enough information to conduct the experiment you're wanting me to conduct. It isn't as simple as planting whole taters vs cut taters and weighing the harvest.

[@andrewshenton6541]

And don’t be afraid to fail,its only temporary,grow different next season,at least you know what not to do,and that’s just as good

[@markware4933]

Tater, I believe that I need to respectfully disagree with you. Just because a new gardening practice has been presented and even gained wide support, it doesn't follow that it's worth the effort to try out. I don't need to practice Back to Eden techniques, Biodynamics, moon phases, Electro-culture or the many Asian fermented elixirs to know that my methods are better suited to my climate, soil, and pest pressure. I value a different set of sacred cows, but at least I understand them, and they work. Have a good season.

[@tater357]

@@markware4933 As far as the NEW gardening practices go, Almost ALL of the techniques you mentioned are not new to the gardening community. I don't know your methods, climate, soil or pest pressure, so therefore I can not say for a fact that any of these methods would work for you. What I can say, is trying something new MIGHT benefit you more than you know. EVEN if it don't, you'll benefit from the experience of trying. THAT'S my whole argument. I respectfully agree with your decision not to rely on certain techniques, but I totally disagree with canceling out a technique simply because you yourself have never tried it or intend too.

[@tater357]

@@LazyDogFarm Not to put to fine a point on it, but you asked us what BAD ADVICE we've heard or have been told about Gardening in the past, and I commented with what I have run across recently. As far as your logical breakdown goes with experimenting, I find it hard to argue with anyone that uses Scientific procedures such as yours, but I truly feel sorry for those that accept it without argument because they will never know for sure if the technique works or not. Instead, they'll listen to those that seem to know more and the technique will get lost in time along with the experience that others have had success using for many of years. Arguing over Science Theories here as of late, seems to be a lost art in itself.

[@TheSHOP411]

This was a great talk. The way I look at putting anything that will putrefy and rot in my gardens like this. When I was little and like little boys would do, we would investigate all kinds of road kill. We would watch numerous armordillos get killed an rot away during the summer months. In the beginning, all the juices would spill out and a lot of the grass around it would die off. As the summer progresses, new grass would come in and by the end of the summer, you would see a luscious patch of grass growing through the bones. So, the rotting carcass did provide something because that patch of grass would always look better than the surrounding grass, but it sure took a long time to get like that and it always died off at the start. We grew up in south Louisiana so we fished for everything. We put fish scraps, crayfish peels, shrimp peels, and crab shells in the garden. We had some of the best soil you could imagine. Took years to get it like that though. So, what I got from what you were saying, you have to understand HOW to apply any advice you get. If taken in the wrong context, or applied incorrectly, it could do more harm than good, but if done just right, it could really be a boost. I obviously have a lot to learn about onions. You definitely seem to be the KZbin master at them.

[@dottieboatman9816]

…and this is the reason I follow you!

[@deestrawser2423]

Travis, It's nice to see a KZbinr that can stand in front of a beautiful crop and tell us how it is done. I've seen too many channels that are just trying to solve a problem they are having due to their inexperience and they conveniently supply a link to a product that may or may not do anything other than put a selling commission in their pocket. And that's not the worse, I saw a channel today that was preaching to be prepared and had a complete list of products to have on hand "just in case" and their links included products that can be bought elsewhere at a much lower price than Amazon. I like your inexpensive down-to-earth methods. Stay cool and best wishes!

[@tommathews3964]

I'm totally with you on "Bruce Wisdom" as far as onions go!! He's The Man on onions, leeks, etc. for sure! Good subject matter in this episode! Goodness knows, there is a LOT of advice out there, some good, some not so good, some downright BAD! There is no "miracle advice" that's going to fix all of your ills, which I think a lot of people are looking for. There are good, sound practices, proven over time, adaptable to your specific situation, and a lot of hard work and effort that will pay off, but it won't happen right before your eyes. Gardening ain't a "quick fix" endeavor!

[@bobbygreen2291]

You spot on again ,,there is no dyed in wool advice when it comes to gardening,,keep that mind open and try to do what is right for the individual planting.

[@jamieholdorf7786]

Two things I see all of the time - adding Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) to combat BER (calcium uptake issue). BER is rarely caused by a lack of calcium in the soil and is almost always an inconsistent watering issue. BER is also almost always self correcting given time, so folks will add Epsom and when BER disappears, they think it's due to the Epsom. The second one is people giving advice on what annuals to plant and when to plant them based on hardiness zones rather than last and first frost dates. You can be in the same zone as another person but have different average last and first frost dates thereby potentially leading someone to plant out too early and losing their plants.

[@jamieholdorf7786]

Forgot to add that magnesium will actually inhibit the uptake of calcium, so it's really double bad advice.

[@dvrmte]

My first mail order onion plants were from Dixondale and I followed their growing advice. At the time, there was little available information on growing onions in the South. Back then, intermediate day onion plants weren't available, so I planted short day onions that rarely produced big onions up here. They didn't grow big bulbs because they began bulb swell before the foliage reached full size. So trimming onion tops after transplanting is about the worse thing you can do in regards to growing big healthy onions. I have minimal weed pressure where I planted my sweet corn in double rows. When I hilled them at layby, I pulled a good bit of dirt between the stalks creating an 18" wide bed about 4-5" high. I haven't seen any weeds between the stalks yet, and they're getting big enough now to shade them out anyway. I plant bush lima beans(Jackson Wonder) in double rows as well as crowder peas. I don't get blossom end rot unless my plants get starved for moisture. I put down lime every other year because my soil is naturally slightly acidic and low in calcium. I have used gypsum as a calcium supplement when I didn't want to change the soil PH. We used to side dress our peanuts with gypsum just before pegging to make the soil soft and supply calcium. I haven't used earthworm castings but my finished compost piles are full of earthworms. Gotta be some castings in there? LOL The only thing you can add to your garden that's magical is good compost. Even better is composted race horse manure. LOL I used to get truckloads of horse manure mixed with wood shavings. After a year of composting, you could put plow in an inch or two and grow almost anything. Put down four inches and it would grow some of the greenest corn you've ever seen. When the manure pile is almost used up, plant a hill of watermelons in it. That's how I grew a 75 lb. Charleston Grey. I grew a Better Boy tomato plant in composted manure against the side of my house. It grew up to the roof edge and all the way back to the ground. I eventually had to use a ladder to pick some of the tomatoes. During the peak harvest season, I was picking 6-12 huge tomatoes a day. I make sure that horse or cow manure is hot composted before putting it in my garden. If you don't, you're just planting weed seeds when you use it. When I turn the piles the first few times, they will be smoking(steaming), and will be too hot to touch more than a second or two. Yes, the magic formula is compost.

[@LazyDogFarm]

Interesting. So is race horse manure better than just regular old horse manure? lol

[@paulshell1729]

​@@LazyDogFarm I guess it just works faster than regular...

[@dvrmte]

@@LazyDogFarm Of course so. LOL I got the manure from a local horse breeder. He was real particular about his thoroughbred horses and what he fed them. He kept the manure under a shed, so there was no nutrient leeching. While horse and cow manure were key in my early soil building, I rarely use it now. I can maintain my organic matter using chicken fueled compost, green manuring, and returning crop residue to the soil.

[@geegaw1535]

We all try to help one another. We all make mistakes. As long as we learn from them we'll all come out okay. Thank you for all your help.

[@priayief]

"Bad gardening advice" is advice you follow just because it works for someone else. Good gardening advice is discovering what works for you and your particular environment. Stick with your traditional method and do your own garden trial. Compare the advised method with your traditional approach and see if there is a significant difference. You don't have to measure accurately, simply observe your results.

[@papawsplace]

I agree!

[@ivahihopeful]

Yes!

[@BeckJoseR]

I agree with your advice, but! I disagree with your assumption of advice. Your logic would imply all advice is bad advice, thus doing your own trials. I KNOW that there is good gardening advice, because I've received some with great success.

[@PlantObsessed]

Just like all advice..the answer is always ..it depends. pH, water, soild type, environment, attention you pay to the plants. Experience over time is the best advice for almost everything.

[@Maria-ql3fc]

Very good information and thank you for admitting that no one is the perfect gardener. You do have the most beautiful onions I have seen in anyone’s garden. I’ve never even thought of cutting the top of my onions for the very reasons you described. You never get to old to learn how to do something better.

[@Mrbfgray]

Endless more to learn about most things, certainly gardening included.

[@marvinbrock960]

Epic Gardening just posted a video where they used tomatoes.. a control plant with zero amendments then others with ‘stuff’ thrown underneath… each different.. cooked pasta, whole eggs, fish heads, and kitchen scraps.. the FISH HEADS did the worst by far! I mean it was beyond noticeable, it was horrible.. they pulled it all up afterwards to see what was left… the catfish was cleaned and no odor but the bones were still solid and not broken down.. the egg shells were also not composted, still intact and recognizable… just like your paw has said it would.. 👍🏻

[@82Julian]

Awesome Guy awesome Gardener 👍💪as always thanks Travis for all!!

[@shirleyn4677]

Still after all this time I am hearing well meaning KZbinrs pass on bad gardening advice. One, don’t let water sit on leaves they will get burned. Two, put Rolaids/egg shells for blossom end rot. I’ve heard of the cutting the tops of onion plants but not everyone subscribes to it. Mostly it’s done for commercially for shipping purposes. Maybe that’s where it originated. Thanks, Travis, for dispelling them.

[@farmonmunsonrd7671]

Still wish we had a growing season like yours up here in Vermont. We had flurries yesterday and 26 degrees this morning. There is a reason we don't plant until Memorial Day Weekend. We do a lot of double row planting, it works well as long as they get enough water and fertilizer. The old farmers up here used to cut onion tops to keep them from falling over too early. A better option would be to support the tops to keep them upright, maybe a Florida weave or mini tomato cage depending on how many there are. We grow a couple thousand so I just let them fall over.

[@janetlavoie2441]

So do I. (Maine gardener)

[@hummingbirdhillhomestead]

Lots of excellent advice! We've been hobby gardening for years. This year, we are getting serious about production. I have chronic health issues and need adaptive solutions so we invested in infrastructure, and drip irrigation with in-line fertilization. Our garden has been in about a month and we are seeing great results. Thank you for sharing your experiences. They really help us Southern gardeners!

[@michaelmosley254]

Good advice the bad thing about the fish is the bones want break down to fast I tryed it and the next year I stuck a fish bone in my hand when I was sitting out matters

[@51rwyatt]

I heard "the best fertilizer is a gardener's footsteps," and I trampled my garden!

[@mikeh8374]

I put fish in a hole and got fire ant mound that was probably guiness record size.

[@LazyDogFarm]

Haha!

[@IntentionalHomesteading]

So I think they key term is that these suggestions can be adjuncts but not primary measures.

[@LazyDogFarm]

Great way to put it!

[@nicholasdemarest4254]

You said you have done cover crops and added compost/fertilizer for years. Now with the chicken tractor use one plot and don't fertilize except lightly at planting and compare it to another plot doing your normal procedure. For the last 5 years this has worked amazing for me and don't have the chicken tractor.

[@ChefMarandaGardens]

Very good advise Trav! Some people think....well I saw them do it on youtube an yada yada yada, building soil takes time! It's not always ready to go.

[@Sssanbo]

After seeing ur results , you the onion daddy I’ve been wondering about compost tea

[@Coastal.Redwood.Homestead]

Great video I make my own fish fertilizer I live right next to the ocean and I fill a five gallon bucket with fish carcass add water cover and let it sit for six months to a year and my other liquid fertilizer is cow, chicken, goat manure with comfrey and let them sit for awhile also

[@jasona6222]

I don’t bury fish next to tomato plants…I plant the tomato plant directly on top of the fish scraps..in buckets and in raised beds. I don’t have to fertilize but sometimes I will. At the end of the season the only thing remaining is scales of larger fish. But most importantly, it’s a excellent excuse to go fishing.

[@FlomatonFamous]

Good video Travis, bad gardening advice is one of the reasons I started my channel. So much misinformation out there

[@jonlewis6630]

I tried the whole fish thing years ago. Killed everything, burned them up. I have put fish carcasses in the garden when nothing is growing at the time to supplement the nutrients, but I always preplant fertilize and add homemade compost. Not a lot after that and my garden produces. Cheers

[@affarms1121]

i tried the vermicompost system in my raised beds and couldnt keep the ants out.

[@Christian-jx3nx]

Why would you use salty speckled sea trout? Keyword salty. 🧐 I’ve learned alot from you especially that I’m not using enough fertilizer and scheduled fertilizing is important. I have clay soil so a little different from yours but most of your advice works here too. This year I learned that carrots need tons of water and I’ve had great success this year. Growing larger potatoes is my current goal. Yesterday I killed a squash vine borer with a fly swatter. The first I’ve seen here in Memphis this year. It was very satisfying! 😂

[@LazyDogFarm]

I've never noticed that saltwater fish were more salty than freshwater fish. lol And we eat a lot of fish.

[@Christian-jx3nx]

@@LazyDogFarm freshwater trout are disgusting! 🤮 sea trout are yummy. I just thought since you have to rinse seaweed, fish would be salty too and might affect plant growth. I’m always curious. There is a different nutritional sodium content in both types. Sea trout 138 mg NA+ vs freshwater at about 8-14mg NA+ I would use dead fish in a pinch but fish emulsion is still inexpensive

[@papawsplace]

I got one I can't stand when people say it, and that is plants need 1 inch of rain/water per week. That is so far wrong it not even funny, because it depends on a lot of things. Example: In ground gardening vs Raised Beds, Soil types, Container Gardening etc. And people just don't understand that what works for me may not work for them just because they are in the same gardening zone.

[@LazyDogFarm]

Our raised beds definitely need more than an inch per week.

[@lawrencekeech2779]

Good gone bad advice: “till in a bag of lime” yeah most of our soil needs it bad, but if you probably going to get some sickly blueberries if you go adding lime. Tomatoes need pruning (nit all varieties) Miracle grow fixes everything. I ended up with an 18 foot tall tomato plant with almost no maters. When I cut back on the 24-4-16 stuff I finally got blooms (and seemingly billions of cherry tomatoes… that I couldn’t reach)

[@LazyDogFarm]

Lime also raises soil pH, which is really hard to lower if you get it too high.

[@mattshepherd8586]

Thanks travis. U single handedly convinced me to use the blue stuff and im glad we are both back on the same page

[@jahineverybody]

Bad advice, or bad belief I see often, is people thinking compost (especially the cheap stuff from box stores!) is equivalent to fertilizer. Then they wonder why their plants are starving.

[@davidallred2947]

I have been planting my corn in quad rows. 8" apart (across) and 12" spaced in 30' rows. Drip tape between 1 & 2 and between 3 & 4. One quad set for 3 varities staggered to avoid cross pollination and to separate harvests. This is year three with good success.

[@malcolmt7883]

The Three Sisters garden was the worst one I ever tried. The pole beans were supposed to grow up the corn stalks, and pumpkins would trail across the ground. What it turned into was an 8 foot tall tangle of vines and weeds, just crawling with squash bugs.

[@LazyDogFarm]

I've seen a lot of folks talk about that one, but never seen anyone show the end result. It sounds good on paper, but I've grown enough corn, beans, and pumpkins to know that there could be problems trying to grow them all together.

[@jeas4980]

Hahaha... I was just chatting about this on Luke's channel. It originated with the native tribes in the Chesapeake water shed/Piedmont region. It's kind of been manipulated into something it never was. You don't plant them all at once together. They named their moon cycles after their corn cycles. You plant your corn at the planting moon (Rows of mounds about 30" diameter with "walking space" between). Then the Squash or melons go in during the green corn moon in June when the corn is up about 4'. The beans don't go in until their harvest moon.. so you're essentially removing the ears of corn as you're putting in your beans. It works in this area... I failed for several years until I asked a Meherrin tribes woman at a Powwow one year. I don't see how it could work in areas that don't have our frost dates. Just like I could never use the Hopi "waffle gardens" in my swampy region.

[@studucky7826]

Use comfrey tea for everything it works absolutely brilliant here in the UK

[@larrybingham3202]

Trusting you filleted the fish first….. ha!

[@LazyDogFarm]

Of course!

[@sandrinefresne6575]

Very interesting. Thanks. I make my own fertiliser, either comfrey feed or nettles feed . But prior to planting , I use blood fish and bone . Keep up the good work.

[@takeitslowhomestead5218]

Good info; great video.

[@lawrencekeech2779]

Onions 🤦🏼 where was this video for the last 20 years? I’ve had the most beautiful green onion tops you’ve ever seen, and dime-sized bulbs. This is the first year I actually got bulbs - have to say I’ve learned sooo much from these videos. And those army worms, seems a lot of people are struggling with this year. Wonder if it’s the weather, or a cyclical thing? 😥 they wiped out all but one of my giant butternut plants.

[@LazyDogFarm]

The odd thing is that I haven't really noticed the army worms on anything else. We had them on the corn early, I put the beatdown on them, and haven't really seen them since.

[@lawrencekeech2779]

@@LazyDogFarm I had them in my potatoes really bad

[@hollynelson543]

Hey Trav...😊😊

[@esmysyield2023]

I would think the worm casting would be more beneficial for perennials. It takes a while for the microbes and fungi to get established and with annuals the soil gets disrupted on a regular basis. Thats not to say they wont help. I use them all over the place. But its my blackberries and blue berries where I notice the greatest benefit.

[@LazyDogFarm]

Makes sense.

[@dannyworten5876]

If you bury a fish under your plants the raccoons or other critters will help you dig up your plants for you. Better to compost them away from the garden

[@theIAMofME]

I do it every time. (Sardines) I have never had one dug up. EVER. I have PLENTY of critters. Raccoons being one of them.

[@wormulous]

I've heard NOT to EVER cut your onions. I'm sure there is a video with research to back that up as well but I won't put the effort into going back and researching right now. I don't grow many onions so i dont have the first hand experience either way to say. I always say, if you are curious... document and experiment so that you can actually SEE the difference. And.... do it over time.or get enough of a sample size so that itll really matter.

[@rosehavenfarm2969]

As an experiment, I trimmed half of my onion seedlings this year. I noticed that they did grow more leaves as compared to the non-trimmed leaves. I do agree, nitrogen is only for the tops.

[@LazyDogFarm]

Yeah trimming the seedlings definitely helps. I trim mine 2-3 times before transplanting.

[@jamestboehm6450]

I've learned that even numbered organic fertilizer is just fine for almost all plants in the garden. Played with fertilizer for last 20 years. And my go to is jobes organic fertilizer. Just my opinion.

[@markware4933]

James, please help me understand how even numbered organic fertilizer outperforms odd number fertilizer. No more 8-5-5? how about 13-0-0?

[@LazyDogFarm]

I'm guessing you meant a "balanced" fertilizer where all the numbers are relatively "even" or close to one another. If so, yes that is a great plan. A balanced fertilizer at planting can make you look like a gardening hero and is often times all a fast-growing crop like lettuce needs.

[@mgguygardening]

Great video, thanks! I've wondered about the "fish in the hole" idea and if it would be beneficial. I kind of thought the same thing that you've said, that just a single fish or even just a fish head wouldn't provide enough nutrients without adding more nutrients throughout the year. Again, not a bad idea, it can certainly help, but it's not a single solution to nutrients for a full season.

[@lawrencekeech2779]

For whatever it’s worth, the old timers used to say throw the fall fish in a whole where you’re going to plant tomatoes in the spring. I can see that being a small benefit with fish bone meal and trace minerals that had all winter to break down. But kinda of like Travis said, it’s not going to fix anything, it’s just an extra tool in the gardening tackle box (pun intended)

[@joeyl.rowland4153]

Onions well I try not one of my stronger suits. I dont do so well.

[@nonyadamnbusiness9887]

Using a fish for fertilizer was something white men learned from coastal Algonquin tribes in colonial times. Sea fish is an excellent source of micronutrients. It can make a noticeable difference in sandy soil. Probably not so much in a garden with properly maintained soil. The Algonquins couldn't go to the farm store and buy fertilizer and couldn't buy truckloads of composted manure. The blossom end rot thing is overblown. A normal treatment with dolomite lime will provide all the calcium and magnesium any plant needs.

[@lindad768]

I wish I would have watched this video before yesterday! I took that bad gardening advice and cut off my onions! UGH! Is it too late to succession crop in Zone 7B do you think? Great video as always.

[@LazyDogFarm]

Probably too late to plant another round, but at least you know for next time.

[@andrewshenton6541]

So Travis you do not think that compost although variable has enough in it,i do use fish emulsions but would like to not use anything,but i believe having rewards for the hard work put in out ways the stubbornness of not using a fish feed to enhance,but people need to know that the fertilizers are temporary and immediate as they can be washed out with watering and rain unlike compost

[@LazyDogFarm]

Depends on the source of the compost. The gin trash compost we've used is a great soil amendment, but it won't supply all the nutrients that plants need. Mushroom compost is pretty good, but the beds where we've used it still seem to run out of juice by the end of the growout. Manure-based compost works really well if you can get your hands on some.

[@vahlla78]

They say to cut the onion tops when young. Not at that stage. I’ve even seen professional growers who have a market do that...

[@gilshelley9183]

You forgot the element of time. The fish and the egg may work given enough time to break down enough to be available to the plant, I know with egg shells it can take as long as 10 - 50 years for the first molecule to be available.

[@melissalynne3004]

Hi Travis, I love your channel. Please don't wear your sunglasses. It's nice to see your eyes in your face..😊

[@lawrencekeech2779]

Speaking of advice: do you have a slug and snail advice video?

[@Chris-bx4vk]

Move to a different area of the country. Til then use traps. Google it.

[@KDial]

diatomaceous earth should work

[@chiefcuster]

I use any of the many brands of granular slug & snail bait to keep the slimy horde out of my garden. They work really well as long as you sprinkle around about once a month. They are harmless to everything else.

[@LazyDogFarm]

Don't have many issues with snails or slugs, but a granular spinosad (I think it's called Sluggo) sprinkled around the plants should take care of them.

[@FC-cz6zd]

Another highly educational video👍. As far a blossom end rot, I've read that it is usually a result of a nutrient lock issue rather than lack of calcium. Also, I'm trying a bit of synthetic nutes this year as an experiment. I will say I'm getting some great production. It's a limited use thing but I like the results so far. Fun to try new stuff each year.

[@wormulous]

Yes and if it is a lock it can be as simple as a ph issue. Like stated in the video a soil test can certainly help with understanding that. I stand by my initial thought of your soil that probably hasn't been farmed on for 100 years plus, the million billion year old soil has the natural occurring atoms to sustain plant life. It might BOOST growth for a little bit, but may not solve the actual issue.

[@ivahihopeful]

I think it’s also often a watering problem.

[@dvrmte]

@@ivahihopeful Yep, can't get water, can't get calcium.

[@terri6425]

This came just the right time!!! One more question, Do you need to spoon onions ? I was thinking no . Unsure though so many talk about it . I’ve not seen you do it. I 💯 trust your advice!

[@LazyDogFarm]

You don't need to spoon them. They'll push through the soil without your help. Ours always do. But if it makes you feel better, don't let me stop you.

[@waynespringer501]

@@LazyDogFarm Advice probably still stands, but a lot like myself doesn't have the very loose sandy soil that you have.

[@msday2vzw]

Just today I watched a video and today she was planting her tomatoes ( she has a beautiful set up, I am envious) and she was putting a whole egg, breaking it up, adding fertilizer and then planted the tomato. A few videos ago she was buying potatoes and how she bought determinate potatoes and her mother was going to grow indeterminate so she could plant them deeper and get more potatoes....I am still struggling with this. I wonder about sand in my clay soil. We moved south 3 years ago, from MA. Clay soil is driving me crazy. Hubby says add sand, some say no. Others say you need to add tons of sand, yet others say gypsum. All these gardening channels and it's so hard to figure out good from bad advice!

[@americanjock2007]

I had clay soil I just kept adding leaves in the fall and compost

[@ivahihopeful]

I have/had hard clay soil. I’ve added mostly compost and gypsum, and my soil is amazing now. Very rarely do I add sand, and only with compost as well. I added only sand to a couple areas and made concrete. The plants were dying, and when I tried to dig to investigate, I had to soak it down greatly and still had problems digging into it!

[@ivahihopeful]

I have/had hard clay soil. I’ve added mostly compost and sometimes some gypsum, and my soil is amazing now. Very rarely do I add sand, and only with compost as well. I added only sand to a couple areas and made concrete. The plants were dying, and when I tried to dig to investigate, I had to soak it down greatly and still had problems digging into it!

[@autohelix]

I have pure red clay and have no problems. It is very high in iron if it is red, and also holds fertilizer very well. Do not add sand. Never not ever. Only add organic matter. Compost for example.

[@kirstmlarson1]

My children’s pet fish recently died under suspicious circumstances (I think the youngest tried to take it out and hold it). My kids each have raised beds, and debated who got to plant the fish in their bed! I just had to laugh at the whole situation.

[@LazyDogFarm]

Sorry to hear about the fish, but good to hear you recycled it! lol

[@jasperthomas8048]

Geez, you must be rich! Those Red Snapper tomato seeds are expensive!

[@LazyDogFarm]

Compared to open-pollinated tomato seeds, yes. But when you consider what you get from that one seed, it's totally worth the investment.

[@MrBendylaw]

I'm real confused to tell the truth about what's worse, the online advice or the familial advice. There are some crazy people walking amongst us. My grandad produced good crops; but he was before the internet and was pretty conservative in his farming stuff. I only plant heirlooms because of his influence, and because I'd like to take a seed from a good plant.

[@lindasbackyardgarden728]

So, should we cut the seed head off onions to increase bulb size?

[@LazyDogFarm]

When they make seed heads, they're done growing. Go ahead and harvest them because they usually don't store long after going to seed.

[@MrsLovelyPendragon]

Bad gardening advice on other channels: Florida Weave on *any* type of tomato plant. I tried it and it failed. Then I rewatched those videos and realized they only planted determinate tomato plants. Lazy Dog Farm to the rescue, I thought I was crazy then you touched on it in one of your videos that you only do this for *determinate* tomato plants and I was so relieved I wasn’t the only one! Second good to bad gardening advice *back to Eden gardening* tried it for six years. I bought organic mulch every spring by the TON. SIX YEARS of fighting nut sedge grass and last year I said no more. Bought professional garden weed fabric and instead of 5 hours of weeding *every* weekend I had time to focus on other things in the garden. Never going back to back to Eden gardening and I saved $1300 alone in mulch. Back to Eden works if you have dealt with your weed seed bank AND don’t have the nightmare of nut sedge!

[@xuyahfish]

I think Hugo Culture can be done wrong sometimes.

[@malcolmt7883]

That's the, bury a log and wait 20 years method.

[@coopgb]

So since you've been at this a while what do you think the best overall type of fertilizer is and best fertilizer for the dollar?

[@LazyDogFarm]

Really just depends on what you can get. At $35 for a 50 lb bag, I really like Nature Safe. But not everyone can find it locally for that. The Harmony and Symphony pelleted chicken manure fertilizers are also great. Brand is not as important as how you use it.

[@coopgb]

@@LazyDogFarm thx! Yeah I can get the nature safe shipped to Texarkana and it's about the same per lb as most of the organic. I'll probably try some out this fall.

[@2WONG363]

Dam i thought that was Aloe plants 🪴 them were onions 👀🤔👏

[@mattpeacock5208]

I thought the fish guts and shrimp heads in the garden was just a better way to get rid of it than let it stink up the trash can all.week till trash day! With a bit of nitrogen and some sea salt micro nutrients as an added bonus.

[@LowcountryGardener]

It kills me when I see videos titles like, "Plant these 10 vegetables in May", as if that goes for everyone no matter what their weather is like. Bad Gardening Advise!🙄

[@andrewlittlefield3425]

That’s the best gardening advice 😊

[@gaprestige]

Where in GA can I buy the naturesafe 13-0-0? Thanks.

[@tarriwhite1189]

I am also looking for 13-0-0.

[@LazyDogFarm]

Graco Fertilizer in Cairo, GA carries the Nature Safe 8-5-5 and I was told that they could get the 13-0-0. That's where I usually get mine.

[@leedimusttu4702]

I just need some advice. I’m in south Texas we have had a bunch of rain. I’ve got tomatoes in a raised bed and have three different varieties. Im wondering what would make a couple of the varieties be losing its blooms and not producing and the other 2 varieties are in the same raised bed are producing tomatoes. Any good advice would be appreciated. As always thanks for your help.

[@LazyDogFarm]

Some varieties of tomatoes have "heat set" potential, meaning they'll continue to set fruit when temps get hot. Other varieties will drop blooms when it gets hot. Could be a varietal difference. If that's not it, I'm not sure.

[@allantrafford6262]

Off the subject but.... I'm in zone 9a, I have my last succession planting of broccoli and cauliflower in the ground. It hasn't started forming heads yet. Is it too late? Should I pull em or wait em out? I could use the space for more watermelons.

[@ivahihopeful]

I’m in 8b, South Mississippi, and it’s definitely too hot here for broccoli. I’d get flowers before heads, and I suspect it might be that way at your place, too.

[@allantrafford6262]

@@ivahihopeful thanks. I

[@LazyDogFarm]

My broccoli has some small heads that I'm about to cut. They'll get seedy real quick when it's warmer. After I cut the smaller heads, mine are gone and more watermelons for me too.

[@markc2036]

Great video enjoyed it. I've got a question, what's a good mulch to put around your tomato, cucumber and squash plants? I've put the landscaping mesh and I've heard not to use the colored mulch. True? So pinestraw, grass clippings or hay? Thanks

[@Amanda-cn3pk]

Straw is great to use.

[@LazyDogFarm]

I like pine straw.

[@Tom-xc8up]

Hey Lazy Dog Fam, I picked a pepper about 2 weeks ago. How soon can I plant them seeds?

[@LazyDogFarm]

I don't do a whole lot of seed saving, so not much help on that front. Maybe someone else here in the comments section can help.

[@markoliver-ww9ld]

I can help? Peppers on your plants need to go from green to fully red on the plant, just like tomatoes to harvest seeds, if you harvest seeds from green tomatoes or green peppers, they will not germinate.

[@markoliver-ww9ld]

I have Shishito peppers growing in my garden and I have about a dozen starting to turn red, when they look fully red from top to bottom than you can pick them and harvest the seeds.

[@markoliver-ww9ld]

If possible if u want to harvest seeds from market seeds, you need to buy organic tomatoes or peppers that are red, if u buy from the junk pile, you'll get a junk crop. You can Google this. 🙂

[@TMesser74]

Do you use any humid acid or have you before used any or any minerals to help with uptake of nutrients? I’ve used garden lime and crushed egg shells in my tomatoes with no success.

[@LazyDogFarm]

I don't use either of those. My strategy is more to add organic matter through cover crops and grazing.

[@TMesser74]

@@LazyDogFarm thank you

[@briankFF247]

That speckled trout would have been better if it was buried in cornmeal or melted butter

[@LazyDogFarm]

Haha! I prefer the "House Autry" brand over cornmeal, but good either way.

[@markmcmeen287]

Bad Advice = "Put a couple of Rolaids in the hole with each tomato transplant." (Same myth as the egg.)

[@LazyDogFarm]

Rolaids in the hole reduces the acidity of the tomatoes and helps with heartburn once you eat them. lol

[@markware4933]

Surprisingly, that Rolaids hack has some basis in fact. Rolaids are made from calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide. The plants may be able to utilize the calcium if the soil pH is right and it doesn't wind up being blocked by the magnesium. A better choice is a Tbs. of gypsum under your tomatoes. More efficient Ca delivery and a thousand times cheaper than Rolaids.

[@lenoraszalach9759]

A fish (or egg) in the hole is just a guarantee that some critter is going to dig up my tomato plants to get to it.

[@KDial]

You hit the nail on the head Lenora. I have enough problem with racoons digging up my plants without enticing them with a fish.

[@rogermcgraw194]

Holly molly i finally found you cant believe it took so long for my feed to bring you up you disappeared from the other channel so i ended up fading and unsubscribing 😢 glad to finally find you again i have so many videos to catch up on

[@LazyDogFarm]

Glad you finally found us too! Welcome!

[@mattpeacock5208]

You need to put a copper pipe in the ground with an antennae on top to take advantage of the Earth's natural electrical field so your plants will produce magical fruit that can cure cancer!

[@Amanda-cn3pk]

😂😂

[@ivahihopeful]

Great topic! Good gardening advice is bad when I try to apply things that work under specific conditions for others but not in my garden with my soil and my particular style of doing things, like in my containers, shady spots, the way I water, etc. Bad advice is also when you leave out important details or they’re simply missed in the communication process..... which I think caused me to ruin my step dad’s potatoes this year. I gave him some 0-20-20 Alaska stuff for bulbing stage. His potato plants are half the height of mine and nearly yellow, while mine are green. I don’t know if I learned it from you, but I give a good bit of nitrogen as soon as the green breaks the ground and for a little while after then switch to heavier on the P-K. I told my SD I think his plants are lacking nitrogen or it’s being watered away or something, and he told me they don’t need it because that’ll just give you big leaves. Oops. 🥲

[@ryanbrand3946]

I trimmed all my walla walla onions 8 inches high in the flat 4 weeks before transplant. 117 died and 3 made it. Bad advice.

[@cooperrosa]

Worms only aerate the soil, don’t fertilise it!!!

[@TheDuckofDoom.]

The worst garden advice I see is with people applying methods from the wrong part of the country. The local weather, weeds, and soil all need to be part of the advice. Second is cover crops, people get all messed up on these, they are really poorly understood by both gardeners and most of the people giving advice to the gardeners. Third, is most advice about soil science and plant nutrients.(I don't have room here to get into the weeds but most of the gardening world is on a poor foundation.) Not about bad advice but still an issue is that timing is very important in all cases, and organic methods require different timing to conventional methods, a lot of people get messed up trying to cross between the two becase they don't adjust the timing. Fresh fish will need a lot longer to break down than organic concentrates like emulsions or fine powders or a finished compost. I wouldn't expect much action from fresh fish buried mid season. (And even after the nitrogen is used the bones will slowly release phosphate for a few years.) Egg shell and [calcite] limestone are both calcium carbonate and need to be powder-fine to have any substantial effect in one season.

[@waynespringer501]

I see what you did here with this video 😂 #electroculture

[@FosterFarmsOk]

I think electroculture might be the most current bad advice.

[@LazyDogFarm]

It's climbing the ranks pretty fast. lol

[@donp9492]

Fish in the hole

[@detectivemikevarnado7515]

advice you follow Lazy Dog Farm

[@gregmartin132]

I know you have some deet and I know you have some Agent Orange and you get lots around chimpanzee butt head 😂

[@terryseamanster3856]

Dont use agrothrive. And you shouldn't promote the use of it.

[@shirleyk623]

@Terry Searmanster. Why not? Explanation please.

[@Chris-bx4vk]

Following... Please elaborate

[@Amanda-cn3pk]

Why?

[@terryseamanster3856]

@@shirleyk623 plants are pale green and are not growing. I have hundreds of plants. Changed to jacks fertilizer and now the plants are starting to show signs of improvement.

[@shirleyk623]

@@terryseamanster3856 Captain Jacks?

[@sislertx]

My red snapper tomatoes are coming in...and i dont lime them at.all ..they are not.firm at all but mushy..even picked when just barely turned...do u just.can those?? Granted i got TONS OF THEM ...FOR once..im sold on determinants..but not red snapper

[@LazyDogFarm]

Not sure what would make them mushy. I've never had that happen with this variety.

[@Scott-jf1nh]

How do you water them?