Pro Gardener Reacts to Unconventional Gardening Hacks
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Date: 2025-09-01
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Comments and reviews: 20
amalajiabraham6079
What would you do if the climate is not really reliable. Like where i am from, it's litrally a showdown, it can go from 2 hour rain for a day to continuous rain a day/or 2, to not a single drop of rain for months. So i am not really sure what to do. I just planted a few seeds(maybe a 50 ) inside my house, few pepper, few beans, etc. And i don't have what you can use as a garden for transplant(otherwise there is a garden with mango tree, coconut tree and jackfruit tree and a pappaya tree. I think thats what they are all called. I haven't bought anything like potting mix or have any raised beds, i have at hand is 1kg of vermi compost, and something like a dried coconut slab(probably for the water retention, that's all i have. I am thinking of buying something for the growbags like the potting mix but here i don't know any reliable brands, i have searched online but not too sure what i should get either. Oh i am from Kerala, India, so climate is mostly all over the place.
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What would you do if the climate is not really reliable. Like where i am from, it's litrally a showdown, it can go from 2 hour rain for a day to continuous rain a day/or 2, to not a single drop of rain for months. So i am not really sure what to do. I just planted a few seeds(maybe a 50 ) inside my house, few pepper, few beans, etc. And i don't have what you can use as a garden for transplant(otherwise there is a garden with mango tree, coconut tree and jackfruit tree and a pappaya tree. I think thats what they are all called. I haven't bought anything like potting mix or have any raised beds, i have at hand is 1kg of vermi compost, and something like a dried coconut slab(probably for the water retention, that's all i have. I am thinking of buying something for the growbags like the potting mix but here i don't know any reliable brands, i have searched online but not too sure what i should get either. Oh i am from Kerala, India, so climate is mostly all over the place.
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AMKB01
re: the cardboard on the grass. That grass is way too tall. It needs to be trimmed right down to the soil. Otherwise, the carboard just sort of floats on top, even with the weight of soil on top (and that was a really thin layer of soil; I suspect shenanigans on that one. Also, it takes a surprisingly long time, and a lot of water, to saturate cardboard. Ask me how I know this Go ahead!
re: the cinder blocks. That can work, but the concrete can make the soil more alkaline. I've used old chimney blocks - think cinder blocks except larger and square, with a double wall that has openings in it - to make a retaining wall at the end of a garden I was building up. The middles are about 10 square and I have been using them as planters. Our soil is already really alkaline, and I didn't realize that the concrete would make it worse. Things just don't like to grow in them. If you're going to do that, you might want to add peat and/or Sulphur to the soil.
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re: the cardboard on the grass. That grass is way too tall. It needs to be trimmed right down to the soil. Otherwise, the carboard just sort of floats on top, even with the weight of soil on top (and that was a really thin layer of soil; I suspect shenanigans on that one. Also, it takes a surprisingly long time, and a lot of water, to saturate cardboard. Ask me how I know this Go ahead!
re: the cinder blocks. That can work, but the concrete can make the soil more alkaline. I've used old chimney blocks - think cinder blocks except larger and square, with a double wall that has openings in it - to make a retaining wall at the end of a garden I was building up. The middles are about 10 square and I have been using them as planters. Our soil is already really alkaline, and I didn't realize that the concrete would make it worse. Things just don't like to grow in them. If you're going to do that, you might want to add peat and/or Sulphur to the soil.
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tompatchak8706
I’ve done a few few of these. I’ve done the cardboard thing. I’m using cinderblocks actually right now for a small sunflowers in my backyard. I put cardboard down to keep the weeds from the neighbors house from sneaking in and then a cinderblock on top of that. Sunflowers in the cinderblocks are probably 10 feet tall and they shouldn’t be so I don’t know why that is.
I work for a wire and cable company and they have these things called new plastic spools that have hundreds and hundreds of feet of wire on well when they’re empty the company just throw them away and I’ve been collecting them for the last two years so now I have 32 of them.
They’re basically 4 gallon buckets with a giant hole in the bottom and I’ve worked it out that they could be pats.
I’ve grown green beans have an eggplant for five different cut, tomato, cucumber, zucchini, cilantro, all different kind of things these things
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I’ve done a few few of these. I’ve done the cardboard thing. I’m using cinderblocks actually right now for a small sunflowers in my backyard. I put cardboard down to keep the weeds from the neighbors house from sneaking in and then a cinderblock on top of that. Sunflowers in the cinderblocks are probably 10 feet tall and they shouldn’t be so I don’t know why that is.
I work for a wire and cable company and they have these things called new plastic spools that have hundreds and hundreds of feet of wire on well when they’re empty the company just throw them away and I’ve been collecting them for the last two years so now I have 32 of them.
They’re basically 4 gallon buckets with a giant hole in the bottom and I’ve worked it out that they could be pats.
I’ve grown green beans have an eggplant for five different cut, tomato, cucumber, zucchini, cilantro, all different kind of things these things
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TimeSurfer206
It just takes a little effort to separate them out.
/me screams th the memories of separating a 4 pot of Lemon Grass starts.
The bag of soil. A knife would have worked better.
However, Comma, I have been re-using my dirt bags as containers since last year. I just cut off the bottom and either cut them in halves, quarters, or not at all, depending on the root depth of what I'm planting in them. I have some that I used this way last year that are being used again this year.
And while we're on the subject of Field Expedient Containers, a simple cardboard box lasts a season just fine.
That Soaker Hose. WHY in God's Green Earth would I MAKE a Soaker Hose from a $30 dollar hose, when I can buy a 50' Soaker Hose from Harbor Freight for $10
9: 00 Or, you could seal the cinderblocks with an Epoxy Resin. Since neither will wear out fast, if you're re-using them, the investment pays off for years.
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It just takes a little effort to separate them out.
/me screams th the memories of separating a 4 pot of Lemon Grass starts.
The bag of soil. A knife would have worked better.
However, Comma, I have been re-using my dirt bags as containers since last year. I just cut off the bottom and either cut them in halves, quarters, or not at all, depending on the root depth of what I'm planting in them. I have some that I used this way last year that are being used again this year.
And while we're on the subject of Field Expedient Containers, a simple cardboard box lasts a season just fine.
That Soaker Hose. WHY in God's Green Earth would I MAKE a Soaker Hose from a $30 dollar hose, when I can buy a 50' Soaker Hose from Harbor Freight for $10
9: 00 Or, you could seal the cinderblocks with an Epoxy Resin. Since neither will wear out fast, if you're re-using them, the investment pays off for years.
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JCC_1975
I have done the PVC pipe tower and had amazing success. I grow strawberries in rain gutters on the porch railing. It works great. And until all the plastic seeping into our foods became common knowledge, I had my lettuce and spinach growing in soda bottles made into a daisy chain for vertical gardening. Lots of success. Beautiful plants and produced a lot of food like that. Now, I use big mouth mason jars and a pool noodle cut to hold the plants and daisy chain them. Trying to get completely away from plastics. We rent and barely any space for a garden so vertical as much as I possibly can do. There are some great diy ideas that the experts say won't work that actually work very well. Just saying.
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I have done the PVC pipe tower and had amazing success. I grow strawberries in rain gutters on the porch railing. It works great. And until all the plastic seeping into our foods became common knowledge, I had my lettuce and spinach growing in soda bottles made into a daisy chain for vertical gardening. Lots of success. Beautiful plants and produced a lot of food like that. Now, I use big mouth mason jars and a pool noodle cut to hold the plants and daisy chain them. Trying to get completely away from plastics. We rent and barely any space for a garden so vertical as much as I possibly can do. There are some great diy ideas that the experts say won't work that actually work very well. Just saying.
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bonbons0220
I love me some 8x16's. I made two diy cinderblock raised beds this year. I put them in a square and a rectangle, with a big space in the middle for summer squash, watermelon, and eggplant. I put lettuces, geraniums, and herbs in the little holes around the side. I tied it together with some hay bale twine. I put cardboard under it, right on the grass, and then some manure on top of that, then raised bed mix. It's pretty fun. I can move the blocks around next year into different shapes depending on how it goes this year. I do water every day. In Oregon zone 8b here. It's like Lego in the garden.
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I love me some 8x16's. I made two diy cinderblock raised beds this year. I put them in a square and a rectangle, with a big space in the middle for summer squash, watermelon, and eggplant. I put lettuces, geraniums, and herbs in the little holes around the side. I tied it together with some hay bale twine. I put cardboard under it, right on the grass, and then some manure on top of that, then raised bed mix. It's pretty fun. I can move the blocks around next year into different shapes depending on how it goes this year. I do water every day. In Oregon zone 8b here. It's like Lego in the garden.
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TABULOUS1
The way you feel about blossom videos, is how I feel about the new techSlayve generations of self-proclaimed influencers that either have, or are thirsty for, sponsorship.
And that includes those that use automated narration &/or ayeEye for their content.
I got fed up with cilantro and traded it out for a perennial substitute. I did the same with oregano & a few other seditty herbs/plants. I love finding a BETTER, and even more flavorful dupe and sharing those sustainability practices in spaces that are safe for marginalized ppl whom areNOT aligned with kollonized tactics.
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The way you feel about blossom videos, is how I feel about the new techSlayve generations of self-proclaimed influencers that either have, or are thirsty for, sponsorship.
And that includes those that use automated narration &/or ayeEye for their content.
I got fed up with cilantro and traded it out for a perennial substitute. I did the same with oregano & a few other seditty herbs/plants. I love finding a BETTER, and even more flavorful dupe and sharing those sustainability practices in spaces that are safe for marginalized ppl whom areNOT aligned with kollonized tactics.
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alexmousley7213
Great hacks- though, beware that using a plastic barrel not designed for outdoor use means it's unlikely to be UV stabilised plastic and will deteriorate quickly in the sun and become brittle. The vertical planting hack using plumbing pipe should be OK as the plastics usually have UV stabilisers as they are often outside the house. I'm with you with the silly destroying brooms, brushes and hoses to make a worse version of something already available! I'd put money on it that if you put honey on a rose stem and stick it into a potato and plant it- you'll get potatoes!
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Great hacks- though, beware that using a plastic barrel not designed for outdoor use means it's unlikely to be UV stabilised plastic and will deteriorate quickly in the sun and become brittle. The vertical planting hack using plumbing pipe should be OK as the plastics usually have UV stabilisers as they are often outside the house. I'm with you with the silly destroying brooms, brushes and hoses to make a worse version of something already available! I'd put money on it that if you put honey on a rose stem and stick it into a potato and plant it- you'll get potatoes!
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nebsun
3: 12 Don't hot-glue a tap, it will either leak or just fall out after a while. Get a proper tank outlet with a gasket and bolt/thread style so you can clamp it and make a tight seal. If you are going to do it, then do it right the first time. You can also usually get a cheap used food-grade barrel from a local restaurant - make sure it was only used for food, I have a bunch that were used for shipping / storing soy-sauce and they are a decent enough size to actually be useful (60 gallon or 220 litre)
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3: 12 Don't hot-glue a tap, it will either leak or just fall out after a while. Get a proper tank outlet with a gasket and bolt/thread style so you can clamp it and make a tight seal. If you are going to do it, then do it right the first time. You can also usually get a cheap used food-grade barrel from a local restaurant - make sure it was only used for food, I have a bunch that were used for shipping / storing soy-sauce and they are a decent enough size to actually be useful (60 gallon or 220 litre)
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deegl4582
The one diy video that you didn't like with the person making all of these gadgets and you said there are easier things you can buy. Where I think it would make more sense is for those that can't afford to purchase the items from the store. example the bending of the fork to scrape the dirt. If you bought the actual tool it can c ost anywhere from $5-$30. Now buy doing what they did you can buy a fork for $. 50-$1. 00 and you have pretty much the same thing. So, it is like gardening on a budget.
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The one diy video that you didn't like with the person making all of these gadgets and you said there are easier things you can buy. Where I think it would make more sense is for those that can't afford to purchase the items from the store. example the bending of the fork to scrape the dirt. If you bought the actual tool it can c ost anywhere from $5-$30. Now buy doing what they did you can buy a fork for $. 50-$1. 00 and you have pretty much the same thing. So, it is like gardening on a budget.
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kaywaimama
Hi Kevin, I grew up in a 3rd world country and came to the US 16 years ago. I think a lot of tips that you didn't like, that has to do with plastic, are more applicable for the countries with a lot of plastic waste and no available products like in the US. Why would someone does this Just use the tool that is designed for the job. -- This is privilege! Those tools either don't exist on the market, or would be very expensive. While labor, heat, and plastic trash are abundant.
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Hi Kevin, I grew up in a 3rd world country and came to the US 16 years ago. I think a lot of tips that you didn't like, that has to do with plastic, are more applicable for the countries with a lot of plastic waste and no available products like in the US. Why would someone does this Just use the tool that is designed for the job. -- This is privilege! Those tools either don't exist on the market, or would be very expensive. While labor, heat, and plastic trash are abundant.
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MrMockigton
end of august is pretty much when my season ends here. i do get the full harvests of tomatos, potatos, some left over zucchini, pumpkins and some of the late beans, but really most of my plants are dying off already to an extent. so yeah, august always feels like i am coming to a close - even though there are some things i could plant well into october, but i want to prepare my beds for winter and to let them rest a bit under the cover of a cover crop.
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end of august is pretty much when my season ends here. i do get the full harvests of tomatos, potatos, some left over zucchini, pumpkins and some of the late beans, but really most of my plants are dying off already to an extent. so yeah, august always feels like i am coming to a close - even though there are some things i could plant well into october, but i want to prepare my beds for winter and to let them rest a bit under the cover of a cover crop.
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stacyhall3061
I think the August burn out is just an internal shift. Its perfectly timed with the slow down/ decompression of fall. Fall garden is calling. Ok for the bean one. with horizontal twine. are those bush or pole or what Giving me an eye twitch. if its pole just have twine going vertical. The chicken tunnels make me feel chlostrophobic and the way he throws the chickens in there is triggering. Glad you skipped over the weird fork bending stuff. LOL
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I think the August burn out is just an internal shift. Its perfectly timed with the slow down/ decompression of fall. Fall garden is calling. Ok for the bean one. with horizontal twine. are those bush or pole or what Giving me an eye twitch. if its pole just have twine going vertical. The chicken tunnels make me feel chlostrophobic and the way he throws the chickens in there is triggering. Glad you skipped over the weird fork bending stuff. LOL
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blackoak4978
I felt silly when I planted the basil I got at Walmart just straight from the pot to the garden.
Shortly after I watched a video about how jammed they are with starts.
They all compete with each other and you don't get much out of them.
I had some basil that was just a seed when I put the bought ones in. That's a foot tall vs no growth. Now the ones that came up from seed are as tall, if not taller than the ones that came in a pot
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I felt silly when I planted the basil I got at Walmart just straight from the pot to the garden.
Shortly after I watched a video about how jammed they are with starts.
They all compete with each other and you don't get much out of them.
I had some basil that was just a seed when I put the bought ones in. That's a foot tall vs no growth. Now the ones that came up from seed are as tall, if not taller than the ones that came in a pot
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rebeccaburnell9319
8: 41 - Look for cinder blocks labeled non-toxic. Cinder blocks can be made with Portland cement, which can leech heavy metals into the soil that are then taken up by the plants & can be transferred to you when you eat them (which is a very bad thing. So: avoid using old/salvaged cinder blocks in landscaping projects (I mean, it's not great to add toxicity to the environment you interact with, but most especially for growing edibles.
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8: 41 - Look for cinder blocks labeled non-toxic. Cinder blocks can be made with Portland cement, which can leech heavy metals into the soil that are then taken up by the plants & can be transferred to you when you eat them (which is a very bad thing. So: avoid using old/salvaged cinder blocks in landscaping projects (I mean, it's not great to add toxicity to the environment you interact with, but most especially for growing edibles.
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deborahstokes4598
This doesn't have anything to do with gardening I had them put cinder blocks on 1 end of patio and paint them them took some 2x4s and quick create in 1 end and then a few more in center then attach 1 of them to the top of patio had them hang a 8ft patio blind on top of a 2x4 and then had 2 8x10 indoor outdoor carpet and a futon it turned out beautiful wow even the guys was surprised! I might do the other side too
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This doesn't have anything to do with gardening I had them put cinder blocks on 1 end of patio and paint them them took some 2x4s and quick create in 1 end and then a few more in center then attach 1 of them to the top of patio had them hang a 8ft patio blind on top of a 2x4 and then had 2 8x10 indoor outdoor carpet and a futon it turned out beautiful wow even the guys was surprised! I might do the other side too
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DGemme1000
Today, it rained. I didn’t have any watering. I didn’t have a recipe that I wanted to try, plus it was left over night. I only took a walk through the garden. It was nice, but it felt lazy. I did some forest clearing instead. I guess, in the garden cycle, I will burn the limbs, and use it as pot ash. Also, I’m watching this video. I usually watch these types of inspiring videos, during the winter.
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Today, it rained. I didn’t have any watering. I didn’t have a recipe that I wanted to try, plus it was left over night. I only took a walk through the garden. It was nice, but it felt lazy. I did some forest clearing instead. I guess, in the garden cycle, I will burn the limbs, and use it as pot ash. Also, I’m watching this video. I usually watch these types of inspiring videos, during the winter.
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joytitusc3727
People need to realize when watching these Hack videos, is that many of them are done by people in other countries who cannot AFFORD or even have access to the tools you would normally be able to use. They are using what they have or can afford to buy to make hacks of convenience. They can't afford 20 dollar nozzles, $400 garden beds, $300 worth of driplines, $80 garden rakes, etc.
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People need to realize when watching these Hack videos, is that many of them are done by people in other countries who cannot AFFORD or even have access to the tools you would normally be able to use. They are using what they have or can afford to buy to make hacks of convenience. They can't afford 20 dollar nozzles, $400 garden beds, $300 worth of driplines, $80 garden rakes, etc.
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epic_gardening
Hi there Kevin, I want to thank you for all you do and I want to ask you you a question about gardening, I started late this year and most of my plants are still growing and it’s getting cooler at night so do I rip out my plants or keep them growing and put some kind of cover on them and see what happens if I get any vegetables. I was wondering if you could help
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Hi there Kevin, I want to thank you for all you do and I want to ask you you a question about gardening, I started late this year and most of my plants are still growing and it’s getting cooler at night so do I rip out my plants or keep them growing and put some kind of cover on them and see what happens if I get any vegetables. I was wondering if you could help
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ivacheung792
What I've never understood about cilantro not really liking the heat is that it grows in abundance in places like Thailand and Mexico (and I do mean actual cilantro, not subs like Vietnamese coriander and culantro. How do they make it work Is it just the rapid temperature changes we get in North America that make them bolt and flag
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What I've never understood about cilantro not really liking the heat is that it grows in abundance in places like Thailand and Mexico (and I do mean actual cilantro, not subs like Vietnamese coriander and culantro. How do they make it work Is it just the rapid temperature changes we get in North America that make them bolt and flag
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