05/03/2025
This is a great list to help debunk some of the so-called gardening facts doing the rounds on social media.
The simple truth is that as with most things in life, good preparation and finding a balance in things is always going to win out, but it takes work, planning and time.
Put simply, you get out what you put in.
At this time of year, I tend to see a lot of truly ridiculous gardening advice. It makes me just plain mad for the sake of newbies who waste time and money on this stuff. While this is by no means a complete list, here are a few things I’ve seen touted recently on the Internet that are not worth taking seriously:
1. Any images of potato plants showing that the soil they are growing in is literally jam packed with potatoes. You will often see these AI photos accompanying text that says this is the result you’ll get if you plant potatoes in tires, a barrel, or some other container. While you can definitely plant potatoes in containers and successfully get a great harvest, you will not get the highly inflated yields these posts tout.
2. Posts claiming that if you just add X, Y, Z to your soil upon planting your tomatoes, your yield will be better or your crop healthier. Tomatoes want great soil that’s full of DECOMPOSED organic matter. If you’re putting egg shells or other matter that isn’t decomposed yet in the planting hole, there will be little to no result in this year’s crop. It’s better to just compost these things and use the finished compost in your garden.
3. Posts touting that putting X, Y, Z in the soil when planting tomatoes will make them sweeter. NOTHING you add to the soil makes tomatoes sweeter. Sweetness is a product of the variety used and the temperature of the growing environment.
4. Posts claiming that the pruning of tomatoes creates higher yields. This was once standard advice, but it’s been disproven many times. Pruning tomatoes does not increase yields. However, pruning tomatoes does increase air circulation (which helps prevent disease) and keep indeterminate tomato varieties from taking over the garden.
5. Posts claiming Epsom salts are a garden cure-all. Epsom salts are useful if a soil test shows the soil is low in magnesium. However, they don’t help with germination and they don’t improve the uptake of other nutrients.
6. Posts about burying banana peels in the soil. It is true that banana peels can add potassium to the soil, but what you may not know is that as those peels break down, they rob the soil of nitrogen – an essential nutrient for plant growth. It’s better to throw your banana peels in the compost pile.
7. Posts touting regular use of lime or wood ash in the garden. Garden lime and wood ash should ONLY be added to the soil if you’ve done a soil test and discovered that your soil is acidic (and you are growing plants in that soil that like a more alkaline environment). Adding too much lime or wood ash can actually kill your garden by causing the soil to be overly alkaline.
8. Tips telling you to add sand to clay soil. Actually, sand and clay soil mixed together create something resembling concrete. Instead, the best thing you can do for clay soil is to add organic matter. The best way to do that is with no-till methods.
9. Anything advising you to regularly fertilize plants. It’s easy to over-fertilize, even using organic fertilizers, and to inadvertently give a plant an excess of one thing that works detrimentally in the garden. Instead, focus on feeding the soil. Make compost, use organic mulches, practice no-till gardening.
