# Gardening folk wisdom **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 17, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122 "2006-05-17T16:45:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122/1 "2006-05-17T16:45:02Z")
I’m looking for examples of gardening folk wisdom – tips and ideas you often hear, which may or may not have an element of truth. For example – marigolds repel pests so you should plant them with tomatoes; you can keep deer away with human hair (or human urine, or human male urine – have never heard anything specific about the gender on the hair thing, though). Can you think of any others? TIA. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122/2 "2006-05-17T16:49:02Z")
Copper to deter slugs. Supposedly because slime plus copper makes something like a primitive voltaic pile, which gives them a jolt. I’ve never actually tested it, by the way, but I want to, I really want to. God knows I have enough slugs. Can I send you some for experimental purposes? ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122/3 "2006-05-17T17:00:51Z")
A fellow pepper head who grows his own hot peppers swears that putting a few match heads in the ground with the seeds helps the plants grow better. Something about the potassium (?) in the match heads being good for root growth and flowering. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122/4 "2006-05-17T17:07:02Z")
> [@Madd Maxx](#): > > A fellow pepper head who grows his own hot peppers swears that putting a few match heads in the ground with the seeds helps the plants grow better. Something about the potassium (?) in the match heads being good for root growth and flowering. :eek: Whoa. That’s a weird one. ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122/5 "2006-05-17T17:10:02Z")
Putting egg shells around tomotoes to give them calcium and avoid black spots. Putting paprika around flowers you don’t want pest animals (cats, gophers and rabbits) digging up. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122/6 "2006-05-17T17:37:29Z")
> [@Sal Ammoniac](#): > > Copper to deter slugs. Supposedly because slime plus copper makes something like a primitive voltaic pile, which gives them a jolt. I’ve never actually tested it, by the way, but I want to, I really want to. God knows I have enough slugs. Can I send you some for experimental purposes? Putting out trays of beer works on slugs. I don’t know if they try to swim in it and drown or if they drink themselves to death, but either way I figure they die happy. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122/7 "2006-05-17T17:52:43Z")
Putting a cup of dog food on your roses every year for general rose health. I do plant marigolds in the vegetable garden - figure it can’t hurt. Spraying milk on powdery mildew - I don’t know if it’s proven or not, I just don’t want my garden to smell like sour milk. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122/8 "2006-05-17T18:05:43Z")
I add dihydrogen monoxide to plants and flowers to help them grow. . .but not too much. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122/9 "2006-05-17T18:10:53Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > I add dihydrogen monoxide to plants and flowers to help them grow. . .but not too much. What’s that when it’s at home? ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122/10 "2006-05-17T18:20:57Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > What’s that when it’s at home? [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrogen\_monoxide](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrogen_monoxide) ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122/11 "2006-05-17T18:22:26Z")
If you were just playing the role of “straight man” please don’t tell me. I’m having quite a chuckle down here. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122/12 "2006-05-17T18:25:11Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > If you were just playing the role of “straight man” please don’t tell me. I’m having quite a chuckle down here. Your happiness is all that matters to me. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122/13 "2006-05-17T18:28:11Z")
I’m having fun with "[companion](http://www.gardenguides.com/TipsandTechniques/vcomp.htm) " gardening. Things like putting basil around your tomato plants, because it helps both of them grow better for some reason (plus it’s easy harvesting for marinara!). ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122/14 "2006-05-17T18:28:12Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > Putting out trays of beer works on slugs. I don’t know if they try to swim in it and drown or if they drink themselves to death, but either way I figure they die happy. I’d need Anheuser-Busch themselves to set up shop in my backyard. That’s why I want to try the copper idea – to see if I can set up a four-foot-square slug-free zone. The rest is hopeless. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122/15 "2006-05-17T18:40:32Z")
[OT]The ads are: “Need to Wed in a Hurry?,” “Chat with Local Singles,” and “Gay Marriage Statistics [defeat the Federal Marriage Amendment].” WTF? [/OT] ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122/16 "2006-05-17T18:46:06Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > [OT]The ads are: “Need to Wed in a Hurry?,” “Chat with Local Singles,” and “Gay Marriage Statistics [defeat the Federal Marriage Amendment].” WTF? [/OT] 😃 Maybe 'cause I put “companion” in quotation marks? It’s back showing gardening sites when I look at it. Maybe it knows something about you. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122/17 "2006-05-17T18:51:24Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > 😃 > > Maybe 'cause I put “companion” in quotation marks? > > It’s back showing gardening sites when I look at it. Maybe it knows something about you. 😉 Could be – now I’m getting “Searching for Lesbians: We’ll pay you $300 right now to take a Quick Lesbian Survey.” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122/18 "2006-05-17T19:05:32Z")
> [@Sal Ammoniac](#): > > That’s why I want to try the copper idea – to see if I can set up a four-foot-square slug-free zone. The rest is hopeless. Set up your zone and put a beer moat around it. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122/19 "2006-05-17T19:10:36Z")
Didn’t there used to be some wisdom regarding planting root vegetables in the dark phase of the moon and others in the light phase? ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122/20 "2006-05-17T19:41:22Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > Set up your zone and put a beer moat around it. 😛 Well, here’s the thing – have you ever seen the beer-bloated corpse of a two-inch slug? Sorry, **twickster** , I seem to be turning your thread into a running commentary on my slug phobia. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gardening-folk-wisdom/357122.md?page=2)