In today’s article, we will quickly debunk 20 interesting and unbelievable gardening myths and reveal some extremely useful scientific facts and tips related to Gardening.
- Fresh Cow Dung or Horse Dung is very Good for Plants?
This is absolutely false! Fresh Cow poop should never be applied for your plants, because it not only stinks but contains high levels of ammonia and salts which can burn your plants. It also contains harmful microorganisms like e-coli which are harmful to plants as well as humans. Plus, it also contains weed seeds which can produce a lot of weeds or unwanted plants in your garden. So always use decomposed cow-dung or horse dung for your plants. You can watch a detailed video on 5 hacks to quickly decompose cow dung from a link in description below or from end-screen link at the end of this video. Let’s move on..
- Is it Dangerous to Expose Roots to Light?
Well, This can be a very nice high school project for kids, to grow two similar plants, one in a transparent container and one in an opaque container and then compare these two. As you can see nothing happens to the plant grown in transparent containers. The actual concern is, root exposure to AIR and even the heat from sunlight that can cause drying and can damage your plant. But still you are advised to keep the roots in the dark. This is because of algae growth due to light and your roots are not getting enough oxygen because the algae is stealing the oxygen and nutrients for itself. So light as such does not hurt the roots, but air, heat and algae hurt the roots and kill the plant.
- Do Plants feel Pain?
There are many studies and researches conducted on this topic. Basically, Plants lack a nervous system – that is a brain and other neurological structures like nerves and pain receptors, so they should not feel pain, unlike in humans and animals where we have specialised pain receptors.
But according to some researches, “Plant can know of themselves being eaten” because studies have shown that plants release defence chemicals in response to caterpillars munching on them.
Other points include: Plants fight for territory, seek out food, evade predators and interestingly trap prey like what your see in carnivorous plants like the venus fly trap. They are as alive like any animal, and – like animals – they exhibit behaviour.
- Talking to You Plants will help them Grow?
People who really love plants and gardening will often tell you that talking to plants or even music has a beneficial impact on their overall health and growth. Despite many different scientific studies on this theory, there’s still no conclusive evidence that talking to plants helps them grow. One theory says that since plants take up carbon dioxide, and hence talking to plants releases carbon dioxide when we exhale. So, that explains it all.
- Plants can Die of Old age or aging. The oldest known tree in the world is the Great Basin bristlecone pine in the White Mountains of California which is over 5000 years old. Actually Trees grow indeterminately, meaning that with the right conditions, they can grow and grow and grow. But the only problem that limits them from reaching up to the sky is the food and water transport through xylem and phloem to the growing end from the roots. The taller the tree the more difficult it is to transport water from roots to the foliage near the top. But here what happens is instead of growing taller they increase in width and also branch out more, as you might have noticed some old trees with huge girth of their stems.
- Animal or Human Urine can be used as a Fertilizer. Yes, this is a Fact!For example, cow urine contains loads of NPK – that’s nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium which are the most essential plant nutrients for agricultural use. But it has to be applied in dilution of at least 1:20 in water.
- Is it Dangerous to go near Trees during Night Time? Well, In day time under the presence of sunlight – that’s photosynthesis, plants take up Carbon dioxide and release Oxygen. But during night they take in Oxygen and release CO2 and hence the air near trees will have lesser concentration of Oxygen and higher concentration of CO2. But, this impact will be negligible for small plants and at home gardens and only be noticeable near very large trees or in thick vegetation.
- Naphthalene balls or Moth Balls contain Naphthalene Acetic Acid and can be used as a rooting agent. It’s a Myth. NAA – Naphthalene Acetic Acid and IBA – Indole Butyric Acid are plant auxins or hormones which are entirely different compounds and used for rooting your plant cuttings. These two are entirely different from moth balls which are used to keep insects at bay.
- Watering plants on a hot sunny day will magnify the sunlight through the droplets acting as convex lenses and burn the leaves badly! No doubt, watering plants early in the morning or late in the evening is great! Because less water will evaporate during this time. But This theory that water droplets on leaves can act like mini magnifying lenses, focusing the sun’s rays and causing leaf burn has been completely disproved by physicists.
- Planting by the Moon affects plant growth and yield?
The idea that the Moon affects plant growth is an old one that is believed by many people. This is a myth! No study has proven the effect of moon on plant growth. And the only plants that use moon light for photosynthesis are certain types of phytoplanktons which are not normally found in gardens. - Crushed egg shells are a good source of Calcium to treat calcium deficiency? This is False! Even Powdered Egg shells take a long time to decompose and release that calcium into the soil and make them available for uptake by plants. You can make a water soluble calcium using egg shells by mixing it with distilled Vinegar to make this happen. You can find this detailed video from a link in description or from a link at top right corner of this screen.
- Saplings or seedlings need to be supported to protect them? True or False?
This is False! Many people recommend you to provide support to these young slender plants due to the risk of wind blowing them and things like that. Unless it’s a strong wind, tying a sapling or young plant to a support stick or any kind of support will actually do more harm than good. Research has shown that trees without support, over a period of time will develop thicker trunks, more supportive roots and more resistance to breakages.
- Do Magnets affect Plant growth?
This is a fact. Magnetism affects plant growth and seed germination positively. Studies have shown that when plants are exposed to a magnetic field with south pole facing towards the roots, Seeds germinate faster and plant grow faster and stronger in the presence of magnetic field in the soil. You can check a detailed video on this experiment from a link in description or from a link at top right corner of this video. - Can Harvested or Collected seeds be stored in a Refrigerator or Freezer?
This is not correct! Most seeds that are stored in a seed banks are first dried up so that the moisture content is reduced to about 10 percent and then these can be stored for several years. But if you freeze freshly collected seeds, the moisture content in these seeds will form ice crystals within and can destroy the seed viability. - Growing Fruit Trees in Containers is not possible due to limited space?
This is not true. You can grow them but you need little larger containers or fabric bags like more than 18 or 24 inch. You can watch a detailed episode on the top ten terrace gardening myths and facts from a link in description.
- Does Potting Mix Cause Legionnaires’ Pneumonia in Gardeners? True or False?
Do not worry! This is not True. Legionnaires’ Pneumonia is a severe form of pneumonia or lung infection mostly cause by inhaling the bacteria. Though these legionella bacteria survive in outdoor soil, it rarely causes infections. But still, prevention is better than cure. Better wear a mask while handling potting mix, specially people with weaker immune systems.
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- How do I know my plant is still alive and how to save a dying plant?
There are many signs to know whether your plant can still survive. If your plant is looking dry and has shed its leaves, most of us think its dead. But actually, it may be alive or can be revived. Please watch my detailed episode on this topic demonstrating how to save a dying plant. I have linked that video in description below.
- Can we grow plants from leaves?
Yes! Some, but not all plants can be propagated from just a leaf or a section of a leaf. Leaf cuttings of most plants will not generate a new plant; they usually produce only a few roots or just decay. There are many ways you can grow leaves into a new plant, like 1. from a leaf petiole, 2. by dividing a leaf into multiple pieces for example fleshy succulent plants like sanseviera or the snake plant and other succulents. Other methods of propagation like cane or stub cuttings, root cuttings, leaf bud cuttings and so on.
- Gardening on Terrace is Bad for the Building. This is not completely true unless your building is too old with a poor construction. Otherwise if wisely planned, a garden on terrace will not be a problem, like placing the heavy containers along the walls on your terrace which are weight bearing or main walls of the building and things like that.
Water proofing the terrace is not always necessarily, unless you plan to build raised bed terrace garden. If you grow in container, you only need to check whether the water draining out of the pots is easily flowing out of the terrace and not stagnant.
- Does Electric Current affect Plant Growth? Well, there is a separate science called electro-culture farming which utilizes this effect. I have conducted a simple experiment on this topic to study the effect of electric current on plant growth. You can watch that episode from an end-screen link or from garden tips channel.
These zero or low maintenance plants do not require any special fertilizers for growth and flowering. But you can add a handful of compost like cowdung or vermicompost or any compost once 3 to 6 months.
Here’s my list of top 10 low maintenance houseplants for lazy gardeners:
12: Norfolk Island pine: Also known by many as the Christmas Tree. This is a hard to kill plant in tropical climates and needs very little care to survive. It grows well in bright indirect sunlight and also direct sun. It needs watering every other day or even less depending on the climate you live in.
11: Succulents & Cacti: Most people think succulents are hard to maintain and they die even after proper and intensive care. This is the mistake they do. They actually thrive well on neglect. They need very less frequent watering like once or max twice a week. They do well in full sunlight as well as indirect bright light depending on the type of succulent.
10: Spider Plant (or Chlorphytums): This is one of the best starter plant. Spider plants are mostly grown in hanging baskets. But they thrive in any container or any type of soil or potting mix. They grow very well in shady places with indirect bright light. They do not need daily watering. you can water on alternate days or even once or twice a week depending on the climatic conditions.
9: Peace Lily: Peace Lily is one of the most beautiful low-maintenance flowering plants you can add to your home garden. Additionally, the Peace Lily is also a good air purifier plant. This can be grown indoor or outdoors and requires bright indirect sunlight. It has beautiful shiny green leaves with creamy-white hooded flowers. You can water it on alternate days or even lesser depending on the climate.
8: Jade Plant: This is actually a succulent plant which requires very less frequent watering, like once or maximum twice a week even in summer season. This plant requires at least 2 to 3 hours of direct sunlight for proper growth, preferably morning sunlight.
7: ZZ Plant: This is another attractive ornamental plant that requires very little care. It’s a beautiful plant with glossy green leaves and also an air purifier plant. It is a drought tolerant plant and requires very less frequent watering like once or twice a week. It can be grown indoors or outdoors in shady or bright locations. It doesn’t need direct sunlight.
6: Syngonium: This is another beautiful ornamental flowering plant with an attractive foliage. This needs alternate day watering or at least weekly twice watering. It grows in indirect bright locations as well as in direct sun. If kept in direct sun, avoid hot noon sun and water it daily.
5: Snake Plant (sansevieria): These are actually true zero maintenance plants and can survive the worst of the conditions. They require very less watering and even sunlight. They adapt to any conditions and grown in dark locations as well as bright locations and also in direct harsh sunlight. They come in many beautiful varieties and colors.
4: Lucky Bamboo: This is a dracaena species and grown mostly in water. But it grows equally well in soil too. If grown in water, this is a very low maintenance plant and requires changing water once in 10 to 15 days. Its grown indoors and needs very little light.
3: Philodendrons: These are again zero maintenance plants that need very little light to grow. They can be grown indoors or outdoors in shady places. They need less frequent watering like once or twice a week.
2: Aloevera: If you can’t remember the last time you watered your plants, aloe is perfect for you. This is a succulent plant which store water in its thick fleshy leaves and can survive many days without watering. It grows indoors as well as outdoors, but can get leggy if it does not get sufficient direct sunlight.
1: Money Plant or Pothos: This is also called Devil’s ivy, because it’s a hard to kill plant and survives even the worst conditions. Pothos come in a wide variety of beautiful colors and varieties like golden pothos, marble queen, marble prince, neon and so on. They are grow indoors mostly in water as well as outdoors in bright shady locations. You can check a detailed episode on Money plant and secrets to get very large size leaves in pothos, from a link in description below.
The other low maintenance plants that need a mention are: Dieffenbachias, Umbrella tree or schefflera, Plumeria or Champa tree, Dragon tree, Rubber tree, and Pepperomias – but not variegated ones – any variegated plant needs more sunlight exposure because the pigment chlorophyll essential for photosynthesis is lesser in variegated plants.
Now I will tell you two fruit trees I have grown that need no special care except watering, sunlight and occasional handful of compost. The first one and my most favourite tree is Mulberry tree, which can also be grown in containers to bear fruits. The second one is a fig tree. Choose grafted trees if you are growing in large containers.
Many of my viewers ask a very important question – what is the correct soil ph for plants and how do I test this and how do I change it? The answer to this question is not so simple, but I shall try to make it simple and tell you what is the perfect or the ideal Soil PH for most plants and also few natural ways to soil amendment that can make your soil PH to the desired level.
Sunlight, water, nutrients—these are the basic factors for plants to thrive. But there is another crucial factor that determines whether your plants thrive or struggle to grow? It’s a soil property called ph. An ideal range of soil PH is indispensable for proper nutrient absorption by the roots.
What is PH? PH is a just a number or a value ranging from 0 to 14. 7 – that’s the middle of the scale is considered Neutral PH and anything below 7 is called Acidic or Sour in layman’s term and Anything above 7 is called Alkaline or Sweet.
So, what is the Perfect or the Ideal or the desired Soil PH for most plants? How will I measure this and How will I adjust the soil ph to this desired level?
This Value of Ideal soil pH could make a huge difference and really an important step for those looking to grow bountiful gardens. Because most of the nutrient absorption at root level happens at this ideal ph level. You may be adding a lot of fertilizers, supplements like micronutrient powders and stuff like that regularly to your plant, but if it’s not producing good results and you still have anaemic plants, then you should suspect something wrong with the soil PH, either it’s not favourable to your plant or the plant is unable to adapt to the ph changes.
For most plants, the ideal ph has to be SLIGHTLY ACIDIC, like around 6.5. but this doesn’t mean that plants cannot grow outside this range. Places with lots of vegetation and rain, such as forests, tend to produce acidic soils whereas Dry and arid zones like deserts are more likely to be alkaline. We will learn about acid loving plants and alkaline soil preferring plants later in this episode.
How do I test Soil PH at home?
Let me demonstrate 3 easy ways to test your soil PH at home. This soil testing is actually fun and you can share this with your kids to teach them simple science or chemistry.
The First Method is using Litmus Paper. This is simple school chemistry. And this is not expensive. You can buy this simple litmus paper kit at any stationary store or even online. This is just litmus paper with color chart showing a PH value for each color that matches with your test result. PH of 7 is Neutral, PH below 7 is acidic and above 7 is alkaline. The most important thing is to use distilled water for all these tests you conduct, because the PH of distilled water is neutral.
So, How to Test Soil Using Litmus Paper Method?
Collect one tablespoon of soil from your garden either from container or from ground. You can take the soil from a little deeper like 2 inches below the soil.
- Add equal amount of distilled water – that’s 1:1 ratio. We are taking distilled water because it has neutral PH of 7. You can also take water from your water purifier, test it with litmus paper first.
- So, for 1 table spoon of soil you would add 1 tablespoon of water.
- Now nicely mix this by Stirring for few seconds.
- Let it sit for 10 minutes.
- Start stirring the sample again and now dip the litmus paper to take your measurement. Wait for few minutes for color change and then match it with the color coding chart that came along with your litmus paper kit.
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The Second Method is a rough and easy DIY method you can try at home to know whether your soil is acidic or alkaline.
- Take a small amount of soil from your garden or container in a small glass.
- Now Pour some vinegar to this soil sample. If it fizzes and bubbles you have an alkaline soil because the alkaline content in soil reacts with acid like vinegar which is chemically acetic acid.
- Take another soil sample from your garden. Here for demonstration purpose, I know that this is an acidic soil. Now Add baking soda one or two teaspoons and mix it with soil.
- Then wet the soil baking soda mix with distilled water. If it fizzes and bubbles your soil is acidic, because the acidic content in soil reacts with a base or alkaline stuff like baking soda. That’s it!
The Third Method is using Soil PH Testers – There are two types of soil ph meters. Manual type or digital soil PH testers. Which one of these to choose? And These are easy to use portable gadgets with probes to insert into the soil. These give instant readings. These manual type of probe testers are not so reliable but they are inexpensive and handy. But These digital testers are more accurate but little expensive. These are actually 3 in one or 4 in one meters which also test Temperature, Light and Moisture along with PH. These factors are also important for gardening. We will discuss in detail about these meters in some other episode and how to make use of these for max benefit in gardening.
PURCHASE LINKS:
Manual Ph meter:
Digital Ph Tester:
How do I adjust my soil PH if its too Alkaline or even neutral to achieve the ideal PH around 6.5.
- Rain Water: If it’s a rainy season and if soil is neutral or alkaline, you don’t have to do anything. Just check the soil PH after rains. Rain makes the soil acidic naturally.
- Adding Compost to your soil: This is the basic requirement. At least 20 to 30 percent of your soil or potting mix should have a well decomposed manure like cowdung or horse dung or leaf compost or even vermicompost. If you add compost to your soil now, you need to wait for at least a month or two to see the ph change effect because this is a gradual process.
- Vinegar: White Vinegar about 1 or 2 teaspoons per litre or water can be used to lower the soil ph drop. Watering with this solution thoroughly once a month or even once in 15 days will help.
- Coffee ground or even Tea waste: The tannic acid present in this will lower the ph of your soil slightly. You can even add used tea or coffee waste to your plants to lower ph.
- Lemon Juice: Some even recommend adding 1 -2 teaspoons of lemon juice per liter of water and watering with this solution once in a month.
- Shredded Pine barks or any evergreen barks if available can be used to mulch on the top soil to make your soil acidic.
- Sphagnum Peat Moss is another remedy to lower soil ph.
- Alum : chemically called Potassium Aluminum Sulfate is a compound commonly used in water purification. This is available in powder or in crystal form. You can powder the crystals and use about 5 – 10 gms per liter of water and water your plants monthly once. You can watch a detailed episode on Alum and its uses in Gardening from a link in description below.
- Chemical or commercial products containing elemental sulfur can also be used to lower soil ph.
- And Lastly, If your soil is too acidic and you may want to raise the soil ph a bit higher, then you can use wood ash as a natural remedy for this job. Wood ash is a cheap remedy to make your soil alkaline.
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I am sure most of us have failed many times trying to propagate roses from cuttings. Rooting Rose stem or branch cuttings needs some special care and application of certain hacks and tricks unlike other plant cuttings which are easy to grow. And you get a genetically identical copy of your Parent tree which is not the case with seed grown plant, which differs significantly from its Parent plant.
Whether you are growing rose cuttings in water or in soil, use these common tips and tricks that will give you the best results.
- The Best Cuttings: – The first and foremost criteria to choose cuttings is selecting a disease-free branch. Make sure you choose a healthy branch free of any disease like rose die-back disease or any fungal black spots or white spots. If you choose a diseased branch, the rooting will certainly fail. Secondly always choose semi woody cuttings from the branch which is healthy with young shoots and leaves at its tip. Semi woody means – neither too hard nor too soft and young.
- Length of the cutting: This is very important and should neither be too long nor too short. An ideal length for best results would be 6 to 8 inches or max 10 inches. This length also depends on the internode distance of a branch which varies with the plant species. Remember one rule of thumb: the success rate of rooting is inversely proportional to the inter-node distance. That means the lesser the internode distance, the greater the chances of success.
- Cutting Tricks: – Firstly the Cutting Tool: A clean and sharp cutting blade or pruner is important. So, disinfect it using hydrogen peroxide swab or any household disinfectant you have. A germ-free cutting is shown to produce great results.
- Secondly the Cutting Point: Make a sharp cut about half to one inch below a node. This is where the rooting starts. Do not make a crushing cut which can damage the plant tissue and the outcome may be poor.
- Thirdly the Cutting Angle: A 45 degree cutting angle using a sharp and a clean cutting tool is shown to provide the best results and faster rooting because this gives the maximum surface area to produce roots and also it helps the cutting to absorb water quickly.
- Removing Leaves & Flowers: Remove the lower leaves and leave only a pair of top leaves. Cuttings do not have the root system to take up water yet, so fewer leaves means less stress on the cutting. Also Remove any flowers on the branch by snipping of dead or any flowers along with its twig. This is to divert energy to root development.
- Sealing the Top: This simple hack gives best results by retaining the moisture within the cutting and thus increasing the success rate. Simply light a Candle and pour on few drops of wax on the upper end of the cutting to seal it to prevent moisture loss from this top end. Check out my 100 Gardening Hacks Post.
- Orientation: Make sure you insert the cuttings in proper orientation and not reverse, especially if the cutting does not have any leaves on it. You can identify this by looking at the orientation of thorns and nodes.
- The Growing Medium: This is very important. If you are rooting in water, the container water should be changed every 4-5 days or at least weekly to prevent contamination and infection. If you are using Potting soil, use a loose or well-draining soil for faster root development. You can choose a sandy soil, cocopeat or peat moss, perlite and stuff like that. Or you can make your own potting mix using all these stuffs or whatever available.
- Insertion depth: How deep should I insert the cuttings. This is another important factor to consider. An insertion depth of 2 inches is considered better, one reason perhaps is better anchorage into the soil and keeps the cutting less disturbed.
- Rooting Hack: This simple rooting hack will help not only get faster results but guaranteed results. If you have rooting hormone powder like Indole Butyric Acid (IBA) or Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA), that’s great, you can apply this to the cuttings. But, If you do not have it, you can use a lot of natural rooting agents. One such stuff is Aloe vera. Yes Aloe vera has anti-microbial and rooting properties. You just cut a fleshy piece of aloe vera leaf, split it and place the cutting or just insert the lower end of the cutting into this piece and then insert into soil. The success rate using this method is great. You can also use this trick for air layering.
- Growing Conditions: Where to keep these cuttings? When to take out and repot them independently? And how frequently and how much to water these cuttings? These factors are very important and matter a lot for achieving best results. One common mistake people do is – taking out the cutting too early to check for roots. This happens because, when they see fresh shoots and leaves coming, they think adequate roots would have formed and they tend to remove it for transplanting. This is not right. Minimum period of at least 4 to 6 weeks or even more, is must, before sufficient roots have formed. Other factors like, A warm and humid environment is very important for rooting. Do not keep the cuttings in direct sunlight to avoid moisture loss before rooting. Keep them in indirect bright light. To maintain humidity and prevent moisture evaporation you can cover with a polythene bag and make some small holes for air circulation. You can water them only if the top soil is dry on touch or finger dip, or roughly you can water once every 2-3 days for best results depending on the climate. You can check my post on How to care for your Rose bush and get maximum flowering in Rose plant from this LINK.
Happy Gardening!
- Rooting Hack: For faster and guaranteed rooting of stem or branch cuttings, take a small piece of fresh aloe vera leaf and insert the cutting into it and then plant into the soil. Roots grow as early as 10 days depending on the plant you choose.
- Candle Hack: Seal the upper cut end of your plant stem or branch cutting using few drops of candle wax. This helps prevent moisture evaporation and result in faster rooting.
- No Browns for Composting? Use a paper shredder and use the shredded paper and card board to add into your compost bin for faster and smell free composting.
- Easy Tomato Stakes: Tomato plants require support to avoid awkward bends and also to get the best yield. String Support your Tomato plants using a small piece of GI metal wire. Make it into a U-shaped loop and insert it near the roots. Tie one end of a string to this and the other end to some support at the top.
- Banana Peel Fertilizer for Flowering: To make banana peel tea, soak pieces of banana peels in water for 2 to 3 days. Dilute this liquid with water in 1:5 ratio and water your plants to provide potassium to your plants which increases flowering in plants and also makes the flower size bigger.
- Anti-Gravity Plant Support: While growing climber veggies, do not take them to a height above 6 feet, but instead support in a slope like fashion, like take it to a height and then slope the growing ends downwards to assist in long-distance transport of water and nutrients for healthy growth. The arch like trellis is the ideal support fence for growing climber or creeper veggies.
- Hairs to Roots: Insert tomato seedlings as deep as possible to increase the density of roots formed from tiny hairy projections from tomato stems and this makes the plant stronger to produce the best yield.
- Big Leaves: To get large sized leaves in your money plant, use a moss stick or coir stick to anchor the aerial roots to it. Wet the moss stick whenever you water the money plant.
- Onion + Aloe Vera Rooting Agent: Making a paste using onion and aloe vera gel and dipping the cuttings into it for few minutes before planting in soil will help in faster and guaranteed rooting.
- Spoon Transplant: To transplant your seedlings, use a spoon, dig out as much soil with it including the roots of the plant and hold the leaves of the plant and not the STEM to pull out, because this can squeeze and damage the water and food conducting tubes – xylem and phloem and the little plant may die.
- Grow From Junk: Never throw away a pine apple crown, just remove the bottom leaves and keep the bottom inserted into a glass of water for a week and then transfer to a container. It will bear fruits within a year.
- Eggshell Water: One eggshell contains about 2gms of calcium. When you boil eggs, a small percentage of this calcium and phosphorous is released into the water. Do not throw away this water, but use it to water your plants that require a lot of calcium – like tomatoes and peppers as well as flowering plants.
- Cello Tape Pest Trap: Wrap the cello tape in reverse on your fingers and use the sticky part to touch on leaves infested with pests like aphids, whiteflies and mealybugs.
- Clay Soil Hack: Remove Clayey or sticky soil from roots using this simple Hack: When you bring your plant from a nursery and start repotting, most often you find they have stuffed the plant in a clay-rich sticky soil. You can remove this soil without damaging the roots by soaking the root ball in water for few minutes till this soil dissolves. Then you can repot this plant in a well-draining potting mix.
- Root Teasing: Always Loosen up or tease your roots before repotting into a new container.
- Toilet Paper Cloning Hack: Use Aloe vera and Toilet paper to produce roots faster during air layering your favourite plant.
- Aspirin Hack: During conventional air layering to produce faster and better roots, use one tablet of aspirin 350mg per litre of water and add this water you’re the potting mix and then wrap it around the injured stem for faster and dense root formation.
- Hydroponic Cloner: For faster rooting, make your own hydroponic plant cloner using a plastic bucket and an aquarium pump. Healthy Roots develop within 8 days.
- Free Calcium: Egg shells easily dissolve in vinegar and release free calcium to your plants. Make egg shell powder and the add about a cup of vinegar to a cup of egg shell powder and stir nicely and leave it for any hour. Then dilute this to 1:100 or more to water your plants and treat acute calcium deficiencies which can produce blossom end rot disease in your fruits and veggies.
- Simplest Plant Cloner: Use any container and place a couple of aquarium air stones to pump oxygen into the water. This helps in faster and guaranteed rooting of any plant cuttings in water.
- Wheel-Barrow: No Wheelbarrow to move garden stuff? Do not worry, the cheapest alternative is a large cloth or an old bed sheet. Just load on the heavy objects and drag it along.
- Aspirin for Rooting: When you propagate cuttings in water, do not forget to add a small piece of Aspirin tablet into it for faster and stronger root development.
- Seed Split Trick: Split the Cilatro or Corinader seeds before planting them the sand paper paper method and apply gentle scraping pressure to split the seeds and do not crush or damage them using a heavy objects like these. This helps to grow enormous cilantro harvest.
- Scrape and Sow: Use sand paper to scrape the hard seed cover of certain seeds like apple, chickoo and those with hard seed over for faster seed germination.
- Treat Leaf Curl Virus using Asafoetida: Take 500ml of sour butter milk. Add one teaspoon or about 5 gms of Asafoetida powder to it and mix well. Let it stay for 1 or 2 hours. Sieve this solution and Spray thoroughly over the affected plant including the underside of the leaves. Repeat this, every 3 days for 3 – 4 times to completely cure the leaf curl disease.
- Egg Shell Planter: You can use egg shells to sow seeds. To make drainage holes, scrape with a sand paper and use a thin drill bit to make a hole without breaking the shell.
- Egg Trays: Card board Egg trays can be used as seed germination trays. You can directly transplant the seedling along with the card board into the soil, as this is bio-degradable.
- Chalk Sticks: Chalk is chemically Calcium Carbonate. You can bury a chalk stick into the soil while planting your veggies. This really works wonders for plants like Tomatoes, Peppers, squashes, egg plants and almost any vegetable plant.
- Strong Roots: Strong Roots means a healthier plant with a better yield. In its early growth phase, adding a source of phosphorous like bone meal powder or organic rock phosphate powder will produce stronger roots and produce a better harvest.
- Seed Viability Check: An Easy method to check viability of your larger seeds is to pour them into a bowl of water. If the seeds are floating, this means they are dry and not viable. Discard them and use only those seeds that sink to the bottom.
- No Garden Gloves? Scrape your nails into a soap before working with your garden soil or potting mix. This helps in cleaning your hands easily later on and also the dirt won’t enter into your nail beds.
- Repel Animals: A simplest way to repel Some animals like cats, dogs and rabbits – is to soak a some pieces of cloth with vinegar and stuff them in some areas of your garden. These animals cannot withstand the smell of vinegar and may not return if you repeat this process for few days. Similarly using Asafoetida wrapped in a piece of cloth will deter these animals and certain insects.
- Magnifying Lens: Use a Magnifying Glass to closely examine and diagnose your plant pests and insects to identify them and follow the treatment accordingly.
- Tea Fertilizer: You can also use tea waste or coffee grounds on flowering plants as an organic fertilizer to boost blooms.
- Tea waste compost: Add used tea waste or coffee grounds into your compost bin for faster composting because earth worms digest them very fast.
- Seed Spacing: You can do perfect seeds spacing for Tiny seeds like spreading them apart in a row on toilet paper – for better visibility and even spacing and sowing. You can make a seed tapes either in a row or a square or round seed board specially for carrot seeds for even spacing and better growth and ease of harvesting.
- Over-Ripe: Garden vegetables and fruits that become over-ripe are an easy target for pests. Remove them as soon as possible to avoid pest growth.
- Faster Germination: A simple hack for faster germination and healthy seedlings is to soak seeds in Epsom salt solution for a couple of hours before planting – like half a teaspoon of Epsom salt in 100 ml of water. You can also spray Epsom salt solution on your seeds and seedlings for healthy outcome.
- Pick Small: You can Pick small seeds for sowing with a stick or tooth pick dipped in water.
- Acidify Soil: For Acid loving plants like Rose, Hibiscus or Hydrangeas, use 5gms of Alum powder in 1 litre of water once every 15 days and this will boost flowering.
- Soil PH Test Using Litmus Paper: Mix Water and Soil in 1:1 ratio. Dip the litmus paper and match the color with your color coding chart that came along with your litmus paper kit.
- A Rough Soil PH Test Method: Take a soil sample and pour some vinegar. If it fizzes and bubbles you have an alkaline soil. What if the soil is acidic? Add baking soda one or two teaspoons and mix it with soil. Then wet the soil baking soda mix with distilled water. If it fizzes and bubbles your soil is acidic, because the acidic content in soil reacts with a base or alkaline stuff like baking soda.
- Free Bio Seed Pots: Never throw away the toilet paper card board roll. But use it to make seedling cups which are bio degradable and can be directly planted into soil without disturbing roots.
- Paper pots: You can also make seed pots by rolling newspaper and even this is bio degradable and similarly you can directly transplant with the pot into the soil or into a larger container.
- Mosquito Repelling Plants: Growing plants like Lemon grass, Citronella, catnip, basil, marigolds, eucalyptus and many other plants helps deter mosquitoes.
- Turmeric Treatment: You can use turmeric powder from your kitchen treat and prevent rose-dieback disease after pruning your rose bush.
- Silica Gel Packets: Never throw away these tiny sachets, use them in your seed storage container as desiccants which increases your seed life and protects them from fungus.You can also use these to preserve and protect powdered gardening stuff like bone meal, fungicide powder, rooting hormone, etc. Just tape the sachet to the underside of the container lid and that’s it.
- DIY Watering Can: Take the base of a soda bottle and place it around one end of a pvc pipe. Heat it up with a lighter. It should shrink and clamp around the open edge. No glue needed. Use a pin and poke some holes in the bottle base. Next, cut the edge of the pipe at an angle using a saw blade. Next insert the pipe into the inlet and use some hot glue to hold it in place. Optionally, colour it to get that beautiful look.
- Mini Green House: Use plastic bins or containers as mini green houses or poly houses for faster seed germinations.
- Do Not Kill: Avoid spraying a pesticide on the flowers. This is to avoid any harm to beneficial Pollinator insects like butterflies and honey bees which are essential for pollination and fruit formation.
Pruning or trimming your plants, is one of the most important and useful practice in gardening that needs to be performed irrespective of the type of plant you are growing in your garden. Pruning practices are indispensable for your plant health and you should never avoid pruning on emotional grounds. You all must be aware of the benefits of pruning – whether to get rid of diseased branches or to promote branching and plant growth or even improving flowering and fruiting. You can check my detailed video on Pruning tips and Concepts here.
There are many gardeners who are not aware of the correct type of pruners they need, like for instance – which of these two you would choose. What is this flat surface and why? Choosing wrong pruner for a wrong task can adversely affect you plants as well as your gardening practice.
So, now let us look at the different types of Pruners. Pruners are also called as Pruning shears or hand pruners or secateurs and even garden scissors:
- Hand Pruners or Hand Shears: These are the most commonly used cutters in home gardening. These are of two types:
- Anvil pruners
- Bypass Pruners
So, most gardeners are not aware of the purpose of these two types of pruners.
Anvil pruners have a straight upper blade that cuts against a flat lower plate – that looks like an anvil. These Anvil pruners tend to CRUSH the stem as they cut, and are best for woody branches that won’t be harmed by crushing. So remember to use them only on woody or semi woody branches and not soft branches that can be crushed.
Whereas the Bypass pruners have curved scissor-like blades that overlap. These are ideal for cutting younger and soft branches but can also be used for cutting semi woody and woody branches. These are the commonly used pruners in home gardening. Also they are best for making stem cuttings at 45 degree cutting angle for propagation of plants from stem cuttings and also easy to use. The durability varies from brand to brand. In my experience this one is the best heavy duty pruner I have used till date and also pretty cheaper and can cut even thicker branches like upto 20mm. If you want a simple light pruner which can cut upto 10mm this much cheaper parrot beak pruner will do its job. Now we will quickly check out some more cutting tools one by one.
- Lopping Pruners or lopping shears: These have long handles that provide a little more reach than hand shears and are they are suitable for heavy duty pruning for upto three-fourth to 1 inch diameter cuttings.
- Pole Pruners: Pole pruners are made of blades attached to hooks. These hooks are mounted on long poles and a chain or cord controls the blade, which is usually spring-loaded. Pole pruners can typically reach branches that are 12 feet or more above the ground. These are typically used when the use of ladder is not possible.
- Hedge Pruners or Hedge Shears: These are designed for rapid trimming of hedges. The hedge shears come in a variety of sizes and designs. They have long, straight or angled blades that are sharp enough to cut several branches at once shot. The longer blades of hedge shears ensure an even cut across the plant branches to maintain a neat and balanced border. You can also use them to make a neat border of many other plants as well like bougainvillea bush and stuff like that.
- Pruning Saw: These come in variety of sizes and blades with teeth that are fine or coarse and even a folding type like this one. This looks pretty handy and sturdy for home gardening purpose. These are typically used for Stems that are more than 1-1/2 inches in diameter which are usually too large for hand pruners or lopping shears.
- Flower Cutter (floral snips). This is a simple bypass pruner to cut small branches or flowers. These are light weight and have a spring system. And they are best for performing dead heading and also PINCHING technique for more branching and making your plant bushy.
- Grass trimmer: If you have a lawn and you don’t want to invest on a lawn mover, this is the tool for you. You can check this high quality grass trimmer and find out more details about it – links below.
- Last but not the least, A simple good quality Scissor does a lot of job. Am sure all of you agree with this. This is quite handy and most useful all-purpose cutting tool in gardening.
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The word ‘organic farming’ has become one of those buzzwords you are hearing everywhere. No wonder! It is tragic that in today’s era of rapid agricultural production, the use of chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides has brought disastrous effects on public health and our beautiful mother earth is contaminated with all left over chemicals. Organic Farming comes to our rescue. Organic Gardening and Farming is based on using natural methods like the use of natural fertilizers and natural pesticides for plant growth and pest control and a complete NO to synthetic or chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Having said that, Let us preview two special books on organic farming using unique ultra-low cost methods which are really effective in horticulture. These books are even available in eBook editions at amazon.
The First book: JADAM Organic Farming – The Ultra-Low Cost Agriculture – second edition published in 2016.
The second book: JADAM Organic Pest and Disease Control with Powerful DIY Solutions to 167 common pests and diseases, published quite recently in June 2021 and probably I am the first to review this book.
About the Author: Dr. Youngsang Cho, from South Korea with over 30 years expertise in organic farming with a Master’s Degree in Horticulture and PHD in Plant pathology. He learnt agricultural technology from his father, Hankyu Cho, who was a founder of Korea Natural Farming (KNF). He started his agricultural research since 1991 and developed several low cost innovative technologies in organic farming and plant pest and disease control. These books are translated into 20 different languages and available worldwide.
Let’s First Preview:
JADAM ORGANIC FARMING – The way to Ultra-Low-Cost Agriculture.
This is the second edition of this book published in the year 2016 and the first edition was published way back in 2013. This book has about 379 pages.
The thing which I like most in this book: are these Four Aims of JADAM Farming Technology: SIMPLE – principles are simple and not complicated, EASY: Easy to make and use, SCIENTIFIC: that’s based on scientific research and results and lastly EFFECTIVE: these are highly effective and ultra-low-cost.
Now let’s check out Contents of this book:
So many interesting chapters starting from basic principles, Soil managment tips, Natural pesticides for all types of pests and much more. We will quickly flip through few pages and see how useful this book is.
- Some new concepts of symbiosis with grass or weeds looks interesting to me. This is explained in detail and scientifically.
- The Current State of our Soil – contaminated by chemical pesticides and fertilizers.
- Leaf Mold Soil, Seed and Seedling Treatment using leaf mold soil.
- No-Till Soil Management method using landscape fabric.
- The Main Chapter on Making Organic Fertilizers – which has topics like Natural Mineral Water, DIY Advanced Irrigation System, DIY electric Power Distribution Board,
- Making of JADAM Microorganism Solution (JMS), JADAM liquid Fertilizer, using boiled potatoes, Grass, Food Waste, Human Excreta, Fish meal and a lot of other stuff, like how we discussed on the Waste Decomposer technology by National Centre for Organic Farming, Indian Agriculture, in one of my episodes. Everything explained with beautiful photographs and illustrations.
- Natural Pesticides. Jadam DIY Water Softener, Then Jadam Wetting Agent, Jadam Sulphur, Jadam Herb Solution and much more.
Let’s quickly Preview the second book by the same author:
Jadam Organic Pest and Disease Control with Powerful DIY Organic Pest Control solutions with proven effectiveness. This book is published recently in June 2021. This book has about 506 pages.
We will quickly look through table of contents: some basic principles, then natural solutions to various types of pests like Mites, Aphids, whiteflies, Thrips, scales, bugs, Moths and other pests and insects. Then about the beneficial insects – that’s biological pest control. Then a detailed chapters on various plant diseases like blackspot disease, mildew, blight, mosaic virus, Damping off and many more and controlling with JADAM natural pesticides. The effect of JADAM natural pesticide has been proven by the National Agricultural Research Institute. This book is beautifully explained with nice clear photographs and illustrations on various pests and diseases.
These books will certainly help bring a revolution in organic agriculture if implemented worldwide without the need of commercial pesticides and can reduce the cost of pesticides by more than 95%. I am certainly going to try some of these methods mentioned in these books and implement them.
If you have any questions about Organic farming, you are most welcome to visit jadam website and ask them through ‘Sharing JADAM’. Another good thing is JADAM has not patented any of its knowledge and technologies but shared it all through seminars, books, and their website. These books are available worldwide at Amazon both as kindle editions and hard copies.
Book Links:
(Sales are good around the world, so stocks are often out of stock.This book stock will be filled right away. E-books are also being prepared.)
– JADAM Organic PEST CONTROL BOOK: (https://amzn.to/3wkYGf7
– JADAM Organic Farming Book: https://amzn.to/3jqEgOf
– Jadam Website: https://en.jadam.kr
When you see leaves of your plant curling – whether upwards or downwards, your plants are trying to tell you something! The first thing that should come in your mind is: the PLANT IS IN STRESS. Stress is more commonly seen in younger plants than the more established or mature plants.
Now, let’s look into different patterns of leaf curls with scientific concepts and reasons for each of these and solutions or remedies to be applied to treat the problem of leaf curl.
- Leaf margins curling downwards and drooping down – like wilting: The Common Cause of this is Under watering and excessive heat like in summer season. This indicates your plant is sad and stressed and requires Attention! This is a sign of too much heat and under watering. The solution is pretty simple! – Just water the plant thoroughly and you will see them come back to normal in few minutes.
- Leaf tips or margins curling upwards and folding. Upwards curling occurs because of environmental problems rather than nutrient problems. This could either be due to heat stress or wind stress. Leaves Curl upwards or fold upwards in an attempt to stop exposing or reducing the surface of the leaf for photosynthesis and reducing transpiration and hence overall dehydration. But one problem here is once it curls upwards, it’s not going to uncurl or come back to its normal shape. If the whole plant is suffering from this, you need to worry. But if it’s only few leaves curling at lower portions of the plant, not to worry, if younger shoots are healthy. What’s the Remedy for this leaf curl? Just shift the plant under a shade net away from too much hot sun and mist the plant with some water once or twice a day.
- Leaves curling down or drooping underneath itself with some yellowing. – A Sign of Over watering and an early indication of root rot. To save the plant, take out the root ball and repot in a fully dry soil for immediate solution and do not water for at least 2 days. You can also add some antifungal into the potting mix or in water.
- Leaf Curling with wrinkling and unhealthy look with patchy or punctate yellow spots or specks and visible pests like aphids, mealy bugs, etc – obviously indicate – pest attack is the cause of curling. Spraying neem oil weekly once will help in prevention as well as treatment.
- Leaf Curl Virus also needs a special mention. This commonly affects plants like peppers and tomatoes. If you come across this leaf curl and you have ruled out the other causes of leaf curl as discussed, then you should dispose the plant to prevent spread to other plants nearby.
- Nutritional deficiency can cause Leaf Curling. The Fact you must remember is: about 90% of all leaf curling or leaf injury like yellowing and so on can be attributed to environmental issues – not nutritional.
The main nutritional causes of leaf curling are Magnesium and Manganese Deficiency.
Magnesium Deficiency Curling shows on the middle to older leaves with patching yellowing as well. But the leaf veins stay green (inter-veinal chlorosis).
Manganese deficiency curling first starts showing at younger leaves. So this is how you differentiate between the two.
So, the first thing you need to do to support this diagnosis of nutritional cause of leaf curling is a Soil PH Test. Too much alkaline soil will inhibit the absorption of these micro nutrients by the roots. Simply adding micro nutrient powder will not help. First test the PH and correct the PH. You can make it Acidic by adding Alum or Vinegar.
Then, You can also Foliar Spray with Epsom salt solution if magnesium deficiency is suspected.
Sunlight, water, nutrients—these are the basic requirements for plants to thrive. But did you know that your garden soil has another crucial requirement that can determine whether your plants thrive or struggle to grow? It’s a soil property called pH, and an ideal range of soil PH is indispensable for proper nutrient absorption by the roots. Most plants need a PH between 6 to 6.5 for best growth, though some acid loving plants need a lower PH.
Now, Let me demonstrate 3 easy ways to test your soil PH at home.
The First Method is using Litmus Paper. This is simple school chemistry. Also this is not expensive. You can buy this simple litmus paper kit at any stationary store or even online. This is just litmus paper with color chart showing a PH value for each color that matches with your test result. PH of 7 is Neutral, PH below 7 is acidic and above 7 is alkaline. The most important thing is to use distilled water for all these tests you conduct, because the PH of distilled water is neutral.
So, How to Test Soil Using Litmus Paper Method
- Collect one tablespoon of soil from your garden either from container or from ground. You can take the soil from a little deeper like 2 inches below the soil.
- Add equal amount of distilled water – that’s 1:1 ratio. We are taking distilled water because it has neutral PH of 7. You can also take water from your water purifier, test it with litmus paper first. If it’s neutral, you can use it but only if distilled water is not available. Distilled water is easily available in big cans and also in medical stores in small 5 or 10 ml packs that are used for medicine reconstitution. So, for 1 table spoon of soil you would add 1 tablespoon of water.
- Now nicely mix this by Stirring for few seconds.
- Let it sit for 10 minutes.
- Start stirring the sample again and now dip the litmus paper to take your measurement. Wait for few minutes for color change and then match it with the color coding chart that came along with your litmus paper kit.
Pros of this method: It’s Easy to use and inexpensive
Cons of this method: It’s sometimes difficult to read or match colors, so, loss of precision.
The Second Method is a rough and easy DIY method you can try at home to know whether your soil is acidic or alkaline.
- Take a small amount of soil from your garden or container in a small glass.
- Now Pour some vinegar to this soil sample. If it fizzes and bubbles you have an alkaline soil because the alkaline content in soil reacts with acid like vinegar which is chemically acetic acid.
- Take another soil sample from your garden. Here for demonstration purpose, I know that this is an acidic soil. Now Add baking soda one or two teaspoons and mix it with soil.
- Then wet the soil baking soda mix with distilled water. If it fizzes and bubbles your soil is acidic, because the acidic content in soil reacts with a base or alkaline stuff like baking soda. That’s it!
The Third Method is using Soil PH Testers – Which one to Choose, these manual types or digital soil PH testers. These are easy to use portable gadgets with probes to insert into the soil. These give instant readings. But these manual type of probe testers are not so reliable but they are inexpensive and handy. The digital testers are more accurate but expensive.
This soil testing is fun and you can share this with your kids to teach them simple science or chemistry.
When it comes to propagating or multiplying plants, our mind usually jumps to taking branch cuttings and trying to root them, but most often end up with poor results. But what if I told you that there are 5 different ways to multiply plants with 100% success results, especially for those difficult-to-root trees or woody or semi-woody branches? Even a newbie gardener can easily succeed in these methods. And moreover, these methods will produce genetically identical new plants which will carry all the characteristics of the parent plant. Let’s start these one by one.
5. SIMPLE LAYERING: This is the easiest method and many a times this process occurs naturally. This can be accomplished by bending a low growing or a flexible branch to the ground. You can optionally injure or strip the outer bark to expose the cambium layer of the branch for faster rooting. You can optionally apply a rooting hormone powder if you have. Then, Cover part of it with soil, leaving the remaining 6 to 12 inches above the soil. You can keep some weight over it to prevent it from coming out of loose soil. Make sure you keep watering your plant regularly. The rooting will start within 4 weeks. Once you see roots, you can separate it from the mother plant and transfer it to an independent container.
4. TIP LAYERING: This is quite similar to simple layering method. Dig a hole and Insert the tip of a plant branch shoot and cover it with soil. The tip grows downward first, then bends sharply and grows upward. Roots form at the bend.
3. CLASSIC AIR LAYERING: This method has further two variations depending on whether the plant is a Monocot or a Dicot. This is actually very interesting. Quick differences between monocot and dicot trees. Monocot – One Cotyledon, Dicot – Two cotyledons. Monocot – Parallel veins, Dicot – Branching veins, Monocot – Fibrous root system, Dicot – Tap root is must, Lastly Floral petals usually in multiples of three in monocots, whereas in dicots they are in multiples of four or five.
Alternately, if you know the name of the tree, you can simply google it whether it’s a monocot or dicot.
For monocots: Make an upward 1 to 11⁄2-inch cut about one-third through the stem. The cut is held open with a toothpick or wooden match stick or any small piece of plastic. Now you need a growing medium or air layering mix. This can be a simple peat moss, or cocopeat, or sphagnum moss or even just plain soil. Here I am using a mixture of cocopeat and compost. You have to make it fully moist first and then wrap around a polythene sheet and surround the wound with this air layering mix, about a handful of it. Hold in place tightly using anything to tie around at both ends, like with cable ties, twist ties or electrician’s tape, strings or whatever you have. Tie each end of the plastic securely, to retain moisture and to prevent water from entering in. If exposed to the sun, the plastic should be covered by any dark cloth or Aluminum foil if you have.
For Dicots: the process is similar, except a 1-inch ring of bark is removed from the stem. With a sharp knife, make two parallel cuts about an inch apart around the stem and through the bark and cambium layer, just below a node. Connect the two parallel cuts with one long cut. Remove the ring of bark, leaving the inner tissue exposed. Scrape if necessary to properly peel the tissue and to prevent a bridge of callus tissue from forming. Apply some rooting-hormone powder to the exposed wound if you have. But this is optional. Then wrap around a polythene sheet and surround the wound with the same air layering mix. Then tie both ends with cable ties, twist ties or string or anything. If exposed to the sun, the plastic should be covered by any dark cloth or Aluminum foil if you have. Rooting should start within 4 weeks. You can open it after 4 to 6 weeks to see the roots filling in and then cut off this branch below this level and plant it independently.
2. POT LAYERING: This is just a variation of classic air layering methods. You use pots for air layering in this method. Just strip off the bark with a sharp knife to expose the inner tissue. Now cut through a plastic pot and fix this to the branch. You can use anything to tie it properly to the branch, like a duct tape, cello tape or strings. Fill the pot with the potting mix. And finally water this and cover it with a polythene cover to retain moisture. Rooting should start within 4 weeks. You can open it after 4 to 6 weeks to see the roots filling in and then cut off this branch below this level and plant it independently.
1. WATER LAYERING: This is another variation of air layering where we use water as growing medium. This is very useful for monocots but also works on dicots. Take any waste plastic bottle and cut a small window at its upper middle part. Now make an upward 2 inch cut about one-third through the stem. Then the bottle is introduced through this cut and fixed using some strings or ties. Fill the bottle with water. Make sure you support the branch with some stick or support or else the branch can break off easily. If exposed to the sun, this can be covered by any dark cloth. You can add a quarter tablet of aspirin 350 mg to this water for faster rooting. Aspirin is acetyl salicylic acid which helps in faster rooting. Roots start as early as 10 days. You can cut of this from mother plant and replant it to an independent container.
The Bonus Tip is adding Aspirin tablet – like one tablet in 1 litre water and mixing it with the air layering mix to make it moist. For bottle or water layering, you can drop a quarter tablet directly into the bottle. For pot layering, you can water the pot with this solution and for classic air layering, you could mix it while wetting the mix or if you have forgotten, you can load it in a syringe and inject into the air layering pouch. You can read a detailed post on the uses of aspirin in gardening here.