AND- What if you put fish heads, or even just a whole fish in there, bury it a little deeper this time, like 3" deeper, then an inch of soil on top of that, THEN add an egg! Next, choose a perennial plant. Plant it in there. Would the result be the first year the plant is highly productive because of the egg? And the 2nd year it's even more healthy & productive because of the fish? I would think so... If I could dig a hole deep enough in my rocky soil, I would totally do that!!
My grandmother each year would hoe a trough between the planted rows of her garden and each day put the kitchen waste in the row and cover it up. She would start at one end of the row and work her way to the other end of the row, hoeing as many rows as she needed each year, even during off seasons. The following year she would plant the seeds and plants in the isles where she had buried the kitchen waste the previous year. Where she had planted the garden the previous year she would there hoe her troughs in which she would bury the present years kitchen waste. She never used commercial fertilizers, and she never had a compost pile. She had no problem with insects, and her garden produced greatly. This was part of my grandmother’s Pennsylvania German ways that she taught me.
To me it is common sense to dig a trough in the isles between the rows and bury table scraps there and then plant in the isle the next year as my Grandma Solmie did. She gathered scraps all day and buried them each evening, so she had a mixture of scraps from all the daily meals and food preparations. Thus, with a variety of foods, an assortment of vitamins and minerals for earthworms to feast on and process for the soil. This also creates slightly raised beds each year that are full of a variety of nutrients for plants to choose what they need. Grandma was born in the mid 1880s, and learned her Victorian ways from her family. My late husbands family was from West Virginia, and they regularly buried parts of catfish and other fish they caught they did not consider edible around their rosebushes (and occasionally other landscape trees and shrubs) and it resulted in outstanding rosebushes. I encourage you all to look for gardening related books from prior to the 1940s at yard sales, book stores and libraries, because you will find a wealth of lost knowledge in them. All growing was “organic” and “sustainable” prior to this. It was during the 1940s when land grant colleges and universities agricultural programs that were heavily funded by the chemical companies pushing their newly created agricultural chemicals began pressuring farmers, gardeners, and even children and youth in 4-H to use their chemicals in their plantings. Also, seeds were open pollinated, where governments could not control the food supply.
After my Italian father harvested his crops in the fall, he would dig a trench of about 12 inches throughout the garden and throughout the winter he would add food scraps and just continue to add food scraps and cover up the trench. By the time he was ready to do his planting in the spring, everything was broken down, and his soil was ready to be planted. Obviously, that is the key to making sure that everything is broken down before you plant in it, otherwise the microbes breaking down those large items are robbing the plant of the nutrients that they need. Great experiment. Thanks for sharing.
I had a desert green house in an area that nothing grew, except depression. I planted and had a few things pop up. I went on vacation with a friend and we caught crawdads. I was drinking and crawdads seemed so delicious at the time. The next morning we gathered several 5 gallon buckets to take home. After getting home they had all died and was starting to smell. I heard about fish heads so I crushed them and poured them into the green house. It literally exploded and produced so much food I couldn’t eat it all. A friend of mine’s mother was a real gardener and she was very impressed by the output. She asked if she could manage the greenhouse which I let her. She knew when to pick. She gave me huge bundles of food which was too much for me to eat and she also provided food for her family, her kids and grandchildren, no joke. I believe crawdads and probably fish need to be ground up before going into the garden. My greenhouse stunk, but I love that if I was hungry, I could pull a couple leaves of lettuce, grab a tomato and a little cucumber. So delicious.
@@helenflouchbut they weren't catfish. Catfish don't have scales, they have a flesh to them that gets tough and is difficult to breakdown. The fish that my people used had scales and thin skin so it broke down easily. Those fish were tiny too.
But use garden weeds/scrap or egg plant because they forgot to factor in the most important thing. Garden weeds had 2 plants and an egg plant had one vegetation. While the winner of the experiment, the natural 'roma' had 5 vegetation. The egg plants also had the most the overall weight as well as the average weight. So put either eggs or garden weeds in your garden. What we learnt from this experiment is don't go for fish, kitchen scraps or natural.
This is the kind of content that I really love - side by side comparisons to test different methods. Coming from a coastal community with a strong fishing heritage, I can tell you that fish byproducts are definitely used to enrich the soil, but nobody is putting huge heaps of fish under each plant. Fish bones/scraps/entrails etc are dug into beds in the fall after harvest to allow them time to break down before spring planting, and this is done annually so the parts that take longer to break down have multiple season to finish the job.
I am new to gardening but have been burying my kitchen waste for over 6 months now. Being a mostly raw vegan a lot of seeds go into the ground along with the scrap and to my surprise, plants started to pop up everywhere within weeks of them being buried. I had yielded over 50 watermelons as well as cantaloupes and starter plants such as mango, papaya and Sapota plants....all from kitchen waste.
My mom used to help get yards ready for Master Garden tours. At one of them she saw the best soil she'd ever seen and assumed the gardener used a lot of compost. When she asked her if that was the case, the gardener said she had never used compost and that the only thing she did to improve her soil was bury kitchen scraps. I've been burying kitchen scraps for years (just barely under the soil to not disturb it too much) and think the important thing is to bury them not at the time of planting but at the end of the season, so that they've broken down when it's time to plant. Sometimes in the fall in rows where I wasn't able to cover crop, I throw kitchen scraps on top of the bed and then cover them with a thin layer of leaves and/or straw.
Yes. 2 important things that make for decomposition are oxygen and water, this is why you need to shuffle compost constantly or alternatively to to blow air through stuff like manure, there's no good decomposition withuot air in the deep parts of the soil. Water is very important too, nothing happens withuot it. This is why the most important part of soil preparation in professional plant growing happens in the autumn too - they plow the soil and add fertilizers so that bacteria had to time to work on macroelements and to incorporate it, and to recycle what it can why there's lots of water from the rain and thawing snow.
I love how exited you two are about the broken down fish. It would be interesting to plant again next year in the same spots, with no additional scraps, to see which made the best compost for next year.
as a wildlife conflict specialist i can tell you living in the PNW those heads would have been eaten by a bear, racoon, or the many other creatures so putting that in the ground even deep would bring guests unknown to your home, so, what we do is we make it into a smoothie. blending it into small particles as you pointed out does a lot of the heaving lifting. you can throw anything in if it blends and add it on or in the soil. it is quickly absorbed and feeds numerous bugs that we love. Not attracting wildlife is essential to my role up her on the Sunshine Coast and by blending our scraps into smoothies not only do we respect wildlife but we also help feed the soil with bug bite size food which grows a stronger root system and mycium system which is vital for nutrient depth. (win, win...win:) so thanks for your work it backed up my knowledge that smoothies are best:) ps...use washed raw seaweed as a trial for fertalizer against the petrolium based ones...thats something id love to see in an episode
I also live in the PNW. I was a former San Diego gardener/native, so Californian. In the last 20 years in the PNW, I had to adapt my gardening techniques. I used fish heads and skins in my garden. I quickly learned that crows, possums, and raccoons dug up my garden. I will use the smoothie technique.
I would have loved to see you guys taste test a tomato from each plant to see if you could tell a difference in their flavor too. Probably not a lot of difference but it makes me wonder. I think the lack of aphids on the Oxilis was the most interseting detail... a natural way to fight those annoying bugs!
@@DOLfirstMy plants do great with fish carcass, especially if I end up with a salmon too old and gone, but I plant after it's been there a bit already decomposing, plus it was naturally in that early state on catch.
Many years ago my neighbors (a married couple) in a community garden had a method that seemed to result in terrific rich soil and amazing veggie production. They would cut up their kitchen scraps and freeze them until they had enough to bury in a square foot or so of their garden. When they harvested a section, they would dig down several inches, bury the kitchen scraps, cover them back up, then NOT GARDEN THAT SECTION for a couple of months until all of the kitchen scraps had decomposed. One possibility for why Roma and Eggbert did the best is that Roma had nothing buried under it, and Eggbert had mostly broken eggs which would have decomposed very quickly. So the plants' roots weren't *competing* with the composting materials. All the goodies in the soil went to the plants, not to breaking down the compost materials. If you left those six areas alone for another year then planted out six more tomato plants, you might see different results, because all of the buried materials would have broken down.
A SECOND trial, done with the EXACT same controls ... would be KEY to understanding the benefits of each type of amendment, over time ... without the actual composting process stealing the nutrients (ie: nitrogen) from the soil just as the plant is needing them.
So interesting to see the long term progress of this experiment! Seeing how quickly everything's broke down has me considering composting in ground more often 🤔
My yard is too small for composting. I can't use leaves or grass (my HOA sprays). So, I directly bury my kitchen scrapes in my raised beds in the fall & winter (until soil freezes). I just put everything in 2 gallon freezer bags and store until the end of my growing season. I heard that the breakdown process heats up the soil, though I never tested. I mulch with straw and cover with chicken wire because of the skunks, raccoons and squirrels. Never had better soil.
How deep do you bury the scraps? It gets a bit cold in the winter where I am and basically shuts down the compost but maybe actual soil would keep active?@@Dot2TrotsLowCarbLiving
I used to bury fish scraps over 2 foot down under rose bushes. I think the first year it's too acidic. The second year, the growth was amazing. It was almost like you could tell when the roots hit that area. I also wondered about sunlight. Could that have had anything to do with the better success at the egg/nothing end? They were very bushy. I would suggest putting them even further apart. Very cool experiment. I love stuff like this!
I think the hole is way too deep, in South Africa, I just bury all organic material into the garden, in a random 10-15 CM deep hole and in time worms will come and eat them. So initially might not be every household organic material, but later yes, because those earthworms will eat them away like within 3 days. Your problem is that you just dig too close to the plant, you just needed to dig further away, you should see micro root growing out from the roses, the more you feed the soil the faster it get decompose and you will feel the soil get very loose as the worm get feed and grow in numbers. In rainy times, then you can see earthworms comes out and get into the paving area, at the end they needed to breath air. You know it is too shallow as it will smell, but as long as it did not smell then it is deep enough, as worms don't live that deep, micro bacteria also don't live that deep. The most lucky things is that I am a cat person, so no dogs to mess things up.
@@yesgogood7304 I grow my tomatoes from seed indoors. No matter what I do, they get spindly by the time I plants them. I bury them deep, sometimes even burying them sideways so only the leaves are exposed. Sometimes I even get plants popping up from the soil where the stem is. I usually grow the same 4 varieties and always try a 1 new one, annually.
Early on, the Roma control looked like it might get less afternoon sun and more water retention. Later it shaded its companion while being an early target of the aphids and won re: ripe fruit. Do aphids stimulate early ripening?
A variable that wasn't tested was to make sure you had the same mass of additives to each plant and to emulsify to make sure you have the same surface area. There were WAY more fish heads than anything else and they were HELLA wet. I would happily redesign this experiment with you Kevin. It's literally my job lol
My thought too. My mother in law swore by the fish heads method and on head under each plant and she got soooo many tomatoes. He used way too much fish in that hole.
@@GameTimeWhy hard not to disturb the roots if you dig down to add to already growing/established plants. If you side dress shallowly, you’d need to cover the soil with hailscreen mesh to prevent scavengers digging. People do drill large holes in 3-4 inch pvc , insert at planting, then add scraps all season. Just takes longer to compost, but it’s the same principle as a keyhole garden with a center scrap tower. Lazy gardener method, still works.
Yeah I'd say a repeat & redesign of the experiment is in order too. I agree that was way more fish heads than anyone would put under one tomato plant. Same with the eggs. I've heard one egg per tomato plant. Also the "Roma" plant is not a good enough control because it had way less soil disturbance so it's more of a no-dig version. It should have had an identical depth and size hole dug with the same steel mesh bag, just nothing in the bag, then the dirt filled in, then plant the tomato.
@@GameTimeWhy it also occurred to me that tomatoes are one plant that will root all the way up the stem, so you could make a small raised bed around your existing plant, add your scraps to the former surface on protective screen mesh, remove lower branches, then fill with soil and cover new surface with more mesh around stem.
love this experiment. I have been burying indiscriminate kitchen scraps in my garden this year but just started planting. I am excited to see the results.
This was fascinating! As a science teacher who emphasizes using control groups, I love that you included one! A gold star! However, On the Control plant, you did not show that you dug up the soil to the same depth, or had an empty steel cage underneath it. Strictly speaking, the lack of turning the soil underneath the control plant definitely could have affected the growth. Thanks for an interesting video!
I planted late tomatoes (mid-June). I just happened to take a seaweed foraging class that day and buried the extra seaweed when I planted the tomato *seeds* in the ground. The plants are so deep green and robust and I'm actually getting fruit in October. Definitely going to do that again next year 🙂
@@makemesmile004 You should look into european green crabs too! I'm on the other coast and we've been getting tons, but I know they've been a big issue in Maine for years. If you have access to intertidal land you can throw pots out and get hundreds of them every week for fertilizer, and you'll help farmers and native species out.
My brother regularly fished in the Pacific Ocean when we were teens in the 70’s (big fish 😳) After he cleaned them Dad buried the rest in Mom’s garden. You would not believe how productive that garden was 😊 She ended up winning a contest and appeared with her harvest in the local paper.
When we go deep sea fishing the mate cleans all the fish on the way in. It looks like a scene from The Birds that Alfred would approve. Nothing makes it back to shore but the fillets
@@drizler brother would also go out on chartered trips like that. We lived a couple miles from the beach and he would also go out on the rocks to fish. Dad taught him to clean his own fish. Years later he worked on charters and commercial line fishing.
Fun Stuff! I'm a giant pumpkin grower and about 15 years ago I buried 200 pounds of bluefin that went bad due to a freezer malfunction. This caused the worst fusarium outbreak in my patch that year and I only hit 1066 pounds. Fun stuff and nothing better than gardening and growing things! I just happen to be a giant pumpkin grower and I won't be doing that again. Soil testing, tissue testing and adding only what the plant needs is now what I do and my weights should hit 2000 pounds this year. 🙏🙏 Keep up the good work!:)
My husband hooked up our kitchen sink "in sinkerator" to deposit our kitchen scraps organic matter directly outside to our compost pile. Works great but does need added drier materials like straw, sand, ashes, sawdust, to balance the liquid. No wasted effort and gorgeous rich compost for planting and top dressing.
This is an excellent idea for everyone to create fertilizer excellent soil for farming your yard…especially considering the high cost of food. Small livestock is great. Hopefully most people will do this soon and in the process, eat much healthier. There’s something about all kinds of food additives in corporate food. Plus, agribusiness is in it for themselves. Bill Gates comes to mind buying up all the farmlands.
I've used all these in my garden including fish heads etc..not catfish heads just mullet and kahawai nz fish. I never planted immediately on top I waited about 9 days watered the soil then planted my veggies. An amazing display of growth within 2 weeks began. The "Roma" pile amazed me and it just shows how amazing natural soil is. I so enjoyed this experiment and while I won't change how I work in my own garden it definitely helps me to think more when I begin a new area that hasn't been used before. Thanks so much
My mom would use fish scraps from cleaning fish to put in the hole she’d dig to plant a tree, sometimes a whole dead fish, but in two years the trees were 10-20 feet tall!!
I bet whatever you plant in the catfish head spot now would grow like crazy. And my cousin’s husband was from Hawaii, he had a 55 gallon barrel of water that he would throw all our leftover fish heads and anything left from filleting our catch into and he let it sit, man was it stinky!! But he kept it covered with the screw on lid and had added a spigot to the bottom so he would spray the nasty water onto the garden. We grew a huge garden with them on their property and I have only had 1 garden that I have ever planted that was better. That was when we lived in VT and never used anything on it. The soil was so productive that after you put the seed in the ground you better jump out of the way! Our tomato plants grew over 6 ft tall, I have pictures to prove it and we got so much from that garden it was insane. Next time I am up there, I am renting a U-Haul to come home and filling feed bags with soil to bring home to my garden.
6 feets ? thats... normal. Sorry ^ ^ If you had said something like 3 to 6 meters, you would just began to compete with greenhouse. And i said, began, because it's usual for a greenhouse to have 32 feets long tomatoes. I was working in a farm less than a month ago, in france, without any fertilizer and a greenhouse, we had 6 feets tomatoes. Considering that you live in a greenhouse, it's not a good result. And i can explain why : there is not much nitrogen in fish. Phosphorus, but phosphorus in not needed to grow vegetation, but for fructification.
Loved your thoughtful garden experiment. I've gardened for about 45 years and made my own compost for 35 of those years. I haven't read any comments yet, but I'm guessing I won't be the only one to suggest the timing of the introduction of "stuff" to improve soil before planting is just as important as what. Composting breaks these items down over time, so I'm guessing if you put everything back in place and repeat your experiment, adding nothing, they'll all come out pretty equal. Great good gardening fun though. Thanks!
This reminds me of something my grandfather told me about sixty years ago. He said, a plant will grow not because of what you do to it, it grows in spite of what you do to it.
Just for info sake : my Grandparents had HUGE gardens my whole life, as long as they had their home together out in there City of Linden MI. It was known that the Veg. & Fruits: garden & trees, were basically my Grandfather's fare, with help from my Grandmother. The Flower gardens were only for my Grandmother to tend to. They equally managed the whole of their yard together. Neither the yard or the gardens.. ever had any form of Treatments. There were no weed killers or bug killers or commercial fertilizers ever used. My Grandpa tilled and cultivated the grounds throughout the season. When planting, he would initially before placing the plants or seeds ( seeds he kept from his produce - year after year ) put in his Compost MIX. That mix was everything chopped up and small. He had ; greens from the grass mowing, some leaves from their fruit trees, all the garden by product ( vines, leaves ,.. ) that showed no signs of spoilage or infestation of bugs, fruits and vegetables scraps, egg shells, coffee grounds AND Fish ( chopped up - from a WHOLE FISH ). The fish used were fresh, small and came right out of the lake from their back yard. They were Sun Fish and Blue Fish. Everything was chopped up small. All mixed in/together with tended to Compost of the same. They had the most Beautiful Gardens for years. Strawberrys, Raspberries, Purple Concord Grapes, 5 types, at least, of Tomatoes, Corn, many types of Peppers, Onions, Potatoes, Green Snap Beans, Eggplant..etc. for the vegetables. The trees were Black Walnut, Pear, and Apple ( Delicious) . Never have I seen more Fantastic gardens. Not a weed in sight !! Being with my Grandparents gave great fun and experiences. In my early years (8yrs. -- ) I started my own gardens with the knowledge I acquired from them. I had wonderful success with Vegetables gardens but no luck with flowers. I was successful with Shrubs and Trees. I guess I had my Grandfather's Green Thumb. He was a pure, ( so I was told by him and the family ) Full-Breed Indian. My mother was the one who handled growing flowers and definitely had the touch. Fish and Egg/Shells definitely work, but must be chopped up small. He used local, Small bred fish. I hope this helps. Best of luck in your business. I Love your tomatoes.... May GOD Bless you and the whole ( all employees ) of your business. Thank You for the productS AND the really cool video. 😊
I’m in Grand Blanc, MI we’re neighbors. I love purple Concord grapes I bought some at the Lansings farmers market and saved the seeds. I would love tips on how to grow them if you know how. Thank you
My grandmother buried her scraps and she had beautiful gardens! Some would sprout & grow and she'd get more veggies. It's been so long ago but I remember she harvested tomatoes and eggplant. She could grow anything! Definitely had a green thumb! 👍💚
Awesome video and experiment. An old friend of mine told me this is how he grew all his crops, never bought any inputs. He would use anything he could get his hands on… didn’t matter what. The KEY FACTOR he said was giving it 2 months before planting. Great channel!!!!
This was a fascinating experiment. I love your long term videos where we get to see the results at the end, as opposed to waiting months for a follow up video.
Experiment variations: 1)emulsify the materials, 2)combine in each the whole and emulsified materials in two separate plantings, 3)each planting variation done with pre-composted amendment. I totally dig this facet of gardening, and would be far more motivated by it, and then making a 'parameters and results' video. Fun!
Me too, I am trying to cross peppers in my closet this winter for my gardening fix. lol. I am going to try to recreate some peppers that popped up this year due to the work of the bees. Should be fun.
Angela, in the 1950s and 1960s my dad got me and my two siblings up by 6am 6 days a week when school was out to work in the acre + of garden, or take us to our grandparents farm to work the gardens there! I was in 4-H also! As long as we have life we can be gardening somewhere, somehow, thus keeping connection with nature as we grow even a little food indoors/outdoors! I have found no matter where I am if I step out to do more, such as gardening, then God makes a way and opens doors for me to be able to garden more.
AMEN. I'm asking the LORD each day as I water my 4 tomato 🍅 plants I planted 2 wks ago in a raised wood box. They have doubled in size compared to the heathen lady's box next to me! 😅
This was like going back in time nearly 60 yrs, my dad and I use to dig a starting trench at the top of the vegetable garden then spread evenly with literally everything, old newspapers, kitchen scraps, leaves, grass cuttings even old clothes until it covered the bottom at which point we would used the soil from in front backfilling the last one while at the same time creating a new trench, finally working our way down the whole vegetable garden, it wasn’t just a seasonal thing but an all year long one until we reached the end of the garden when we’d start a new trench back at the top and continue the cycle all over again. Never needed to use any compost or fertiliser and we always had bumper vegetable crops, so much so that we gave a lot away to neighbours.
This is an excellent method. It might sound like a lot of labor but compare it to the labor of composting in one section of the yard, and then redistributing the finished compost where it is needed.
This is possibly the most interesting garden experiment I have ever seen. I would have probably spaced the tomato plants a little wider apart if possible, to minimize transfer of nutrients amongst them, especially during watering, especially during the hurricane you went through. There may or may not have been other control issues, such as angle of light and length of exposure to light for each bush. Actual percentages of ripe vs ripe tomatoes would have been nice on the otherwise great graph you put up. Also, it would be interesting, even as a follow up video, to hear about the taste quality of each batch of tomatoes, taste being ostensibly the most important factor in why one grows tomatoes in the first place. Does the nature of the substrate added come through in the taste of the tomatoes? Were there catfishy-tasting tomatoes, and were there more floral, or more aromatic ones? Which ones had the best, the worst, or the blandest taste? Which ones were best in recipes? Which ones lasted longer? Which ones were easier to cook with based on skin thickness, overall juiciness, or amount of seeds? The moral of the story is quite clear, though, plant in an already rich soil or administer only expertly prepared fertilizer or well aged compost with fine particles. Loved this!
I only bury vegtable kitchen scraps during the late fall and winter so by spring they are completely decomposed which I believe makes a huge difference from your experiment. I also add egg shells but I ground them to a course powder and then add them to my garden which produces a great bounty of tomatoes.
I thought that was how he was going to do it when I clicked on the video.... had me screaming at the start. This is not even a real test he is doing... its just to send people a message. Why bother if he isn't going to do it right?
When I filled up a new raised bed I threw kitchen scraps on top of sticks with leaves attached, then the top 8 inches or so was dirt. It's been 2 years now and that bed still gives me a consistently higher yield than my grow bags that I put traditional compost into.
This was a fascinating experiment! I'm a Biologist, trained at Emory Univ in the early 1980s, and while I mostly focused on animals, I did get plenty of experience in ecology and related plant growth training & experimental experience. First, your methodology was excellent, though your sample size was extremely small. Over the years, I've encountered results that seemed to confirm my hypothesis, much as you did, but when the sample sizes are small, we know that there can be bizarre reasons behind the results that are impossible to quantify and understand. However, even considering that, your conclusions actually confirm what I know about biochemistry of plant growth. I applaud your understanding of what's going on, you seem to have a good sense of what the plants need to fare well. Thank you for this video, and for doing the experiment. Thank you for your very thoroughness. I hope this can demonstrate the concepts needed to the average person, so they can be excellent gardeners! 👍 👌
I forgot some fish in a cooler for a few weeks. I left them in that cooler with the water they were already in for about 4 months total and watered half of my tomatoes with it. There was nothing left in the water except scales and bones. That half of my tomato plants got the largest and produced the most.
Some real unexpected surprises, thanks for doing all of this work for us! As a disabled senior I am grateful for all your hard work that I can no longer do myself, but still think about. 😘
Absolutely fascinating. As an extremely lazy gardener, I feel vindicated after telling countless people on facebook that making all these crazy concoctions and teas and such is just too much work. Just compost the dang weeds. Just compost it all and be done with it.
There’s no hard work involved in making brews or Teas. One just adds the required items to water and lets it sit. Dilute after the required weeks and feed away - comfrey/banana peels/ horse,cow,sheep manure, egg shells - any combo, all, or just one. Easy peasy. Simply requires application of self. And still compost your weeds 😊😊💜
Really interesting! I have been burying my kitchen scraps for years. I got tired of making a compost pile and now dig random holes in my gardens and dump in the scraps. I do not do it near plants during growing season. I have never dug up any of the scraps, they all decompose fairly quickly. I have an increase number of worms and awesome rich soil. So much easier than maintaining a compost pile and tossing it.
I do the exact same thing with the same great results you are getting. I also put in Winter Rye as a cover crop in the Fall over what I've dug in the plant kitchen scraps and garden debris from the Summer planting.
My theory on the control having the most ripe: you’re in a high zone, higher heat, and that was the first plant to be shaded in the afternoon = had a cooler temp = higher rate of ethylene = ripening. I live in the southeast zone 8a and have to shade my tomatoes once temps stay over 90° consistently, otherwise their ripening stalls forevvvvver. A week after shading, they will begin to ripen! Thanks for this experiment though!!!! I love seeing these videos
One year I did trench composting over the winter in one of my raised beds. I dug a hole, filled it with a bucket of the kitchen scraps /old fridge leftovers and covered it with the soil from the hole dug next to the first hole. I trench composted both long sides of the 3' wide beds. In the spring, I planted broccoli , cabbage and cauliflower plants over the compost. WOW! The plants were very vigorous and produced gorgeous heads .
The fish heads probably created higher temperatures while breaking down in the nets. I bet if you did the same experiment in proximity to the plant you would get a better result. Also please try this with corn next year! Would love to see the outcomes. You guys are the best!
Love this. It actually re-affirms, to me, the burying of all earth materials in the garden, especially for people who have very little space. Personally I think it means bury it but not directly under the plant. So for example, bury it, then cover with soil and mulch and fertilizer/amendments, then the plant. Give the stuff some time to become decomposed before the plant roots get there and need it. Super experiment! For me, I bury scraps, garden weeds, etc before I need to plant, or off to the side or in a corner. Course, in my area, I also need them for moisture retention, not just to break down. My soil still needs way more organic materials.
I put containers (like pots and small cardboard boxes hidden from view) between my plants , bushes and trees. I don’t burry them, just on top of the soil. I fill them with a mix of raw kitchen scraps, weeds, leaves, clippings, pieces of simple brown cardboard and some of my chicken manure with straw from my hens, ground coffee, tea leaves and what not. The more variety, the better. I push cardboard on top to keep things wet and dark and water the whole thing. The size of the container depends on the size of the plants. It’s hot where I live, composting goes fast. By the time the last containers are filled up, the first are totally composted, even the cardboard, I empty them and start a new cycle. The mango trees with a container at their feet have lots of new growth and fruit, the others not so much. The same can be said for every other plant, fruit or vegetable. So much so that I gave buckets with lids to all my friends who keep their raw vegetable and fruit scraps for me so that I have all sizes of containers all over my garden now. The compost goes on top of the soil everywhere. My garden explodes and I have tons of vegetables and fruit and edible flowers. My cherry tomatoes yield like crazy. I call it my free plant steroids 🤣
@@vivn01 ow, that’s not ok. I do not have that problem but I live in a very dry and hot climate on volcanic soil. I do have to water the boxes or they won’t decompose, just dry. Probably why I don’t have that problem. I hardly have any flies in the chicken space for the same reason, I think
@@Layp107 Thanks For your input. I am afraid to try it again. That year my garden was full of bugs and disease killed my plants couldn’t treat . Or maybe I didn’t bury it deep enough? I don’t know. Thank you
Really great video. I ❤ the fact you made 1 video with continual updates instead of making three or four little videos making us getting recapped every step of the way. This was very efficient use of time for me and very educational regarding gardening. One of the reasons I keep coming back 🙂
That is an interesting experiment that should continue into future years. However, I think for most of us novice gardeners, the best takeaway would be to add all those ingredients to our compost and use it evenly in our planting beds. I still consider myself novice even though I have been growing veggies etc in 9b Sacramento for 40 years. Love your channel, good info.
When growing from seed we would expect there to be at least two different phenotypes. It is possible your noodle plant lost the gene lottery, and the control was just a very vigorous pheno. If you are planning a 2.0 next year definitely use clones to eliminate this variable. Fun experiment, keep up the great content!
Even if they were clones, the starting plants should have been barerooted to compare root mass, and the initial plant number of leaves and stem planting depth controlled for or compared. Really need a matrix, not just one plant of each.
If you can't have clones for whatever reason, start 20-odd plants (more than 12) and when they're ready to plant out, pick the most evenly matched 6 for the experiment. It's still not as good as clones because they might react differently to the soil they get planted in. EDIT: And, as someone way down in the depths of the comments pointed out, the control should have had a metal mesh.
Only problem here is.... I was taught that burying food scraps was an off season thing; you do it at the end of the growing season to prepare the soil for the following spring.
exactly! growing up we had a huge garden which our family had for like 4 generations... ALWAYS in the end of the season before winter and then add some fertiliser (also natural) like a month before planting...
His video is insulting to peoples intelligence. I don't think it was aimed at everyone but rather people who dont even grasp something as basic as these things needing to be broken down/composted first. After burying them like that, I thought he'd at least give it a few months or whatever before starting... but nope... >.> You know... SOMETHING other than just plopping it in just as it is. It wasn't a real test. I feel cheated and my time wasted.
Dad always said the same thing about burying fish scraps after cleaning our catch. "It's for next year." He also had us bury them between rows in the summer, and would move the rows back and forth into the fish cemetery rows each year. I was never sure it did much more than give us a fish cemetery and give Dad something to do.
@@VashtiPerry probably shouldn't focus on the word usage. It's easy to take things out of context like that. It's a turn of phrase in this case, where it isn't even taken as an insult but is meant as a form of expression. The video was pointless and misleading as they did not conduct the experiment properly at all for the sole purpose of making a point that could have been made separately. Who'ever they aimed it at, the rest of us are sitting here expecting the steps to be followed properly to really see what the results would have been.
Fabulous experiment guys! Not only was it well run but it was also has considerable meaning for the small or Urban Gardener. I have often wondered which was better my kitchen scraps or my compost and always seem to get great Garden results with my compost as opposed to my kitchen scraps, but you guys really tested it out! Thanks so much.
All in all I think it was a really interesting experiment. But I scanned through some of the comments to see if anyone caught onto something I noticed. Which was the amount of sunlight. Through out the whole video at each segment I noticed the plant with the table scraps always had more sunlight. While as you went down the row the sunlight went dimmer. So I'm wondering if that played a factor. Also I really think it would have cool to do a Taste comparison. Altimentally I think I would compost first then plant. All of that stuff together probably would have made an awesome compost.
In my opinion and observation, sunlight is one of the Most important 'ingrediants' in growing garden vegetables.Next is water(lack of or too much).Next would be soil fertility and 'condition' of the soil!
No Africans bury food scraps too. I dated a man from the Congo his family are professors at UC Davis and they bury food scraps well the ones that grow from the ground anyway because trees that have fruit and leaves and nuts they fall to the ground in the wild. It's not rocket science!
At about 9 minutes, it looks pretty even, but one would have to see the morning until night sun to see how much difference. Unless too hot, there is no such thing as too much sun for a tomato. Best tomato plant I have grew was in a garden that got sun dawn to dusk. A single plant with over 150 good sized tomatoes. I think good soil an some basic fertilizer works well. If I were to put scraps in, I would till them in during the fall. If I had a lot, I would make a compost heap. - Cheers
My thoughts are that Roma may have done best, as the natural microbial layer was not disturbed like the other ones were. Goes along with the belief that you should not till your garden in the spring, right before planting. It's interesting regardless, and I hope to see more of these!
My dad always put the fish scraps in the garden the year before planting. He grew easily 4 foot tomato plants. They were not romas though and from experience romas are usually not as big. One of the best in size things he grew were zucchini which were like 5-6 pound monsters. Honestly, just making a general compost pile over a year ie. table scraps, a little vegetation, fish scraps, ect., let it break down with soil mixed in for a year, and then using it to plant in is best. Also, my dad went as far as to bring in trucks of dirt from his friends property and sifted out the pebbles. It was some of the darkest soil he had ever seen.
@@iprobablyforgotsomething as apposed to red or gray indicating clay, yes. Not all rich soils are good for growing stuff in though, under pine trees you will find rich black soil but it is much too acidic to grow most thing in.
It's what I do,I add everything in it. All veggie scraps,egg shell,leaves, fish. In about 6 months cause of the amount its rich worm boasting soil. The tomatoes are sweet,plump,delicious and plentiful. /
I save my eggshells and break them down to almost a powder and some various sizes and mix it with my compost. I get so much tomatoes that I can eat exclusively from my raised beds for 6 months and still have plenty for my neighbors to help themselves to.
Super interesting! The results make sense to me, since decomposition makes a plant compete for oxygen so it had the least competition in the control plant. I would be curious to see how these various scraps categories would compete against each other in a partially buried beside the plants, instead of underneath. That would keep the decomposing materials up in the highest couple of inches or so of dirt where roots are typically sending feeder roots for nutrition without forcing potentially toxic & oxygen deprivation conditions directly under the plant.
Loved this as I do all Epic vids, but having all phases of the experiment in one, to watch the whole thing was great ... then I don't miss the follow up! ❤
This was such a great experiment! Says to me that the one with nothing added had the exact right balance of bioavailable nutrients without the rotting and breaking down process. The lack of bugs on the weed one was really interesting.
You just reminded me of something we did as a kid. We put a fish in the bottom of the plant hole when my mom was transplanting sprouts. What a great memory! Thanks!!
very interesting experiment! I think the outcome of the buried kitchen scraps (scrappy) was important though - it shows how those scraps can help build the soil even though this year the plant was sort of average... building the soil is an important goal... some people dont have room for a compost pile so adding kitchen vegetable scraps directly to the bed is still worth something to the soil building goal... it was so interesting to see how each one looked underground at the end too! thank you!
I enjoyed this fun experiment. I add a lot of kitchen scraps to my compost pile. Lately, I chop everything to about 2" x 2'' x2" or smaller. The smaller surface size decomposes much faster.
Thank you for sharing this. I find the weed scraps interesting in that they seem to have helped the plant protect itself against aphids. I always save crushed egg shells over the winter and add them to the soil when planting tomatoes to add extra more calcium to the mix. Other than that, I let the plants grow on their own. Always had an excellent yield.
This is the first video in a long time (on any channel) that I've actually watched and paid attention to the whole way through. My ADHD is so bad but this one actually kept me engaged. I'd love to see more experiment videos like this one!
So, the funny thing for me is my 3 babies, in order, weighed the same as Eggbert, Oxalis, and Noodle. The little one, Flora, was 8 weeks premature due to preeclampsia. She's 1 now, an absolute delight, and I can't wait to have them all in the garden with me this year. This was a wonderfully well-executed experiment. Science teachers should show this video in their classrooms.
Basically you over fertilized your tomato plants. My native American ancestors would only use a half to one fish head per tomato or corn plant. Best use of kitchen scraps is to compost them ahead of planting season. Then mix in with your regular compost.
Thank you for this! I’m such a neophyte at gardening . My Grandfathers had Victory gardens their whole lives. My Dad gardened too. So learning these tips will keep me from following trends and tips that you already saved me from!
This is what I do with my juicing pulp! Well sort of, I bury them just to the side of my plants, not directly under. Works so fast because it’s all tiny bits. I have an ecxoerinent going right now with some butchering scrap. I don’t have a dog to feed those animal odds and ends to after butchering so we dug a deep hole, covered them well, and put a huge 2x2 block over it. It’s been many months and nothing dug into it, no smell, and the nearby plants are growing like crazy. Next summer I’ll be planting a pumpkin or melon in that space and see how it does.
@@smoofollowingqalroundthewo206I’m not concerned with feeding other peoples pets. I am concerned with building the best garden soil I can though. And it worked well. We dug up the hole a few weeks ago and all we found were a few claws left.
Something that would have made this test a bit more "fair": get an old blender (yard sale, Goodwill, etc.) and liquefy/powder all the ingredients in each batch. That gives them equal footing with regards to breaking down from a solid. Another option (would work great with the catfish heads) is to add some quicklime to speed up the decomposition process and balance the pH.
the control one was at the end and if that end was also facing south it means it got alot more sun than the others and that could explain the difference in ripeness, since direct sun makes the fruit ripen faster.
I enjoyed this. For the fish though, we never planted on top of fresh guts/heads. I live in a 4 season climate & fall & winter were when we put the fish scraps in the ground. In spring we tilled then planted. I have always thought of it as in place composting because we never had fish left by the time we planted. I believe that might be the difference from the experiment.
Only Kevin and Jacques can react to broken down fish heads with the same awestruck ferocity of a twitch streamer and not be cringy while still being entertaining and educational 😂
I put a big fish head in garden. Had a 3 day90° weather. Went out to water and found ground bubbling with maggot. Million on neighbors house.like a horror movie. Hosed them down, bunch of crows can in, and helped get rid of them. Never again! Anyone else have this problem?
I find that avocado skins take quite a while to break down. Ideally break them up into smaller pieces…if you wish to speed the process up. // It’s worth using your tomato leaves to create a ‘Tea’ which you then dilute and spray on your plants - to keep aphid etc at bay. Was interested to see the aphid free weed patch 😊 🙏
I have a worm farm. It really converts the scraps but sometimes I still have chunks of avo peels in there. I pull em out of the finished drawers and add back into the new trays. They are tough!
@@lauracassidy8152 I’ve just developed the habit of using kitchen scissors to snip them up. Don’t always feel like it but quite mind absorbing once under way 😊 Antistressor…
@@brigidlaffey7343 I've been using regular scissors for cutting up orange peels, avocado skins and any scrap the is more than 1/2 inch large... That is, unless I'm too lazy to do that... I have a big plastic compost bin, that I've been throwing all my scraps (and a lot of rotten fruits and veggies that rotted before I bothered to cook them) in for at least 5-6 years; I occasionally add chopped up autumn leaves too... Haven't been turning the stuff... In all these years, the stuff has been settling in, I suppose... I haven't tried to see what's at the bottom, Hope it's great compost by now.... I might try to bury scraps in some beds when the soil thaws enough for digging... Who knows when - it's been snowing and melting periodically in Upstat4e NY... BTW I crush eggshells by hand, and I NEVER put any meat/fish, even scales, or dairy products in my compost.
I love your sound scientific approach to your experiments, having control group to make the results valid. This is a great material for publishing an article.
From my experience, I am 65, I have always had a well-maintained compost pile(s). I add all manner of veggie scraps, grass clipping (not too many), cow crap, water it and turn it often, and scrap bedding hay from my livestock barn. The hay and grass clippings get their own place until they are really breaking down then that gets mixed with the other pile. I put the compost into the soil in fall. By the spring planting, everything is ready to go. I get yields that are high. Over time, a garden should develop better and better soil if you are doing your part. I also added some sand long ago to make the soil less gummy, helping loosen it up. Just about any organic matter added to your soil in moderation will enhance your results. For tomato plants and bugs? Save your ashes from the fireplace. Dust them lightly and the bugs will hate being there.
This is best educational video I've seen in RUclips for months! I'm a city dweller, and still saving up for the day I can finally buy my own farmland 🙏 This is such an inspiration and makes me look forward to the day of having my own sustainable, natural garden to provide our own food.
Awesome video thank you for sharing. At the end of the day it's free compost and utilizing food scraps for the garden, love that idea if you willing to put the work in.
Awesome experiment guys! I have a few 2' deep holes that I fill with kitchen scraps in my garden. I have issues with critters in my yard, so I put big stones over the holes and just leave them for a few months. When I need a little compost, I remove the stones and use whatever is under them.
This was awesome, thank you for doing this experiment. What I do is I keep a blender right behind my cutting board and put food waste in there. When the blender is full, I make a tea and then pour it at the base of my plants. The blender tea idea would help to decompose the fish and the pasta. I live in the Coachella Valley, so I"m planting in literal sand and this tea is magical for fruit production. You might want to try the blender tea approach with slowly-decomposing food, as opposed to burying it whole.
My grandparents always used minnows, or tiny bait fish or bone meal, veg scraps, egg shells and coffee grounds on their tomatoes, and they always had tons of tomatoes. And they always added the egg shells and coffee grounds around the base After it was planted and was beginning to grow well.
The most interesting finding to me was the "weeds" or "garden leaves" repelling the aphids. I'll have to try it when I do a garden again someday. When I lived on Treasure Island (in the San Francisco Bay), I would bury the food scraps (vegetable/fruit/the rare fish scrap) in land I would leave fallow for at least 6 months. The only thing I would also put in while planting the vegetables & fruits would be some compost, a little bone meal, and some hand crushed egg shells (also deters snails/slugs). Sometimes I'd put in a little fertilizer depending on the nitrogen needs of the plant a month before planting (mainly for leafy green vegetables). I had tomatoes, zukes, peas, beans, and berries in particular coming out of my ears (gave a lot away to roommates, friends, food bank). Of course, probably just as important or maybe more so was the full sun and the fence barriers against excessive wind. I was also very religious about keeping the water needs met and maintenance of the garden. Experimented a lot. My mainstay crops were tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, peas, and blackberries/raspberries/other odd berry types. My biggest flops: peppers & strawberries.
I am going to plant a garden this year. This was a fascinating video to watch. My parents grew a big garden in Ukraine and I have not had any big experience in this field. Thank you for posting.
This was a great garden project ✊🏾 I would love to see this done again with the scraps being chopped up a little closer in size, more distance between the plants, and maybe a scientific review of what could be going on in the process. I'd like to see a hole with all of the stuff. You guys always put out great information and content!
I think it would be interesting to do the exact plants in the same spots adding nothing next year. You could see how those additions act long term. Perhaps the way to do it is adding them to the holes in the fall so they break down by summer use time?🤔
I consider my garden, therapy. It's small and I maintain it excessively. Not a weed in sight. I maintain a compost pile, kitchen scraps, weeds and mostly leaves in the fall. I turn it and water it. In the spring I spade the garden early and mix the compost in. As the plants grow I add compost and grass clippings as mulch. I hand water as needed. I plant something different every year. I've tried various trellising & pruning methods. Weather in Nebraska is variable!!! My results are generally very good. Last year I had an area of the garden fail. I know/ think what did wrong was included some dry leaves from a bald cypress tree in one area of the garden. It had a devastating affect. I've started my seedlings spaced out in time to see what works best. For the first time I'm using LED "grow lights" and trying to maintain 70-75°F & semi-reflective enclosers. So far results look very good. Happy gardening.
Fish decompose in 3 to 4 days in total. In this experiment the fish decomposed the fastest of all. It caused spike of amonia in the soil that stunted the tomato. Also the fish PH is about 7 and it is not acidic, quite the opposite it is way more alkaline than the soil. Honestly it was nicely done experiment with a lot of misunderstanding, but I guess they will learn in future.
@@Xizario2 Even if the fish heads were left out in the open, they wouldn't decompose in 3-4 days. When they are buried, they get even less oxygen to supply the decomposition.
What growing experiment should we try next?
Broccoli
Caffeine dampened soil repels slugs. Not coffee grounds but diluted coffee
Could you try improving light in a dark shady corner with a reflective surface?
Same but with commercial fertilizers
Electro culture
An interesting experiment would be to do a second generation in those same holes with the now broken down dirt and see which does the best.
I wonder if catfish would win the next round because it is already broken down.
I was thinking the same
I was thinking this too.
I'm betting this would be the most fertile soil for the 2nd round of plants.
Fish Heads Forever!!
That's what I thought, maybe burying kitchen scraps is great but it takes time, as it takes to make compost
AND-
What if you put fish heads,
or
even just a whole fish in there,
bury it a little deeper this time,
like 3" deeper,
then an inch of soil on top of that,
THEN add an egg!
Next, choose a perennial plant.
Plant it in there.
Would the result be the first year the plant is highly productive because of the egg?
And the 2nd year it's even more healthy & productive because of the fish?
I would think so...
If I could dig a hole deep enough in my rocky soil, I would totally do that!!
My grandmother each year would hoe a trough between the planted rows of her garden and each day put the kitchen waste in the row and cover it up. She would start at one end of the row and work her way to the other end of the row, hoeing as many rows as she needed each year, even during off seasons. The following year she would plant the seeds and plants in the isles where she had buried the kitchen waste the previous year. Where she had planted the garden the previous year she would there hoe her troughs in which she would bury the present years kitchen waste. She never used commercial fertilizers, and she never had a compost pile. She had no problem with insects, and her garden produced greatly. This was part of my grandmother’s Pennsylvania German ways that she taught me.
Yes, what you describe is the main difference between what my Grandma used to do, and what he did here.
You had a very SMART Grandmother ❤
Wow! I think I will try this! Our dogs are constantly competing with me over my compost heap...I will cut out the middleman and see what happens!😅
Love this!! Trying to figure out how to incorp w square foot gardening. I might have to move a spot to row gardening.
To me it is common sense to dig a trough in the isles between the rows and bury table scraps there and then plant in the isle the next year as my Grandma Solmie did. She gathered scraps all day and buried them each evening, so she had a mixture of scraps from all the daily meals and food preparations. Thus, with a variety of foods, an assortment of vitamins and minerals for earthworms to feast on and process for the soil. This also creates slightly raised beds each year that are full of a variety of nutrients for plants to choose what they need.
Grandma was born in the mid 1880s, and learned her Victorian ways from her family.
My late husbands family was from West Virginia, and they regularly buried parts of catfish and other fish they caught they did not consider edible around their rosebushes (and occasionally other landscape trees and shrubs) and it resulted in outstanding rosebushes.
I encourage you all to look for gardening related books from prior to the 1940s at yard sales, book stores and libraries, because you will find a wealth of lost knowledge in them. All growing was “organic” and “sustainable” prior to this. It was during the 1940s when land grant colleges and universities agricultural programs that were heavily funded by the chemical companies pushing their newly created agricultural chemicals began pressuring farmers, gardeners, and even children and youth in 4-H to use their chemicals in their plantings. Also, seeds were open pollinated, where governments could not control the food supply.
After my Italian father harvested his crops in the fall, he would dig a trench of about 12 inches throughout the garden and throughout the winter he would add food scraps and just continue to add food scraps and cover up the trench. By the time he was ready to do his planting in the spring, everything was broken down, and his soil was ready to be planted. Obviously, that is the key to making sure that everything is broken down before you plant in it, otherwise the microbes breaking down those large items are robbing the plant of the nutrients that they need. Great experiment. Thanks for sharing.
Very smart ❤
Good idea im going to try this
Your father's wisdom =top notch.
NOBODY can grow veggies like an ITalian!
Yup you want to add your food scraps at the end of Oct / beginning of Nov so it gives the scraps enough time to breakdown for spring plant .🌻
I had a desert green house in an area that nothing grew, except depression. I planted and had a few things pop up. I went on vacation with a friend and we caught crawdads. I was drinking and crawdads seemed so delicious at the time. The next morning we gathered several 5 gallon buckets to take home. After getting home they had all died and was starting to smell. I heard about fish heads so I crushed them and poured them into the green house. It literally exploded and produced so much food I couldn’t eat it all. A friend of mine’s mother was a real gardener and she was very impressed by the output. She asked if she could manage the greenhouse which I let her. She knew when to pick. She gave me huge bundles of food which was too much for me to eat and she also provided food for her family, her kids and grandchildren, no joke. I believe crawdads and probably fish need to be ground up before going into the garden. My greenhouse stunk, but I love that if I was hungry, I could pull a couple leaves of lettuce, grab a tomato and a little cucumber. So delicious.
American native Indians always put a fish at the bottom of each hole when they were planting crops.
@@helenflouchbut they weren't catfish. Catfish don't have scales, they have a flesh to them that gets tough and is difficult to breakdown. The fish that my people used had scales and thin skin so it broke down easily. Those fish were tiny too.
But use garden weeds/scrap or egg plant because they forgot to factor in the most important thing. Garden weeds had 2 plants and an egg plant had one vegetation. While the winner of the experiment, the natural 'roma' had 5 vegetation. The egg plants also had the most the overall weight as well as the average weight. So put either eggs or garden weeds in your garden.
What we learnt from this experiment is don't go for fish, kitchen scraps or natural.
@@helenflouchand the experiment tells you why you shouldn't do it.
“Except depression” made me chuckle lol
This is the kind of content that I really love - side by side comparisons to test different methods. Coming from a coastal community with a strong fishing heritage, I can tell you that fish byproducts are definitely used to enrich the soil, but nobody is putting huge heaps of fish under each plant. Fish bones/scraps/entrails etc are dug into beds in the fall after harvest to allow them time to break down before spring planting, and this is done annually so the parts that take longer to break down have multiple season to finish the job.
This is exactly what I made a comment about, glad more people are saying it because even the early native americans knew this trick.
I saw him dump those huge chunks of heads and went “oh that’s not gonna work!”
I am new to gardening but have been burying my kitchen waste for over 6 months now. Being a mostly raw vegan a lot of seeds go into the ground along with the scrap and to my surprise, plants started to pop up everywhere within weeks of them being buried. I had yielded over 50 watermelons as well as cantaloupes and starter plants such as mango, papaya and Sapota plants....all from kitchen waste.
YES thank you for making these very good points. No gardener puts 3 lbs of fish under each tomato plant, and yes give them time to break down first.
I'm plant based vegan so the same thing happens in my garden....volunteer plants from my table scraps that went into my composter.@@Leo1903able
My mom used to help get yards ready for Master Garden tours. At one of them she saw the best soil she'd ever seen and assumed the gardener used a lot of compost. When she asked her if that was the case, the gardener said she had never used compost and that the only thing she did to improve her soil was bury kitchen scraps. I've been burying kitchen scraps for years (just barely under the soil to not disturb it too much) and think the important thing is to bury them not at the time of planting but at the end of the season, so that they've broken down when it's time to plant. Sometimes in the fall in rows where I wasn't able to cover crop, I throw kitchen scraps on top of the bed and then cover them with a thin layer of leaves and/or straw.
Do you toss meat in there too
That makes sense! Essentially the scraps turn into compost by the time you're actually going to plant at the start of the season.
Yes. 2 important things that make for decomposition are oxygen and water, this is why you need to shuffle compost constantly or alternatively to to blow air through stuff like manure, there's no good decomposition withuot air in the deep parts of the soil.
Water is very important too, nothing happens withuot it. This is why the most important part of soil preparation in professional plant growing happens in the autumn too - they plow the soil and add fertilizers so that bacteria had to time to work on macroelements and to incorporate it, and to recycle what it can why there's lots of water from the rain and thawing snow.
@@THEHORSELOVER235NO, no beef or pork or fat.
@@THEHORSELOVER235 I've done fish but not meat. Usually just vegetable scraps, though.
I love how exited you two are about the broken down fish. It would be interesting to plant again next year in the same spots, with no additional scraps, to see which made the best compost for next year.
as a wildlife conflict specialist i can tell you living in the PNW those heads would have been eaten by a bear, racoon, or the many other creatures so putting that in the ground even deep would bring guests unknown to your home, so, what we do is we make it into a smoothie. blending it into small particles as you pointed out does a lot of the heaving lifting. you can throw anything in if it blends and add it on or in the soil. it is quickly absorbed and feeds numerous bugs that we love. Not attracting wildlife is essential to my role up her on the Sunshine Coast and by blending our scraps into smoothies not only do we respect wildlife but we also help feed the soil with bug bite size food which grows a stronger root system and mycium system which is vital for nutrient depth. (win, win...win:) so thanks for your work it backed up my knowledge that smoothies are best:) ps...use washed raw seaweed as a trial for fertalizer against the petrolium based ones...thats something id love to see in an episode
Where I live in central Canada a badger would for sure dig all that up and then every scavenger animal within 20km would be there shortly. lol
What i a wildlife conflict specialist? That sounds interesting.
We bury whole carp in our gardens . But, we do have 17 dogs so that deters quite a bit on our land
@Beeautifullifefarm surprised they don't eat it:) 17 holy moly. I have 3 but they are golden retrievers:)
I also live in the PNW. I was a former San Diego gardener/native, so Californian. In the last 20 years in the PNW, I had to adapt my gardening techniques. I used fish heads and skins in my garden. I quickly learned that crows, possums, and raccoons dug up my garden. I will use the smoothie technique.
I would have loved to see you guys taste test a tomato from each plant to see if you could tell a difference in their flavor too. Probably not a lot of difference but it makes me wonder. I think the lack of aphids on the Oxilis was the most interseting detail... a natural way to fight those annoying bugs!
That a wonderful idea. Taste is what it's all about. 😮
Yet the aphid covered plant did the best. Maybe they are harbingers of a good harvest.
My father was an avid fisherman. We had to bring the guts of the fish to the compost pile. His tomatoes were the best I've ever had.
@@DOLfirstMy plants do great with fish carcass, especially if I end up with a salmon too old and gone, but I plant after it's been there a bit already decomposing, plus it was naturally in that early state on catch.
@@sacrebleu1371Carp are in most places,they are a ready supply of fertilizer here in the US.
Many years ago my neighbors (a married couple) in a community garden had a method that seemed to result in terrific rich soil and amazing veggie production. They would cut up their kitchen scraps and freeze them until they had enough to bury in a square foot or so of their garden. When they harvested a section, they would dig down several inches, bury the kitchen scraps, cover them back up, then NOT GARDEN THAT SECTION for a couple of months until all of the kitchen scraps had decomposed.
One possibility for why Roma and Eggbert did the best is that Roma had nothing buried under it, and Eggbert had mostly broken eggs which would have decomposed very quickly. So the plants' roots weren't *competing* with the composting materials. All the goodies in the soil went to the plants, not to breaking down the compost materials.
If you left those six areas alone for another year then planted out six more tomato plants, you might see different results, because all of the buried materials would have broken down.
A SECOND trial, done with the EXACT same controls ... would be KEY to understanding the benefits of each type of amendment, over time ... without the actual composting process stealing the nutrients (ie: nitrogen) from the soil just as the plant is needing them.
Soil wasn’t lacking anything so what was fed in?
Don't eat fish, there is big accumulation of poisons and metals in them.
So interesting to see the long term progress of this experiment! Seeing how quickly everything's broke down has me considering composting in ground more often 🤔
Similar here...
A bokashy trial perhaps?
I do it all the time. I just do it in rows in between when j have the space.
My yard is too small for composting. I can't use leaves or grass (my HOA sprays). So, I directly bury my kitchen scrapes in my raised beds in the fall & winter (until soil freezes). I just put everything in 2 gallon freezer bags and store until the end of my growing season. I heard that the breakdown process heats up the soil, though I never tested. I mulch with straw and cover with chicken wire because of the skunks, raccoons and squirrels. Never had better soil.
How deep do you bury the scraps? It gets a bit cold in the winter where I am and basically shuts down the compost but maybe actual soil would keep active?@@Dot2TrotsLowCarbLiving
I use dried used coffee grounds, kitchen scraps' compost, and chicken pen cleanings on my gardens. The plants LOVE it. I do this all year-round.
I used to bury fish scraps over 2 foot down under rose bushes. I think the first year it's too acidic. The second year, the growth was amazing. It was almost like you could tell when the roots hit that area. I also wondered about sunlight. Could that have had anything to do with the better success at the egg/nothing end? They were very bushy. I would suggest putting them even further apart. Very cool experiment. I love stuff like this!
I think the hole is way too deep, in South Africa, I just bury all organic material into the garden, in a random 10-15 CM deep hole and in time worms will come and eat them. So initially might not be every household organic material, but later yes, because those earthworms will eat them away like within 3 days. Your problem is that you just dig too close to the plant, you just needed to dig further away, you should see micro root growing out from the roses, the more you feed the soil the faster it get decompose and you will feel the soil get very loose as the worm get feed and grow in numbers.
In rainy times, then you can see earthworms comes out and get into the paving area, at the end they needed to breath air.
You know it is too shallow as it will smell, but as long as it did not smell then it is deep enough, as worms don't live that deep, micro bacteria also don't live that deep.
The most lucky things is that I am a cat person, so no dogs to mess things up.
@@yesgogood7304 I grow my tomatoes from seed indoors. No matter what I do, they get spindly by the time I plants them. I bury them deep, sometimes even burying them sideways so only the leaves are exposed. Sometimes I even get plants popping up from the soil where the stem is. I usually grow the same 4 varieties and always try a 1 new one, annually.
Early on, the Roma control looked like it might get less afternoon sun and more water retention. Later it shaded its companion while being an early target of the aphids and won re: ripe fruit. Do aphids stimulate early ripening?
I love this! You should replant in the same holes next year and see what happens now that these items are fully decomposed.
A variable that wasn't tested was to make sure you had the same mass of additives to each plant and to emulsify to make sure you have the same surface area. There were WAY more fish heads than anything else and they were HELLA wet. I would happily redesign this experiment with you Kevin. It's literally my job lol
My thought too. My mother in law swore by the fish heads method and on head under each plant and she got soooo many tomatoes.
He used way too much fish in that hole.
Do you do all this before planting or can you add fish heads and stuff after the plants are in? Sorry if it's a stupid question
@@GameTimeWhy hard not to disturb the roots if you dig down to add to already growing/established plants. If you side dress shallowly, you’d need to cover the soil with hailscreen mesh to prevent scavengers digging. People do drill large holes in 3-4 inch pvc , insert at planting, then add scraps all season. Just takes longer to compost, but it’s the same principle as a keyhole garden with a center scrap tower. Lazy gardener method, still works.
Yeah I'd say a repeat & redesign of the experiment is in order too. I agree that was way more fish heads than anyone would put under one tomato plant. Same with the eggs. I've heard one egg per tomato plant. Also the "Roma" plant is not a good enough control because it had way less soil disturbance so it's more of a no-dig version. It should have had an identical depth and size hole dug with the same steel mesh bag, just nothing in the bag, then the dirt filled in, then plant the tomato.
@@GameTimeWhy it also occurred to me that tomatoes are one plant that will root all the way up the stem, so you could make a small raised bed around your existing plant, add your scraps to the former surface on protective screen mesh, remove lower branches, then fill with soil and cover new surface with more mesh around stem.
love this experiment. I have been burying indiscriminate kitchen scraps in my garden this year but just started planting. I am excited to see the results.
This was fascinating! As a science teacher who emphasizes using control groups, I love that you included one! A gold star! However, On the Control plant, you did not show that you dug up the soil to the same depth, or had an empty steel cage underneath it. Strictly speaking, the lack of turning the soil underneath the control plant definitely could have affected the growth. Thanks for an interesting video!
Exactly what I thought. The process of digging out the soil and placing the steel cage in will very likely have an effect.
The seedling looked like the saddest seedling too
My thoughts too. Also maybe should have used cloned plants instead of seeds
All of the 'no till' people are salivating, I'm sure.
I skip videos without control groups.
I planted late tomatoes (mid-June). I just happened to take a seaweed foraging class that day and buried the extra seaweed when I planted the tomato *seeds* in the ground. The plants are so deep green and robust and I'm actually getting fruit in October. Definitely going to do that again next year 🙂
On the maine coast we have a locally made potting soil/compost made from rock weed and lobster carcass
Excellent growing medium!
@@makemesmile004 You should look into european green crabs too! I'm on the other coast and we've been getting tons, but I know they've been a big issue in Maine for years. If you have access to intertidal land you can throw pots out and get hundreds of them every week for fertilizer, and you'll help farmers and native species out.
@brandon9172 yes! Umaine is working on programs and many others too
When I had water frontage I did that and it was beautiful 😍
Thanks for the tip!😁
All of my tomatoes still have crazy amount of fruits.
My brother regularly fished in the Pacific Ocean when we were teens in the 70’s (big fish 😳) After he cleaned them Dad buried the rest in Mom’s garden. You would not believe how productive that garden was 😊 She ended up winning a contest and appeared with her harvest in the local paper.
When we go deep sea fishing the mate cleans all the fish on the way in. It looks like a scene from The Birds that Alfred would approve. Nothing makes it back to shore but the fillets
@@drizler brother would also go out on chartered trips like that. We lived a couple miles from the beach and he would also go out on the rocks to fish. Dad taught him to clean his own fish. Years later he worked on charters and commercial line fishing.
I am doing the same with yellowtail every winter! When I have a good day out on the boat, I bury them whole!
This is why non-fisher-folk buy fish emulsion (rotted fish) to fertilize their gardens.
We do this too! Just make sure the raccoons don't dig it all up! Hahaha
Fun Stuff! I'm a giant pumpkin grower and about 15 years ago I buried 200 pounds of bluefin that went bad due to a freezer malfunction. This caused the worst fusarium outbreak in my patch that year and I only hit 1066 pounds. Fun stuff and nothing better than gardening and growing things! I just happen to be a giant pumpkin grower and I won't be doing that again. Soil testing, tissue testing and adding only what the plant needs is now what I do and my weights should hit 2000 pounds this year. 🙏🙏 Keep up the good work!:)
My husband hooked up our kitchen sink "in sinkerator" to deposit our kitchen scraps organic matter directly outside to our compost pile. Works great but does need added drier materials like straw, sand, ashes, sawdust, to balance the liquid. No wasted effort and gorgeous rich compost for planting and top dressing.
Wow. Incredible idea I love this. When I get my own place I'm having my partner set this up for us!
Using ashes is such a great idea! Way better than just keeping loved ones idling in jars somewhere in the house, let's give them a new life!
@@polobik4231 the fact you thought of human ashes before even thinking of ashes from a bbq/asado/fireplace 😭😭😭🤣🤣🤣
@@capuchinosofia4771lmao I am cryyyyying 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣
This is an excellent idea for everyone to create fertilizer excellent soil for farming your yard…especially considering the high cost of food.
Small livestock is great. Hopefully most people will do this soon and in the process, eat much healthier.
There’s something about all kinds of food additives in corporate food. Plus, agribusiness is in it for themselves. Bill Gates comes to mind buying up all the farmlands.
I've used all these in my garden including fish heads etc..not catfish heads just mullet and kahawai nz fish. I never planted immediately on top I waited about 9 days watered the soil then planted my veggies. An amazing display of growth within 2 weeks began. The "Roma" pile amazed me and it just shows how amazing natural soil is. I so enjoyed this experiment and while I won't change how I work in my own garden it definitely helps me to think more when I begin a new area that hasn't been used before. Thanks so much
Chur. I figured your fish heads would have way less than his nē?
My mom would use fish scraps from cleaning fish to put in the hole she’d dig to plant a tree, sometimes a whole dead fish, but in two years the trees were 10-20 feet tall!!
Kina juice bro mixed with puha and bananas
He used too many fish heads. 1 would have been enough.
Their natural soil is basically all of those things he put in the ground all composed. So of course the control did well.
I bet whatever you plant in the catfish head spot now would grow like crazy. And my cousin’s husband was from Hawaii, he had a 55 gallon barrel of water that he would throw all our leftover fish heads and anything left from filleting our catch into and he let it sit, man was it stinky!! But he kept it covered with the screw on lid and had added a spigot to the bottom so he would spray the nasty water onto the garden. We grew a huge garden with them on their property and I have only had 1 garden that I have ever planted that was better. That was when we lived in VT and never used anything on it. The soil was so productive that after you put the seed in the ground you better jump out of the way! Our tomato plants grew over 6 ft tall, I have pictures to prove it and we got so much from that garden it was insane. Next time I am up there, I am renting a U-Haul to come home and filling feed bags with soil to bring home to my garden.
!!! Love it!
6 feets ? thats... normal. Sorry ^ ^ If you had said something like 3 to 6 meters, you would just began to compete with greenhouse. And i said, began, because it's usual for a greenhouse to have 32 feets long tomatoes.
I was working in a farm less than a month ago, in france, without any fertilizer and a greenhouse, we had 6 feets tomatoes.
Considering that you live in a greenhouse, it's not a good result.
And i can explain why : there is not much nitrogen in fish. Phosphorus, but phosphorus in not needed to grow vegetation, but for fructification.
Loved your thoughtful garden experiment. I've gardened for about 45 years and made my own compost for 35 of those years. I haven't read any comments yet, but I'm guessing I won't be the only one to suggest the timing of the introduction of "stuff" to improve soil before planting is just as important as what. Composting breaks these items down over time, so I'm guessing if you put everything back in place and repeat your experiment, adding nothing, they'll all come out pretty equal. Great good gardening fun though. Thanks!
This reminds me of something my grandfather told me about sixty years ago. He said, a plant will grow not because of what you do to it, it grows in spite of what you do to it.
Just for info sake : my Grandparents had HUGE gardens my whole life, as long as they had their home together out in there City of Linden MI. It was known that the Veg. & Fruits: garden & trees, were basically my Grandfather's fare, with help from my Grandmother. The Flower gardens were only for my Grandmother to tend to. They equally managed the whole of their yard together. Neither the yard or the gardens.. ever had any form of Treatments. There were no weed killers or bug killers or commercial fertilizers ever used.
My Grandpa tilled and cultivated the grounds throughout the season. When planting, he would initially before placing the plants or seeds ( seeds he kept from his produce - year after year ) put in his Compost MIX. That mix was everything chopped up and small. He had ; greens from the grass mowing, some leaves from their fruit trees, all the garden by product ( vines, leaves ,.. ) that showed no signs of spoilage or infestation of bugs, fruits and vegetables scraps, egg shells, coffee grounds AND Fish ( chopped up - from a WHOLE FISH ). The fish used were fresh, small and came right out of the lake from their back yard. They were Sun Fish and Blue Fish. Everything was chopped up small. All mixed in/together with tended to Compost of the same. They had the most Beautiful Gardens for years. Strawberrys, Raspberries, Purple Concord Grapes, 5 types, at least, of Tomatoes, Corn, many types of Peppers, Onions, Potatoes, Green Snap Beans, Eggplant..etc. for the vegetables. The trees were Black Walnut, Pear, and Apple ( Delicious) . Never have I seen more Fantastic gardens. Not a weed in sight !! Being with my Grandparents gave great fun and experiences. In my early years (8yrs. -- ) I started my own gardens with the knowledge I acquired from them. I had wonderful success with Vegetables gardens but no luck with flowers. I was successful with Shrubs and Trees. I guess I had my Grandfather's Green Thumb. He was a pure, ( so I was told by him and the family ) Full-Breed Indian. My mother was the one who handled growing flowers and definitely had the touch. Fish and Egg/Shells definitely work, but must be chopped up small. He used local, Small bred fish. I hope this helps. Best of luck in your business. I Love your tomatoes.... May GOD Bless you and the whole ( all employees ) of your business. Thank You for the productS AND the really cool video. 😊
Great story! Thanks for sharing!
I can tell you're a BELIEVER bc you used caps for GOD ❤
HIS Name is YAHUWEH
I’m in Grand Blanc, MI we’re neighbors. I love purple Concord grapes I bought some at the Lansings farmers market and saved the seeds. I would love tips on how to grow them if you know how. Thank you
My grandmother buried her scraps and she had beautiful gardens! Some would sprout & grow and she'd get more veggies. It's been so long ago but I remember she harvested tomatoes and eggplant. She could grow anything! Definitely had a green thumb! 👍💚
I love volunteers. Every year i get volunteers of potatoes and tomatoes!
It is interesting that you blend your scraps first! Good idea!
Awesome video and experiment. An old friend of mine told me this is how he grew all his crops, never bought any inputs. He would use anything he could get his hands on… didn’t matter what.
The KEY FACTOR he said was giving it 2 months before planting.
Great channel!!!!
This was a fascinating experiment. I love your long term videos where we get to see the results at the end, as opposed to waiting months for a follow up video.
Experiment variations:
1)emulsify the materials,
2)combine in each the whole and emulsified materials in two separate plantings,
3)each planting variation done with pre-composted amendment.
I totally dig this facet of gardening, and would be far more motivated by it, and then making a 'parameters and results' video. Fun!
Me too, I am trying to cross peppers in my closet this winter for my gardening fix. lol. I am going to try to recreate some peppers that popped up this year due to the work of the bees. Should be fun.
Angela, in the 1950s and 1960s my dad got me and my two siblings up by 6am 6 days a week when school was out to work in the acre + of garden, or take us to our grandparents farm to work the gardens there! I was in 4-H also!
As long as we have life we can be gardening somewhere, somehow, thus keeping connection with nature as we grow even a little food indoors/outdoors! I have found no matter where I am if I step out to do more, such as gardening, then God makes a way and opens doors for me to be able to garden more.
Amén!
🙏
AMEN. I'm asking the LORD each day as I water my 4 tomato 🍅 plants I planted 2 wks ago in a raised wood box. They have doubled in size compared to the heathen lady's box next to me! 😅
This was like going back in time nearly 60 yrs, my dad and I use to dig a starting trench at the top of the vegetable garden then spread evenly with literally everything, old newspapers, kitchen scraps, leaves, grass cuttings even old clothes until it covered the bottom at which point we would used the soil from in front backfilling the last one while at the same time creating a new trench, finally working our way down the whole vegetable garden, it wasn’t just a seasonal thing but an all year long one until we reached the end of the garden when we’d start a new trench back at the top and continue the cycle all over again. Never needed to use any compost or fertiliser and we always had bumper vegetable crops, so much so that we gave a lot away to neighbours.
This is an excellent method. It might sound like a lot of labor but compare it to the labor of composting in one section of the yard, and then redistributing the finished compost where it is needed.
Did you plant on top of the filled trench or next to it?
@@hopefulforhumanity5625 Hmm 🤔, I wouldn’t have thought about that. I hope the poster returns to answer your question. 👍🏼
Full of Organic matter
Interesting method for a large garden with extra space! Saves work in the end and maybe helps with scavengers getting into the compost.
This is possibly the most interesting garden experiment I have ever seen. I would have probably spaced the tomato plants a little wider apart if possible, to minimize transfer of nutrients amongst them, especially during watering, especially during the hurricane you went through. There may or may not have been other control issues, such as angle of light and length of exposure to light for each bush. Actual percentages of ripe vs ripe tomatoes would have been nice on the otherwise great graph you put up.
Also, it would be interesting, even as a follow up video, to hear about the taste quality of each batch of tomatoes, taste being ostensibly the most important factor in why one grows tomatoes in the first place. Does the nature of the substrate added come through in the taste of the tomatoes? Were there catfishy-tasting tomatoes, and were there more floral, or more aromatic ones? Which ones had the best, the worst, or the blandest taste? Which ones were best in recipes? Which ones lasted longer? Which ones were easier to cook with based on skin thickness, overall juiciness, or amount of seeds?
The moral of the story is quite clear, though, plant in an already rich soil or administer only expertly prepared fertilizer or well aged compost with fine particles. Loved this!
One plant per category is not scientific. If they did 5 plants per category then I would have more faith in the experiment.
@@jonathanh3530 My thoughts exactly, more replicates.
Just eat the tomatoes and get on with it 😂
I only bury vegtable kitchen scraps during the late fall and winter so by spring they are completely decomposed which I believe makes a huge difference from your experiment. I also add egg shells but I ground them to a course powder and then add them to my garden which produces a great bounty of tomatoes.
I thought that was how he was going to do it when I clicked on the video.... had me screaming at the start.
This is not even a real test he is doing... its just to send people a message. Why bother if he isn't going to do it right?
When I filled up a new raised bed I threw kitchen scraps on top of sticks with leaves attached, then the top 8 inches or so was dirt. It's been 2 years now and that bed still gives me a consistently higher yield than my grow bags that I put traditional compost into.
Thank you great idea
For your egg shells; how long after using an egg do you grind them down? Or not at all?
@@runescapeppl41 ok
This was a fascinating experiment!
I'm a Biologist, trained at Emory Univ in the early 1980s, and while I mostly focused on animals, I did get plenty of experience in ecology and related plant growth training & experimental experience.
First, your methodology was excellent, though your sample size was extremely small. Over the years, I've encountered results that seemed to confirm my hypothesis, much as you did, but when the sample sizes are small, we know that there can be bizarre reasons behind the results that are impossible to quantify and understand.
However, even considering that, your conclusions actually confirm what I know about biochemistry of plant growth.
I applaud your understanding of what's going on, you seem to have a good sense of what the plants need to fare well.
Thank you for this video, and for doing the experiment. Thank you for your very thoroughness.
I hope this can demonstrate the concepts needed to the average person, so they can be excellent gardeners!
👍 👌
I think I’ll use this in my 7th grade science class to teach about control groups and eliminating extra variables. Good job, epic!
It would have been interesting to do a soil test before and after to see what the nutrients were.
I forgot some fish in a cooler for a few weeks. I left them in that cooler with the water they were already in for about 4 months total and watered half of my tomatoes with it. There was nothing left in the water except scales and bones. That half of my tomato plants got the largest and produced the most.
That’s awesome
I was also wondering about the results if the fish had been mostly broken down instead of in large, fresh chuncks.
The smell must've been horrendous though, I turned green just reading that! Lol
🤢
So you inadvertently made fish emulsion?
Some real unexpected surprises, thanks for doing all of this work for us! As a disabled senior I am grateful for all your hard work that I can no longer do myself, but still think about. 😘
Absolutely fascinating. As an extremely lazy gardener, I feel vindicated after telling countless people on facebook that making all these crazy concoctions and teas and such is just too much work. Just compost the dang weeds. Just compost it all and be done with it.
Tell us about your stinging nettle stew! Please?
There’s no hard work involved in making brews or Teas. One just adds the required items to water and lets it sit. Dilute after the required weeks and feed away - comfrey/banana peels/ horse,cow,sheep manure, egg shells - any combo, all, or just one. Easy peasy. Simply requires application of self. And still compost your weeds 😊😊💜
I like this. :)
Really interesting! I have been burying my kitchen scraps for years. I got tired of making a compost pile and now dig random holes in my gardens and dump in the scraps. I do not do it near plants during growing season. I have never dug up any of the scraps, they all decompose fairly quickly. I have an increase number of worms and awesome rich soil. So much easier than maintaining a compost pile and tossing it.
I do the exact same thing with the same great results you are getting. I also put in Winter Rye as a cover crop in the Fall over what I've dug in the plant kitchen scraps and garden debris from the Summer planting.
I just dump my scraps in the ground too. Got many thick worms and nice dark soil that I use in my grow bags instead of buying garden soil.
It would be interesting to redo the experiment next year in the same holes and see which one has the better soil a season later
My theory on the control having the most ripe: you’re in a high zone, higher heat, and that was the first plant to be shaded in the afternoon = had a cooler temp = higher rate of ethylene = ripening.
I live in the southeast zone 8a and have to shade my tomatoes once temps stay over 90° consistently, otherwise their ripening stalls forevvvvver. A week after shading, they will begin to ripen!
Thanks for this experiment though!!!! I love seeing these videos
One year I did trench composting over the winter in one of my raised beds. I dug a hole, filled it with a bucket of the kitchen scraps /old fridge leftovers and covered it with the soil from the hole dug next to the first hole. I trench composted both long sides of the 3' wide beds. In the spring, I planted broccoli , cabbage and cauliflower plants over the compost. WOW! The plants were very vigorous and produced gorgeous heads .
The fish heads probably created higher temperatures while breaking down in the nets. I bet if you did the same experiment in proximity to the plant you would get a better result. Also please try this with corn next year! Would love to see the outcomes. You guys are the best!
Love this. It actually re-affirms, to me, the burying of all earth materials in the garden, especially for people who have very little space. Personally I think it means bury it but not directly under the plant. So for example, bury it, then cover with soil and mulch and fertilizer/amendments, then the plant. Give the stuff some time to become decomposed before the plant roots get there and need it.
Super experiment!
For me, I bury scraps, garden weeds, etc before I need to plant, or off to the side or in a corner. Course, in my area, I also need them for moisture retention, not just to break down. My soil still needs way more organic materials.
I put containers (like pots and small cardboard boxes hidden from view) between my plants , bushes and trees. I don’t burry them, just on top of the soil. I fill them with a mix of raw kitchen scraps, weeds, leaves, clippings, pieces of simple brown cardboard and some of my chicken manure with straw from my hens, ground coffee, tea leaves and what not. The more variety, the better. I push cardboard on top to keep things wet and dark and water the whole thing. The size of the container depends on the size of the plants. It’s hot where I live, composting goes fast. By the time the last containers are filled up, the first are totally composted, even the cardboard, I empty them and start a new cycle. The mango trees with a container at their feet have lots of new growth and fruit, the others not so much. The same can be said for every other plant, fruit or vegetable. So much so that I gave buckets with lids to all my friends who keep their raw vegetable and fruit scraps for me so that I have all sizes of containers all over my garden now. The compost goes on top of the soil everywhere. My garden explodes and I have tons of vegetables and fruit and edible flowers. My cherry tomatoes yield like crazy. I call it my free plant steroids 🤣
I do that and my garden had too much bugs, nates, fruit flies every where. Very nasty cannot treat.
@@vivn01 ow, that’s not ok. I do not have that problem but I live in a very dry and hot climate on volcanic soil. I do have to water the boxes or they won’t decompose, just dry. Probably why I don’t have that problem. I hardly have any flies in the chicken space for the same reason, I think
@@Layp107 Thanks For your input. I am afraid to try it again. That year my garden was full of bugs and disease killed my plants couldn’t treat . Or maybe I didn’t bury it deep enough? I don’t know. Thank you
Really great video. I ❤ the fact you made 1 video with continual updates instead of making three or four little videos making us getting recapped every step of the way. This was very efficient use of time for me and very educational regarding gardening. One of the reasons I keep coming back 🙂
That is an interesting experiment that should continue into future years. However, I think for most of us novice gardeners, the best takeaway would be to add all those ingredients to our compost and use it evenly in our planting beds. I still consider myself novice even though I have been growing veggies etc in 9b Sacramento for 40 years. Love your channel, good info.
When growing from seed we would expect there to be at least two different phenotypes. It is possible your noodle plant lost the gene lottery, and the control was just a very vigorous pheno. If you are planning a 2.0 next year definitely use clones to eliminate this variable. Fun experiment, keep up the great content!
This ⬆
More than likely clones to start with.
@@michaelthomas7898 I believe he said they are sprouted from seed.
Even if they were clones, the starting plants should have been barerooted to compare root mass, and the initial plant number of leaves and stem planting depth controlled for or compared. Really need a matrix, not just one plant of each.
If you can't have clones for whatever reason, start 20-odd plants (more than 12) and when they're ready to plant out, pick the most evenly matched 6 for the experiment. It's still not as good as clones because they might react differently to the soil they get planted in. EDIT: And, as someone way down in the depths of the comments pointed out, the control should have had a metal mesh.
This was phenomenal. Thank you for doing this. It just confirms that composting and mother nature are the best processes.
Only problem here is.... I was taught that burying food scraps was an off season thing; you do it at the end of the growing season to prepare the soil for the following spring.
exactly! growing up we had a huge garden which our family had for like 4 generations... ALWAYS in the end of the season before winter and then add some fertiliser (also natural) like a month before planting...
His video is insulting to peoples intelligence.
I don't think it was aimed at everyone but rather people who dont even grasp something as basic as these things needing to be broken down/composted first. After burying them like that, I thought he'd at least give it a few months or whatever before starting... but nope... >.>
You know... SOMETHING other than just plopping it in just as it is.
It wasn't a real test. I feel cheated and my time wasted.
Dad always said the same thing about burying fish scraps after cleaning our catch. "It's for next year." He also had us bury them between rows in the summer, and would move the rows back and forth into the fish cemetery rows each year. I was never sure it did much more than give us a fish cemetery and give Dad something to do.
@@MrMeow-iq7kqI think it was really aimed at the garden videos that make claims about this type of stuff. Not to insult anyone.
@@VashtiPerry probably shouldn't focus on the word usage. It's easy to take things out of context like that.
It's a turn of phrase in this case, where it isn't even taken as an insult but is meant as a form of expression.
The video was pointless and misleading as they did not conduct the experiment properly at all for the sole purpose of making a point that could have been made separately. Who'ever they aimed it at, the rest of us are sitting here expecting the steps to be followed properly to really see what the results would have been.
Please do more of these experiments, they are fascinating and very educational!
Fabulous experiment guys! Not only was it well run but it was also has considerable meaning for the small or Urban Gardener. I have often wondered which was better my kitchen scraps or my compost and always seem to get great Garden results with my compost as opposed to my kitchen scraps, but you guys really tested it out! Thanks so much.
Did ya’ll do a flavor test?! This was so fun. Thank you!
All in all I think it was a really interesting experiment. But I scanned through some of the comments to see if anyone caught onto something I noticed. Which was the amount of sunlight. Through out the whole video at each segment I noticed the plant with the table scraps always had more sunlight. While as you went down the row the sunlight went dimmer. So I'm wondering if that played a factor. Also I really think it would have cool to do a Taste comparison. Altimentally I think I would compost first then plant. All of that stuff together probably would have made an awesome compost.
I came here to find this comment.
I figure it could be important to try to control for sunlight, as well!
In my opinion and observation, sunlight is one of the Most important 'ingrediants' in growing garden vegetables.Next is water(lack of or too much).Next would be soil fertility and 'condition' of the soil!
No Africans bury food scraps too. I dated a man from the Congo his family are professors at UC Davis and they bury food scraps well the ones that grow from the ground anyway because trees that have fruit and leaves and nuts they fall to the ground in the wild. It's not rocket science!
From growing tomatoes hydroponically, I gotta say the plants drink huge amounts of water.@@industrialathlete6096
At about 9 minutes, it looks pretty even, but one would have to see the morning until night sun to see how much difference. Unless too hot, there is no such thing as too much sun for a tomato.
Best tomato plant I have grew was in a garden that got sun dawn to dusk. A single plant with over 150 good sized tomatoes. I think good soil an some basic fertilizer works well. If I were to put scraps in, I would till them in during the fall. If I had a lot, I would make a compost heap. - Cheers
My thoughts are that Roma may have done best, as the natural microbial layer was not disturbed like the other ones were. Goes along with the belief that you should not till your garden in the spring, right before planting. It's interesting regardless, and I hope to see more of these!
My dad always put the fish scraps in the garden the year before planting. He grew easily 4 foot tomato plants. They were not romas though and from experience romas are usually not as big. One of the best in size things he grew were zucchini which were like 5-6 pound monsters. Honestly, just making a general compost pile over a year ie. table scraps, a little vegetation, fish scraps, ect., let it break down with soil mixed in for a year, and then using it to plant in is best. Also, my dad went as far as to bring in trucks of dirt from his friends property and sifted out the pebbles. It was some of the darkest soil he had ever seen.
Does soil being dark always indicate that it's rich in nutrients?
@@iprobablyforgotsomething as apposed to red or gray indicating clay, yes. Not all rich soils are good for growing stuff in though, under pine trees you will find rich black soil but it is much too acidic to grow most thing in.
It's what I do,I add everything in it. All veggie scraps,egg shell,leaves, fish. In about 6 months cause of the amount its rich worm boasting soil. The tomatoes are sweet,plump,delicious and plentiful. /
As a science teacher this is highly education. i will share this with my students. thank you for the experiment and the video.
I save my eggshells and break them down to almost a powder and some various sizes and mix it with my compost. I get so much tomatoes that I can eat exclusively from my raised beds for 6 months and still have plenty for my neighbors to help themselves to.
Ok, I can already tell this is gonna be a massively helpful video. Thank you so much dude.
Super interesting! The results make sense to me, since decomposition makes a plant compete for oxygen so it had the least competition in the control plant. I would be curious to see how these various scraps categories would compete against each other in a partially buried beside the plants, instead of underneath. That would keep the decomposing materials up in the highest couple of inches or so of dirt where roots are typically sending feeder roots for nutrition without forcing potentially toxic & oxygen deprivation conditions directly under the plant.
Pm
Loved this as I do all Epic vids, but having all phases of the experiment in one, to watch the whole thing was great ... then I don't miss the follow up! ❤
Organic matter that is a foot down is undergoing mostly anaerobic decomposition. It would not be competing for oxygen.
This was such a great experiment! Says to me that the one with nothing added had the exact right balance of bioavailable nutrients without the rotting and breaking down process. The lack of bugs on the weed one was really interesting.
You just reminded me of something we did as a kid. We put a fish in the bottom of the plant hole when my mom was transplanting sprouts. What a great memory! Thanks!!
very interesting experiment! I think the outcome of the buried kitchen scraps (scrappy) was important though - it shows how those scraps can help build the soil even though this year the plant was sort of average... building the soil is an important goal... some people dont have room for a compost pile so adding kitchen vegetable scraps directly to the bed is still worth something to the soil building goal... it was so interesting to see how each one looked underground at the end too! thank you!
I enjoyed this fun experiment. I add a lot of kitchen scraps to my compost pile. Lately, I chop everything to about 2" x 2'' x2" or smaller. The smaller surface size decomposes much faster.
Thank you for sharing this.
I find the weed scraps interesting in that they seem to have helped the plant protect itself against aphids.
I always save crushed egg shells over the winter and add them to the soil when planting tomatoes to add extra more calcium to the mix. Other than that, I let the plants grow on their own. Always had an excellent yield.
I think it would be really interesting to see the macro/ micro nutrients available now in the soil with a soil analysis
The fact that the weed one did better trolling aphids seems like a win in that category
This is the first video in a long time (on any channel) that I've actually watched and paid attention to the whole way through. My ADHD is so bad but this one actually kept me engaged. I'd love to see more experiment videos like this one!
I really appreciate such videos where the RUclipsrs actually spend their time and energy to produce quality content
So, the funny thing for me is my 3 babies, in order, weighed the same as Eggbert, Oxalis, and Noodle. The little one, Flora, was 8 weeks premature due to preeclampsia. She's 1 now, an absolute delight, and I can't wait to have them all in the garden with me this year. This was a wonderfully well-executed experiment. Science teachers should show this video in their classrooms.
Timing matters for decomposition. Grinding things smaller and putting them in the ground way sooner than the plants get in will get a better result.
Basically you over fertilized your tomato plants. My native American ancestors would only use a half to one fish head per tomato or corn plant. Best use of kitchen scraps is to compost them ahead of planting season. Then mix in with your regular compost.
Thank you for this! I’m such a neophyte at gardening . My Grandfathers had Victory gardens their whole lives. My Dad gardened too. So learning these tips will keep me from following trends and tips that you already saved me from!
This is what I do with my juicing pulp! Well sort of, I bury them just to the side of my plants, not directly under. Works so fast because it’s all tiny bits. I have an ecxoerinent going right now with some butchering scrap. I don’t have a dog to feed those animal odds and ends to after butchering so we dug a deep hole, covered them well, and put a huge 2x2 block over it. It’s been many months and nothing dug into it, no smell, and the nearby plants are growing like crazy. Next summer I’ll be planting a pumpkin or melon in that space and see how it does.
Bro 15:37 what's Vegetation means ?
I’m sure you have a neighbor with a dog or two who’d LOVE those scraps! 😁
@@smoofollowingqalroundthewo206I’m not concerned with feeding other peoples pets. I am concerned with building the best garden soil I can though. And it worked well. We dug up the hole a few weeks ago and all we found were a few claws left.
Can we get more experiments like these? This was amazing and very interesting
Something that would have made this test a bit more "fair": get an old blender (yard sale, Goodwill, etc.) and liquefy/powder all the ingredients in each batch. That gives them equal footing with regards to breaking down from a solid. Another option (would work great with the catfish heads) is to add some quicklime to speed up the decomposition process and balance the pH.
The Bassomatic
I was thinking that cutting the catfish down to smaller size would have made the experiment more exact as well.
yes and no i think they wanted to test real world behaviour of where ppl throw away food. so ppl wouldn't have bothered chopping this stuff up
In my 7 years of experience, I say the fish and dead chickens I've buried in my garden have had 0 positive effects so far.
the control one was at the end and if that end was also facing south it means it got alot more sun than the others and that could explain the difference in ripeness, since direct sun makes the fruit ripen faster.
I enjoyed this. For the fish though, we never planted on top of fresh guts/heads. I live in a 4 season climate & fall & winter were when we put the fish scraps in the ground. In spring we tilled then planted. I have always thought of it as in place composting because we never had fish left by the time we planted. I believe that might be the difference from the experiment.
Only Kevin and Jacques can react to broken down fish heads with the same awestruck ferocity of a twitch streamer and not be cringy while still being entertaining and educational 😂
😂
New idea- Epic Gardening live Twitch streams 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I put a big fish head in garden. Had a 3 day90° weather. Went out to water and found ground bubbling with maggot. Million on neighbors house.like a horror movie. Hosed them down, bunch of crows can in, and helped get rid of them. Never again! Anyone else have this problem?
I eat fish heads...eyes and all😂
Did you bury it?
I find that avocado skins take quite a while to break down. Ideally break them up into smaller pieces…if you wish to speed the process up. // It’s worth using your tomato leaves to create a ‘Tea’ which you then dilute and spray on your plants - to keep aphid etc at bay. Was interested to see the aphid free weed patch 😊 🙏
Whenever I put avocado shells in my worm bin they take forever to decompose. Like months.
I have a worm farm. It really converts the scraps but sometimes I still have chunks of avo peels in there. I pull em out of the finished drawers and add back into the new trays. They are tough!
@@lauracassidy8152 I’ve just developed the habit of using kitchen scissors to snip them up. Don’t always feel like it but quite mind absorbing once under way 😊 Antistressor…
How do you make the tea? Do you boil the leaves?
@@brigidlaffey7343 I've been using regular scissors for cutting up orange peels, avocado skins and any scrap the is more than 1/2 inch large... That is, unless I'm too lazy to do that...
I have a big plastic compost bin, that I've been throwing all my scraps (and a lot of rotten fruits and veggies that rotted before I bothered to cook them) in for at least 5-6 years; I occasionally add chopped up autumn leaves too... Haven't been turning the stuff... In all these years, the stuff has been settling in, I suppose... I haven't tried to see what's at the bottom, Hope it's great compost by now.... I might try to bury scraps in some beds when the soil thaws enough for digging... Who knows when - it's been snowing and melting periodically in Upstat4e NY...
BTW I crush eggshells by hand, and I NEVER put any meat/fish, even scales, or dairy products in my compost.
I love your sound scientific approach to your experiments, having control group to make the results valid. This is a great material for publishing an article.
From my experience, I am 65, I have always had a well-maintained compost pile(s). I add all manner of veggie scraps, grass clipping (not too many), cow crap, water it and turn it often, and scrap bedding hay from my livestock barn. The hay and grass clippings get their own place until they are really breaking down then that gets mixed with the other pile. I put the compost into the soil in fall. By the spring planting, everything is ready to go. I get yields that are high. Over time, a garden should develop better and better soil if you are doing your part. I also added some sand long ago to make the soil less gummy, helping loosen it up. Just about any organic matter added to your soil in moderation will enhance your results. For tomato plants and bugs? Save your ashes from the fireplace. Dust them lightly and the bugs will hate being there.
My hens love the bugs!
Just wondering Can I use the ash from my charcoal grill?
This is best educational video I've seen in RUclips for months! I'm a city dweller, and still saving up for the day I can finally buy my own farmland 🙏 This is such an inspiration and makes me look forward to the day of having my own sustainable, natural garden to provide our own food.
What a FANTASTIC video! The follow-through over several months was the BEST part.
Awesome video thank you for sharing. At the end of the day it's free compost and utilizing food scraps for the garden, love that idea if you willing to put the work in.
Awesome experiment guys! I have a few 2' deep holes that I fill with kitchen scraps in my garden. I have issues with critters in my yard, so I put big stones over the holes and just leave them for a few months. When I need a little compost, I remove the stones and use whatever is under them.
This was awesome, thank you for doing this experiment. What I do is I keep a blender right behind my cutting board and put food waste in there. When the blender is full, I make a tea and then pour it at the base of my plants. The blender tea idea would help to decompose the fish and the pasta. I live in the Coachella Valley, so I"m planting in literal sand and this tea is magical for fruit production. You might want to try the blender tea approach with slowly-decomposing food, as opposed to burying it whole.
My grandparents always used minnows, or tiny bait fish or bone meal, veg scraps, egg shells and coffee grounds on their tomatoes, and they always had tons of tomatoes. And they always added the egg shells and coffee grounds around the base After it was planted and was beginning to grow well.
The most interesting finding to me was the "weeds" or "garden leaves" repelling the aphids. I'll have to try it when I do a garden again someday.
When I lived on Treasure Island (in the San Francisco Bay), I would bury the food scraps (vegetable/fruit/the rare fish scrap) in land I would leave fallow for at least 6 months. The only thing I would also put in while planting the vegetables & fruits would be some compost, a little bone meal, and some hand crushed egg shells (also deters snails/slugs). Sometimes I'd put in a little fertilizer depending on the nitrogen needs of the plant a month before planting (mainly for leafy green vegetables).
I had tomatoes, zukes, peas, beans, and berries in particular coming out of my ears (gave a lot away to roommates, friends, food bank).
Of course, probably just as important or maybe more so was the full sun and the fence barriers against excessive wind. I was also very religious about keeping the water needs met and maintenance of the garden.
Experimented a lot. My mainstay crops were tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, peas, and blackberries/raspberries/other odd berry types. My biggest flops: peppers & strawberries.
I am going to plant a garden this year. This was a fascinating video to watch. My parents grew a big garden in Ukraine and I have not had any big experience in this field. Thank you for posting.
This was a great garden project ✊🏾 I would love to see this done again with the scraps being chopped up a little closer in size, more distance between the plants, and maybe a scientific review of what could be going on in the process. I'd like to see a hole with all of the stuff. You guys always put out great information and content!
I think it would be interesting to do the exact plants in the same spots adding nothing next year. You could see how those additions act long term. Perhaps the way to do it is adding them to the holes in the fall so they break down by summer use time?🤔
I think that is exactly right. So... Make compost?
I consider my garden, therapy. It's small and I maintain it excessively. Not a weed in sight. I maintain a compost pile, kitchen scraps, weeds and mostly leaves in the fall. I turn it and water it. In the spring I spade the garden early and mix the compost in. As the plants grow I add compost and grass clippings as mulch. I hand water as needed. I plant something different every year. I've tried various trellising & pruning methods. Weather in Nebraska is variable!!! My results are generally very good. Last year I had an area of the garden fail. I know/ think what did wrong was included some dry leaves from a bald cypress tree in one area of the garden. It had a devastating affect.
I've started my seedlings spaced out in time to see what works best. For the first time I'm using LED "grow lights" and trying to maintain 70-75°F & semi-reflective enclosers. So far results look very good. Happy gardening.
What an awesome experiment and as I'm a lazy gardener, I'm happy to see that just compost brings the best results!
I'd like to see the fish heads ground up for easier breakdown and see of it makes a difference with less surface area.
Fish decompose in 3 to 4 days in total. In this experiment the fish decomposed the fastest of all. It caused spike of amonia in the soil that stunted the tomato.
Also the fish PH is about 7 and it is not acidic, quite the opposite it is way more alkaline than the soil.
Honestly it was nicely done experiment with a lot of misunderstanding, but I guess they will learn in future.
@@Xizario2 Even if the fish heads were left out in the open, they wouldn't decompose in 3-4 days. When they are buried, they get even less oxygen to supply the decomposition.
Interesting! Shows the importance of pre-decomposition for strong plant growth. Can't wait to see the next experiment.