The Grumpy Gardener's Tip For Reusing Plastic Pots

About This Episode

The Grumpy Gardener answers a reader’s question on rooting a rose cutting. Plus, his tip of the week.

Question Of The Week

"I was recently handed a rose cutting at the grave site of a dear friend. I brought it home and placed it in a white vase with water. When I took it out, I noticed it had sprouted small roots near the nodes on the stem. How can I keep it alive for planting this spring? I live in North Alabama." -Tammy

Well Tammy, that's a really great way to remember somebody, and for those who don't know what the word meant when Nellah said nodes, that's the place on the stem where the leaves emerge, so that's a node. Okay. So, your task is goin to be easier than you think for growing this rose cutting. All you need to do is let it grow in the water in the vase. Remember to change the water about every three days or so to slow the growth of bacteria. And don't let any leaves touch the water or they'll rot and turn it cloudy. Now, when the roots are about three to four inches long, take the cutting out, and put it into a pot containing fresh moist potting soil. Just firm the soil up around the roots, water, and just put it where it gets, some bright light. Not necessarily, you know, direct sunlight, but bright light. And then after it starts putting out new growth, and fills the pots with roots, you can transplant it outdoors into a sunny spot. And there you'll have your heirloom keepsake rose.

Tip Of The Week

So you ever wonder what you can do with all those black plastic pots that, you know, pile up at your house after your latest foray to the garden center? You know, if you put them out for recycling, uh, most of them are going to end up in the landfill. Just because you put them out and it says recycling doesn't mean they always go to the recycling center. And so they might just go into the landfill. So what else can you do? Well, a few good garden centers will actually take them back. I wouldn't say that's a hard and fast rule, though. So what I do, after I get back from the garden center and I've got a bunch of empty black pots, what I do is I will stack them in some out of the way place in the yard. And, I'll save them in case there's an early frost that threatens to make mush out of all those tender plants I just picked up at the garden center. AndI've just put them in the ground and we're going to get a frost. What can I do to shield them from the frost? Well I take one of those pots, and I just slip it over a plant, and I weigh it down at the top with a rock, just to keep it from blowing away, and boom, I've got a mini greenhouse. And I can do that for all of those tender new plants. And then, when the weather warms up, you just take the rock and the pot off, and your plant is fine.

About Ask Grumpy

Ask Grumpy is a podcast featuring Steve Bender, also known as Southern Living’s Grumpy Gardener. For more than 20 years, Grumpy has been sharing advice on what to grow, when to plant, and how to manage just about anything in your garden. Tune in for short episodes every Wednesday and Saturday as Grumpy answers reader questions, solves seasonal conundrums, and provides need-to-know advice for gardeners with his very Grumpy sense of humor. Be sure to follow Ask Grumpy on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen so you don't miss an episode.

Editor’s Note: Please be mindful that this transcript does not go through our standard editorial process and may contain inaccuracies and grammatical errors.

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