We have a small weed here in Western Oregon that goes to seed very early in the spring.When it seeds, you can walk through it and the seeds pop out and fly everywhere! So, one year I had a huge problem with it and could see the seeds laying on my garden soil, so I burned the dickens out of it and what a huge difference it made! That weed is very minimal now, all without pesticides on my garden! Good video!!
I'm currently battling shot weed. I've never had it in my garden before and didn't realize what a nightmare it would prove to be after letting it go to seed. I've thoroughly dug out every weed by hand twice, currently about 2/3 through my third time. Two days later the area I started on already has countless new weeds coming up. 🌱 I'm going to have to try this method, otherwise I feel like I'll never get it under control. I hope it helps.
I was discussing flame weeding yesterday and some viewers told me you’d just done this! Your helper looks happy to help with the fire. Thanks for the informative video.
Pulling t-posts...quite a workout! It looks great! My winter squash is fading, fall and winter crops growing fast. Hope they don't bolt before cool weather cones in.
I just bought one a few weeks ago because of you, haven’t used it yet except to start fires in my burn pit because I’m still clearing trees from Ida. Maybe next weekend. BTW I absolutely loved when you said “give your kids a flame thrower “ sounds like something I would say and do. Haha
I'm doing this this spring. I burned once already. I'm going to give it two weeks burn again and then right before I plant I'm going to burn one more time. We'll see how it goes.🤞
My husband took my flame thrower when it first arrived and hasn't let go of it yet. It clears out lots of weeds, but the Bermuda grass, not so much. With Bermuda grass it is still a slow dig and cuss all the way. When I do dig it all out, I tarp, flame and dig again.
The beds look "Inviting"! Such a good feeling and inspires me to get busy. My eggplant lasted all winter last year and my one surviving plant is putting on blooms again. I might try to cover it during the too cold nights and see what happens - I've heard of others getting them to produce (smaller but still) fruit during the winter. I've got peppers growing like crazy which makes me think I should plan on starting them in July instead of earlier. Here is north Florida the weather can frost Oct. 1 or go until Dec. so hard to plan I'm flying by the seat of my pants - have no idea where that old saying came from!
It is that sad time of year that summer gardens are winding down . I am working on adding compost, worm castings and mulch to all my raised beds and the in ground spots as well . Time to add my amendments now and get ready for next summer. I have a few small fall garden plantings here and there.
I repair my rakes. I drill a hole in the handle and the wrap coat hanger or other strong wire around the business end and then into the handle. It stayed together a long time doing that. Eventually the handle wood cracked at the end, so I cut off the cracked part. Then I drilled out a hole shaped for the rake end and redid the wire reinforcement. Aside from that, if it wasn't for me spot spraying with a type of cup on the end of my sprayer. The bindweed in my garden areas, I would still have hundreds of sprouts a year that would literally choke out everything. Roundup gets a bad rap, but that is because people applied it with a fire hose and thought they could take a shower in it with no harm. I will use that over 2-4D anyday. If I lived with Kudzu then I might just have to give in and eat it until it was dead.
Exposure to roundup causes cancer. It is inherently toxic. The corporations try to cover up this fact. You don't want to eat from the soil contaminated with it.
I'd love to see a video on your sweet potato harvesting. I planted them in grow bags, giant pots, and in ground too. I've harvested the grow bags and pots, but would like to know signs to look for and see the best method for harvesting the in ground ones. Thanks for considering.
While this can be effective, it isn't an option for some of us. We are currently under a burn ban that prohibits all outdoor burning, including cigarettes in city parks. Fines up to $2500 and possible jail time are real punishments.
Flame weeding seems great but would t work for me since I don’t have a concrete bed. I would love to see a sweet potato harvest! I had to harvest mine a couple days ago because I’m getting ready to go out of town for a while and I got some nice ones!
Your video is very informative but I have to be honest - your little Corgi stole my heart. 💕💕🐾🐾 Give him a big hug from a dog crazy doctor in the UK. I am plagued with tumbleweed in my back garden and am anxious about using chemicals because of my own little dog along with the foxes, badgers and hedgehogs that visit. I purchased one of these weed burners and have never used them before so I really need to do my homework. My driveway is block paving and normally salt takes care of the weeds. Is it safe to use this type of gadget on block paving? I'm afraid that it might discolour it and I make a big fat mess. Thanks so much for sharing. 💞
Interesting concept. Would you please do a fall/winter prep video on your grapevines or answer a few questions? When and how do you cut them back for their resting phase before next spring's growth? Do you compost the trimmings as is or cut them small to compost? Do you fertilize or amend the soil in prep for next year?
My future garden varieties are here: th-cam.com/video/GIF71_qfg1o/w-d-xo.html I'll also be growing some garlic (video coming soon). Its a great time to start a garden but needs to get planted ASAP or we'll run up against freezes.
Is flame weeding easier than a string trimmer when you are cutting back weeds along the edges of the cinder blocks or the fence line? I was going to buy one last week to flame down the winter creeper that comes through my fencing into my yard, but I decided the string trimmer that I already have will work until I do more research. This video was perfect timing!!
Flame weeding knocks back shallow rooted plants like grasses much better than string trimming. But like I mentioned, its more about killing off weed seeds on the surface and then you have to turn up roots of persistent weeds and flame them again.
I started putting underground edging on the outside border of my castle blocks and rock garden edges to keep grass out and save the life of the trimmer string. It makes it easier to mow to. Around fence lines I consider that a no grass zone in my yard. The entire chainlink fence line is lined with a flowerbed or garden area. I don't own acres of land, just enough to take care of, but no so little my backyard fence is within spitting distance of my neighbours backdoor.
I've talked about heirlooms a lot in past videos, but I'll need to know what kind of veggies are you wanting info. Tomatoes? Carrots? The short answer is most heirlooms to just fine around here so long as you plant them in the right season.
Can you please make a detailed video about figs? Varieties, container size, soil type, pruning, propagating.... You are one of a few who have them in containers. TIA.
When I use fire I just heat to wilting. Plants then try to repair themselves and use root reserves in roots. Burning to ground is normal and expected by many plants.
Flame weeding definitely looks like fun! You mentioned starting your fall plants indoors- is that b/c it's cooler inside with AC and these plants like cooler temps? I started mine outdoors and they seem to be doing well. It's definitely not cool here in Southern Louisiana. I am a newbie gardener so curious if I should have started them inside. Do you use a grow light inside or place near sunny window? Thanks so much for your videos!!!! I find them incredibly helpful.
Perfect timing! I was just thinking about getting one of these while cleaning out the beds earlier today. Any recommendations on what to buy? Would 700,000 btu be enough?
@@ScottHead thanks. They seem to range from 100,000 btu to 700,000 btu and I have no clue what’s appropriate for the garden. I’m looking up some review vids to try and get an idea.
I'm not sure about how safe it is to flame the garden when you have tree roots or an underground network of weed trees that pop up wherever they want to. I borrowed your idea of using concrete blocks to level out a small place with a slope.
Hi Scott 👋🏼 I was wondering where did you get your flame torch thing ?😄😄😄 I think I can get my hubby into gardening playing with fire.😁🔥 it’s good to see you back. 👍🏽🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱
When should I pull my sweet potatoes ? I put them in a mineral tub . The vines covered my back fence really nicely but now they are starting to brown and die back .
Good to see you Scott! I have these little black specks on my leaves of my cucumber plant. Not in them, on them. Are aphids black? I think it's an excrement from some insect?!
Some aphids are black, but yes, could be frass (caterpillar poop) or some other kind of poop. Look for culprits with a flashlight at night if you can't see them in the day.
@@ScottHead Thankyou so much for trying to help me I kinda feel alone in this sometimes and trust me I google and watch tons of shows trying to find answers
Well that was easy but wow the nut sedge is very hardy! So these Fire weeders, can they be bought at Home Depot, Scott? Thanks for sharing, 👍and wishing ya a great rest of the week! 😄
I'd have to look back and find it but either LSU or A&M did black plastic mulch trials and the one forgone conclusion was that like Jurassic Park, "NUTSEDGE" will find a way!
Scott, I heard you speak highly of seed companies that you buy your seeds from? What 3 seed company's would you recommend buying seeds from in alphabetical order.
@@ScottHead ty- need to get better seeds than a hardware store, I got bag of sweet corn seed and when came to harvest it turned out to dent corn, must of been a factory goof up and another bag the seeds were different from was labeled on the bag, im gonna kick it up a notch and go a different route this time.
Rototillers chop up the top 6" or so, but they also compact the soil at the horizon and form a hardpan surface at about 6-8". I prefer just to loosen the soil instead of tilling.
A rototiller would be hard to maneuver in his garden beds. I use a garden fork works better than a shovel if you aren't digging out soil to put someplace else.
Besides being bad for the environment, all that burning is not effective in eradicating weeds. The burn is superficial, seeds will survive in the lower layers of soil. It will singe the organic matter into charcoal and decrease the beneficial organisms
Charcoal is a great home for bacteria as it has greater surface area than just about any garden amendment. It takes time to charge but in the long term is actually a powerful amendment.
Complete opposite of any peppers ive seen. Bigger peppers at the end of season for me and every grower i know. Plants are larger and can produce and support bigger peppers for several reasons.
Another pro of flame weeding, often overlooked, is the chance to play with fire 😁🔥🔥🔥
Hopefully safely!
We have a small weed here in Western Oregon that goes to seed very early in the spring.When it seeds, you can walk through it and the seeds pop out and fly everywhere! So, one year I had a huge problem with it and could see the seeds laying on my garden soil, so I burned the dickens out of it and what a huge difference it made! That weed is very minimal now, all without pesticides on my garden! Good video!!
I'm currently battling shot weed. I've never had it in my garden before and didn't realize what a nightmare it would prove to be after letting it go to seed. I've thoroughly dug out every weed by hand twice, currently about 2/3 through my third time. Two days later the area I started on already has countless new weeds coming up. 🌱 I'm going to have to try this method, otherwise I feel like I'll never get it under control. I hope it helps.
Thank you Scott, enjoyed the visit
I was discussing flame weeding yesterday and some viewers told me you’d just done this! Your helper looks happy to help with the fire. Thanks for the informative video.
Phoebe knows we're waiting for her to photo bomb. She's the aspiring video diva of the house, just waiting for the right moment. 💖🦮🌹🙏🏼🌱🕊️
Why did I not think of this. Thank you. This is going to be so helpful for my new garden plot.
Since i am a fairly new subscriber i have been watching your old videos. Learning so much from you.
Very thorough discussion, answering my question of "how burnt" the weeds need to be to kill. Thanks very much!
Look forward to your visitor! Flame weeding sure looks like fun.
Looking forward to another season of learning great things from you👍
It was so good to see you! That flame is right up my hubby’s alley, lol!
Nice seeing you again . Summer gardening is definitely tuff.
Pulling t-posts...quite a workout! It looks great!
My winter squash is fading, fall and winter crops growing fast. Hope they don't bolt before cool weather cones in.
I just bought one a few weeks ago because of you, haven’t used it yet except to start fires in my burn pit because I’m still clearing trees from Ida. Maybe next weekend. BTW I absolutely loved when you said “give your kids a flame thrower “ sounds like something I would say and do. Haha
I'm doing this this spring. I burned once already. I'm going to give it two weeks burn again and then right before I plant I'm going to burn one more time. We'll see how it goes.🤞
Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
My husband took my flame thrower when it first arrived and hasn't let go of it yet. It clears out lots of weeds, but the Bermuda grass, not so much. With Bermuda grass it is still a slow dig and cuss all the way. When I do dig it all out, I tarp, flame and dig again.
I feel right at home here.
The beds look "Inviting"! Such a good feeling and inspires me to get busy. My eggplant lasted all winter last year and my one surviving plant is putting on blooms again. I might try to cover it during the too cold nights and see what happens - I've heard of others getting them to produce (smaller but still) fruit during the winter. I've got peppers growing like crazy which makes me think I should plan on starting them in July instead of earlier. Here is north Florida the weather can frost Oct. 1 or go until Dec. so hard to plan I'm flying by the seat of my pants - have no idea where that old saying came from!
It is that sad time of year that summer gardens are winding down . I am working on adding compost, worm castings and mulch to all my raised beds and the in ground spots as well . Time to add my amendments now and get ready for next summer. I have a few small fall garden plantings here and there.
Nice dog - she looks happy.
She's living her best life!
@@ScottHead Nice one.
I repair my rakes. I drill a hole in the handle and the wrap coat hanger or other strong wire around the business end and then into the handle. It stayed together a long time doing that. Eventually the handle wood cracked at the end, so I cut off the cracked part. Then I drilled out a hole shaped for the rake end and redid the wire reinforcement. Aside from that, if it wasn't for me spot spraying with a type of cup on the end of my sprayer. The bindweed in my garden areas, I would still have hundreds of sprouts a year that would literally choke out everything. Roundup gets a bad rap, but that is because people applied it with a fire hose and thought they could take a shower in it with no harm. I will use that over 2-4D anyday. If I lived with Kudzu then I might just have to give in and eat it until it was dead.
Exposure to roundup causes cancer. It is inherently toxic. The corporations try to cover up this fact. You don't want to eat from the soil contaminated with it.
I live in California. It’s so dry here that everything is a tinder box. Other than that, I like the idea. Maybe if I lived back east.
I need to buy one of these flame throwers for my husband, maybe he would help me in the garden. :-)
I don't think I could trust myself not to set something on fire by accident 😜 My husband would probably love the flame weeder though.
I'd love to see a video on your sweet potato harvesting. I planted them in grow bags, giant pots, and in ground too. I've harvested the grow bags and pots, but would like to know signs to look for and see the best method for harvesting the in ground ones. Thanks for considering.
is it Jess? that's coming to visit next week? Love both of y'alls channels! my absolute favorite gardening channels on youtube. so chill and laid back
No, not Jess, but a young and up and coming gardener who I've promoted before on my channel community tab.
@@ScottHead awesome!
Nice video. Thank you
While this can be effective, it isn't an option for some of us. We are currently under a burn ban that prohibits all outdoor burning, including cigarettes in city parks. Fines up to $2500 and possible jail time are real punishments.
Would solarization kill nutsedge? May be an option for those who can't burn, but it could take a few months to kill those tubers.
I have wood chips so wouldn't try that myself now, but did before wood chips.
It might, but I don't want to put my beds out of commission for the time it will take to solarize.
Flame weeding seems great but would t work for me since I don’t have a concrete bed.
I would love to see a sweet potato harvest! I had to harvest mine a couple days ago because I’m getting ready to go out of town for a while and I got some nice ones!
My last 10 or so bell peppers were pretty small and all turned red because I was hoping they would get larger.
Your video is very informative but I have to be honest - your little Corgi stole my heart. 💕💕🐾🐾 Give him a big hug from a dog crazy doctor in the UK.
I am plagued with tumbleweed in my back garden and am anxious about using chemicals because of my own little dog along with the foxes, badgers and hedgehogs that visit. I purchased one of these weed burners and have never used them before so I really need to do my homework.
My driveway is block paving and normally salt takes care of the weeds. Is it safe to use this type of gadget on block paving? I'm afraid that it might discolour it and I make a big fat mess.
Thanks so much for sharing.
💞
Interesting concept. Would you please do a fall/winter prep video on your grapevines or answer a few questions? When and how do you cut them back for their resting phase before next spring's growth? Do you compost the trimmings as is or cut them small to compost? Do you fertilize or amend the soil in prep for next year?
Here's how I prune my muscadine vines. I do not fertilize them now that they are mature.
th-cam.com/video/V3NS0zvaK5g/w-d-xo.html
What do you plan to sow next? I'd like to follow your schedule and plant the same things. :) Still need to buy seeds though.
My future garden varieties are here:
th-cam.com/video/GIF71_qfg1o/w-d-xo.html
I'll also be growing some garlic (video coming soon). Its a great time to start a garden but needs to get planted ASAP or we'll run up against freezes.
Guess that system would work with Bermuda grass growing in the beds also
Is flame weeding easier than a string trimmer when you are cutting back weeds along the edges of the cinder blocks or the fence line? I was going to buy one last week to flame down the winter creeper that comes through my fencing into my yard, but I decided the string trimmer that I already have will work until I do more research. This video was perfect timing!!
Flame weeding knocks back shallow rooted plants like grasses much better than string trimming. But like I mentioned, its more about killing off weed seeds on the surface and then you have to turn up roots of persistent weeds and flame them again.
I started putting underground edging on the outside border of my castle blocks and rock garden edges to keep grass out and save the life of the trimmer string. It makes it easier to mow to. Around fence lines I consider that a no grass zone in my yard. The entire chainlink fence line is lined with a flowerbed or garden area. I don't own acres of land, just enough to take care of, but no so little my backyard fence is within spitting distance of my neighbours backdoor.
Thanks for your videos.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on heirloom varieties that do well in the Houston area and saving seeds.
I've talked about heirlooms a lot in past videos, but I'll need to know what kind of veggies are you wanting info. Tomatoes? Carrots? The short answer is most heirlooms to just fine around here so long as you plant them in the right season.
Can you please make a detailed video about figs? Varieties, container size, soil type, pruning, propagating.... You are one of a few who have them in containers. TIA.
I'll consider it for the spring when propagation can happen. They have to be dormant. I'll be doing some grafting as well.
Does the flame weeding affect the microorganisms in the soil?
Not too much. Microorganisms reproduce at an amazing rate.
When I use fire I just heat to wilting. Plants then try to repair themselves and use root reserves in roots. Burning to ground is normal and expected by many plants.
Whats the average temperature in your area during the day and night ........Fall planting sounds great
Right now? 85-90 by day, 75ish at night. That just lasts for a few weeks between summer and winter.
lol I broke my bow rake just like yours about an hour ago. Guess I can blame you for that lol
Flame weeding definitely looks like fun! You mentioned starting your fall plants indoors- is that b/c it's cooler inside with AC and these plants like cooler temps? I started mine outdoors and they seem to be doing well. It's definitely not cool here in Southern Louisiana. I am a newbie gardener so curious if I should have started them inside. Do you use a grow light inside or place near sunny window? Thanks so much for your videos!!!! I find them incredibly helpful.
Yes, its just easier to start the seeds indoors. Its a little more of a hassle but gets me a head start.
Perfect timing! I was just thinking about getting one of these while cleaning out the beds earlier today. Any recommendations on what to buy? Would 700,000 btu be enough?
Just search weed torch on Amazon, I think they are all the same.
@@ScottHead thanks. They seem to range from 100,000 btu to 700,000 btu and I have no clue what’s appropriate for the garden. I’m looking up some review vids to try and get an idea.
I'm not sure about how safe it is to flame the garden when you have tree roots or an underground network of weed trees that pop up wherever they want to.
I borrowed your idea of using concrete blocks to level out a small place with a slope.
Hi Scott 👋🏼 I was wondering where did you get your flame torch thing ?😄😄😄
I think I can get my hubby into gardening playing with fire.😁🔥 it’s good to see you back. 👍🏽🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱
I got mine on Amazon long ago.
Thank You Scott ! 🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱
Big box stores usually cary some form of it. Just tell them you want to burn weeds and they should take you to them!
Is it Jessica???????
When should I pull my sweet potatoes ? I put them in a mineral tub . The vines covered my back fence really nicely but now they are starting to brown and die back .
The tell-tale is when the leaves start looking unhealthy and yellow.
Good to see you Scott! I have these little black specks on my leaves of my cucumber plant. Not in them, on them. Are aphids black? I think it's an excrement from some insect?!
Some aphids are black, but yes, could be frass (caterpillar poop) or some other kind of poop. Look for culprits with a flashlight at night if you can't see them in the day.
Spraying tons of Captain Jacks has helped some
@@ScottHead Thankyou so much for trying to help me I kinda feel alone in this sometimes and trust me I google and watch tons of shows trying to find answers
Well that was easy but wow the nut sedge is very hardy! So these Fire weeders, can they be bought at Home Depot, Scott? Thanks for sharing, 👍and wishing ya a great rest of the week! 😄
Some form of the flame thrower can be bought at Home Depot.
I got mine on Amazon, never seen one at Home Dept but then I haven't looked.
Will flame weeding help kill off blackberries that are running wild in my yard? They are overtaking everything
Probably not, bacterial life reproduces so quickly they soon bounce back, like overnight.
That nutsedge is horrible this year in Tomball. I gotta try flame weeding. Where can I buy the equipment?
Got mine on Amazon. :-)
Hey neighbor! Have you ever put nutsedge that you pulled out of garden into your compost bin?
No, I keep it out. I'll put it in my fetid swamp water liquid rot compost but not in the actual compost.
I'd have to look back and find it but either LSU or A&M did black plastic mulch trials and the one forgone conclusion was that like Jurassic Park, "NUTSEDGE" will find a way!
Scott, I heard you speak highly of seed companies that you buy your seeds from? What 3 seed company's would you recommend buying seeds from in alphabetical order.
Baker Creek, Johnny's Select Seeds, Seeds for Generations (and added bonus: Kitazawa Seed Co., and Seed Saver's Exchange.)
@@ScottHead ty- need to get better seeds than a hardware store, I got bag of sweet corn seed and when came to harvest it turned out to dent corn, must of been a factory goof up and another bag the seeds were different from was labeled on the bag, im gonna kick it up a notch and go a different route this time.
Could i use this on my beds and paths that are filled with mulch (i use chip drop to get free mulch)?
Nut sage and Bermuda, aren't you lucky!
At that stage, are you still feeding your sweet potatoes?
No just letting them forage on their own.
Guest.....Jess from R & R ?
No, I'm probably not even on her radar. :-)
I’m from North Carolina what’s the move ?
Not sure I understand?
That's probably Jess :D
Nope, I'm not even on her radar.
Is it Jess???
No, she's too busy.
Hi Scott,
Do you ever plant things in the holes in your cinder blocks?
Thanks!
Yes, every season.
Why not use a rototiller instead of doing it by hand with a shovel?
Rototillers chop up the top 6" or so, but they also compact the soil at the horizon and form a hardpan surface at about 6-8". I prefer just to loosen the soil instead of tilling.
A rototiller would be hard to maneuver in his garden beds. I use a garden fork works better than a shovel if you aren't digging out soil to put someplace else.
Besides being bad for the environment, all that burning is not effective in eradicating weeds. The burn is superficial, seeds will survive in the lower layers of soil. It will singe the organic matter into charcoal and decrease the beneficial organisms
Charcoal is a great home for bacteria as it has greater surface area than just about any garden amendment. It takes time to charge but in the long term is actually a powerful amendment.
Complete opposite of any peppers ive seen. Bigger peppers at the end of season for me and every grower i know. Plants are larger and can produce and support bigger peppers for several reasons.
Why is your dog so malnourished 😂
Blah blah blah