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Today's episode is brought to you by

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the Southern Living Plant Collection. To

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view our plant collection, find

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a retailer near you, or

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buy online, visit southernlivingplants.com. I'm

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Lean. I'm Mean. I'm a gardening

0:19

machine. It is I, Steve Bender,

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the Grumpy Gardener. Welcome back to

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season two of Ask Grumpy, a podcast

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from Southern Living. One of my foremost

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goals as Grumpy Gardener is to have

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all of my fans be able to

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grow gardens that are just as beautiful

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as mine. A daunting task, I know.

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I'm here with my sassy co-host, Noah

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McGough. Hello, Noah. Hey, Grumpy. Hi, Noah.

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May the fourth be with you. That's

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not bad. I didn't think you added in you there,

0:49

Noah. You never know what I got in me.

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I'm not going there either. Please

0:56

stay away. All right.

0:59

Here's our question for today.

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I'm starting tomatoes from seed.

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A friend told me to pinch off

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the top two leaves when they appear

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and the plant will grow stronger.

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What do you say? This is

1:14

from Kate. Well, Kate, I say you're

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lucky I'm here because if you follow

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your friend's advice, you will kill all

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of your seedlings. See,

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the first two leaves on the seedling

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are called seed leaves. And

1:27

their purpose is to nourish the

1:29

seedling immediately after it

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germinates. Now, after a short

1:33

period, a set of true leaves

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will appear from between the seed

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leaves. The seed leaves will

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turn yellow and drop and your

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plant will commence growing many more

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sets of true leaves. But

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don't pick off the first

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set of seed leaves or the

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seedling will immediately die. And

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that would be bad. Bad, I tell

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you. And

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sad. Be very sad.

2:06

All right, buck up. My

2:16

emotions run over. Okay. Sorry

2:19

about that y'all. Okay.

2:21

Have a good day. Oh, I'll try.

2:30

Okay. Create

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prune less and enjoy more. Dig

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Plants. View my favorites at plantsbymail.com

3:00

Grumpy's Garden and enter Grumpy

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for an exclusive Grumpy Gardener

3:04

listener discount. Welcome

3:10

back to Ask Grumpy, a

3:12

podcast from Southern Living. Hey,

3:16

Dave. Hi, Nella. Oh, hey,

3:18

what kind of plant of the month do you have

3:20

for us today? Okay,

3:23

our plants of the month. Have you

3:25

ever heard of a plant called hens

3:27

and chicks or hens and chickens? You

3:31

have? I have. You

3:33

think you've seen them? They've been

3:35

around forever just like you. I've

3:40

heard of them, but I'm not sure what

3:42

they are. Well, it's a succulent. I thought

3:44

it was a succulent. Yes. I did know

3:46

that. You get one point for that. I

3:48

did know it's a succulent. Okay, it's a

3:50

succulent. And the common

3:52

name describes the plant's unique growth

3:54

habit. What It is

3:56

is a rosette, which is a fancy name

3:59

for a touch. Well ball leaves

4:01

about two to three inches tall.

4:03

that's what it looks like. I'm

4:06

about six inches wide. In the

4:08

center is called the Han their

4:10

how what route to do scissors

4:13

baby plants which a cold the

4:15

chicks sprout out all around her

4:17

and they can be detached implanted

4:19

elsewhere Syria get more ends and

4:22

more checks. Now there's this. Guy.

4:25

I know my name's Chris Hansen.

4:27

He's a plant breeders and a

4:29

user. Kids and six and all

4:31

sorts of succulents. Said. Addict

4:33

and he's developed a whole

4:35

new series of Penzance. It's

4:37

called Six Arms. And

4:40

what they do is they

4:42

seats are striking slowly. It's

4:45

like gold and read and

4:47

burgundy, Copper, plum, silver and

4:50

all these different colors. So.

4:53

Then what's more colorful than the

4:55

com and ones? And they change

4:57

colors throughout the year long and

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they're really really pretty. So we're

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going to be and garden centres

5:03

this spring. You need to look

5:05

for them. the called Sit charms

5:07

you can roam in Nod flower

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gardens. They're great in containers. Any

5:12

complaints? Several different types and in trainers and

5:14

they just looked great. So what

5:16

did they need? Whether succulents so they

5:18

need a full sun they need really

5:21

good drainage or else are gonna rights

5:23

and make sure that if you plan

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i'm in a potty have a drain

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his whole put it in well drained

5:30

so potting soil or you can even

5:32

buy at a store. it's succulents soil

5:34

specially for cyclists in cactus and stuff

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like that. And they

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are very easy to grow in most

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parts of the country. There's ones will

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be hardy all the way from Canada

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all the way to the Gulf Coast

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in northern Florida. So lots

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of people can try these plants

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and I recommend them hotly. At

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I have a question I have

5:57

several satellites that some and as.

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been told, and I've tried it, and I

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don't know that it always works, that

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if a leaf falls

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off, you can just stick it in

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the soil. And it will... And it

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will... Right? But I don't

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think mine always stays there. It depends on

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the succulent, but generally they are

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easy to root that way. A lot

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of them, you can just pick off

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a leaf. Now, I wouldn't put

6:24

it in the soil immediately. I would put

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it on a table for a day or

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two and let the broken end, the raw

6:30

end, just kind of heal over a little

6:32

bit. And then you stick

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that in the ground, I don't

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know, maybe a quarter of an inch, half an inch or

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so. Just

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water around it to settle it in, and

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eventually it will root. You can also... A

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lot of succulents are easy just to root

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from stem cuttings as well. And

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you just cut a piece of stem. You let it

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dry out a little bit on the cut end, like

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I said before. You stick it in a

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pot and they will root.

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So it is a good way to

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multiply your plants. How often should

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you water succulents? Well,

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you know... They store water up in their...

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Yeah, they store water in their leaves and

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in their stems. Now, there's

7:13

this kind of misunderstanding about

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succulents in that all

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of them are desert plants. They

7:19

don't need any water at all. All

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of them love burning hot

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sun. These things aren't

7:26

true. There's lots and lots of different

7:28

kinds of succulents, and they take different

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conditions. In general, they're easier to

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grow than a lot of different

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kinds of house plants. But

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good drainage is essential. That

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doesn't mean they can only be watered

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once every six months and dry completely

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out. When their leaves and stems

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start to shrill, you need to water them.

7:48

It's not bad to water a succulent

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every couple of weeks, just as

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long as the

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soil is well-drained and

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it doesn't stay soggy. Okay. Well,

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all right. Thank you. You're welcome.

8:09

Thanks for tuning in to Ask Crumpy.

8:11

This podcast airs every Wednesday and Saturday.

8:14

If you have a question, you know

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where to find me. No question ever

8:18

goes unanswered on the Grumpy Gardener Facebook

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page. Be sure to follow us wherever

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you get your podcasts so you won't

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miss an episode. And we love your

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feedback, especially positive feedback. If you could

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rate this podcast from nine to 10

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and leave a review, that would make me

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Grumpy Gardener very happy. You

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can also find us online

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at southernliving.com forward slash Ask

8:41

Crumpy.