The things we got wrong
This page is a log of the mistakes we made—what we got wrong in the dirt, in the writing, and in the way we thought the work should go. It’s not a list of triumphs, or even lessons learned.
It’s a record of what we *didn’t* know, and how we found out.
A site like this doesn’t need to hide its failures. If you’re reading this, you’re judging whether we’re worth trusting. This log is where you can see, up front, the things we got wrong—and the people who fixed them. No excuses, no spin. Just the facts, in order.
Three we had to fix
The biggest mistakes came first. These are the ones that stayed wrong the longest, or hurt the most, or both. The rest are buried in the archives, where they belong.
The wrong planting depth chart
- 1Seed depth by species was off
The chart we published for the first six months had basil seeds planted at 0.5 inches deep—too deep. Basil needs light to germinate, and half the seeds we tested in that period rotted before sprouting. A reader in Portland emailed us photos of their failed trays, and we realised we’d copied the numbers from a source that confused depth with soil type. Rudy Barrera fixed it by rewriting the chart from scratch, testing every entry with actual seeds in actual soil. The new version went live two weeks later.
- 2Tomato pruning advice was dangerous
We recommended pinching off suckers ‘when they’re the size of a grape’—which, for indeterminate varieties, meant leaving them too long. By the time they were that big, they’d already sapped energy from the main stem. A commercial grower in Ohio reached out after half his plants bolted early, and we realised we’d misread a pruning guide aimed at home gardeners with smaller hands. Rudy Barrera updated the guide with a photo reference (a dime-sized sucker) and added a warning about variety-specific timing. The fix took three days, but the old advice stayed cached for another month.
- 3The ‘foolproof’ compost tea recipe
We called it ‘foolproof’ because it worked—once. For us, in our backyard in Ohio, with our specific compost bin setup and tap water. A reader in Arizona tried it and ended up with a batch so alkaline it killed their worm bin. We’d omitted the pH test step because we’d never needed it. Rudy Barrera scrapped the recipe entirely and replaced it with a troubleshooting flowchart for compost tea, signed by name. The original post stayed up with a red banner at the top: ‘This method failed for some readers. Here’s how to adjust it.’
What those three changed
These mistakes taught us three things we now treat as rules: never trust a source without testing it yourself, never call a method ‘foolproof’ unless it’s been proven in at least three different climates, and always name the person who wrote or approved a correction.
The last one matters most—it’s the only way to hold ourselves accountable.
Rules that came from mistakes
- Test every claim with real seeds, real soil, and at least one reader outside your growing zone. (From the depth chart.)
- If a method fails for anyone, pull it—not rewrite it. (From the compost tea.)
- Sign every correction by name, even if it’s just ‘Rudy Barrera, 2024’. (From the pruning advice.)
The people behind this
This site is run by Rudy Barrera, the founder and editor. You’ve just met them through the mistakes they’ve made—and the ones they’ve fixed. That’s the only way to know someone’s work: by seeing what they do when it goes wrong.
Keeping a log like this isn’t easy. It’s uncomfortable to admit failure, especially when you’ve spent years building a reputation on getting things right. But the alternative—pretending you never got anything wrong—is worse.
The truth is, the best gardeners are the ones who learn from their kills, not the ones who never pull a dead plant.
One mistake Rudy won’t admit to publicly? The time they overwatered a batch of seedling trays so badly the roots rotted before the stems even turned green. It happened in their first apartment garden, in a windowless bathroom with a single grow light.
They’d read that ‘more water is always better’ and ended up with a sad, moldy mess. The lesson stuck—now they weigh the soil instead of guessing.
If you find something wrong here, the contact page is where to tell us. No email address, no forms—just the words, plain. And if you’re reading this and thinking *‘I’ve done that too,’* you’re in the right place. Gardening is about growing, not perfection.
There will be a next one
This list isn’t finished. The next mistake might be a mislabeled seed packet, a soil test gone wrong, or a tip that works in one zone but fails in another. We’ll add it here when we find it—and we’ll name who fixed it.
If you spot something before we do, the contact page is where to say so. No need for anger, no need for shame. Just the facts, like they are.
The guides are grouped by category: Advice, Aphids, Blooming, Companion Plants, Container Gardens and Diseases.