They say wisdom comes with age, and in the case of my Nonno Luigi, he’s accumulated 84 years worth of wisdom in a few departments: linguini with clams, whether to use a number one or number two when buzzing hair, and over anything else, gardening wit and tricks galore.

Nonno has gardened for as long as I can remember and taught me everything I know about growing fruits, herbs, and vegetables.

He has the largest setup he’s ever had at his current home on the Jersey Shore, from sprawling grape vines to persimmon trees, but notes that he should probably cut back soon.

“I always gardened at my old house, but here, I did the most,” he said. “But now it’s much less than I want.”

“Why?” I asked him. 

“I can’t bend down!” he says. 

I recently stopped by his house, took a tour of everything he had growing, and asked if he could share a few words of wisdom with The Spruce’s readers—and he delivered.

What Nonno Likes to Grow

Nonno Luigi describes some of his favorite crops to me. Most he grows because, no surprise, they’re delicious.

A few of his favorites: zucchini (mainly for the flowers, which are a staple of Italian cuisine when battered and pan-fried), San Marzano tomatoes, cucumbers, and fresh heads of lettuce.

When I asked what other tips he had to offer, he said, “I have a lot of things—great gardening really comes with practice, so I should know a lot by now.”

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One Fertilizer Is Better Than the Rest: 5-10-5

When I asked Nonno his secret to keeping plants growing (even when overwintering them) he mentioned fertilizing them twice a year.

The best fertilizer ratio he’s found? 5-10-5—according to him, it’s the best and cheapest option. 

“That’s an old tip, I didn’t come up with that,” he shares. 

There’s No Such Thing as Sowing Too Many Seeds

I noticed when touring Nonno’s yard that there were a ton of seedlings sowed super close together, a usual no-no when planting seeds.

It’s usually advisable to be cautious about how many seeds you sow, but I can’t argue with age-old know-how. He does this to ensure he gets a good crop, and then he’ll carefully remove them from the bed and transplant them later.

“You plant four seeds, but not all of them germinate,” Nonno explains. “I throw the seeds in, and when they get a little larger, I move them to a new box.”

Seed Orientation…Actually Matters? 

Unbeknownst to me, Nonno also has a specific way of putting seeds in the ground, especially with larger ones like cucumbers or melons.

According to him, you should sow the seed with the pointed end down in the ground—that makes it easier for the seedling to emerge from the dirt.

I’ve never heard of this before, but with a bit of research, it turns out this is a real thing.

The root begins to form from the pointed end of the seed, so you could be setting up stronger plants by orienting the seed with the tip downward. 

“Go look at the zucchini seedlings,” Nonno advised me. “You can see the seed still on it, it’s about half the shell. You can tell where the seed opened from.”

Spray Around Your Plants, Not On Them

Nonno notes that spraying pesticides can cause more harm than good to your plants, so a little hack he uses is to spray around the container or garden bed instead to deter pests from even coming in. 

This is obviously preventative, so if you’re already dealing with a pest problem, you can look to organic methods like diatomaceous earth or neem oil.

Vinegar and Bleach Make the Perfect Weed Killer

A tried-and-true combo for killing weeds is Nonno’s favorite: white vinegar and bleach. He notes that you should use this on weeds that pop up in cracks of concrete or your driveway, as the solution could harm your other plants. 

He sprays this on stray weeds, but he also notes to be mindful of using bleach on your concrete.

“Nonna used to spray the bleach on my garden stones, and I told her to stop! It was changing the color of the stone,” he tells me. 

Gardening Always Comes Second to Eating

I would have gotten more gardening tips, but at that moment, Nonno decided it was dinnertime. He interrupted our interview to let me know that he had lobster tails ready in the fridge to grill for dinner and asked how many I wanted.

With that, I leave you with my Nonno’s best tips—and you can imagine how yummy the lobster tails were.