Mint has a reputation for being one of the most enthusiastic growers in the garden. It spreads easily, often taking over garden beds and treading into invasive territory. But that eager-growing habit also means that it's the perfect herb to try out your propagation skills. You can easily propagate mint, growing new plants to share with friends and family. And, if you're the one hoping for a new mint plant without a trip to the nursery, it shouldn't be hard to find a cutting. "If you ask any gardener, it's likely they have way too much mint in their garden and they'd be happy to share with you," says Ren Elizabeth, gardener and blogger at Eco Friendly Homestead. Here's how to propagate mint to grow new plants. Mint is incredibly easy to propagate in just a few quick steps: Select a sprig of mint that looks lush and healthy. Choose a sprig with vibrant green leaves, particularly at the top. Cut the sprig from the plant using clean, sharp scissors, carefully removing the cutting from just below a leaf node. This is the place where leaves connect to the stem. Remove all leaves from the bottom third of the stem, leaving only those healthy looking leaves at the top of the cutting If you want to give your mint cutting an extra boost, Elizabeth says, "you can add in some rooting hormone, but it's not a necessary step." If you choose to do this, dip the stem in rooting hormone before moving on to the next step. Submerge the cutting in a small jar of fresh water. Make sure none of the leaves are touching the water. You may need to use a pair of popsicle sticks to prop the leaves up out of the water. Place the jar in a sunny window. Elizabeth explains that within a few short weeks, you should start to see small root hairs forming at the base of the stem. These will quickly grow, indicating your mint is ready to start its own chapter as a new plant. How to Plant Rooted Mint Cuttings Within a few weeks, you'll notice that the root growth on your mint has reached a point where it appears to be viable to grow on its own. "When the root hairs are around one inch in length, you can plant your mint cutting up to the top leaves in a container," Elizabeth says. Make sure you use fresh potting soil that is adequately moist. Keep the new plants in indirect sunlight for the first several weeks to let them adjust to their new home. Continue to water the mint regularly so they soil stays consistently moist. Elizabeth's biggest tip, however, isn't anything to do with enabling the mint to thrive—it generally does that on its own. Rather, she has a warning to prevent your new plant from taking over your garden. "As someone who has made the mistake of planting mint directly into my garden soil, please do not do this unless you would like the mint to take over your garden for all of eternity," Elizabeth says.

Dozens of pepper varieties can be grown in the home garden. Once you find your favorites, you may never have to purchase seeds again—turns out, you can save pepper seeds easily to plant next year. Follow our simple steps on how to save pepper seeds for a huge haul of future pepper plants. Which Peppers Can You Save Seeds From? Saving pepper seeds requires a bit of planning to get the best and most viable seeds for next season's planting. If you are growing hybrid peppers (F1 is printed after the name on the seed packet), the seeds will not produce the same pepper next year. When saving pepper seeds, open-pollinated, will produce new plants of the same variety. When Should You Collect Pepper Seeds? Seeds should only be collected from mature peppers. Unripe fruit does not produce viable seeds. The peppers should be mature but not overly ripe, diseased, or beginning to mold. Seeds can be collected from freshly picked peppers or from peppers that have been allowed to dry for several months off the vine. How to Remove Seeds from Peppers To remove the seeds, cut open the pepper and gently rub or shake the seeds from the center of the fruit. You can use a fine mesh or paper towel to catch the seeds. How to Dry Pepper Seeds Dried Peppers If the seeds have been removed from peppers that have been allowed to dry off the vine for three to four months, they may not require any additional drying. If they feel slightly damp, spread the seeds on a baking sheet and dry in the oven at 100 degrees F. for two hours. Fresh Peppers If you have saved seeds from a fresh pepper, the flesh should be rinsed away from the seeds. You can do this by placing the seeds in a bowl of cool water and gently swishing them around with your hands. The loose pepper flesh and immature seeds will float the top and can be skimmed off. You can also place the seeds in a fine mesh colander and rinse them under water. After rinsing, allow the seeds to dry on a paper towel or a mesh screen in a cool location until the seeds are dry enough to break when pressed with a fingernail. To speed drying, spread the seeds on a clean baking tray and dry at 100 degrees F. for about six hours. Where to Store Pepper Seeds When the seeds are dry, they can be stored in small glass jars, paper bags, or any moisture-proof container. Always label the container with the date and the type of pepper. Store seeds in a cool, dark, dry location or a freezer. If they are stored in an area that is too warm or moist, the seeds may begin to germinate or mold and become no longer viable. How to Know If Pepper Seeds Are Still Good Pepper seeds will produce the best results if planted the next year but can be viable for up to five years. You can do one of these tests to predict if the seeds are still good. Germination test: Place 10 to 15 seeds with plenty of space between each seed on several layers of damp paper towels. Fold the towels and place them in a sealable plastic bag. Put the bag in a warm spot for two weeks. Remove the towels from the bag and count how many seeds have sprouted to get a percentage of viable seeds for planting. Floater test: Place the seeds in a bowl of water and remove any that float. Floating seeds are less viable than the dense seeds that have developed a seed embryo. Plant immediately or allow to dry thoroughly if storing longer.

After putting in all the effort that goes into hollowing out and carving jack-o-lanterns, no one wants to see their carved pumpkins spoil before Halloween. But, pumpkins only last for about 3 to 5 days after carving (and spoil even faster in warm weather). With Halloween just around the corner, I wanted to find out how to keep pumpkins from rotting, so I took to the internet and tracked down three viral hacks that allegedly keep pumpkins fresh longer. I gave the hacks a test run on my own pumpkins and here are the results. The Test I started my test in early October when the temperatures were around 60 degrees F during the day. I purchased 4 pumpkins that were similar in size, color, and texture to keep the test as consistent as possible. I even carved (or tried to) the same face onto each picture-perfect pumpkin. I did keep one pumpkin as a control to get a clear idea of how long pumpkins last in the conditions around my home. Below is the lineup of hacks that I tried: Diluted bleach spray: I sprayed one pumpkin daily, inside and out, with a diluted bleach spray made with 1 part bleach to 9 parts water. Hair spray: I sprayed one pumpkin, inside and out, with hair spray and applied this treatment only once after carving the pumpkin. Coconut oil: I rubbed coconut oil, inside and out, on one pumpkin and applied this treatment one time, right after carving. It's also biodegradable and compostable. Day 1 I cleaned the exterior of all the pumpkins with diluted bleach, carved them, applied the treatments to the test pumpkins, and set the pumpkins outside without candles. All three treatments were easy to apply, although the coconut oil was slightly messy. By evening, the control pumpkin and the pumpkin sprayed with bleach looked a little dry around their carved edges, but the other two pumpkins still looked fresh. Day 3 The weather remained warm and sunny through day 3 and, by the third day, that warmth was starting to take its toll on the control pumpkin and the pumpkin treated with bleach. These two pumpkins had already developed small patches of dark mold on their interiors, although their carved edges still looked mold-free and fresh enough for display. There was no visible mold on the hairspray and coconut oil pumpkins, but the skin near the carved sections of the hairspray pumpkin had darkened. Day 5 The difference in the pumpkins was undeniable by day 5. The weather was still pleasant and warm and all 4 pumpkins had at least some mold growing on their interiors; however, the coconut oil pumpkin had significantly less mold than the other three pumpkins and its carving still looked fresh. The hairspray pumpkin had a fair amount of mold on its interior but was still displayable. The control and bleach pumpkins, however, had mold growing along their carved eyes and mouths and did not look fresh. Days 6 through 10 Most pumpkin lovers would have disposed of the control and bleach pumpkins by day 5 or 6 due to visible mold, but I kept the experiment going a little longer. By day 10, all four pumpkins had dark mold on their interiors and carved sections, but the coconut oil pumpkin had much less mold than the other pumpkins. The carved edges of the coconut oil pumpkin also looked fresher and displayed less wrinkling and warping. Final Verdict Honorable mention: the hairspray treatment, which did appear to repel mold better than the bleach treatment. The clear winner: coconut oil. While the coconut oil treatment was messier to apply, it kept the pumpkin’s carved edges from drying out, significantly inhibited mold growth by at least 3 days compared to the control, and kept the pumpkin in displayable shape for at least 10 days. Considering the results of this experiment, I plan to wipe the pumpkins I carve for trick-or-treat night down with coconut oil after I carve them. But I’m also going to carve those pumpkins when the weather is cooler to help them stay fresh even longer.