Rating garden products

Garden Watchdog gives us a place to "rate" vendors; do we have a similiar place to rate garden products? I think it would be helpful.

Recently, I bought a new product to "deer proof" my roses. The results were not exactly as expected. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/505799/. This experience made me think that it would be nice to have one central organized place to share this kind of info with other potentially unsuspecting gardeners. (As to the product I bought, I'm not saying it's a bad product, just that others might want to be prepared.)

Sheryl

Cool Idea!!!

Carol

It could be fairly straightforward:

Product Used
Intended use
Results

OH, just mho

Yes, such as the "Compost in 14-days .. as seen on TV"

I am all over this idea.

Cheri'

Actually someone (Horseshoe, I think) mentioned this a while back. Dave asked me for my input and I was probably the wet blanket. The reason why I was reluctant is because there are sooooooo many products out there. Categorizing them is a bit dicey, and keeping a clean directory could be a nightmare.

Someone spells a product one way, someone else spells it another way....Do we compare Brand XYZ's humic acid to Brand ABC's humic acid, or do we have one entry for humic acid? Do we have separate entries for Miracle Gro versus Peter's Professional Plant Food, or do they both fall under the category of water-soluble fertilizers? What about Miracle Gro powder vs. liquid? Questions like these made me get a nervous twitch in a hurry.

That said, I like the idea on the face of it. It's just a matter of figuring out if/how we could make it work.

Hmmmm. Perhaps 'Categories' could be like a question: "For Red Spider Mites, For White Fly, etc. and the responses would be one person and then another persons' suggestion, giving the product name and WHY or WHY NOT. If a Product/Method have already been mentioned then no more real information is needed...maybe a tick box with AGREE// DONT AGREE and someway to track each one with a color code (few commments= yellow, lots of comments up to green or blue).

It sure would be great to have an idea of what knowledgeable gardeners use!!

IMHO Carol :~D

I think we'd have to have the products by brand - after all, it wouldn't be at all surprising if each brand tried to make its product different by perhaps having a different inert ingredient of a fertilizer, or different weight of rubber in a pair of gloves or a slightly different weight of terra cotta in a pot. I am afraid that Terry is right and it could be a nightmare - but even so, perhaps someone a lot smarter than I could figure how to make it work. I also think this is an idea well worth exploring. Dotti

Brainstorming. I see 2 different uses.

1) To find out what others are using (Carol's idea) we could use something like to what amazon does. If I search on fertilizer and rose, I get a vertical list with links to actual products. Organized in order based on the number of people who recommend an item (i.e., top item on list will be the most popular, etc). Whether it is granular, liquid, etc will not matter. List is based on catagories or uses or key words like Carol suggested.

2) I'd also like to be able to find out about the extremes - what people love and what they hate, major problems, warnings, etc as well as things people swear by and why. This would also include items for which you'd just like to add useful information (pros/cons) not included in advertisements. For this, I see something similar to PlantFiles in that users enter items and comments, but only the extremes. Back to the fertilizer, I use Miracle Grow sometimes, Peters other times, brand x sometimes. I can't tell a big difference so I would not comment on either as my comments on this catagory would not really help anyone. On the other hand, 2 years ago I bought one of those water-powered hose reels. For this item I could let prospective customers know that (1) it really does work quite well and (2) it is large,bulky, takes up quite a bit of garden space and isn't very attractive, all information that might be helpful. For Plantskydd (sp?) I'd like to warn people that it IS largely hog and cow blood, and for a few days it looks and smells aweful. On the other hand, if I find that it works, I can pass that on as well.

These 2 things combine pretty well in that a search on key words brings up a list with links to actual items. These items include the comments, warnings, testimonials, praise, etc.

I think some items should be handled as generics: humic acid, compost, epsom salt, etc. If someone swears by a particular brand they could state it in their comments.

Sheryl

I think we are on to something.... I like your ideas Sheryl... To list the brand names for miticides would be an awesome endeavour with new ones coming out all of the time....but to list For Mites...people could list the miticides that best worked for them...the format could be such that the key words would stand out....or it could be Miticides Systemic, Miticides/Ovicides..and the benefits of them. Gosh, maybe Dave could contact some of the companies to post rebuttles (for $$$)....

Carol

It might not be much fun to start listing pesticudes or fertilizers. I have seen too many newsgroups disintegrateinto shouting matches and name calling between organic advocates and conventional growers.

Hard call here....I understand what Farmerdill is saying completely...as veggie growers, we see two polar opposite camps of things you put on your gardens, and it can get quite heated when each belief system tries to 'convert' the other.

On the other hand, I really like my Garden Claw ,love my Snapper rototiller, and hate my 'Lifetime Warranty Garden Hose'.

ok, melody, now THAT is what I really want to know about. Instead of buying a garage full of tools (as I have already) until I happen to find one that works, I'd like to take advantage of the experiences of others in the group. And I, too, have one of those expensive garden hoses that absolutely cannot kink ever - right!

Personally, I'm not too interested in getting down into the "weeds" about Miracle Grow vs Peters, or pesticide preference. I have one tool that works quite well except that I can never get it started. That's what I want to know about. I spent $200 on tablets to make my plants taste bad, but the deer kept right on eating; that's what i want to know about. I spent another $200 on thinks to shock the deer. They work sometimes, but the deer are not stupid; they learn to avoid the "shockers" and keep on eating. Again, that is what I want to know about.

Carol, I like your way of thinking from the marketing perspective - possibly involving the mfg as a way to pay for the project.

Sheryl

- Another idea to throw out:

Manufacturers are "given the opportunity" of posting information about what ever product they want us to know about...A N D there is a set format for them to fill out (ingredients, application information etc.) with X amount of wording allowed in their description. Then, similar to the "voting" upper right hand corner of the Home Page, DGers could 'vote' on that product...and comments could be linked to it.

Any diatribes or soil- slinging would be monitored and erased.

This would give the Chemicalites as well as the Organics a place to give 'objective' opinions.

:~)

"Actually someone (Horseshoe, I think) mentioned this a while back."

(Zowie Terry! You have great memory recall...that must've been a yr or two ago!)

Great suggestions here. I'm partial to the "Brand Name" critiquing as opposed to an overall product type (potting soil, water-soluble fertilizer, etc). To me it would be best to critique (or is the best choice of word "review"?) a given brand of a product just like we review companies or books.

I also understand Farmerdill's point on the on-going "organic vs. conventional" debate. Hopefully though this format won't allow debate but rather a block to offer info just like BookWorm and Watchdog does

Hmmm...I would like to know if those "claws"(the things you twist to break up soil) work in hard clay soil...Jo

I agree...it is important for us to know Brand Names for good evaluations.

Seems to me that this kind of a forum is NO place for anyone to get hyper over their philosophy of Organic vs. inorganic. It is NOT that kind of forum....their choice is to leave an organic alternative to the problems/subject etc. and let the reader make their own decisions. NO?

Carol, I agree it isn't the place to debate organic/non-organic (or the ethics of animal traps, which we'll get if they're listed) but when you get someone who's really passionate on these issues (one way or the other) talking them down off the ledge can be difficult ;o)

I've been contemplating this idea (hey, you gotta mull over something while you're pulling weeds, right?)

"Fleshing out" this idea a bit more, I could see us starting with some major categories and sub-categories. For example, the following categories were easily picked up from a gardening supply catalog:

Aerators

Aerator sandles

Compost bins
-Stationary
-Turnable

Garden carts

Edgers

Hoses
-Coiled
-No-kink
-Soaker
-Rubber
-Plastic

Hose-end nozzles

Hose Carts

Hose Reels
-Manual
-Powered

Lawnmowers
-Gas pushmower
-Electric/battery pushmower
-Reel-type
-Riding
-Stand-behind

Loppers

Mulch
-Black Plastic
-Red Plastic
-Rubber

Pest control
-Japanese Beetles
****Milky spore
****Traps
-Slug control
****Bait
****Copper barriers
****Diatomaceous earth
****Traps

Pruners
-Bypass
-Anvil
-Pole-type

Rain barrels

Shears

Sprinklers
-Stationary
-Oscillating
-Tractor/self-propelled

Spreaders
-Drop
-Rotary

Tillers
-Rear-tine
-Front-tine

As you can see from this list, it's gonna get complicated in a hurry because this is barely the tip of the iceberg. Depending on how open this directory is, it's quite possible that sub-categories would be duplicated in other areas, necessitating some ongoing cleanup efforts.

It's definitely an intriguing idea. And there is a chance that some vendors would pay to participate in a "PlantScout" type feature for general gardening tools (we've had a few inquiries already.) Two big drawbacks I see:

Some of these suppliers (I'm thinking specifically of the giberellic acid/humic acid/micorrhizal products) tend to be pretty sensitive about the merits of their products. A whiff of negative feedback sends 'em into a tizzy.

And for vendors who would like to participate in a PlantScout-esque feature, matching up their inventory to what we've created would be more difficult than matching up plants to PlantFiles (at least there we have some taxonomy rules we can follow when there's a question about the proper name ;o)

I have been wishing for a place to discuss products, and was contemplating suggesting a forum but I was too shy :)

Reading this thread I see it may not be as simple as I thought, although I hope the idea comes through. It could be extremely useful to hear from people who have actually used individual products. I do most all of my shopping online and I have some products I would like to rave and warn about, even though the vendor is ok.

Might I make a suggestion if you make a database with fields and not a forum: please require people to say how they used a product and why it didn't meet their expectations. In garden watchdog for instance, in reading some negative responses I find myself going "well no wonder." If someone down rates a toaster it'd be good to know they also put it in the bathtub. Also, the point Terry makes about spelling is extremely important, I could see 4 entries for one product all spelled wrong and never found in a search. Unfortunately, I know of no good solution there.

Nevertheless, I would love to see some form of product review if it can be done, whether it's a database or a forum

Maureen


This message was edited May 7, 2005 8:54 PM

Some of these suppliers (I'm thinking specifically of the giberellic acid/humic acid/micorrhizal products) tend to be pretty sensitive about the merits of their products. A whiff of negative feedback sends 'em into a tizzy.

YUP!! that will happen.

Would a better solution be to add a forum to discuss "Products" .. e.g. people can post questions and other DG'er can tell them what they think...

I love the idea of having a central place where we can read reviews about gardening products. As has been pointed out, however, making it a strict area like the Garden Watchdog isn't going to work since there are so many products out there, and far too many categories.

How about we make a forum just for reviewing products? Put the product name in the subject line and post your review, and others can then comment? Or, if you are looking for reviews of a product, but nobody has posted anything yet, post your new thread and ask for reviews.

It seems simple and easy. Further, if the forum gets used like crazy, maybe we can revisit moving the threads into a more formal application that I would write.

dave

I had similar thoughts after reading kdjoergensen's suggestion yesterday. A forum seems the easiest and best way to start ;o)

I'm game for that. Sure sounds less work-intensive for Dave and Terry at this point in time also.

Perhaps with a forum we could include some of the "home made products" in addition to the store-bought brand named ones?

'shoe, I don't see why they couldn't add home-made products, especially as alternatives to store-bought stuff.

I'm pretty excited to see this forum get underway; I have a few products I'd love to rave about, a few I'll probably give a thumbs'-down to, and several that I'd really like to hear what others think before I invest time or money in 'em ;o)

Sounds great - Terry - please do add the forum.

dave

Shoe .. I always thot .. the correct label (term) was .. 'M.I.' .. for any of our home-made tools, products, & etc. -?-

('me' ingenuity .. or .. 'my' inventions) .. hee ..

I'll bet, that such shared input & addt'l info ... will prove to be a most worthy (and wonderful) forum!!

Thanks Dave and crew .. so much .. !!! ...Yay!!

- Magpye

Okay - I set it up here: http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/products/

Hopefully it works like the other forums (sometimes Dave turns me loose with too many controls, switches and levers around here...)

Terry, you did it perfectly!

whew.

I must say it again, "THIS IS AN INCREDIBLY WONDERFUL PLACE!!!"

Thanks guys.

Sheryl

Gee...communication DOES work.

I would urge 'comentators' to be complete and precises, with as many facts as they can so that it takes a minimum number of threads to determine problem/choice given/choice taken.

This IS exciting.

Thanks Dave and Terry

Carol