Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati

Some time ago, I wrote about the experience of discovering, with my son (who was four years old at the time) that the As Seen on TV “Green Bags” apparently do not save vegetables from spoiling as stated in the television commercials.  Since that time, my son has come to recognize the style of these commercials, and whenever one comes on he asks me if it’s true.  So, when I think of it, I oblige him by clicking around online to see what I can discover about these products. 

This spring, my son got really excited at the prospect of a ”Roll and Grow.” He very much enjoys helping with yard work, including the planting and watering of flowers.  He was taken by the ease with which the Roll and Grow appears to work.  So he asked me, “Daddy, is that true?”

Well, this site features tons of complaints about the product, but the more I thought about the product, the more outrageous it seemed.  Wildflower seeds are the easiest thing in the world to plant, and they are significantly cheaper.  In the commercial, the video shows someone digging holes and planting flower seeds one at a time.  One need not take such care in planting wildflowers!  It just takes seeds, and quickly covering them with some dirt—and you can have flowers wherever you wish.  Additionally, you don’t need to waste time cutting out weird fabric substances. 

So I explained to my boy that Roll and Grow was not something we needed to buy.  We could just plant seeds!

Next, he was rather interested in the various uses shown by the commercial for Mighty Putty.  A quick search verified that “Mighty Putty” is just an As Seen on TV brand name for epoxy putty.

The As Seen on TV link above sells three sticks of Master Putty for about $13.00.  I can’t see the weight of the package.  This link shows one ounce of epoxy putty selling for $2.21.  If the TV link is just three of these, then it looks like the As Seen on TV brand is something common with a mark up. 

So I told my boy that Master Putty looks to be real, but it is cheaper to just get it at the store with a different name.

Finally, my son wanted to know about Aqua Globes.  My gut reaction was to think that Aqua Globes would keep the soil constantly wet, which would be bad for many types of plants.  And after looking around online, that seems to be the consensus.  If used with the wrong type of plant, root rot could actually kill the thing.  But more significantly, I was reminded that the Aqua Globe can be replicated, for free, with an empty bottle.  In the spirit of recycling, therefore, I explained to my son that we could try the idea, for free, by putting a beer bottle into the hanging flower pot by my front door that I always forget to water.  I just stuck the bottle in the dirt today, so we’ll see.  But I spent no money, and found another use for some of my garbage!

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