♪♪ Kevin: On "Ask This Old House," Our experts travel across the country to answer questions about your house.

♪♪ Today, Jenn returns to her roots in Florida to help a homeowner plant fruit trees.

Jenn: Lime over there.

Russ: That sounds awesome.

Kevin: Then Nathan shares a tool that's given his roofing game a lift.

And Ross shows some new trends in smart lighting.

Ross: We can get crazy with it.

We can even go a step further.

Look at the lighting behind the TV.

Kevin: So what is the lighting?

What's the light source there?

Coming up next on "Ask This Old House."

Jenn: So, I grew up in Winter Haven, Florida.

It's in Polk County.

It's central Florida.

And it was amazing.

My neighborhood growing up, I was five when we moved there.

Orange trees -- The entire backyard was orange trees.

It was just a grove and it just went on forever and ever.

And I wasn't old enough to ever reach the other side because I would've gotten in trouble.

But, you know, I thought it was the end of the Earth on the other side.

So, in our backyard, we had four grapefruit trees.

They're pretty tall, so we needed a long pole.

My dad and I, we'd go out there or my siblings, long pole, bag at the end.

You extend it almost like when you're cleaning or skimming a pool, and then you just put the bag up right next to the grapefruit and just ch-ch-ch.

And then it falls into the bag and there you have it, your grapefruit, but that's how we would pick them.

Either cut them in half and put brown sugar on them and eat them or make grapefruit juice in the juicer.

So good.

And then Polk County and Winter Haven was a huge citrus area.

I mean, that's where we used to hang out, in the orange groves.

Yeah.

There was no organized playgrounds back then.

Right?

So go climb the trees, pick the fruit.

It was just a fun place to go explore.

And then I'd ride around on my bike.

But I had to have my little Schwinn bike with my basket on the front and try to sell them on occasion.

So it was just fun.

I wouldn't have thought about it back then, but now smell, taste, it always evokes the senses, you know, from peeling an orange.

And you know how it sprays when you open it.

Just that spray, just the scent just gives me a little glimpse, little memory flashes in my head just being a kid.

So it's a pretty positive memory.

♪♪ ♪♪ So, Russ, thanks for contacting us.

Why don't you show me around back here?

Russ: So, this is it.

This is our house, and I've raised my kids here.

We've been here 12-plus years, and plant by plant, we started to kind of rebuild.

Jenn: I mean, did you do all this by yourself?

Just popped them in along the way?

Russ: We did.

This is where we started.

Jenn: So fun.

Russ: We're kind of right in the middle of Aventura, which is a busy area, but we started planting for privacy to try to give it a tropical feel and really just to create our own little oasis in the city.

Jenn: I mean, I think you've achieved the tropical feel.

It's so beautiful and lush.

I would never know that there's a road right there on the other side.

Russ: Literally right behind us.

Jenn: It's gorgeous.

Russ: Thank you.

But, you know, we're in Miami and Miami is beautiful.

Miami is tropical.

Jenn: Right.

Russ: And Miami is hurricane country.

Jenn: Yep.

Hurricanes are prevalent down here.

Russ: Yeah.

And we've been hit by a couple.

We were lucky.

Our house structure was pretty good.

Jenn: I would say.

Russ: Yeah, a lot of our neighbors weren't that lucky.

But the plants and the greenery just took a beating.

And so we've been, little by little, trying to bring it back.

But we've had an area that we need to call in the cavalry.

It just hasn't come back since the storms.

It's the waterfront.

And we're hoping you guys can come to the rescue and help us fix it.

Jenn: Let's go.

Let's go take a look at it.

Russ: Alrighty, Jenn, so let me show you the area that needs a little love and care.

A little -- A little help.

Jenn: Nice tiki hut.

Russ: Thank you.

We're Florida natives, and you can't do Florida without a Jimmy Buffett-style tiki.

Jenn: Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.

Russ: So we've got our tiki hut, our garden.

And this is the area that we really wanted to focus on and bring some attention to.

We love to grow fruits.

We grow avocados, mangoes, lemons, bananas.

But after the storms, they took a dive.

We all love to cook.

We cook our own food.

I mean, if the zombie apocalypse comes, we're ready with all the fruit trees.

Jenn: You're so lucky you get to grow all those in this climate.

Russ: We love it and want to find a way to resurrect it.

So we're hoping you've got a plan, something to save them.

Jenn: Alright, so just looking at it, I think we just need to clean it up, you know, maybe amend the areas and just reconfigure where everything goes and add a few of your favorite fruit trees.

But I am not a fruit-tree specialist, so a friend of mine who's local to the area, he's going to show us our options.

Russ: Awesome.

Help us.

Jenn: Alright.

It's going to be good.

Alright, Russ, this is my friend Dustin I was telling you about.

Dustin: How you doing, brother?

Russ: Dustin, good to meet you, man.

Dustin: Yeah.

Thank you for having me.

Jenn: He's a fruit-tree specialist.

Russ: Coming to the rescue.

Dustin: Awesome.

Jenn: Let's look at the space.

Dustin: Okay, take a look.

Jenn: I mean, it's kind of tight but give me your assessment of what you think.

Dustin: Well, taking a look here, I like the idea of putting fruit trees.

We love fruit trees.

I'm looking at the whole scenario here.

We've got these coconut trees above.

We've got to be cognizant of the coconuts falling.

They'll destroy a newly planted tree or an established fruit tree.

Nothing's going to withstand that.

So that's something you're going to have to maintain and keep, trim back the coconuts and the palm fronds.

I've also seen this ficus hedge that's beginning to encroach on your side.

We're going to want to keep that back, to keep away pests.

Jenn: Would you be up for consolidating and transplanting?

Moving the bananas around?

Russ: I am up for anything that's going to fix this garden.

Dustin: Yeah, definitely.

I think that's something we can definitely work on and probably move these bananas into different areas and maybe add some even different types of bananas and plantains in here that might even be more suitable for this environment.

Jenn: Alright.

So what kind of soil conditions are we looking for?

Like, what are the feet of the citrus and bananas like?

Dustin: So the bananas are definitely like an organic matter.

They're gonna like a lot of water.

They're very tropical.

They're going to look great here with your whole tropical scene that you've got.

The citrus trees, they also like their water and they like their organic soil, but they also want to dry out in between the watering.

You don't want to let them sit in water.

And most fruit trees in general are going to be that way.

They want to get water, but they want to dry out.

So what we need to do next is check out your soil and see what kind of conditions we have.

Russ: Awesome.

Let's start digging.

Dustin: Alright.

Let's take a look.

We've got a little bit of extra rock.

See some good material.

Looks like it's going to be a fast-draining soil that's got some good sanding to it.

So it looks like we'll have some good drainage with this, which is actually really good for the fruit trees.

This is what we were looking for.

It looks like it holds together and then falls apart.

Jenn: Alright.

The soil looks good.

So what are the next steps here?

Dustin: I think the next steps are let's bring a few of the trees that I think will work back here.

Jenn: Good idea.

Alright.

So these are the fruit trees that he's bought.

These are the bananas.

And then this one's a key lime.

Dustin: Yeah.

This is the key lime.

This is a Florida favorite.

I mean, you can't beat the key lime tree.

Jenn: Look at -- All of these are going to be little limes.

All these prolific blooms that's going to continuously bloom throughout the season.

Can we talk about citrus and oranges and greening for a second?

Like, how is that situation right now?

Dustin: Yeah.

Well, the situation is slightly bleak in Florida right now.

Jenn: Yeah.

Dustin: You said you may have had something here before?

Russ: Yeah.

We tried to grow oranges and they wound up kind of looking like mutant tangerines.

Dustin: Yeah.

You could have had a little bit of HLB, that citrus greening which the sweet oranges, they are definitely more susceptible to the citrus greening.

And that's something we need to be careful about.

However -- Jenn: What's the HLB stand for?

Dustin: Huanglongbing.

It's a disease that really affects it.

The fruit stays green and never really ripens and then eventually just falls off the tree.

Russ: And this one will hold up better?

Dustin: These are definitely more resistant.

And I'm going to tell you you got another advantage going here is you're right next to the water and you've got that ocean breeze keeping those pests and blowing them out.

And I've had a lot of great success going with the key limes right next to the water.

But I mean, come on, look, you got the boat, you got the tiki hut.

How are you not going to have a key lime?

Jenn: Pull up to the -- The Jimmy Buffett tiki hut will be ready for you.

Dustin: And then right here, right behind you, Russ, I've got this guy here.

This is the kari star fruit.

I love these star fruit.

This is a dwarf variety of the star fruit or some people know it as the carambola.

Carambola do wonderful in the filtered light.

They like protection from the wind.

And you've kind of got the scenario going here.

So this thing is going to give you fruit multiple times a year.

It's a kid's favorite.

It fruits right away.

These are grafted.

The fruit's super sweet.

Jenn: Beautiful flowers.

Dustin: Yeah, beautiful pink flowers, brings the bees in.

It's just super tropical.

I use them a lot.

A lot of these, like, Hawaiian-looking, theme tropical fruit forests, they just really go well, you know?

Jenn: This is going to be a kid pleaser for sure.

Russ: My kids will love it.

Dustin: Yeah, they're gonna love it.

And then lastly here I've got this Meyer lemon, which is my personal favorite lemon.

It's a dwarf Meyer lemon.

This one here, we're actually going to put in a container.

They tend to do a little bit better in the containers, and that'll keep some of those nematode away if there's any here -- may or may not be.

But let me tell you, the quality of lemon on this is -- Russ: It's a sweeter lemon, right?

Dustin: It's a little bit sweeter.

Tell you what.

Jenn: Look at those beauties.

Dustin: Yeah.

They're excellent on fish.

It's excellent in your sweet tea.

And it makes a killer lemonade.

You can't beat it.

Jenn: And by having it in the pot, you're going to be able to move it from room to room, whatever space you want for an evening.

Dustin: When that fills up with the golden lemons, oh, man, it's so great.

You just love it.

Jenn: You just have to be on watering duty.

Dustin: Yeah.

Jenn: Or put drip irrigation in it, right?

Russ: Yeah.

That's what 15-year-old sons are for.

Dustin: Yeah.

Just be cognizant when you go out of town one day without water, you know, you could -- you could ruin the tree.

So it's definitely going to need to be watered daily.

Russ: Fantastic, I love it, so cool.

Jenn: So why don't we start with cleaning up the beds first, transplanting the existing bananas and finding new homes for these guys?

Dustin: Let's do it.

Jenn: Alright.

Dustin: Yeah, I like it.

Russ: Thank you.

Jenn: Alright.

So we're going to prep it.

We're going to clear the area.

Give us our tasks.

Dustin: Alright.

Cool.

So, there's some bananas we're going to save, some bananas we're going to get rid of.

Most bananas we're going to get rid of.

We don't need a lot of bananas.

We can start a banana farm with one banana tree.

So this is one.

Russ, I'll get you started on this.

Just clear that rock away and then we'll get that root out.

You can get started over there on that other one we're going to save.

Jenn: This guy?

Yep.

Dustin: Yeah.

We'll save this one and we'll save that last one.

And the rest, they can just about go.

Jenn: Okay.

Dustin: Alright?

So let's get going.

There you go.

Just pop that one out.

There you go.

You got a nice bare root right there.

That'll be a good candidate to save.

Jenn: Alright.

Dustin: Let's put this one in the save pile.

Jenn: Save pile.

Dustin: This is already past its prime, so I'm going to knock this one out a little easier with the pick.

Now, if we don't get this root out, it'll regrow.

Jenn: Because they're all rhizomes, right?

Dustin: Yeah.

This will definitely grow a banana tree.

Jenn: Mm.

Just pruning up all the overhang to let more sunlight in.

♪♪ So we're going to place the plants.

Don't want it to fall.

Russ: Now.

Jenn: Perfect.

So this is one of the key limes.

I think bananas are going here.

Dustin: I like it.

Russ: Yes.

Jenn: And then lime over there.

Russ: That sounds awesome.

Jenn: So the banana family.

Two and two.

You got it.

Russ: I love it, I love it.

Very cool.

Jenn: Alright.

So any tips for the Florida planting?

Dustin: What I would do in this bed in this situation, we want to save the rock.

So we'll put the tree to the side and we'll shave that rock.

And then you can put that dirt into the container.

And the good thing about that is when that container is filled up, you know you're ready to plant that tree.

Jenn: I'd say that's pretty on the money.

Dustin: Yeah.

Alright.

Let me give you a little top-coat dressing.

Jenn: Okay.

Dustin: I'm just going to give you some tips on maybe keeping them a little nicer.

This banana tree tends to grow, like, a little messier.

Do you see the yellowing leaf?

We call it like -- This prevents all this.

And it's already at a point where it's a little late.

It's hard to trim, but if you get it before, you can do what's kind of called a... A honeycombing.

If you do this from now on to all your trees, it's going to keep it much cleaner.

♪♪ ♪♪ Jenn: Alright, Dustin, so we have one tree left.

Meyer lemon.

Up north, the only option we have is to put it in a pot and move it around the deck, and it's great.

But down south, do people do that here?

Dustin: You know, a lot of people, they go for the Mediterranean look.

They'll do figs, olives, and Meyer lemons in pots along the patios and pools.

Jenn: Yeah.

Dustin: Let me tell you, I've done several projects like that.

It's really beautiful.

The Meyer lemons are super prolific inside containers.

They do wonderful.

The main thing is, is good watering, good fertilizer, and potting it up with a good quality soil.

Basically, we're only going to need like an inch or two of soil.

Jenn: Yep.

Dustin: Because we don't want it too high because when we water, then you're going to be exposing the root system, and that's not going to be good.

And we don't want it too low because it just won't look right.

So what we'll do is we'll just add like let's say a few inches of dirt, we'll do a little test, we'll see how it sits.

If it looks good, we'll throw a little bit of the granular on the bottom, a couple handfuls, and then we'll backfill it.

When there's about an inch left, we'll throw another handful on the top for those upper root system and then we'll backfill that.

And I like to pack it in there nice and tight.

Jenn: No air pockets.

Dustin: Yeah.

You want that tree in there really well.

Jenn: No slumping.

It's beautiful.

Alright.

Maybe we should place it by the tiki bar and see if Russ likes it.

Dustin: I think so.

Russ: Wow.

Loving the lemon tree, guys.

Thank you.

Looks amazing.

Jenn: Awesome.

Russ: Beers for everybody.

Dustin: Thank you, thank you.

Russ: You're welcome.

Jenn: Fantastic.

Russ: We'll be doing this with some of our limes.

Jenn: Absolutely.

That's a great call.

But until then, you have to do your homework, right?

Watering is the most important now.

So every day for the first two weeks.

And then taper it down till you're doing once a week by week six.

Dustin: Other than that, in order to keep them looking good like they do, you need to keep a little neem oil on them.

That's the organic way.

In particular, pay close attention to when your trees are growing new growth because that's what those little pesky critters are going to want to attack.

Russ: And it's safe for our dogs?

Dustin: Totally safe.

Russ: Beautiful.

I can't wait to start enjoying this amazing garden.

It's back.

Dustin: Well, thank you.

Jenn: I mean, it's a big transformation.

Not a lot of work.

And I say cheers to that.

Russ: Cheers.

Jenn: Thank you for having us in Miami.

Russ: Thank you.

♪♪ ♪♪ Kevin: Hey, Nathan.

Nathan: Hey, Kevin.

How's it going?

Kevin: Alright.

What'd you bring us?

Nathan: What do you think it is?

Kevin: You know, I've seen it.

Nathan: Yeah.

Kevin: Only because I've been to the trade shows.

Is this supposed to help us stand on roofs?

Nathan: It's a roofing tool.

Kevin: I'm supposed to stand on that thing?

Nathan: Jump on.

No, don't jump on.

Just step up onto it.

Kevin: Ooh.

Nathan: It sticks.

Kevin: It does.

Nathan: It's a great tool.

Kevin: That's solid.

Nathan: It's just that foam wedge that creates a level surface for you to work on.

Kevin: Right.

Nathan: Really, really handy to have.

Kevin: So am I looking at it sort of -- Is it two different pitches there?

Nathan: Two different pitches.

So you have a 12-pitch and a 9-pitch.

So your side's a 9-pitch and then I have a 12-pitch on this side.

Kevin: 12 being steeper than the 9.

Nathan: Correct.

Yeah.

So I have a 12 over here.

Just hop right on.

Kevin: I've got mine set to the 9.

Hop right on.

Look at that.

And I felt it sort of soft beneath my feet.

So a little padding if you wanted to kneel on it.

Nathan: A little padding.

You can kneel on it, sit on it.

It's really just - It's been great for me working, putting tools.

You know, if you're working on a roof next to a skylight, next to a dormer, you know, doing some side walling, it's a really good tool to have.

Kevin: And you never have a flat surface for your tools, whether it's your bar, your gun, your hammer, or whatever.

So you can use this to... Nathan: That's the biggest thing.

You're not putting anything down on these pitches, right?

Kevin: That's great.

Nathan: So now you have that level surface.

The only thing I wish I did when I first bought it was I bought two because two things.

One is put your tools on something while you're working on the other one, or if you want to move around a little bit, you've got your fall protection on, so you're safe.

Kevin: So you always use this with fall protection.

Nathan: Always, always using fall protection.

Get that set up first.

Once you have that going, you can move around the roof.

You can work in tight spots.

You can really just put your tools down, sit if you need to sit, take a break.

It's a good tool.

Kevin: I could totally see that, you know, because if you're on a 12-pitch and you're on that thing, you feel good.

Nathan: Yeah.

Kevin: You don't want to step off of something level.

Nathan: No.

Kevin: So you want to go from one to the other.

Nathan: One to the other.

Yeah.

No.

Kevin: So you go from one to the next.

Nathan: No, you can't.

You really can't even stay up there long, you know.

You're not putting anything down.

Kevin: What about cost, if I'm going to, you know, double down and get two?

Nathan: Two sizes, 32 and a 24, a little over $100, about $100 and a half.

Kevin: Oh, that's not bad at all.

Nathan: Yeah.

Kevin: And you use it a lot?

Nathan: I use it all the time.

Yeah.

Any time I'm getting near a roof, I always throw it in the truck.

Kevin: Kind of ingenious.

So it's just a foam pad on the bottom, which is really grabbing that roof.

But it's doing that because it's on asphalt.

Nathan: Instantly.

Kevin: So we're not going to use it on another roof?

Nathan: No, we're not going to use this on metal roofs.

We're not going to use it on clay or a tile roof.

Strictly for asphalt, shingles, like an architectural or a three tab.

Kevin: Yeah, I like it.

That's cool.

Well, I'm glad you brought it in and showed us.

Nathan: I'm glad you like it.

Kevin: Thank you.

I'll just be taking a break up on the roof.

Nathan: That's what I do.

♪♪ Kevin: Hey Ross.

Ross: Hey, Kev, what's going on?

Kevin: So looks like we're talking lighting.

And if we're talking about it with you, it must be "smaht" lighting.

Ross: We got "smaht" lighting for sure.

Alright, let's start with the traditional light switch.

Right.

Everybody has these, right?

Kevin: Traditional meaning there's no smarts in this at all?

Just on, off?

Ross: On, off.

Kevin: Dim, whatever.

Ross: You got it.

So, we can upgrade those to smart light switches, which are obviously a little bit bulkier.

Right?

And it can be retrofitted into the same receptacle box.

Kevin: And this has got the brains in there.

Ross: That's right.

It's got the Wi-Fi chip.

It's got all the brains in it.

And that's what's making it smart.

Kevin: Okay.

Ross: Alright?

Kevin: Yeah.

Ross: So we can also use the existing light switch and add a smart relay.

And the relay can work behind the scenes to give it the smarts but still give you the appearance of a traditional light switch.

Kevin: Wire the green thing to this, they both go in the box?

Ross: Exactly.

Gives you the same form and function that you would have with the regular light switch.

Kevin: So why would I choose one over the other?

Smart switch over relay or vice versa?

Ross: Yeah, so it depends.

I mean first off, if you have multiple lights and you only want to upgrade one, you're going to have a different appearance.

So you're going to have -- you know, they're not going to look the same.

Kevin: That's going to drive someone crazy to be looking at a different switch.

Ross: Somebody.

Somebody, I'm sure.

Yeah.

But you could also leave those light switches and upgrade it here and you just do one, two, or all three and make one or all three smart in that traditional sense.

Kevin: Right.

And do we have -- in terms of sort of brands and platforms and stuff, are we wedded to one versus the other or...?

Ross: Yeah.

So depending on what smart light switch you go with, you might be in a one narrow lane for compatibility with different smart home platforms.

Kevin: Switch only works with one company's version or whatever.

Ross: That's right.

Kevin: But you're saying that works with multiples?

Ross: Multiple.

Exactly.

Yeah.

So you get different and more options and more kind of future proofing if you use a relay versus a traditional light switch.

Kevin: Very nice.

Alright.

So smart switch, smart relay.

Ross: So you can also go with a smart bulb, right?

So we have the, you know, kind of the smarts now and the Wi-Fi chip are in here.

And that gives us the the smarts that we're talking about.

Okay?

Kevin: Alright.

Ross: So let's go with the next option.

When you install these, what can you do next?

You can actually set schedules.

Kevin: Right.

Ross: So I can go into the app for this device here.

I added a smart light switch for it and I can turn it on.

Kevin: So in this case, just so I'm clear, it's not the bulb that's smart here -- regular bulb.

This is just wired to one of your smart switches.

Ross: Yep.

It's just a smart switch like this that's controlling that through the app.

Kevin: So you did on and off.

Ross: On and off.

But I can also do schedules.

So I can set a schedule.

I can say -- Let's say I want the lights to go on at sunset.

And let's say I want them to go off at midnight.

Kevin: Right, back door next to the garage.

Ross: Give you access when you pull up, you know, so you don't have to remember to turn it on, turn it off.

You come home to the light, you know, being lit up in your house.

So you can also go a step further.

And with your indoor lights you can get into, with the smart light bulbs, you can get into different changes in dimming and you can get into different colors.

So for example, I can turn these lights on regular mode, right?

Just regular warm lighting.

I can also go dining or entertaining.

Kevin: So setting scenes.

Ross: Setting scenes.

Exactly.

So now entertaining, I want it to be a little bit dimmer.

Then let's say I'm watching a movie with the kids.

We go to movie mode, right?

And then I can do night light, going to bed.

And those can all be automated, right, through voice or through the app itself.

Kevin: Very nice, right.

Ross: We can also get into some of the gimmicky stuff, right?

So we can get into meditation mode with different light colors, right?

So you can see the blues and the greens.

Kevin: And that's because in this case, only because we've got the smart bulb?

We would never get colors out of this bulb in a smart switch?

Ross: That's right, that's right.

Yeah.

Smart switches makes an existing light bulb smarter.

But we don't get the ability to change the color like we do here.

We can go party, party vibes and change, you know, pinks, literally any color that you want to set, you can do that in any brightness.

Kevin: Do you have like the anti-party vibe?

So if the teenagers dim it too low, they automatically go on and flash like, "Dad's coming down"?

Ross: We can make it flicker.

That's right, that's right.

We can get crazy with it.

We can even go a step further.

We can set up what's called music mode.

So if I am watching TV and I turn on music mode, right?

Watch this.

So with music mode, look at the lighting behind the TV.

Kevin: So what is the lighting?

What's the light source there?

Ross: So there's an LED light strip that I've added to the back of the TV.

Kevin: Oh!

Ross: And by having it be smart, I can have a microphone that actually picks up the volume and changes the intensity of the light based on what's being displayed.

Kevin: So if you're watching a movie and you've got the the battle scenes or whatever, loud, you get bright lights.

Ross: Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

Kevin: That would drive me nuts.

Can you set it to just one color and have it just be a nice back low?

Ross: That's right.

You could do just white, warm white.

You can adjust the, you know, get it dim, you know, so fully adjustable on the back end.

Kevin: I don't generally want for lights.

I think they're kind of more of a mellow, you know, one thing.

Ross: I think so too.

Kevin: Good.

Alright.

Well, I like it.

Good information.

That's where we are with smart lighting.

A lot of options.

Thank you, Ross.

♪♪ Kevin: Next time on "Ask This Old House"... Woman: This is our bulkhead.

As you can see, it's pretty faded and a little unsightly.

Kevin: ...Mauro gives a bulkhead a facelift with a fresh coat of paint.

Woman: I love it.

Kevin: Then Tom shows some of his favorite combination-square hacks, and Mark helps a homeowner straighten out his slanting steps.

All that on "Ask This Old House."