When planting into teracotta pots (un-glazed ones) make sure you soak the pot in water beforehand. If you don't, you run the risk of the pot absorbing the moisture away from the soil on your first watering making the soil "shrink" away from the sides of the pot. This will create a gap between the pot and the soil and each time you water thereafter the water will drain quickly through the gap and rob the soil and plant of moisture.
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Jesse
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Location: West Sussex
Posted: 26 Feb 2006 10:46 am Post subject:
Use old washing up gloves (marigolds) to connect the tops of canes when building a wigwam type structure, the canes will fit neatly into the finger parts of the gloves.
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Greenlady
Evergreen
Joined: 16 Feb 2006
Posts: 549
Location: Scotland!
Posted: 26 Feb 2006 04:16 pm Post subject:
I didnt know that about the terrecota pots Jesse, me and coco recently repotted some plants into unglazed terrecota pots, how would you remedy the situation of moisture loss?
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Jesse
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Location: West Sussex
Posted: 26 Feb 2006 04:24 pm Post subject:
Guess you know to save your free junk mail cd's or dvd's to use as birds scarers - attach to string and tie to canes or on a 'washing line' type set up according to your needs,
Save plastic milk bottles to use as mini cloches - when you cut the top and bottom off, if you leave the handle attached but cut through it you can poke a cane through the handle to secure it.
Cut off the bottoms and use as square plant pots (if you don't make the newspaper ones or run out). They fit nicely side by side, and you can fit lots in a tray - remember to make a few holes in bottom. You can cut them any height for little plants or tall runner beans and can just cut them off when you are done with them and put them in the recycle bin.
Cut the top off and use as a funnel.
Cut one 2/3rds of the way up, but keep the back intact and the handle attached. You could do it at an angle - you have a carrier for cut flowers, salad leaves, baby carrots, peas, all sorts - just cut according to what you want to use it for. Water in the bottom keeps flowers/cuttings/ salad leaves fresh. And you have a proper handle at the back. Again easy to pack and do not fall over.
Keep the plastic screw lid on container - turn container on side an dcut out a hole sideways - a great little planter - you can just unsrew the lid after you have watered to let any excess out.
Wash them out and fill with fresh water or juice for when you are up the lottie working. Obviously not after filling with soil - use another one!
Use a larger one with a square hole cut out of one sides for a water drinker for chickens, and all sorts of animals - can also be used for a feeder too for chickens using the same method.
Store dried and saved beans and pea seeds in them for growing the following year - keeps out the mice - easy to label and to see what is inside - also store sneatly and easily.
Errrrrrrrrrm if I think of more uses will tell you.
Oh you can cut the top off like a funnel and sink it in your plant pots to use as watering into - like a reservoir - fill it up and it gradually sinks down - useful for feeding tomato plants etc.
Cut up and use a labels
P.S.
Having posted this I noticed that it is my 100th! Telegram in the post Jesse? Round of applause? Fancy avatar like wot you found for Nanny?
plastic fizzzy drink bottles cut in half can also be used as mini cloches - they saved my sweet corn last year
to store them i stick a bamboo cane in the ground and thread them on from the top
if you can liberate some of those old fashioned wire baskets that you used to use and 'in' and 'out' trays at work , they make great trays to carry small pots of plants in.......
cardboard loo roll centres are great to plant sweet peas, broad beans and other stuff in so that when you plant out, you don't have to disturb the roots
let your chickens loose in the veg plot in the winter time...they will scratch up all the nasty bugs and spread the manure for you
old scaffold planks make good raised bed edging, it lasts for at least 6 years and will be a fraction of the cost of new tannelised wood
ummmmmmmmmmmm
i can think of some more later
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Lloyd
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Joined: 14 Feb 2006
Posts: 584
Location: Mainly Bristol but sometimes Shropshire
Posted: 26 Feb 2006 09:31 pm Post subject:
What a brilliant thread this is!!......No dig spuds....put compost in black bin bag, add seed potatoes once chitted, water and keep in veg patch. The foliage sprouts from the top, but periodically, roll the bag down, lift out the spuds, roll the bag back up again for continued growth and production.
Have to do some head scratching for more...................
You can use carrier bags too for spud growing and put them everywhere. Just scrape away a bit of the soil and take out the biggest ones and cover up again tan they will keep growing. Early potatoes are best for this.
I was thinking of greenlady, and coco and adobe expert!
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Greenlady
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Joined: 16 Feb 2006
Posts: 549
Location: Scotland!
Posted: 27 Feb 2006 09:50 am Post subject:
Thanks for the tip Lottie! I've never heard of half of these great tips being a very unseasoned gardener... We'd love to grow veg, but dont have any soil, only concrete, hence all our plants being in tubs! So we could grow the potato's, goodness knows we have enough carrier bags...
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Leanne
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Joined: 14 Feb 2006
Posts: 342
Location: herts
Posted: 27 Feb 2006 10:35 am Post subject:
Leanne, I know that Greenlady has a nice large jute shopping bag down there but I suspect she frequently forgets it when she goes to shops!
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Kathy
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Greenlady
Evergreen
Joined: 16 Feb 2006
Posts: 549
Location: Scotland!
Posted: 27 Feb 2006 11:57 am Post subject:
I know I am a naugty girl, but in my defence I do try to remember our reusable bags, I think I should keep one in my car so I cant forget...
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Greenlady wrote:
I know I am a naugty girl, but in my defence I do try to remember our reusable bags, I think I should keep one in my car so I cant forget...
So the others are perfick and always remember? Yeah sure.
Anyway, we all need some plastic carrier bags for bin liners, and to grow spuds in, and, and.....................best not start me off. I am supposed be sulking about bunnies - see Potting Shed.
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Jesse
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Joined: 02 Feb 2006
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Location: West Sussex
Posted: 27 Feb 2006 03:42 pm Post subject:
I'm guilty, I even leave some bags in the car and forget to take them into the shop with me. Fortunately I have waitrose deliver most of my shopping, it's all delivered in those sturdy reusable bags and when they deliver they collect the bags from the previous weeks delivery.
Jesse wrote:
I'm guilty, I even leave some bags in the car and forget to take them into the shop with me. Fortunately I have waitrose deliver most of my shopping, it's all delivered in those sturdy reusable bags and when they deliver they collect the bags from the previous weeks delivery.
That's good - never heard of that before.
Years ago our Sainsbury's used to give you money back if you reused your bags - which we always did and the money we popped into the charity box on the way out.
They don't seem to do that any more - I wonder why?
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Jesse
Site Admin
Joined: 02 Feb 2006
Posts: 2188
Location: West Sussex
Posted: 27 Feb 2006 05:04 pm Post subject:
old hoola hoops for fleece & fruit net supports
CDs on strigs for bird scarers
old kite tails - preferably the red ones to scare away sky rats - pigeons
yoplait pots to cover cane ends and stop poking your eyes out
I saw this at A4a and thought I'd post it here too. If mice are eating your sweetcorn cut a plastic soft drink bottle vertically from top to bottom, put the bottle over the corn cob with the stem of the cob sticking out through the neck of the bottle. mousy won't be able to climb inside the bottle to get to the corn.
Along the lines of Lottie's rather good post on milk bottles, can we come up with a comprehensive list of uses for newspaper? (ok, ulterior motive, I have tonnes of them!)
Obviously, the pots as described already.
Making paper "logs"
Putting them all over the place whilst decorating
Putting them under & over veg to keep them fresh, replacing the bottom one once in a while
I believe you can read them, too
Hmm, my brain isn't working today, there are clearly far more than this!
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Status of our house: No heating, no bathroom, no kitchen. Washing machine, fridge, and boiler sitting around in boxes. No door on room with toilet!
Earlier in this thread there is a mention of using loo roll tubes for starting off certain plants, does anyone have any particular suggestions for what seeds in particular they should be saved for? _________________ *All* tiles now up in the bathroom! A bit of grouting to go and it'll be a finished room
Ok, shall save them for leguminous bits and bobs then. _________________ *All* tiles now up in the bathroom! A bit of grouting to go and it'll be a finished room
As soon as they start to show you need to be thinking about getting them into either the ground or into drain pipe (that's the way to get bench carrots).
If you have problems with parsnips try pre germ instead. Soak the seed over night and then turn out onto a plastic tray. Once they start to sprout get them striaght into the ground. You can make up a flour wallpaper paste and pipe it into the trench if you like (as Sir Geoff sould have done), but I just throw mine in.
i would grow mine in a bucket like i do carrots because the ground is so stony that i wouldn't get any decent parsnips.......god knows i have enough compost now....
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