Often I find myself saving things that I am not ready to recycle thinking maybe someday I will need them! I’m sure there must be others who do the same and even do so because you know how you will use them? Am I right? Let others know what works!
#1. This week I was needing to make my garden hose connection water tight as I noticed I needed to seal the connection between hose and wand. I was too busy to go to the garage at that time so I decided to just reuse some grafting tape that I had cut from newspaper bags earlier this spring. After all I had just removed the tape from one of my Feb grafts so it was in my pocket. So instead of going to fetch my Teflon tape, I just used the recycled plastic strip one more time, applying it to the hose/ wand joint. No only did it stop the leakage, but unlike the Teflon tape it did not shred as I tightened the wand onto the hose, voila! Why would I ever buy Teflon tape or any other thread sealer again!
#2. This morning my wife decides she needs to replant her tomatoe seedlings that are outgrowing her planter beds which have been indoors growing for 2 months. At first I resisted the idea, knowing that bringing larger soil filled pots inside until nighttime temps in the greenhouse are higher that 50F, would be risking soiling our carpets, but after thinking about it, we decided to try anyway, knowing that the next 10 days the chill is ever present. So I washed all the pots and trays very well, and lined each pot with double newspaper to prevent soil from leaking out and we were able to replant over 100 tomatoes about 10” tall now to keep indoors waiting on better ambient temps.
#3. Save your old newspapers and your associated plastic bags, they are useful for many tasks as you go thruout the gardening season. You never no when to May want to just deny light to a pesky growing plant such as invasive Bermuda grass, or to prevent suckers from a newly planted fig tree, just cover it with a thick layer of newspaper and forget about it! Sometimes the simplest ideas work best!
Let me know what ideas you use to simplify your tasks
Dennis
Kent, wa
I now use plastic bag strips instead of grafting tape with 100% success. I follow up with old rubber bands to hold the graft tight. I use dirty coffee filters to cover holes in pots.
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