Its an ill wind....

[rauni]

We've just had a 'Boil water' notice lifted. Since mid November we've had to boil tap water before using it due to a Cryptospiridium outbreak. Somewhat tedious. I swore I wouldn't buy loads of mineral water, a stupid rip-off, but as they say, its an ill wind that blows no good. I did end up buying some mineral water, mainly for visitors at christmas who couldn't get the hang of it (didn't fancy a house ful of projectile vom etc.). The dreaded Tescos sell big 5L bottles for 87p, so now I find myself with a load of 'free' bell cloches. And spring is on its way....

[Jaxom]

You could not buy bell cloches for that price at any garden centre. Some time I think we as gardeners get ripped of at times by the prices we are charged for some things.
I stock up at Asda each spring. This year they are selling 4x6" terracotta pots for £2. They also have sales at the end of spring and I pick up lots of "dirt cheep" bargains.
Jax

[Lesley Jay]

Any suggestions for what I could do with all the one and a half litre empty mineral water bottles?

[Nicos]

I have seen quite a few on the ends of canes and as they rattle around in the wind are supposed to scare off the birds. We use ours for taking water to the allotment. Also,by cutting out the base and ,half burying it in the greenhouse next to the toms/cucs/peppers, fill them with water so we don't have to go down every day.

[poultrychat]

I use the 2ltr pepsi max bottles cut in half to protect young cabbages etc. in my veggie beds, the ones that get the lid end do best as I can adjust ventilation

[andrewo]

Bottles on canes

I use bottles on the end of canes, for three reasons, they do scare of pests and sound nice in the evening breeze, and; they prevent you from poking your eye or other body parts on the end of the cane.

I have also used them in the past as cloches but here's a nifty trick, fill them with water and tape several bottles together to create a circle (obviously with an open centre), place them over tender or tropical plants and the sun will warm the water up during the day and let out the heat at night (it's a mini greenhouse - have used these with outdoor tomatoes).

There are a million and one uses for bottles, I used to keep one as a string dispenser: cut the bottle in half, put the ball of string in, feed out through the bottle neck and tape the bottle back together.

Maybe I should write 101 ways to use plastic bottles (I know we are supposed to recycle them but the sad fact is that they still end up in land fill sites when the companies can't keep up with supply).

Andrewo

[nick the grief]

I buy my pots from Asda as well Jaxom.
Most Late Chrys's are grown in 9" pots and I find the clays suit me better but they are £2.67 in outr local Garden centre and only £1.50 at asda. They say they aren't frost resistant, but as they are only out of doors in the summer it's not a problem.
End of season you can get them for 70p as well - even better when you need around 100 pots !