Share Your Tips

[MidnightCowboy]

It occurred to me we might all being sitting on tips, not necessarily computer related, which others might find useful.

Here's one from me which will give you three useful gardening aids from just one Coke bottle.
Luckily Coke has more uses than for rotting your teeth, aiding obesity and cleaning old coins

This tip applies specifically to the 1.5 and 2L size plastic bottles (screw cap discarded).

Instructions:

Discard the cap if still present, remove the label and hold the bottle up to the light.

You will see the bottle has three distinct areas, two of which (top and bottom) are reinforced. Luckily for us, there is a clearly visible separation line between them.

Cut along the top and bottom lines to create three pieces.

I heat the tip of a metal scissors in a gas flame to make a clean entry point (kids ask a responsible adult first – if you can find one )

Coke2.jpg

The bottom part will now make an ideal saucer for many of the common houseplant sized pots such as those containing African Violets (Saintpaulia).

Better still, your pots will stand “proud” of the bottom so any over watering will not be in contact with the plant roots (the most common cause of Saintpaulia deaths )

Also, these same indentations will allow you to place moss or gravel for those plants that require a humid atmosphere such as orchids.

The weaker central part of the bottle makes an ideal shield for newly planted items. Not much good admittedly if you have dozens to plant out, but will keep cold winds and several types of pest away until the plants become established. Usually, “screwing” this part into the soil around the plant is sufficient to stop it being blown away.

The top part can be used to cover slug pellets by again screwing it lightly into the soil with the pellets inside. Slugs will enter via the hole in the top (or from underneath) and will mostly remain inside. This will go a long way towards protecting birds and animals from the effects of the poison as they won't be able to eat the slugs.

[emmjay]

Spray Listerine mouthwash around the deck in the evening before a BBQ and it will keep the mozies (Australain slang for mosquitoes) away from the family and guests. The smell dissipates after 15mins or so and the insects stay away for hours. Do not install one of those bug zappers as they kill moths and other enviro beneficial insects.

[kendall.a]

I gotta try this one emmjay. The mozies are incredibly thick this year in Colorado! In fact, I just paid the "Mosquito Guy" $60 to spray my back yard and it's supposed to last 2 weeks. I can buy a LOT of Listerine for $60!

[MidnightCowboy]

Yep, this appeals to MC too who has a huge allergy to Brazilian mozies. I won't put anyone off their lunch by describing the "features" a bite leaves me with but what I can't understand is why I've been bitten all over the world with next to no effects apart from here.

Only hope Listerine is available in my part of the world.

[torres-no-tan-magnifico]

Haven't tried the mouthwash but apparently oil of lemon eucalyptus works a treat as a repellent:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/mos...0543307&page=2

[wdhpr]

To remove the metal portion of a broken light bulb. ENSURE POWER IS OFF!!!! Then take a potato cut off the top and push potato into broken light bulb and twist unscrewing bulbs metal portion. (works most times)

To clean and freshen garbage disposal. Start and then drop in 6 or 7 ice cubes.

[bibzgi]

MC, the first thing that came to mind seeing the thread heading was "heed the busboys".

For those unaware, waiters and waitresses in the US are paid mostly and sometimes entirely (illegally) by tips. Sharing the tips to the "busboys" can be a "win-win" and is here and there is practiced.

Such tipping economics suck when the waiter/waitress aren't making ends meet in spite of good service and hard work. So should the tipping custom be ended in the US?

Not so say the waiters and waitresses who work in just the right restaurants and diners and earn lots of cash mostly unreported to the internal revenue agency, ha ha.

At any rate, I've enjoyed hearing the tips discussed as intended and hope that many more are to follow.

[Awgeewhiz]

Originally Posted by bibzgi

MC, the first thing that came to mind seeing the thread heading was "heed the busboys".

.

I used to know someone who did circumcisions for a living, he said the pay
wasn't all that good but he was allowed to keep all the tips he made.

[syntax_error]

Anyone know of a repellent for cats?

I'm tempted to buy a box of kitty litter and place it at my neighbour's (across the road) front door, however my better half is not so keen on the idea!

What I would really like is a motion sensor which when activated played the sound of a dog barking, but I can't find any.

[MidnightCowboy]

Originally Posted by syntax_error

Anyone know of a repellent for cats?
.

This is a huge problem for many UK gardeners, including me before I moved here. I tried all the things sold in our local garden centre and none of them worked. In the end I resorted to anchoring sheets of plastic mesh over the annuals borders and planting through it. There are other more drastic measures that work, but not suitable for publication here