Interesting Jane, but, just to show my ignorance, what is a heat mass?
Judy
The sun, through the greenhouse glass and through the plastic of the bottle, warms the water. During the night the water gives out its heat, slowly. It wouldn't heat the whole greenhouse (although people with bigger greenhouses sometimes have a large water container for this), but it would be enough to protect a tender plant.
Well you learn something every day! Thanks Jane. 🙂
Now you probably won't approve of this, (using systemic weedkiller) but our garden was infested with bindweed. I tried digging it out and just couldn't believe how long the roots were (according to one source I read, they can grow to 30 feet!). Of course, every time a bit breaks, it becomes a new plant, so that wasn't working. Then I read about what has been a solution.
At church we only have a small fridge, so we re-fill a large water bottle, until the plastic starts to look discoloured (several months). I've started bringing them home and I cut off the base, having put sticks in the ground, beside the new bindweed coming through, which then curls around it. I place the bottle over the stick of bindweed and spray systemic weed killer through the top, then close it. The spray doesn't touch any other plants and the rain doesn't wash the chemical away and it only affects that one weed, not the soil or anything else. It looks awful, but it works as nothing else did.
At the Savill Garden, near here, there were several flowerbeds infected with it, they actually cleared them and left them bare for two years, trying to destroy all the bindweed. Thankfully they are back to looking glorious again. You can mulch them on bare ground, but our flowerbeds are not bare! So am grateful for the plastic bottles.
Bindweed is a real pain on our allotment. Always having to try and dig it out and, like you say, the roots can go for miles.
Bindweed is a real pain on our allotment. Always having to try and dig it out and, like you say, the roots can go for miles.
🙁
We only have bindweed in a part of the garden and make an effort to keep it that way. I did my first 'bindweed patrol' of the year yesterday, just pulling it up (I don't dig). Eventually it weakens.
Thanks Jane, I'll try that. We were OK until I had to make a new pond because we added a sun room. The bindweed appeared in all the soil that I'd dug up and which is now around the pond. Which just goes to show it's best not to disturb it! 🙁
Absolutely. The one part of our garden that has it is across a lane that runs through the garden and, in the growing season, we patrol the lane every couple of days to ensure none is creeping across. The bit of the garden across the lane used to be a couple of allotments and, according to the people who have lived around here for years, was double dug and rotovated. Perfect for bindweed and other weeds of cultivation.
By the way, bindweed is edible. They do contain several alkeloids so best to cook them (boil or steam). Use the young leaves. Also, they make a good plant food. Put them into water (in a lidded bucket) for a few weeks. Use the water to feed plants and - because the bindweed is then dead - put the plant into the compost. Obviously, you don't want to put the freshly pulled up plant in the compost - that's a great way to spread it!
And continuing the plastic thread - this time, plastic bags. This is a heart-warming story as it helps the homeless and the ladies.
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/2018/0517/How-these-women-crochet-sleeping-mats-for-homeless-people-out-of-plastic-bags
This is an interesting development - not sure of the tobacco fuel, but the waste product sounds hopeful. https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2018/0627/South-African-planes-may-soon-fly-on-waste-plants
This lifted my spirits today! 🙂
This is interesting. Thanks for sharing!
This is an interesting development - not sure of the tobacco fuel, but the waste product sounds hopeful. https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2018/0627/South-African-planes-may-soon-fly-on-waste-plants
Hope that this will push people to action and not only to find but to use an alternative to conventional fuel.
So so true! I always learn from your post. Grateful for your sharing and keeping us aware
Here are a couple of hopeful items I came across this evening:
[url]A project to remove 88,000 tons of plastic from the Pacific has begun[/url]
[url]Some Cool Chemistry using light to turn waste plastic into hydrogen fuel[/url]
Only small steps, but they are at least something! If a new technology or initiative turns out to work, even if it starts out only on a small scale, you never know how it might develop from there.
Yes. Yes. Each step small or large is worth the effort!
Thank you for this informative information.