Gardening Bodges
Glass Bottle Drip Watering Systems
A similar system was applied to both of these bottles in terms of drilling a hole in the base of each bottle. The holes allow for easy refilling with fresh water. For both the Shloer and Worcestershire sauce versions of these waterers, a small section of bamboo which is wider than the hole drilled has been tied to a string and inserted in the bottle so that it can be suspended over the desired watering area.
For the Shloer bottle I simply drilled a very small hole in the screw-on cap and filled with water. The drip rate can be varied by loosening the lid off slightly but even when tightly closed it was a bit too fast for my liking and would have emptied in only a matter of minutes. To slow things down I simply bunged a bit of wet paper in the lid and this slowed things down to a rate where the bottle emptied over a period of approximately 12 hours.
For the Worcester sauce bottle version, I melted a very small hole in the cap with a soldering iron and simply inserted a cotton-bud. This worked perfectly from the start dripping at a steady rate over several hours. This method can be applied to similar style of bottle such as soy sauce.
A footnote to both though is that after a souple of weeks both had stopped dripping, not because of lack of water but due to debris collecting and the cotton bud swelling and disintegrating a bit too much. So I just need to give them an empty, clean and change of cotton bud or paper every now and then.
Glass Bottle Watering Can
Watering can is probably a slightly generous description as it is currently more of a water shaker. The watering can lids are readily available for a few £££ but you don’t get a steady flow of water as you would from a watering can, even a small one. However you can shake the water out which is quite gentle when watering seedlings but you could be there for days trying to water an entire flower bed! I will try drilling a small hole in one sometime to remove the vacuum effect and allow the water to drain more freely. I will of course report my findings here.
Chloche Made From 2 Litre Coke Bottle
These chloches from 2 litre plastic bottles were easy enough to make, producing2 chloches per bottle. I simply cut them in hah with na pair of scissors and melted a few holes in the top and bottom ends for a bot of airflow. You can of course make the holes as big or small and as many or as few as you desire for your chosen purpose. These worked perfectly for starting the peas I planted as seeds which very quickly started growing.
Plant Pot Repair Bodge
Now ordinarily I’d have thrown a cracked plastic pot away but I really wanted to transplant a pumpkin seedling into it. Not being in the mood for a trip to the garden centre I decided to raid the excess signage stock and relieve it of a 450x150mm rigid plastic assembly point sign. This was perfect for covering up the large hole that was present in the side of the plant pot. Practically zero effort and expense to give this container another lease of life and remain out of landfill!
Coldframe Bodge
This masterpiece was created from an old wooden hamper basket crate type of thing that my wife had thrown out and a piece of glass from an old picture frame. For added warmth and comfort I applied a bed of that biodegradable insulation stuff that accompanies the frozen cat food delivery! Seeds watered and placed in a sunny spot it did it’s jobs with seedlings appearing after a few days. (The potting table it’s located on was bodged together using pieces of an old wardraboe and an old bed!)
Plastic Coke Bottle Watering System
TTwo versions of the coke bottle watering system are in play here. The one at the top of the photo has had three holes drilled in it, a large hole in the base for easy re-filling and 2 holes either side for sliding onto a bamboo cane. The one at the bottom of the photo shows me re-using the suspended by string technique with a cotton-bud inserted into a small hole melted into the cap. Both methods have their merits and can be slid along the bamboo cane to relocate from plant to plant. The bottle supporting system employed here is quite rudimentary with one end balanced on the potting table and the other supported by an old fishing rod stand I found in the garage. Having not been fishing for about 15 years it was nice to see it have a new purpose in life.
Gardening Bodges The Movies
For fans of watching paint dry, tranquility and being at one with nature here are some videos for you to savour: