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Post by steve on Mar 24, 2015 20:04:34 GMT
As per Roofgardeners suggestion (copied below) any tips or thoughts on gadgets etc please put below " Would it be worth having a new forum called something like "Tools, Gadgets and Gizmo's" for members to write about anything they've used, and found useful (or otherwise).
It could be anything from thermometers to polytunnels to trowels to.. well.. I dunno... prefered bug repellents, plant food, self-cleaning plantpots, autograss seeds (with a little dial to select how tall you want your grass to grow)
People could post their respective experiences of any given gadget, with responses.
Over the years, it might become quite a useful technical reference ? (and could incorporate existing threads such as the home-made heating benches etc ? ) A bit like I sort of "WHICH Garden Tools" magazine ?"
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Post by ladybird on Mar 24, 2015 22:29:24 GMT
I have a duratool tapetool, a super gadget for tying in , just a quick click and it`s done . Here is a vidio showing you how to use it . www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT6nLJxK8AoI hope I`m not breaking any rules posting the link. Mine is the cheaper model using a thinner plastic tape but it works just the same way .
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Post by dianthus on Mar 24, 2015 23:26:28 GMT
I have a duratool tapetool, a super gadget for tying in , just a quick click and it`s done . Here is a vidio showing you how to use it . www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT6nLJxK8AoI hope I`m not breaking any rules posting the link. Mine is the cheaper model using a thinner plastic tape but it works just the same way . Never seen anything like that, before. What a clever gadget, ladybird.
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Post by sweetpea on Mar 25, 2015 0:13:36 GMT
Many of the top sweetpea growers use a similar gadget as it cuts down the time if you have hundreds of cordons to tie in every day. Never bothered with one myself as I make my own sweetpea rings which last for donkeys years.
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Post by ladybird on Mar 25, 2015 11:26:14 GMT
This is another of my favourite gizmo`s that I use for cuttings, it`s so quick. It comes with a 4mm single edged razer blade which can be removed and turned around for safety. I use double edged blades in mine they gives an 8mm cutting area, they are sharp .
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Post by roofgardener on Aug 11, 2015 10:09:31 GMT
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The Meter Man Cometh
I gather these are not uncommon, but what caught my eye with this one was the low price... it was something like £9.99 from Wilko's. (though they seem to have subsequently stopped doing them).
I bought one of these, suspecting that it was going to be a useless contraption from day one. In the event, the results suprised me. As per usual, the full-size images are posted on the RoofNet, so you can click to expand.
OK.. the basic idea is straightforwards enough. You poke it into the soil, and it gives you an impression of how damp (or dry) the soil is. There are no batteries, so I assume the 'trick' is accomplished using disimilar metal probes. (copper and aluminium will act like a kind of battery if they get wet ?? Or something like that ? ).
There is a little slider switch that changes the display between Moisture, pH (acidity/alkilinity) and - bizzarely - light level. Like.... if you can't read the dial, then its dark... ?
Now, here's the thing. When I got this home, I already knew that is was going to be a total failure. It would snap. Or break down. Or... even if it worked... so what ? Surely I don't kneed to know if my plantpots are dry. Can't I tell by looking at the soil. ?
Well... NO, not always. Especially not if the surface is covered in bark mulch. So - somewhat to my suprise - I HAVE ended up using this gadget, and even yearning for a few more of them. The long prongs mean that they can get to the bottom of all but my largest 24" pots. They even detected a couple of pots that had not had their drainage holes punched out, and hence where flooding.
I'll be growing an ericaceous plant or two soon, so who knows...it's possible that the acid/alkili meter will come into its own !
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(work in progress....)
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Post by roofgardener on Aug 11, 2015 13:18:36 GMT
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Dribbling Carrots
I knew these weren't going to work when I bought them. Right from the very first second I saw them on the shelf. Problem was, it was a posh gardening center, and some of the heavies where closing in on me to turf me out for being scruffy. I had to buy SOMETHING or face a pummelling by The Management, and it was either these risible watering carrots, or a pine watering can costing £200.
OK... you've seen variations before. You screw the carrot onto a (full) water bottle, and spike it into the ground (or in my case, a plantpot). It comes with adaptor rings so it can mate with 2ltr coke bottles, all the way down to 500ml water bottles. It's supposed to then GRADUALLY drip-feed into the soil. Yeah... right.
My problem was that the darned thing just went "glug glug glug crinkle crinkle glug", with all the water being discharged in one big surge.. so quickly that it caused a vacuumn behind it, causing the water bottle to collapse and crush/crease up... never to be used again.
Perhaps this was just a plantpot issue ? Perhaps it works better in a proper soil bed ? Perhaps pigs fly, who knows ? Certainly, however, they don't really work on plantpots. If anyone wants one to try out, send me a message and I'll post one to you.
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(work in progress....)
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Post by ladybird on Aug 13, 2015 10:08:05 GMT
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Post by roofgardener on Aug 16, 2015 8:27:59 GMT
The Angle of the Dangle Well, OK.... these are not really Gardening gadgets as such, but they pleased me greatly. One advantage of a polytunnel over a traditional glass greenhouse is that the internal tubular skeleton of the PT offers extensive opportunities for hanging things on. (or tying things to). So, my latest non-plant purchase is several of these...(click to see a larger version) | | They are intended for kitchen use, to hang under existing shelves, as here. Indeed, they could be used in a greenhouse in precisely this fashion (see later). | | Instead, however, I'm hanging them from the two upper axial support poles, so they dangle at a jaunty angle. ! | | | |
Now, all my key tools and accessories care simultanously stored (so I don't lose anything), and also "immidiately at hand". It also gives the polytunnel that "busy" look.. lol. At the moment I've just piled random stuff into them for the photograph; they need organising properly. Already, though, I've got two holding my various grades of gardening gloves (heavy leather, lightweight cotton, and thin rubber for seedling work), another with my main potting trowels, and another with my brush and dustpan (for cleaning up the work surface, and cleaning out plantpots) and its working a treat. I'm not sure how they will survive strong windy weather, as the skin of the polytunnel flaps backward and forwards, and will keep "slapping" the trays. Perhaps I will have to bring them down, and use them in "under-shelf" mode during the Winter. Also, the "jaunty angle" means that you can't store very much in each one. Oh... and I keep banging my head on some of the right-hand ones. Perhaps I could string them up at a shallower angle ? These cost around £9.00 for two on t'internet. Be aware that they come in different sizes. In particular, some are shallower than others. This might make them more practical for "under shelf" use, but when at an angle they can't store as much.
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Post by daitheplant on Aug 16, 2015 19:23:47 GMT
Roofus, you have CUSHIONS on your seat?
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Post by roofgardener on Aug 17, 2015 13:28:19 GMT
I have TWO cushions, Daitheplant. SOME of us try and maintain standards
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Post by daitheplant on Aug 17, 2015 19:45:09 GMT
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Post by roofgardener on Aug 17, 2015 20:25:11 GMT
Foot stool ? Intriguing thought. I shall ponder on it Daitheplant.
I mean... although it is not visible in the photographs, did I mention that there is a pair of Comfy Slippers on the lower shelf of the utility rack to the right of the chair ?
Also... and on the topic ... did I ever mention the kettle ?
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Post by daitheplant on Aug 18, 2015 20:22:01 GMT
Foot stool ? Intriguing thought. I shall ponder on it Daitheplant. I mean... although it is not visible in the photographs, did I mention that there is a pair of Comfy Slippers on the lower shelf of the utility rack to the right of the chair ? Also... and on the topic ... did I ever mention the kettle ? What about the smoking jacket, radio and pipe?
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Post by roofgardener on Aug 19, 2015 18:05:49 GMT
The radio (DAB) is hanging just behind the white thermometer, on the left, towards the back. The pipe is - obviously - in the pipe rack, to the right (as you look at it) of the Comfy Chair. Where else would it be ? And the smoking jacket... .... OK.... you've got me there. But then.. wasn't it yourself that said I shouldn't really smoke in the polytunnel ?
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