Some Glasshouses Don’t Shatter
Bare Bones Gardener When propagating your cuttings or seedlings, are you held back by the lack of having a glasshouse or cold frame? Well no longer is this the case, in these days of disposable everything. If you are like me, you are always looking for ways of getting better use out of anything that comes into the house. Well for quite a while now I have been using those horrible plastic containers that come around the commercially purchased sandwiches or cakes. I'm sure you know the ones that I am talking about, those horrible clear plastic things that take up so much room in the garbage. Sometimes they are totally clear, while sometimes they have a black plastic tray on the bottom. Once they have been cleaned out and soaked to remove any product tags on them, you will have an ideal little greenhouse to protect young plants from the ravages of the weather, pets or kids. Hygiene though, is an extremely important issue with any little babies, man, animal or plant. So clean the containers out well. The only two things to remember is that 1. With the lid sealed, it is a closed system. So do not over water the propagation mix. Have it lightly moist, not wringing wet. 2. If some fungal infection does get into the system, it will spread with rapidity. So if any signs of an infection appear. Then start lifting the lid off and letting moisture out and air in, which may assist in slowing or killing any infection. After the young plants have become established you can start slowly lifting the lid off for part of the day. This will help harden them up to outside conditions. These cake containers also make excellent short-term terrariums for garden group projects. Just follow the normal instructions around either in books or on the web for terrariums, and away you go. But being only small compared to some terrariums, look for instructions particularly dealing with Bottle gardens, (this being a particular form of terrariums). So now there is nothing stopping you going out and growing or starting your new garden. Anyone, anywhere can have their own little glasshouse that won't shatter in a storm. About the Author
The Bare Bones Gardener is a qualified Horticulturist and a qualified Disability Services Worker. One of his sons has Asperger’s Syndrome and he has Asperger’s himself. He hates spending money on stuff which doesn’t live up to the promises given. So he looks for cheaper, easier, simpler or free ways of doing the same thing and then he passes these ideas on to others. It’s a website where you will find a strange mix of Gardening & Horticulture, Disability & Carer work and Parenting of Disabilities & Someone with Asperger’s Syndrome stuff all rolled into one. Website -http://www.barebonesgardening.com/ Blog - http://barebonesgardening.blogspot.com/ Bare Bones Gardener may be contacted at http://www.barebonesgardening.com/. Click here to view more articles by Bare Bones Gardener. Reprinted with Permission from IdeaMarketers.com
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