Use Your Garden To Recycle Just About Everything
(Page 2 of 5)
March/April 1973
By Jack Roland Coggins
The shiny stones have another use, too. Like the tin lids among the peppers, the foil wrapping bounces the sunlight up to the undersides of the leaves . . . much to the distaste of a good many of the insects that hide there.
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CONTAINERS FOR STARTING AND PROTECTING PLANTS
Does it make sense to throw away hundreds of ideal planting containers — in the form of old tin cans — and then spend hard-earned dollars to buy less-than-perfect commercial pots from the garden store?
Not to me, it doesn't. I save all old food tins and figure that — by the time I've used them a year or two — every one has been worth somewhere between a dime and a quarter.
To prepare smaller cans as plant starters, remove both the tops and the bottoms, place the containers in wooden or metal boxes and fill each cylinder three-quarters full of common garden soil. You can even use easily compacted, claylike earth . . . because the floors of the boxes keep the soil in the holders while the open ends permit excess water to flow off. In fact, tin cans used this way are the best solution to he drainage problems that occur with "heavy" starting soils.
At transplanting time, thoroughly soak the soil in the cans. Then give the container just a gentle shake, and out will come the root-filled earth. Or you can plant cans and all, if you like, because the roots will spread through the open bottom into the surrounding soil.
Here's another technique you can try when you set out your home-canned plants: Shove the clump of roots and soil partway down through the bottom of the holder and set it in the earth so that the top ring of the can stands above ground level. This method encourages the root system to spread out to the sides at once, and the can's metal wall around the stem wards off cutting insects that destroy so many tender young transplants.
Once your seedlings are out in the open they may need extra protection for awhile. For this job, two and three-pound coffee cans with replaceable plastic lids are real winners. (Yes, save the lids, too.) Set the containers , open at both ends , around spring transplants to guard them from cold, wind, animals and misdirected human feet. Then, when frost threatens, cut ventilation holes in the plastic covers and close the cans for super-shelter with minimal effort.
Since many large cans come without special tops, save plastic food bags , like bread wrappers , to slip over such tins on cold nights. The combined use of metal containers and plastic film provides good protection . . . but keep in mind that this double shelter can create a hot, humid environment for the plants inside. Be sure to pierce the bags for air circulation and to remove them at the slightest warming trend. Only a little too much heat can quickly ruin delicate young plants.
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