[st0ne5ish]

Got an new allotment and never done much gardening before, I'm starting to ask family and friends to save up things that will come in useful, for example:

egg boxes for chitting
large squash bottles for protective sleeves
spare wood for various projects compost bins etc
old plant pots

I want to run the allotment as cheaply as possible and having never done this before does anyone else regularly save things that will come in useful and if so what are they so I can start collecting 

[mumofstig]

small yogurt pots to use on the tops of canes, plastic 4 lt milk bottles, cut in half they make brilliant small pots.
If you have a chinese restaurant nearby they throw out small plastic mesh boxes about 2ft x 15in that hold the milk bottles perfectly, or you can line them with plastic and grow seedlings/salad in them

Flower buckets that the supermarkets use are either thrown away or sold for pennies, you only have to ask them, otherwise they just throw them away. Many of us use them for growing tomatoes in

[Kleftiwallah]

"Old net curtains are cheaper than enviromesh"    Cheers,    Tony.

[Nige2Plots]

Don't forget the cardboard from toilet rolls. They make ideal seed pots which you can plant straight into the ground when the vegetable is ready to transplant.

[8doubles]

Cardboard tubes from toilet and kitchen rolls are good for starting plants in. Tights or stockings cut into 1" lengths are the best soft plant ties.

[arugula]

Newspaper pots made by rolling round toilet roll tubes per or similar to Richy's paper pot instructions.

[Carrotcake]

CDs or DVDs you get free in the newspaper to use as bird scarers.

I'm not sure they actually work, but I always feel there's more chance of scaring birds away with them than without 

[savbo]

the 18" x`12" x6" trays loose mushrooms come in in many supermarkets are useful for lots of things - storage, collecting weeds, growing stuff/keeping rooted strawberry runners in (they tend to hold a little water cos the holes are an inch or so up)

[grendel]

if you have a lush store near to you - you could always ask them for the pots their jellies are delivered in - we found that the ones a friend who worked in lush got for us are actually gardening planters minus the holes, half a dozen holes rilled in the bottom and they were perfect.
Grendel

[TheSpartacat]

CDs or DVDs you get free in the newspaper to use as bird scarers.

I'm not sure they actually work, but I always feel there's more chance of scaring birds away with them than without 

Yup, they might be more effective at scaring birds when playing them.... "greatest hits of Michael Bolton" should do the trick

[8doubles]

CDs or DVDs you get free in the newspaper to use as bird scarers.

I'm not sure they actually work, but I always feel there's more chance of scaring birds away with them than without 

Yup, they might be more effective at scaring birds when playing them.... "greatest hits of Michael Bolton" should do the trick

If the music does not actually scare them away it will certainly put them off their* food.

* your plants !

[A. Fallowfield]

CDs or DVDs you get free in the newspaper to use as bird scarers.

I'm not sure they actually work, but I always feel there's more chance of scaring birds away with them than without 

Yup, they might be more effective at scaring birds when playing them.... "greatest hits of Michael Bolton" should do the trick

If the music does not actually scare them away it will certainly put them off their* food.

* your plants !

Be certain use Des O'Conner CDs!

[JayG]

Might try a recording of myself because I certainly seem to scare most birds off!    

More seriously, 2 litre fizzy drinks bottles with the bottoms cut off make a good watering system for growbags.

I stuff a piece of old pan-scourer foam in the neck which is then inserted into a small hole cut in the growbag. A small stick pushed down through the foam into the compost helps keep it upright. The foam stops the water or liquid feed draining away too quickly so waters more evenly and it goes straight to the roots (you don't waste any or wet the leaves which is quite important especially with tomatoes.)

[Kleftiwallah]

Anyone mentioned the coffee/tea cups from vending machines make great starter pots.  Burn hole in the base with a soldering iron.    Cheers,    Tony.