THE WRONG EQUIPMENT CAN RUIN YOUR PLANS OR TOTALLY DESTROY THEM
Yesterday, Thursday, was major transplant day for all plants that were under the grow lamp, plus strawberry plants, into containers and they are all on the deck. After I got them all outside, I got the hose to water everything including the plants that have been out there for some time.
Enter plastic hose with plastic fittings and plastic sprayer with plastic fittings to attach to plastic fitting on hose. The assembly totally collapsed. A force of water hit my clothes which was jeans and old shirt and plastic garden shoes. I was drenched. Sometimes when things don’t go right, I get damned determined to finish what I started and it was a necessity to water those transplanted plants and the others. I jiggled the connection of the plastic parts and managed to get enough water through the sprayer to “kind of” get water in the containers as the excess kept hitting my clothes. I stayed at it until the containers had enough water.
Came in, pulled a “Johnny” and stripped off the wet clothes in the laundry room. Put on a “duster” that is like a dress length robe of a thing, got in my chair and pulled up the Sears website. I am through with sorry hoses, sorry plastic connections and sorry plastic sprayers. I have a lot of plants now on my deck and flowers in pots sitting in the dirt garden and walking onions in the planter toward the back of the garden, and I’ve got to have a dependable way to water. I bought a heavy duty Craftsman hose guaranteed not to kink, with brass fittings and a lifetime guarantee. Got the straight brass sprayer, the kind we used long ago except this new type has more settings in the twist function. Also guaranteed like the hose.
Got an email from Sears this morning and the hose and sprayer have been shipped. This morning, I worked with the plastic one and managed to get it working for right now. It will likely come apart the next time I water this evening. I’ll have to keep the water at fairly low force or the pressure of the water will blow the thing apart again.
Do any of you have hose problems? I know some of you have large gardens and use drip set-ups. My containers on the deck won’t accommodate that method.
I brought the squirrel cage in the house and will put larger amount of bait in there to catch squirrel no. 1 and take that killer to rightly’s house.
Except for being outside a little bit this morning to work with the sprayer and get the squirrel cage, I have stayed inside to have a cool day after all the planting and sweating outside yesterday. I took a shower after all that yesterday and I needed it - my hair was stuck together from all the sweat. Why in hell did I start gardening?
Three good accomplishments: The grow lamp did its job and I have turned it off, and all the plants have been transplanted and plans are underway to catch killer squirrel no. 1. :o)
At least you didn’t do the “Johnny” outside for the whole neighborhood.
Please don’t give up on gardening Marcella . . . I sure do enjoy reading about your gardening adventures . . . Smile!
. . . and believe it or not, I have learned so much from all your research. Thank you for sharing.
Hoses are Hubby’s responsibility. He keeps it working because he uses it.LOL
I use a quality hose and brass fittings everywhere, but that is no guarantee. We have gone through 2 -3 sprayer heads per season, from the cheapest to the best, all are useless after a bit. We are currently use 2 of the $1 kind.
Drip systems are ideal for containers on a deck. That’s where I picked up on the drip idea 15 yrs ago. All our containers(about 30) are on drip with timers. We like to get away sometimes for a few days and have no one to water for us when we are gone.
You are one hard-working woman!
For the critters in my yard I spread peanut butter on a piece of lettuce and slip it in the trap. Peanut Butter is a great bait because of it’s aroma. You could also spread it on peanuts in the shell...