Some of us here are already aware of this trick . . . but I'll share it anyway - just in case somebody's here that doesn't know it.

Save your plastic fruit bottles - get an exacto knife and slit them in half.

Then when you have planted something and you're not sure if the temps might drop, just place your top over the plant or seeds.

Leave the cap off, of course, so the plant can breathe.

Put stones around it to hold it in place or put a stick down it.

Don't discard the bottom part of the container - they come in handy for collecting pine cones, stones and little twigs you might want to save for fill.

Waste not - want not!

Footnote to Cindy: You are not permitted to use exacto knives without proper supervision...

lol@Bill

I use a great big carving knife is that ok?

What I love about the plastic bottles is that they stack for storage so they don't take up much room when I take them off of the plants.

BTW thankyou for the idea for staking them I had a bit of a problem with that earlier this year.

OK - I've been sleeping the cold away all day - now, I feel so good, I'm puttin' on me clothes and going out to rake up some more mess.

Thursday is going up to 12 celsius everybody!

YAYYYYYYYYY!

And the stones around the base add a bit of heat to them too!!!

very interesting...

Good idea! And everyone, not just Cindy, should be careful when cutting plastic cuz it slips very easily!!!

Another good way to store these if you are conserving space is to hang a string from a hook and at the end of the string tie a piece of stick a little wider than the opening of your containers, thread all of the containers through and then flip the stick sideways, instant hanging containers that are out of the way.

I bend my bottles a little and cut them with scissors (but I don't run with scissors like cindy does! )

Good point, Weezie.

OK, Cindy - back away from the knife. Nobody's gonna' hurt ya' here . . . that's it - easy now.

;-)

(the exacto blade makes it easier to cut 'em)

I used both ends on mine. I cut almost in half and then used hubby's drill holes in the bottom for draining. (wondering if that's a bad idea ) and then use a little tape to hold it back togather.

I have alot of those large soda bottles and I just use scissors on them, but an exacto knife would proable work better.

Triss, thanks for the great idea about hanging them.

I'll try that.