In the heart of every garden, the silent thirst of plants during the scorching summer months is a concern for many, especially when the skies withhold their nurturing rains. However, a time-tested method employed by farmers now offers a beacon of hope for garden enthusiasts. This technique promises to keep your garden lush and thriving for nearly a month without the need for daily attention or financial investment.

Sustaining Your Garden’s Vitality: The Farmer’s Ingenious Method

Plants, be they ornamental or the bearers of bountiful vegetables, demand consistent watering to flourish. The challenge intensifies with the arrival of summer, posing a threat to the survival of your cherished garden if left unattended. Recognizing the critical role of water, particularly for vegetable plants that not only seek growth but also the promise of flavorful produce, we delve into a farmer’s no-cost strategy designed to liberate you from the daily watering routine.

Implementing the Farmers’ Strategy: A Step-by-Step Guide

This method, ideal for periods when you’re away or simply looking to minimize garden maintenance, revolves around the use of a common household item – a large plastic bottle. The capacity of the bottle directly influences the duration your plants can sustain without your intervention. Here’s how to set up this self-watering system:

Preparation of the Watering Device: Begin by marking a large plastic bottle approximately 15 centimeters from the bottom and 10 centimeters from the neck to establish an internal guideline. Then, mark a spot about 7 centimeters from the bottom and pierce it to create a small hole using an awl or a heated wire iron. It’s crucial that this hole remains modest in size to regulate the water flow effectively.

Installation Near the Plant: The next step involves burying the bottle in the soil near the plant, ensuring that the hole is oriented towards the plant’s base. The bottle should be buried up to the line marked previously, creating an underground reservoir that gradually releases water.

Operation and Maintenance: After positioning the bottle, fill it with water up to the marked line, seal it with the cap, and then cover any exposed parts with soil. Once sealed, the water level will remain static, only decreasing as the plant absorbs the moisture or when the surrounding soil dries, releasing water drop by drop.

Ensuring Continual Hydration for Your Garden

Adopting this farmer’s method guarantees that your garden remains hydrated for up to a month without daily supervision. This approach is particularly effective for vegetable gardens, ensuring that your plants receive a steady supply of water, essential for both growth and the development of tasty produce. Beyond this, for those managing potted plants, alternative techniques like the bottle and string method offer similar benefits, ensuring your green spaces thrive regardless of the challenges posed by the summer heat.

Embrace this farmer’s no-cost watering method to enjoy a lush, self-sustaining garden that not only conserves water but also your time and effort, making gardening a more joyous and less burdensome endeavor.

Wooden Instruments

Musical instruments can be tricky to clean because they are made from lots of different materials. But similar to how wood floors can get damaged if cleaned with water, wooden instruments can as well. Tyler Harris, who runs a New Jersey-based luxury residential cleaning company, says that cleaning your wooden instruments with water can cause areas of discoloration and splits and cracks in the wood.

Silver

If you try to clean your tarnished silver with water, it will just create more tarnish. The best thing you can do is use silver polish, says Kathy Turley, Director of Marketing at Home Clean Heroes. If you don’t have silver polish around, Turley recommends using ketchup. “The mild acidity of ketchup will help get rid of the tarnish,” she says. Let your silver soak in ketchup for 5-10 minutes, rinse off the ketchup with water, and buff with a cloth. “Why is it safe to use the water later in the step? Because you are rinsing the ketchup off and already gotten rid of the tarnish,” explains Turley.

Silk

“Using water on silk, whether it’s your curtains or a shirt, can cause water spots and permanent discoloration,” says Turley. “Better leave it to the professionals, like your neighborhood dry cleaner.”

Leather

If you try to clean leather furniture, bags or clothing items with water, it will cause streaks and will eventually cause the leather to crack over time. “There are specific leather cleaners designed for leather, which will not have these problems,” says Smith.

Gas Range Burners

“Don’t clean the burners on your gas range with water. The igniters on your gas range are very sensitive to water,” says Smith. “If they get wet they will not turn off when the range is activated and your range will click over and over again as the igniter keeps going off.” Sometimes, this issue will correct itself once the igniter dries out, but cleaning your gas range burners with water can also permanently damage them. “As a result, never spray a cleaning product directly into your gas range burners. Spray the cleaning cloth then wipe down the surface.”

Wood Furniture

Similar to wood floors, water can also ruin your wood furniture. Just think about what happens when you leave a glass on your wooden table without a coaster. “The best course of action is to regularly dust your wood tables and furniture (we recommend a microfiber cloth) and you can use wood polish or lemon oil to protect it,” says Turley.

Velvet

You should never use water to clean velvet or other fuzzy fabrics such as suede or microfiber. “When the fibers on these fabrics get wet and then dry, they can get stuck in their new position,” says Laura Smith, owner of All Star Cleaning Services. “This could mean you will have a swipe pattern permanently on our furniture as a result.” Smith recommends hiring a professional cleaner for fuzzy fabrics. They will clean it but also use a special brush to make sure the material looks good as new.

Hardwood and Laminate Floors

Even though there is a water-resistant finish on hardwood and laminate floors, it wears off over time, and cleaning them with water could cause damage. If water gets into the wood it can cause it to swell and turn black. “The proper way to clean a wood or laminate floor is to use a flat microfiber mop and spray-on cleaning solution with a spray bottle a little bit at a time,” says Smith. “Most flooring manufacturers make specific recommendations on which product they recommend on their flooring.”

Electronics

This should already be known, but electricity and water do not mix. “For the most part, you should only dry dust electronics,” says Smith. “If you do have to clean something that will not come off with a dry cloth, get your cleaning cloth just slightly damp with a light-duty cleaning product then clean the electronics. Never spray any liquid directly onto electronics.”

Contact Lenses

This might seem like an obvious item that you shouldn’t clean with water, but a surprising number of people think it’s OK to store their contact lenses in water overnight. “The proper contact lens cleaning solutions all have antimicrobial ingredients that discourage bacterial growth. A contact lens stored in water may have a small amount of bacteria on its surface after a day of use,” says Jonathan Wolfe, an optometrist at Ardsley Eye Care. “The water only encourages this bacteria to multiply, and when the patient inserts the lens again the following day, that colony of bacteria is given the opportunity to move onto the cornea and cause ulceration.” Also, tap water is not sterile like contact solution and it could contain bacteria, fungi, or parasites that will make their way onto your contact lens if you let them soak in water.

Light Fixtures and Outlets

“This might be a no brainer, but using a wet cloth to clean an outlet cover or light fixtures can lead to risk of electrocution or fire,” says Nasutsa Mabwa, president of ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons. “Instead, use a dry duster or dry cloth to clean outlet covers and light fixtures, or unplug the light fixture before attempting to clean it.”

Brick

Surfaces that are porous, such as brick, have a protective sealant, and when cleaned with water it can be removed or damaged, says Harris. He recommends using a soft brush to wipe away grime and then cleaning with a soft cloth.

Marble

Similar to brick, marble is also a porous material that can be damaged by water. If you used water to clean marble it can remove the protective sealant on it, potentially damaging any grout of caulking, says Harris. Just like with brick, us a soft brush and cloth to get it clean.

source: tasteofhome.

Water conservation is important for two big reasons — to save money on your water bill and reduce demand on national and global water supplies, which are currently under threat from climate change, pollution and overpopulation. Cutting water usage and waste in one household may seem like a proverbial drop in the ocean, but every little bit helps.

Let’s look at ways you can conserve water and help put a dent in your water bill, from reducing daily consumption to making small repairs and adjustments.

Everyday Ways to Conserve Water

Water wastage doesn’t just come from leaks, drips and errant sprinklers. Here are some everyday ways to conserve water that can have a big impact:

• Shut it off. Turn off the faucet while brushing teeth or shaving, and turn off the shower head while you’re soaping up.
  Trick your toilet. Place a plastic bottle filled with water (and small rocks so it doesn’t float) or sand in your toilet tank, away from the flushing mechanism. You’ll consume less water with every flush, and could save as much as five gallons of water per day per toilet. Note: Don’t put a brick in the toilet tank — it will deteriorate over time, clog plumbing and mess up the flushing mechanism. Better yet, install a partial flush valve, which will allow you to use less water when you’re flushing liquid waste.
• Fill it up: Tempting as it may be to run the dishwasher when it’s not full, wait until it’s fully loaded. The same goes for washing machines.

• Cover the pool. According to Energy.gov, covering an outdoor swimming pool while it’s not in use may save up to 50 percent of the water added to make up for evaporation. Covering a pool in the evening and when it’s not being used also conserves accumulated heat and minimizes dirt and debris in the water.
• Water the lawn in the early morning. In the heat of the day, too much water evaporates before it soaks in. Experts say it’s best to water in the early morning hours so more of it can be absorbed. Better yet, consider installing a smart sprinkler system, which can save thousands of gallons of water per year.

Home Repairs for Water Conservation

Multiple factors lead to water waste. Household leaks are one. Issues consumers ignore or aren’t aware of may also contribute. Here are some simple repairs and adjustments that can reduce water waste:

Fix leaky faucets and toilets. “Small household leaks can result in gallons of water lost per day,” says bluefrog Plumbing + Drain president Mike Mushinski. And according to The Water Scrooge, even a slow-running toilet can waste 30 gallons of water a day. A slowly leaking faucet, losing just three drips per minute, results in 104 gallons of water wasted in a year! So take the time to fix those drippy faucets and running toilets on your own, or call a pro.

Adjust wasteful sprinklers. Even been infuriated at the neighbors for running their lawn sprinkler in the middle of the day, saturating much of the street along with their lawn? Don’t be that wasteful neighbor. The EPA says 30 percent of household water use goes toward outdoor watering, so make yours count. Watch where the sprinkler water is going and make adjustments as needed, even if that means getting wet! Mushinksi says spring is a fine time to have a professional check anti-siphon devices, such as vacuum breakers on your hose bibs, and double-check valves on your irrigation system to make sure they’re functioning properly.

Check for hidden leaks. An unusually high water bill may be your first clue there’s a leak somewhere. But if all the faucets and toilets are in good shape, how can you tell? Turn off all the water-consuming appliances in the house, then check your water meter. If you see a spinning dial, you have a leak somewhere. You can also read the meter before leaving the house. When you return, if the meter has gone up, it’s time to call a plumber. Mushinski also recommends a periodic general plumbing inspection. “This helps ensure your plumbing system is in good working condition,” he says, “and will alert you to any potential issues that need to be addressed.”

source: familyhandyman