Desert Dreams

I had some cacti that needed a new home, and I had these two glass containers I wasn't using.  Since they are glass, and don't have any drainage holes, and cacti don't like to sit in water I added some broken terra cotta planters and a little bit of sand to soak up any extra moister that collects on the bottom.  They will also slowly release their moisture as the soil dries out.  

I used Cactus soil that I bought at Lowe's.

This is how my cacti and new succulents look in their new home.  I had to buy soil, and I couldn't resist buying a few of the cheapest succulents.    

I'm really pleased with how they look on my plant shelf.  I hope they do well in their new homes!  

Happy DIYing, chris!

Growing Ginger

I have this great book called Don't Throw It, Grow It.  It has 68 different windowsill plants grown from kitchen scraps!  Today i tried the directions for growing ginger.  I had some left over ginger that I wasn't able to use before it started growing.

Though you don't have to wait until your ginger is growing like mine to try out this simple DIY.

All you have to do is grab a shallow dish with drainage holes.  My holes are really large, so I used this piece of handmade cabbage paper to cover them up.  I tore off two pieces.

Then I placed them over the holes.

Next, I filled the dish up 2/3 of the way with regular soil, and then I placed the ginger on top of the dirt.

I watered the little guy.

Then I placed him under my grow light.  No photos of the lights, but I use two ikea FOTO aluminum pendant lamps with 65 watt compact fluorescent full spectrum photo bulbs.  I've had great luck with just one of these guys, and just recently up it to two lights.  

This is my little garden.  A Gerbera Daisy (in a DIY planter), an orchid (no clue what kind), some tiny cacti, and our newest addition the ginger!  

Happy DIYing! chris

  

Toilet Bowl Shenanigans and Cacti Love

I am dang clumsy. I started off my day by flushing the toilet roll holder down the toilet. Fixing that mistake took most of the morning. My husband and I had to go out and buy a new wax ring for the toilet. We then drain the toilet and the tank, and turned off the water to the toilet. Then we lifted the tank and bowl off the floor. When we turned the toilet upside down we could see it stuck in the curve. Aaron was able to poke the thing out with a straightened wire hanger. ((Gosh, that sounds awful!)) We pressed the wax seal to the bottom of the bowl, then lowered the bowl over the two screws in the floor. We both took turns sitting on, and adding pressure evenly to the wax ring. We used a ratchet to tighten the nuts down on either side. Put the tank back on the toilet bowl, reattached the water connection. Made sure all the nuts and bolts everything was tight as can be, than we turned the water on. Toilet seems to be back to normal now! Next time I'll try to remember to close the toilet when I'm putting on a new roll of paper!

I also did a lot of boring cleaning, and that took up a bit of time. I did manage to get my cacti replanted into a larger pot though! I started with the large pot, a box to maintain the mess, cacti soil, 3-4 cacti, fine grit, and I used a metal saucer to scoop my dirt.

I mostly filled up the planter with the cacti mixture, and then placed the plants in the soil. I put the larger cacti in the back, and the two smaller ones up front. Start to add a thin layer of fine grit on the top.

Don't cover the bottom of the plants, you can use a rubber glover to hold the cacti and remove any dirt between the needles. Once you are done covering the top you can give them a bit of water. Since it is winter I didn't give them much water.

Meanwhile, Cricket was listening to KCRW.

Hope you all enjoyed, happy DIYing! chris