Re: [gardeners] Breeze protectors
margaret lauterbach (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Mon, 10 Jan 2000 08:57:46 -0700
At 09:36 AM 1/10/2000 -0600, you wrote:
>Penny,
>
>My grandmother used them around her tomatoes from the time I was
>just a toddler until she passed away at age 97 in 1983. My Dad
>always used them and I have used them. Too much heat was never a
>problem. Grandma always wanted rusted cans so they wouldn't
>reflect the heat away from the plant.
>
>They not only protect from wind (a breeze in Oklahoma in the
>spring is anything less than 25mph) but from critters like
>cutworms as long as they aren't inside the can area when you
>place it around the plant. A few times I was busy on the farm
>and didn't get the cans off before the tomatoes got pretty big so
>just left them. That didn't seem to hurt the plant or the
>production. It actually lets you plant tender things earlier.
>Some people leave the end partially attached just pull it out so
>it sticks up. Then you can close it down when a frost is
>predicted. I never did it that way because I didn't want the
>sharp edge sticking up.
>
>Martha
>M Brown
>NW Oklahoma, USA
>USDA Zone 6b, Sunset Zone 35
>
But if you pulled that mostly cut lid out flat, perpendicular to the can,
you could put a brick or rock on it to prevent the can's blowing away. My
main problem, though, is storage. I don't want to store stuff like that. I
have enough of a problem with my tomato cages that have to be stored in the
round. Margaret L