Frugal Friday

[ecosophia]

Welcome back to Frugal Friday!  This is a weekly forum post to encourage people to share tips on saving money, especially but not only by doing stuff yourself. A new post will be going up every Friday, and will remain active until the next one goes up. Contributions will be moderated, of course, and I have some simple rules to offer, which have changed as we've proceeded. (As things have settled down to a nice steady conversational pace, for example, I've deleted the rules about only one tip per person per week and about limiting the length of comments; I was worried early on about people flooding the forum with too much too fast, but I think we're past that risk.)

Rule #1:  this is a place for polite, friendly conversations about how to save money in difficult times. It's not a place to post news, views, rants, or emotional outbursts about the reasons why the times are difficult and saving money is necessary. Nor is it a place to use a money saving tip to smuggle in news, views, etc.  I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #2:  this is not a place for you to sell goods or services, period. Here again, I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #3:  please give your tip a heading that explains briefly what it's about.  Homemade Chicken Soup, Garden Containers, Cheap Attic Insulation, and Vinegar Cleans Windows are good examples of headings. That way people can find the things that are relevant for them. If you don't put a heading on your tip it will be deleted.

Rule #4: don't post anything that would amount to advocating criminal activity. Any such suggestions will not be put through.

With that said, have at it!

Comments

Re: Ant Deterent

[(Anonymous)]

Any ideas for ants on plants? I just planted a Penstemon a few months ago and am finding ants? Teeny black bugs? crawling up the stem. Washing a bit of water over it helped for a bit but they came back in force.

Re: Ant Deterent

[(Anonymous)]

Are they harming the plant?
Spraying with soapy water will kill any insects that are on the plant when you spray.

Re: Ant Deterent

[(Anonymous)]

The black bugs will be aphids, which the ants are farming for their sugary excreta. Aphids reproduce by parthenogenesis, meaning they are born pregnant, so they can produce vast numbers of young very quickly. If you can encourage aphid-eating insects that helps a lot - lacewings and ladybirds get through a lot, but make sure you know what the larvae look like so they don't get included as bad uns. Birds eat them too and will do a good job of cleaning plants. Other than that, a quick way is gently rub the aphids away whilst spraying the plant with water. You'll have to do that regularly, though.

Re: Ant Deterent

[methylethyl]

I recently had a large aphid infestation in the garden. As they had only got to the ornamental stuff, and I had seen a couple of ladybugs out there... I left them alone. Wanted to give the ladybugs a chance to do their thing, and not spray everything with soap just yet. As of yesterday, could not find any of the large clumps of aphids out there. So... thanks, ladybugs.

Aphids vs. earwigs?

[(Anonymous)]

I noticed some aphids on my brussels sprouts, so I wiped most of them away with a fingertip. (They were gathered together in a small area.) A couple of weeks later, I saw no more of them. But when I picked a head of lettuce, earwigs came tumbling out. But I couldn't see any damage to the lettuce, and I read that earwigs will eat aphids (as well as many crop fruits and vegetables), so if the earwigs are keeping the aphids under control, I don't mind sorting them out of the lettuce. Even though, one of them that got into the kitchen found shelter in a opaque drinking cup, and was discovered on the tip of my tongue. It was quickly escorted from the premises.

Lathechuck