Tin Can Tip

[Bigmallly]

Seeing as I am in the zone, I may as well tell you about my tin can tips..........

1) Cut the bottom off tin cans with a pair of scissors, they are easy to puncture first.
2) Use for blanching your leeks by pushing them 1" below the soil surface.
3) Use them as Brassica collars by pushing them half way into the soil, the half that is above the soil can then be filled with compost and packed down hard to avoid wind rock.

Right that's enough of my tips for one day..............

[veggiechicken]

Good ideas, BM. Makes use of something we would normally throw away (recycling!)
I may try putting them around runner bean and pea seedlings to keep the mice and slugs away from the stems.
Perhaps fill a tin with compost, start off parsnip and carrot seeds in them, once germinated plant the tin and contents an inch or two deep in the soil. Would give an extra few inches of depth on my stony soil - like an individual raised bed

[Bigmallly]

Now that's what I call container growing..................

[KevinM67]

I got a few... err.... empty beer cans up at the plot that I need to recycle.... any ideas ???

I'm thinking that they may be too sharp when cut to do anything constructive with.

[Penellype]

I would be concerned about sharpness too - obviously if you have the sort of can where one end pulls off you can bury the sharp end so thats not such a problem. I do a similar thing around my broccoli and cucumbers with sections of plastic bottle, but I add a band of copper tape to keep the slugs and snails out. Providing you don't let any leaves touch the soil outside the ring I find this works really well.

[Lumpy]

How about squishing them down (stand on them longways) and put into the bottom of pots that need good drainage etc? Beer cans would be soft enough for this

[alldigging]

Can you not use a can opener to take the end of the tin off? Or are you talking about different tins to the ones I'm thinking about (Baked bean tin type tins)

[veggiechicken]

My tin opener doesn't work on the bottom of tins - they're a different shape to the tops.

[Bill HH]

My wife bought an electric tin opener (I tut tutted as usual) but it is brilliant and cut lids off without leaving sharp edges. Its hands free and battery powered, the batteries seem to be lasting very well. It also seems to cope with both ends of cans.
The same idea as BM's could be done with old plastic drain pipes if they are lying around.

[alldigging]

My tin opener doesn't work on the bottom of tins - they're a different shape to the tops.

We have a couple of types and I know one of them does bottom of tins. It took longer but by the time I'd realised the tin was upside down it was a bit late to try the top.

[Bigmallly]

Due to the shape of the bottom of some cans, my can opener won't work so this is what I do:

1. Remove the label (put in compost) & get a good strong pair of scissors -

2. Gently but firmly push the point of the scissors into the can -

3. Carefully cut the bottom of the can -

Cont on next post.

[Bigmallly]

4. Remove the sharp burr with the scissors -

5. Store the cans in a safe place -

[muddled]

re beer cans....

I bury them up to the neck and use as slug traps.
You don't catch snails but you do get a lot of those little whits slugs that live in the soil.

[rary]

I use tin cans for my leek transplants if you can remove the bottom from a ring pull can which is placed inside the can using the rim from the lid end to support it place cardboard dividers in side(similar to the partitions you get in wine boxes etc.) to give you four sections in the can fill with compost insert your seedling transplant and when ready to plant out just push out from the base and you have four plants ready to be planted in their final position without disturbing the roots, the cans can be used again

[Snadger]

This is all I took with me for cooking on my Roman Wall trek!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72WO6j4CCqE

Didn't know Ricky Tomlinson did voice overs though!

The tin can worked fine, heated my grub and hot drinks and didn't weigh very much at all!

So there's another use for tin cans!