Making Sleeper Wood Shelves?
If teak oil is as good as linseed oil then it will harden the wood enough to resist water and keep dust on the surface only so that you will have no problem to dust the shelves. Varnish is not a very good product for your health if you breath it when applying...
Identifying a Houseplant?
Hello ! I think it is a peperomia, it could be : Peperomia glabella variegata Peperomia pepperspot variegata Peperomia obtusifolia variegata (obtusifolia: if the leaves have a pointed shape) Variegata is not the important part of the name it is nearly always...
Protect Bushes During Winter
Hello ! Rose trees or bushes are very resistant to cold and even to hard frost once they are a few years old so you are right to protect it if you bought it only this year but burlap is not a good solution. As Likekinds said the burlap will get wet with snow...
What Is This Houseplant?
It is a Tradescantia zebrina from the very large family of Tradescantia. They can become very large and beautiful. It is one of the best hanging plants and very easy to grow. You will have a better result if you water it at the most only once every two weeks...
Growing Christmas Cactus?
The aerial roots of the Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera) appear when the plant is already a few years old. It is the signal that the root system of the plant is too old or failing because the roots may be dried or rotten. It is time to start breaking some of...
What Is This Houseplant?
Tradescantia Zebrina. It needs plenty of light. It should not be watered every day or even every week once a month is enough. It is better to let the soil dry and to give it a quick bath in lukewarm water and then to check well that there is no water left stagnant...
Identifying a Houseplant (Pilea)?
Hello ! It is a pilea. It is a very large family but this one looks like a pilea involucrata. Hope this helps ! Catherine
Sweet Tango Apples
An apple which will look to you as fresh especially from the aspect of its skin can have spent nearly a year in what is called a cold chamber since it was harvested. These cold chambers have very sophisticated technologies which aim is to stop the desiccation...
Repotting Orchids?
Hello ! To replace the clear plastic pot, you can take any clear plastic food container then heat up the large flat metal end of a screwdriver on the flame of a candle or on a gas flame. When the metal is warm enough you can make holes very easily just by touching...
Buying Paper Bags For Crafts?
Hello ! Paper bag has become very rare in my place too. I now have to buy rolls of Kraft paper and I found out that these rolls are cheaper if you buy them in DIY big store, they are usually found in the moving equipment section where they are sold for protection...
Wisteria Serves Double Duty
How will you manage the pruning of the wisteria once the two vines get entangled and when the two will grow older couldnt the wisteria strangled or break the branches of the caracalla vine ? I wonder because I have never seen a wisteria growing together with...
What Is This Plant? (Rose Witches Broom)
Hello ! Catherine had not read the post yet and is now absolutely frightened by this horrible disease which luckily has not yet appeared on this side of the pond! I will keep my eye open! My very dear RHS Royal Horticulture Society confirms: present in Canada...
Growing a Weeping Willow for a Cutting?
Hello ! It is not hormone it is aspirin, and you will have the same result if you use real aspirin that is: acetylsalicylic acid. Sali, in the scientific name of aspirin, comes from Salix the scientific name of the willow tree. I agree with Cybergrannie and...
Growing Kiwi on a Trellis?
Hello ! There are now self-fertile varieties like Jenny with hermaphrodite flowers, but that can pollinate others non-self-fertile kiwis, the rate is the same as with traditional varieties, that is one male plant for up to eight females with the male plant...
What Is This Houseplant?
It is useful, to take good care of this plant, to know that it is actually a tree and that it can be 20 meters high in its native tropical region. It is a member of the Bombacaceae family, that is the Baobab family so when you wonder when to water and how much...
Know Your Beneficial Insects
You are right! Be modern! And, instead of killing insects, what about attracting them, and birds too? You will find information about insect hotels also called bug mansions here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_hotel and there are plenty of sites on the...
Cat Peeing and Pooping in Kitchen?
You are absolutely right about fleas. Cats get terrified by fleas. There is a big difference between us and cats about fleas : they can see fleas and it gets them mad. They will go anywhere where there are no fleas yet. Even the litter is a frightful place...
What Is This Houseplant?
I could also be, and I think it is, a cordyline, possibly cordyline fruticosa.
Crocheted Scrap Yarn Steering Wheel Cover
It looks nice but this could be very dangerous. Once when I was driving at night, I mistook the reflection of my own car lights in the window of a shop, for a car coming up to me and so believed that the good direction to follow was just straight ahead. I suddenly...
Crocheted Scrap Yarn Steering Wheel Cover
It was very scary and I learnt the lesson! Still be careful, I am not sure acrylic will slide less than wool. Give it a try before actually driving the van and make sure it will not slide on the steering wheel. Many happy travels with your van!
What is This Pink "Inverted" Flower?
Hello ! It is indeed a cyclamen and some of them can be grown outside. Heres a link: http://www.hardycyclamens.com/grow-hardy-cyclamen-outdoors.html
Identifying a Houseplant?
It is indeed a sansevieria cylindrica. Dont worry about the painting it will not harm the plant as it is one of the most resistant indoor plant but you should put it in a new pot just one or two centimeters larger and with decent soil but afterwards you will...
What Is This Houseplant?
I agree it is a dracaena and I think that without any instruction for its care you have been doing very very well. They very often end up dying away with a ridiculously one meter long sort of trunk and a few leaves at the top. Dont change anything or maybe...
Cleaning Talcum Powder Off Dark Bathroom Tiles?
Dont waste your time washing the tiles! Talcum powder does not dissolve in water. It is a mineral, more precisely it is hydrated magnesium silicate with most of the time, traces of other metals like nickel, iron and aluminum, nothing that you will dissolve...
Getting Rid of Ground Dwelling Bees?
These bees are called solitary bees, they will stay in your garden only a few weeks. Let them live ! They are the alternative to the honeybees that are dying from pesticides all over your country and unfortunately all over the world. They are not agressive...
Thrifty Regrets
Being one of the first 10 who started working on the EuroDisneys project for its manager, the anglo american team (Lehrer Mc Govern and Bovis) , I can tell you this : the frustration the customer feels because he cant visit each Disneywords land or attraction...
Thrifty Regrets
Family vacations consisted of simple tenting for a few days and, when money was tight, many of our vacations were just one day excursions. I have been offered by my parents the same Disneyworld and I could say thank you to them every minute of my life. I went...
Thrifty Regrets
Do not have any regrets. What you give your children comes from your heart. Do not underestimate it because someone has given it to you before and you are passing it on to your children. Disneyland does not come from someones heart it comes from someones ambition...
Identifying a Houseplant? (Peperomia)
Hello ! the name of the plant you refer to is Schefflera. It is a beautiul plant but it cant be the one we are trying to identify because its leaves are palmately compound.
Using Red Pepper in Homemade Suet?
Hello ! Actually what is sold as Cayenne pepper is not made with peper it is a mixture of ingredients including piment, most of the time it is piment, flour and salt. Piment is a member of the Capsicum annuum family and is usually produced in Central and South...
What Is Growing in My Easter Lily Pot?
Hello ! It is only fungi and it is not dangerous for the plant. Fungi need moisture and darkness to start growing. You could water less, scratch the soil surface to air it and bring the plant in full sunlight where Easter lily can grow. If the plant is in half...
What Are These Houseplants?
Hello ! The two are sedum, the bigger one could be Sedum spurium (dragons blood) and the light green one could be Sedum morganianum. Depending on how much sunlight they received the color and shape of the same sedum can vary to very light green to deep green...
Using Coffee Grounds on House Plants?
Coffee ground is coffee beans (seeds) that have been roasted, not roasted to the point of turning into coal but still roasted enough to resist decomposing just like wood coal doesnt decompose. It is better to leave it on the ground when used with plants. It...
Sorting Buttons or Beads
So did I went Huh ? Linda ! but I I think it is just a confusion in the title between verbs sorting and storing, still it is very useful as two jars on top of each other take less room than two jars side by side. It is a good trick and it is important to think...
What Is This Houseplant?
I agree with Cybergrannie it is an ornemental ivy I think it is Hedera helix sagittifolia called sagittifolia because of the arrow shape of the central and longest part of its leave.
Identifying a Houseplant?
I agree with Cybernannie it is a philodendron and I am quite sure it is Philodendron hederaceum = Philodendron oxycardium, = Philodendron scandens = Philodendron cordatum, 4 different names for the same plant. It is a climbing philodendron and if given a foam...
Count Cash Before Inserting into ATM
Malfunction of an ATM can have very expensive consequences and if youre going on holidays, especially abroad, avoid using your card during the last few days or even worse on the very day you go, at the last minute on your way to the airport, for example. If...
Remedy for Mealybugs on Plants
You can also buy and protect mealybugs best ennemy : Cryptolaemus Montrouzieri, safe for the bees and safe for the plants. This black and orange tiny insect feeds on mealybugs.
Identifying a Garden Plant?
Hello ! You have been given the Queen of the night : Epiphyllum oxypetalum. It needs a lot of light and warmth and moist but absolutely NO direct sunlight. It flowers only at night time and the flowers appear and die in the same night. It is one of the most...
Identifying a Green Flying Bug?
Why should you : first surely break at least one of its legs or wings and then suffocate the bug in a plastic bag ? Internet and thriftyfun fans are powerful enough to help indentify a bug.
Grow Grapes On Your Patio/Deck/Back Yard
There is a limit to the use of nets. Nets should be used against birds once the fruits are there on the branches. Otherwise if you set the nets too early the result is : no insect to visit flowers, no pollination, no fruits. And the pollination starts much...
Old Deck Railing Used For Garden Tool Storage
I like this idea. There is not much to do and not a lot of holes to make in the wall to fix it and for the smaller tools it could be set upside down to use each bar as a rack. Thanks for the idea.
What Is This Houseplant?
I think it is a Dracaena, and it looks like a dracaena godseffiana or dracaena surculosa.
Crush Egg Shells With a Rolling Pin
I use an electric coffee grinder, it does not damage it on the contrary it sharpens its blades. I use egg shells in fine powder for the plants to assimilate calcium and the others ingredients of the shell quicker. Egg shells fine powder is also very useful...
Crush Egg Shells With a Rolling Pin
Actually the veterinary products used for dogs against arthritis and joint problems are made from the egg shell membrane, not the shell itself. I think it could be better to first ask a vet before giving egg shells powder to a dog.
Crush Egg Shells With a Rolling Pin
I could not agree more ! I have another method for stress relief. When I want egg shells to be just crunched or to ease the work of my old electric coffee grinder I put the egg shells inside the double page of a newspaper and I walk on the newspaper. Very pleasing...
Slowing Down Morning Glory Infestation
I agree with you and I wish to add that roundup does not kill bees only, it kills others insects too and the birds that will eat the insects or any other animal that eats insects and also the gardener who uses the roundup or that will end up eating products...
Reusing Spray Bottles
I used the spray bottle system when I have to empty something that cant be moved or be reached to the bottom. I tie a plastic bag to the nose of the spray system or put a bottle in front of it and plunge the plastic tube in the liquid I want to remove and activate...
Identifying a Houseplant?
It is an epiphyllum which is desperately craving for light. Whatever kind of epiphyllum it is, quickly check for its special cares and put it in full light with no direct sunlight. The long hairy shoots are the proof that it is craving for light. These kind...
Container Gardening and Mosquitoes in Standing Water?
Hello ! Vegetable oil works because when the larvae reach the surface to breath or to mute into actual flying mosquito they cant do so because they are, sort of, glued and suffocated by the oil, but the problem is that you need to put quite a lot of oil to...
Identifying and Caring for a Houseplant?
Hello ! You could try to lightly rub one of the leaves and check if it gives out a strong smell of camphor, if it does the plant could be a member of the plectranthus family.
Help for Hot Flashes?
Hello ! you can start getting used to Scottish shower, that is to always end your hot shower or bath with a very cold shower, starting from your feet up to your face and even to your skull. The action of Scottish shower is that it trains your body to better...
Starting Seeds in the Snow
I know snow is an excellent thermal insulator because it contains a large amount of air and that white bears dig shelters deep in the snow to protect themselves. This method could work in a region where snow falls and stays for the whole winter but in a region...
What Is This Houseplant?
Dracaena not yucca. Yucca leaves do not curve they bend at right angle and are dark green with very sharp edges. When in good state they can easily cut skin if you touch the leaves edge from point to bottom. The yucca leaves stay tight around the trunk pointing...
What Is This Houseplant?
If you think of a poor Yucca kept indoors you could think it looks like a Yucca but take a look at this picture of the most common type of Yucca to live outdoors with its beautiful flowers and strong dark green leaves. (picture by Moriori ' Originally uploaded...
What Is This Garden Plant? (Lychnia or Silene coronaria) - Rose campion
Hello ! The official name of the plant is lychnis coronaria, it is very beautiful when you can put next to each other the three different type with white flowers, pink flowers and red flowers.
Protect Paint Brushes With a Straw
Fantastic idea ! Ive wasted so many paint brushes by letting them stand upright on the brush party to dry. Thank for sharing.
Age and Value of New Book of Knowledge?
Hello ! you can find an exemple of price on Amazon for the 10 volumes you own. Hope this helps ! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Knowledge-Pictorial-Treasury-reading-Reference/dp/B000PW281M/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1485262291&sr=1-2&keywords=the+new+book+of...
What is This Houseplant?
It is a Yucca and you can plant it outside, it resists winter easily and even temperatures below 0°. When grown outside it flowers every year, when it is difficult to make it flower indoors.
What Is This Houseplant?
Hello ! It is a calathea, this one is calathea insignis, it needs warmth, moist, but must never be in direct sunlight as it lives at the ground level of the rainforests where the sky is nearly always cloudy and where the big trees protect it from direct sunlight...
Identifying a Houseplant?
I agree it is a Philodendron Selloum, it is easy to grow and it does become very large, what is nice is that it lives many years. Be careful with cats it is toxic.
Identifying a Houseplant? (Schefflera)
It is beautiful, and I agree it is a heptaleurum brassaia. It grows up straight up because it is, in fact, a tree. In its native country (Australia) it can be 30 meters high. You can prune it to give it a more bushy shape.
What Is This Plant?
Hello ! Its scientific name is Gomphocarpus physocarpus, also called Asclepias physocarpa, popular name balloonplant
What Kind of Geranium Is This?
Hello ! it is a Pelargonium (= geranium) Apple Blossom Rosebud The flowers can be pink or white and pink or red like yours which is beautiful.
What Is This Houseplant?
Hello ! It is an Epiphyllum oxypetalum. When it is receiving enough light it does not produce long cylindrical stems. In its native place, the rain forests, it grows in trees hollows. Rain forests mean : warmth, a lot of humidity in the air, and cloudy sky...
What Is This Houseplant?
Hello ! It is a calathea, possibly it is a calathea rufibarba. No direct sun, warmth and moist. You can check the cares for calathea in general, they all need the same conditions and cares.
What Is This Houseplant?
If its a palm, and I agree it could be a parlour palm ( scientific name : Chamaedorea elegans or Neanthe bella or Collinia elegans) but whatever type of palm it is, the drying and dying of its lower leaves is its natural way to grow. The reliefs you see on...
What Is This Houseplant?
Yucca it is ! It is easier to grow this kind of shoot than the actual plant with a trunk because it is difficult to evaluate how much water is kept in the trunk and very often it will get overwatered and, when you notice it, it is already rotten.
Getting Rid of Aphids on Four O'Clock Flowers?
Plants do not die from aphids invasion but I understand it is ugly to look at, specially when they invade beautiful flowers like yours. I never use any chemicals. I used two simple methods, killed them by hands on small plants and never grow one type of plant...
Getting Rid of Aphids on Four O'Clock Flowers?
Hello again ! If you want to have new Four oclock flowers (Mirabilis jalapata), you can collect the seeds, or dig one of its tubers. Grown from seeds or not, Mirabilis japata develops big tubers, which looks like black radishes, you can dig a few, and put them...
What Is This Plant?
Hello ! If the flowers were trumpet shaped looking up, it is a Datura and it is a plant. If the flowers are trumpet shaped and looking down or at the most horizontal, it is a Brugsmania and it is a tree. Datura or Brugsmania should not be put indoors, the two...
Identifying a Houseplant?
Me again ! maybe it is not the obtusifolia type because the leaves of your plant are pointed so it could be Peperomia polybotrya (pericatii).
What Is This Houseplant?
Hello ! I am not sure that the little pink spot on the left side of the picture is a flower but if it is, it looks like Aptenia cordifolia Variegata, also called the heartleaf ice plant, but the Aptenia is placed indoor only when it is very cold outside. It...
Effects Of Pollen Transfer Between...
The potato famine in Irland is due to inapropriate agricultural practices and the ravages of fungus Phytophthora infestans known as late blight. All Europe was concerned but the fact that this invasion had more dramatic results in Ireland than in the rest of...
Taking Photos to Publish on ThriftyFun
It would be very useful when posting a photo of a plant, for its identification, to put an object, which size is known to everyone, like a pen for example, side by side to a leaf or a branch of the plant, to give a scale.
What Is This Houseplant?
Hello ! It is an hoya, this one is a cultivar and is most often called hoya carnosa krinkle kurl, or Hindu rope, it was obtain from the hoya carnosa which leaves are flat, but the name doesnt matter it is an hoya and you will find the cares it needs by looking...
Hydrangeas Not Flowering?
Hello ! It could be due to the way you pruned them. Pruning an hydrangea is not easy. It has to be done at the end of the winter season. You should first cut the dead flowers but just above the new bud, that is the important point, because the flowers appears...
Bugs Eating Daylilies?
Bad news ! they are more famous for finding shelter in great numbers inside houses during the winter than for any damage they do to plants. They are Boisea trivittata, Boxelder bugs, they are attracted by some trees including, the box elder tree, the female...
What Is This Houseplant?
Its an hoya, known as the was plant, in this case it is the curled leaf hoya.
Kenmore 24 Sewing Machine Not Stitching?
Hello ! Maybe you could check the new needle. It could be split opened but it does not show.
Bobbin Thread Not Being Picked Up?
Hello ! You could first unplug the machine, then open the bobbin case, turn the wheel by hand and watch carefully the movement of the needle and how deep it goes to catch the thread loop, and where is the bobbin thread when the needle goes down. If you do not...
What Is This Garden Plant?
I agree it is castorbean : scientific name Ricinus communis, it is a beautiful plant but extremely allergenic and with many toxic parts. You have to be careful with its beautiful seeds, often used to make nakelaces, four to eight seed are lethal for adults...
Plant Matchsticks with Peppers
Hello ! Matches could provide Pepper plant with something it needs to grow but if you use the traditionnal household safety matches it cant be phosphorus. The tips of the matches used to be made with phosphorus but were dangerous for the users and for the health...
What Is This Houseplant?
Hello ! It is difficult to say because I cant tell the size of its leaves from the picture but It could be an oleander and if it is, you should keep it outdoors, as it is highly toxic. During the cold season keep it in a place where you do not stay for a long...
What Is This Garden Plant?
I agree it is toxic but it is not the moonflower (iponomea alba) it is a Datura stramonium. The flower could be mistaken but not the fruits. The moonflower ( iponomea alba ) doesnt have this kind of spiky fruits and the leaves of the moonflower are hart shaped...
Identifying a Houseplant?
I think it is a Dieffenbachia. It naturally loses its inferior leaves and it has to be cut back so that it will not end up with a nude trunk and a few leaves at the top. Keep it away from children and pets the sap is very toxic.
What Is This Houseplant?
It is a Begonia, Begonia Erythrophylla. It is easy to grow indoors if you are careful with watering and if you give the plant a rest in the winter. It is a tropical plant.
Remove Tomato Suckers
Tomato suckers have to be removed but all you need is : . a pair of scisors to do neat cuttings . alcool to clean the scisors when you go from one plant to another . a very sunny day at midday with plenty of sun light on the plants to dry the cuts you make...
Mantis Watches Jumping Spider Eat...
It is a fantastic photo theres a real scenario in there and it makes me think of the little stop motion animation films called Minuscule like this one : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peIddlqyTeg
What Is This Houseplant?
The purple plant is alright. It is a Tradescantia pallida a very resistant plant and perfect as a hanging plant. Its colors depend on how much light it receives It likes to be kept tight in its pot, do not water a little everyday but a lot every two weeks during...
What Is This Houseplant?
Hello ! It is a Pachira, Pachira aquatica and it doesnt need to be plaited to live happy.
Identifying a Houseplant?
They are ferns the first one is Asplenium nidus the second one is a Davallia. They need light but never any direct sun light.
Identifying a Houseplant?
1 : Kalanchoe marmorata 2 : ? if that top new leaf is slightly pink it could be a (not really fit) poinsettia 3 : Yucca, possibly Yucca aloifolia or Yucca baccata 4 : Kalanchoe daigremontiana Hope this helps ! Catherine
Saving Mallard Eggs After Mother Died?
To quickly improvise an incubator, you need a large carton or styrofoam box, two wired light bulbs one of 40 W and one of 100 W and a thermometer and if possible an hygrometer. Cut a square in one of the side of the box and glue or stick a piece of clear plastic...
Hibiscus Won't Flower?
Maybe you gave the plant too much fertilizer that is why it is making constant new growth. Flowering for a plant is a tentative to survive and if your plant has such a happy life with plenty to eat why should it bother to have flowers. Just put it on the diet...
Identifying a House Plant?
Hello ! it is a Dracaena fragrans. It could be the Warneckii or the lindenii type. They prefer light shade or filtered sunlight. Their situation and the age of the plant can change the colours and the pattern of the leaves.
Identifying a House Plant?
It is a dracaena (cordyline) and it could be the Dracaena reflexa type also called Song of India or Pleomele reflexa. It is difficult to say which type of dracaena it is because the colours and the pattern of the leaves change with the amount of light it receives...
Buy Named Varieties Of Trees and Shrubs
You cant complain about the number of seeds in the pack. You would be answered that there is no cheating as the weigth is written on the pack : 1,25 g. You could only argue that it doesnt precise weither or not the weight of the paper pack is included in the...
What Is This Garden Plant?
I think it is bleeding harts (dicentra spectabilis). The foliage looks like bleeding hearts. The columbine (Aquilegia) leaves are not pointed and they are not deeply cut they have a round shape a bit like shamrock and columbine does not have this bush aspect...
What Is This Houseplant?
Hello ! I am not quite sure but it could be a Pearcea hypocyrtiflora. Hope this helps !
Tropical Fern With Cactus Flower
Hello ! If you want your epiphyllum oxypetalum to really thrive as it should in the climate of Tahiti you must forget you found it next to a fern. Unlike ferns the epiphyllum oxypetalum needs full light not direct sunlight if you want the leaves to keep their...
Taking Turmeric as a Supplement?
You are absolutely right and the doctor is not only the solution but also the secret. I am always impressed by the fact that so many miracle products comes from and are used by the traditionnal medecine of countries with the lowest average life expectancy. I...
Identifying Dying Plant?
Hello ! It is an Impatiens walleriana its common name is buzzy lizzy. It doesnt look as it is dying. It needs light, warmth, and to be watered regularily. Google its name for more care instructions. Hope this helps !
Looking for a Needlepoint Pattern?
Hello ! I think the poem is written using the police Comic Sans MS in upper case for the title. You can type the poem using this police and then make it the size you need. You can print it and transfer it with carbon paper on the material. This police is available...
What Is This Houseplant?
Hello ! It is a dracaena fragrans. It is toxic to cats but as they do not need full light you can choose a place where your cat can not reach the leaves.
What Are These Houseplants?
Hello ! The tall fluffy plant is an asparagus, the one on the left could be an Aeonium Haworthii and the one with yellow and green leaves looks like an Aucuba. You should quickly seperate them as they are of very different types with incompatibles needs to...
Identifying a Houseplant?
It is a scindapsus also called pothos or golden pothos. Beautiful and easy to grow.
What Is This Houseplant?
Hello ! If it is a spider plant you should keep it indoors as by the picture it looks like it is winter in your place or at least much too cold for a plant that originates from South Africa. Many plant are called Spider plant the scientific name of this one...
