Robin McInnes wrote:
Hi,

I bought a hosepipe years ago, (a LOT of years ago, now I come to
think...), which was of the then very popular 'flat' variety. It
was
an excellent buy, and has given me years of trouble-free use. It is
still fully serviceable and leak-free, and I use it all the time
without any problems for straight watering.

And, of course, being made of nylon fabric it is also very light
and
compact. I can't remember the name of the hose system, but I think
it
was Hydro-something. (The label is no longer on mine.)

Anyway, my problem is that I want to use one of those Miracle Gro
plant feeder attachments on it, but they are fitted with a male
Hozelock connector.

Now, this old hosepipe of mine seems to use a sort of
'reverse-Hozelock' system in that the hose ends are male, and that
any spray-guns, nozzles
or other attachments need to have a _female_ connector in order to
fit
on the end of the pipe. With the plant feeder I am faced with
needing
to join two male connectors together:- the feeder and my hosepipe
end.

The ideal solution would be a Hozelock 'Double Female' connector,
but
they do not seem to do them at all, and I'm a bit lost as to how to
proceed.

I would buy a new hosepipe with the Hozelock connectors the 'right'
way around, but I can't seem to find any of those light, convenient
and
compact flat hosepipes anywhere either, and I don't really want a
heavy conventional one if I can help it.

Anyone got any suggestions as to how I can overcome my male/male
problem
at all please, without getting a conventional hosepipe?

(And, in passing, does anyone know why they seem to have stopped
selling the flat-type hoses?)

Cheers,
Robin McInnes
Cheshire, UK

(Email address contains a spam-trap. Remove it to mail me.)

You might get an ordinary Hozelok-style connector, cut your hose a
foot from the end, and rejoin it with the connector. Then, when you
want to attach the plant feeder, you can just undo one end of the
connector and attach there. ***This will only work if your hose will
actually _take_ Hozelok connectors, of course, so proceed with
caution! I don't want to be responsible for making your hosepipe
useless.***

No idea about the other question, I'm afraid.

--
Mike.