Thanks for the explanations- now I get it. All I need to do is choose
somewhere to grow some nettles where they won't be stinging myself and my
visitors too often, and then find the nettles to plant there. But it sounds
like a very clever way of dealing with this problem. I may order some
lacewing houses (I think that's what they called them) too. The organic
methods seem to be so much more FUN than spraying dodgy
toxic-to-most-lifeforms chemicals all over the place....

This weekend's amusing gardening screwup: I decided to make some soap
solution by paring away with a sharp knife and then dissolving some
Sainsbury's Pure Soap (bar) in warm water and I poured this into an empty
bottle. This was supposed to be the concentrated solution that i would then
dilute about 1:10 or 1:20 so before pouring into a sprayer. So I had about
1/2 of a bar of soap dissolved in something like 1 litre of water. I did this
yesterday and left it to cool. Today I went to look at my concentrated soap
solution and it has gone solid in the bottle! Not as solid as a bar of soap
but pretty solid nevertheless- about the consitency of set honey. Today will
no doubt be all about trying to dilute it again to make it pourable. I think
making working strength solution will be a better idea than concentrate in
future.

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VX (remove alcohol for email)