On Tue, 06 Mar 2012 20:36:30 +0000, Jake
wrote:

On Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:59:10 +0000, wrote:

On Tue, 06 Mar 2012 17:37:39 +0000, Jake
wrote:

On Tue, 06 Mar 2012 16:57:59 +0000, Paul Luton
wrote:

On 06/03/2012 16:38, stuart noble wrote:


The plastic handled jobs I saw in Wilkos for £6 something looked pretty
strong. I think Screwfix do them too.

I bought a pair of cheapish plastic ( fibreglass tube AFAICT) and
stainless steel jobs. The steel bits are fine. The plastic bits cannot
cope with levering out roots. Four Candles anyone ?

Get one of these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Faithfull-Ch.../dp/B0001IWJ4Q

Gets roots in a jiffy as you get some really long leverage. Great for
levering out metpost spikes, lumps of concrete around fence posts,
anything heavy. Also makes mincemeat of heavy clay/stone sub-soil.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling happily from the dryer end of Swansea Bay.

A reasonable facsimile can be obtained from Wickes for about £16.

Regards
JonH

Mine fell, indirectly, off the back of a fire engine (well it was a
clearout of the garage of a recently deceased fireman). The Amazon
link was the first I came across. However, make sure if you buy one
"cheap" that it is hardened and tempered carbon steel. I've seen one,
made of simple galvanised low quality steel, shatter and spring into
the air.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling happily from the dryer end of Swansea Bay.


I initially procured the article to brog holes for the verticals for a
fruit cage in 'adverse and sloping soil'. With pointy end down, I hit
the other end with a sledgehammer many, many times. The chisel end is
a bit burred over now but it did what I needed. I also used it to
lever out a number of concrete fence post sockets on the boundary with
next door. It survived that and it ain't going to break any time
soon.

The chisel end was a bit of a nuisance. I might just cut it off and
buy another article for more traditional wrecking. I'm still ahead
over the Amazon offering.

Regarding garden forks, a Bazillion years ago, I procured a Spear &
Jackson fork with a SS business end and a plastic shaft/handle. The
latter part has now denatured and is separating from the southern end.
Beyond economic repair, I fear. I will replace it with something more
traditional as and when the need arises.

Regards
JonH

p.s. Bu**er, I'm having a poor result with early seedlings damping
off. They're sown in JI#1 in peat pots in a heated propagator that is
lodged within an unheated but quite well insulated conservatory.
Germination rate of Naga, Okra, Tomatoes, Aubergines is disappointing.
Half of the Coriander seeds have shown, but I'm not convinced that the
light is right. I have now rotated the pots, we'll see.

The overwintered Coriander still survives in the unheated and
occasionally sub-zero greenhouse.

JH

So did I. Within months, one of the tines had broken off, levering out roots in a heavy nettle infestation. I wasn't happy. It's now down to two tines.

On Mar 6, 10:41*pm, wrote:
On Tue, 06 Mar 2012 20:36:30 +0000, Jake
wrote:





On Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:59:10 +0000, wrote:

On Tue, 06 Mar 2012 17:37:39 +0000, Jake
wrote:

On Tue, 06 Mar 2012 16:57:59 +0000, Paul Luton
wrote:

On 06/03/2012 16:38, stuart noble wrote:

The plastic handled jobs I saw in Wilkos for £6 something looked pretty
strong. I think Screwfix do them too.

I bought a pair of cheapish plastic ( fibreglass tube AFAICT) and
stainless steel jobs. The steel bits are fine. The plastic bits cannot
cope with levering out roots. Four Candles anyone ?

Get one of these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Faithfull-Ch.../dp/B0001IWJ4Q

Gets roots in a jiffy as you get some really long leverage. Great for
levering out metpost spikes, lumps of concrete around fence posts,
anything heavy. Also makes mincemeat of heavy clay/stone sub-soil.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling happily from the dryer end of Swansea Bay.

A reasonable facsimile can be obtained from Wickes for about £16.

Regards
JonH

Mine fell, indirectly, off the back of a fire engine (well it was a
clearout of the garage of a recently deceased fireman). The Amazon
link was the first I came across. However, make sure if you buy one
"cheap" that it is hardened and tempered carbon steel. I've seen one,
made of simple galvanised low quality steel, shatter and spring into
the air.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling happily from the dryer end of Swansea Bay.

I initially procured the article to brog holes for the verticals for a
fruit cage in 'adverse and sloping soil'. *With pointy end down, I hit
the other end with a sledgehammer many, many times. *The chisel end is
a bit burred over now but it did what I needed. *I also used it to
lever out a number of concrete fence post sockets on the boundary with
next door. *It survived that and it ain't going to break any time
soon.

The chisel end was a bit of a nuisance. *I might just cut it off and
buy another article for more traditional wrecking. *I'm still ahead
over the Amazon offering.

Regarding garden forks, a Bazillion years ago, I procured a Spear &
Jackson fork with a SS business end and a plastic shaft/handle. *The
latter part has now denatured and is separating from the southern end.
Beyond economic repair, I fear. *I will replace it with something more
traditional as and when the need arises.

Regards
JonH

p.s. Bu**er, I'm having a poor result with early seedlings damping
off. *They're sown in JI#1 in peat pots in a heated propagator that is
lodged within an unheated but quite well insulated conservatory.
Germination rate of Naga, Okra, Tomatoes, Aubergines is disappointing.
Half of the Coriander seeds have shown, but I'm not convinced that the
light is right. *I have now rotated the pots, we'll see.

The overwintered Coriander still survives in the unheated and
occasionally sub-zero greenhouse.

JH- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Spray soil after planting seed with Bordeaux/Cheshunt compound or
similar.
Cover with clingfilm until germination.

On Wed, 7 Mar 2012 00:21:53 -0800 (PST), harry
wrote:

On Mar 6, 10:41*pm, wrote:
On Tue, 06 Mar 2012 20:36:30 +0000, Jake
wrote:


p.s. Bu**er, I'm having a poor result with early seedlings damping
off. *They're sown in JI#1 in peat pots in a heated propagator that is
lodged within an unheated but quite well insulated conservatory.
Germination rate of Naga, Okra, Tomatoes, Aubergines is disappointing.
Half of the Coriander seeds have shown, but I'm not convinced that the
light is right. *I have now rotated the pots, we'll see.

The overwintered Coriander still survives in the unheated and
occasionally sub-zero greenhouse.

JH- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Spray soil after planting seed with Bordeaux/Cheshunt compound or
similar.
Cover with clingfilm until germination.

AFAIK, Cheshunt Compound is no longer available. Bayer stopped making
it after a change in the regs surrounding copper sulphate. I have a
tin that's years old - lasts a long time - but I haven't seen it on
sale anywhere for a couple of years.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling happily from the dryer end of Swansea Bay.

"Stephen" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I broke our spade trying to dig out some roots. In the past I have
always bought a cheap fork and spade set from somewhere like B&Q. Are
all spades created equal or are the expensive ones better in some way?

I see some are carbon steel and others are stainless steel. I imagine
stainless steel is less likely to rust but in my experience, the
carbon steel ones have not rusted but perhaps that's because they
haven't lasted long enough to rust!

What about forks? I always seem to bend the tines but as with the
spade, that is user-error abusing them to when digging out roots. Are
there any with more robust tines?

Car boot sale.

Mike

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 8 Mar 2012 10:53:13 -0000, "MuddyMike"
wrote:


"Stephen" wrote in message
. ..
Hello,

I broke our spade trying to dig out some roots. In the past I have
always bought a cheap fork and spade set from somewhere like B&Q. Are
all spades created equal or are the expensive ones better in some way?

I see some are carbon steel and others are stainless steel. I imagine
stainless steel is less likely to rust but in my experience, the
carbon steel ones have not rusted but perhaps that's because they
haven't lasted long enough to rust!

What about forks? I always seem to bend the tines but as with the
spade, that is user-error abusing them to when digging out roots. Are
there any with more robust tines?

Car boot sale.

Freshly stolen from an allotment?
--

No they are the ones on Ebay.

Mike