* Use vinegar to kill unwanted plants and grass--cheaper
than buying herbicides. The TM has used vinegar on crabgrass
before and the day after you pour on the vinegar the grass has turned
brown.
* Another cheap way to kill unwanted plants and
grass is to poor boiling hot water on them. The TM has had
success with this method also although it does take longer than 24 hours
to see the grass turn brown using hot water.
* Cracked mugs and bowls can be usee on the bottom
of flower pots for good drainage.
* Plastic or Styrofoam peanuts can be used in
flower pots for drainage.
* Use the water from boiling eggs or unpeeled
potatoes to water your house plants. These even give the plants extra
nutrients.
* Use old shower curtains to cover wood stored
outside.
* Grow your own house plants: Use a little root
hormone (about $5 for a bottle) and vermiculite. Soak the vermiculite
in water and drain the excess out; add to a shallow bowl or saucer.
Take one of the longer leaves of your plant and clip it at the base.
Shake some of the hormone into a sleeve of paper and dip the end of
the stem into the hormone. Submerge the stem into the vermiculite and
cover the entire bowl with a clear jar (bell jar if you have one); this
keeps the humidity up. In a few weeks the stem should root, and you
can plant it in loose dirt. You can do multiple leaves in the same dish
to save time and effort.
* To control mosquitoes spray the infected area
using a 20 gallon hose end sprayer 3 times a week either early morning
or late at night with 1 cup lemon scented ammonia,1/4 cup baby shampoo
and the rest water. Good hunting.
To get rid of ants TM recommends Terro Ant Killer II. Make sure it has borax listed as an ingredient. It's a liquid product and you tear off a little piece of cardboard on the back of the package and put the liquid on it for the ants to feed on and most importantly take back to the nest. To really get rid of ants you have to kill the queen and this is the way to do it.
Terro works well inside and for limited area spots outside, but if your ant problem covers a wide area TM suggests using Ortho Total Kill for the lawn and garden. Upon seeing numerous new ant hills spring up over a wide area of the yard TM carpet bombed the area with Total Kill and wet it down as the instructions advise and in a day's time the ant activity had come to a complete halt. The bag says it last for two months. After a week and a half the ants are still gone so things look good so far.
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