Easily released Cord knot tying round a recycle box

[john west]

I have a number of Bamboo Plants planted in unwanted Council Recycle boxes. After a while they are almost impossible to get out of the box, because the roots have grown so compacted. I intend sawing down one side of the box and folding it down so i can just slide the plant out of the box. To re-use the box again i need to tie a long cord around the box to keep the cut side in its original upright position for the next plant to grow in it. Since good Tying Cord is expensive does anyone know of a good 'Gripping' Knot that i can easily 'release' at a later date without having to cut the cord? I have tried some knots, but they are working out well. Thanks.

[Fred]

Yep, the truckers hitch.

[F Murtz]

stop with the worrying rope is cheap.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Sounds like you need to do a proper conversion, but this would need hinges and strong catches mounted on the plastic. Brian

[Nick Maclaren]

The best knot for that is the reef knot, which you can tie tightly on a corner and move. Alternatively, use a surgeon's knot, followed by an extra thumb knot, making the top half into a reef knot. The securest one is the constrictor knot, but that is a b*gg*r to undo. I use all of those and more.

Regards, Nick Maclaren.

[Adrian Caspersz]

Gaffer tape?

[alan_m]

Waterproof duct tape will also work.

[GB]

Isn't growing bamboo only a shade less risky than growing Japanese Knot Weed? Surely, if the roots are safely enclosed in a plastic tab, that's a very good thing?

Anyway, the boxes are tapered, so tie a loop round tightly with a good solid knot, then slide the loop off the taper to open it.

[Jonathan]

A fishermans knot . You wind one end several times around the other and then pass it through the bottom. You push on the turns to tighten and pull on them to loosen. See:

Jonathan

[Nick Maclaren]

Yes, or no, or maybe (to choice). SOME bamboos are invasive, but others are not.

Regards, Nick Maclaren.

[Jeff Layman]

Indeed. See "Types of bamboo" here;

I grow Phyllostachys nigra ("Black" bamboo), and it's taken 7 years to double its clump-size. It hasn't spread.

Being a grass, bamboo can be killed by repeated application of glyphosate.

[Nick Maclaren]

Not in my experience, though I use a very similar one when relevant, using a bowline rather than a loop knot, because that is less prone to jamming. The problem with all such hitches are that they are very bulky and catch on things - truckers use them because they are easy to haul taut, but you can get the knots I mentioned adequately taut for this purpose with experience.

Regards, Nick Maclaren.

[wasbit]

Inserted missing OP

Perhaps you could explain, or even better show an example, so that we are talking about the same thing.

I was taught the truckers hitch 50 years ago & it needs an anchor point at both ends.

[jkn]

What's that arrangement called where you have *two* cord loops, and then twist them together by varying amounts according to the desired tension, using a stick between the two, which you rotate?

Spanish Windlass?

[alan_m]

Same here in more than decade it hasn't really spread. Its' got a lot thicker in the middle of the clump but hasn't spread by more than a 6 inches in any direction at ground level. Now some shots are coming out at 45 degrees rather than vertical. I cut off shoots that don't end up reaching to the sky. For most of the time it also stayed at around 5 to

6 feet but now some shoots are up at 10 feet, again not a problem because they are thin and airy - think tall grass rather than tree.