Easter Cress
My flatmate Richard had the audacity to leave for the easter holidays a couple of weeks early, rather than stay in our grubby campus-based flat until the actual holidays began.

That same day, strolling through Newcastle's premier indoor market, myself and another flatmate happened across some sort of shrubbery stall, seeds sat in racks, waiting to be snapped up by budding young botanists. We decided to take advantage of a generous promotion that was currently running, handing over a shiny pound coin and receiving 3 beautiful-looking packets of cress seed.

Now, the carpets in our flat were the kind that are easy to clean, which is a sensible way to go when upholstering student digs. Such material gave the ground an almost "earth-like" quality, but this begged the question: Just how earth-like is this mysterious carpet? And so it was that cress seeds in their hundreds were dispersed under Richard's door, and a strict regime of watering began. With the curtains left wide open, the cress would be basking in the warm glow of the easter sun, growing with every passing day.

Richard returned after easter, flung his door open and found his room a forest! His initial disgust and lack of humour was overpowered by the sheer beauty of mother nature, and he spent the rest of his days in the wilderness.
(slotbadger, Mon 2 Mar 2009, 9:17, 5 replies)

Funny prank, but...
I bet you lost your deposit for the rent. Was it possible to clean all the growth off the carpet, or did it have to be replaced?

You've got to think of the person who actually owns the house. There's a good reason why furniture etc in student houses is usually crap: because the house owners know that there's a good chance it'll be mistreated. There's no point in buying decent stuff, if it's just going to get trashed.
(EuroSong I love horse meat: best of all the animals, Mon 2 Mar 2009, 9:23, closed)

We did this
to a housemate but only on his bed, we didn't mind wrecking his sheets but didn't want to lose our deposit for damaging the carpet!
( Anthropos Was making beer on, Mon 2 Mar 2009, 9:32, closed)

Actually...
The cress came out well enough. We got most of the deposit back. They only fined us £30 to replace a chair that had holes burnt in it.
(slotbadger, Mon 2 Mar 2009, 10:48, closed)

Just a little question?
Exactly how high does un harvested cress grow. I might have to try this out.
(Pill Popper Thank you Sasha Shulgin, Mon 2 Mar 2009, 11:19, closed)

Well, it was impressive enough
But not particularly high. The conditions weren't ideal, and they went unwatered for a good two weeks, leaving them looking a little lackluster. You can grow cress in a lot of strange places though.
(slotbadger, Wed 4 Mar 2009, 8:50, closed)