Growth Containers for Gardening (Hab)

[Oldman]

Hab,

It seem I lost a few parts of the plans during my last crash. However, I do believe once you look over what I have here you will have no problem building them yourself.  Next there are several ways  to do this. This first images is to give you an overall idea of how a growth container works. The soil is that mixture I posted but you can use premade soiless mixtures. Do not use ground soil. [xx(] Also the wick itself is the soiless mixture. In this design the PVC pipe also is your aeration device. They stick out the sides of the container and have holes drilled in the side of them from one end to the other. We must have aeration in a close system which is what a growth container is. Otherwise the wrong things will grow.

What this type of system allows is for the plant to eat and drink as needed without ever drying out the soil or stressing the plant due to over watering. (Blossom End Rot on fruit.)



Step 1
Cut the top out as shown in this picture. Save both pieces. The center piece you cut out will become the top of the reservoir. It will keep the soiless mixture from entering the reservoir.


Step 2
The person that made these used 4 1qt paint cups as support for the top of the reservoir. Where two of them go he cut out the center of the lid and they became not only support but wicking devices. Do note as it does in the picture that the holes cut for the wicks are smaller then the outside of the 1 qt paint cups.

Next there are a total of 3 holes cut here. The two for the wicks and one for the water fill PVC piping. The size PVC pipe I suggest using is large enough to allow the end of your water hose to fit down into the PVC pipe.


Step 3
Now in this picture you will note a round outline in the center of the lid. This is where a center support (PVC)will be added under the lid. Next, you will see several small holes drilled around that center area and around the outline of the four 1qt support cups.


Step 4
In this picture you can see where he strapped everything together. Do note you need to drill out holes at the top of the cups and the center support piece for the straps. At the bottom  you need about 4 holes in each of the 4 cups. The bottom hole on the wicks are there so the water can enters the wick area.


Step 5
Now in this type of growth container we need to drill out holes in the top of the lid so there will be access to the area of aeration. It looks like he used a 3/8" drill to me. I would rather see more holes at 1/4".


Step 6
Now we need to cut the water fill pipe.


Step 7
Time to put it all together. You will note in this picture there are areas that are noted as a concern. Plus I would also pop rivet the top to the sides of the box. What you don't see in these plans is where he place his water overfill hole/ or pipe. I suggest at least four 1/2" holes drilled through the body of the container just below the lid of the reservoir. Besides allowing excessing water out it allow fresh air in for aeration.


Finish Product. What you will notice is he has black plastic on the top of the soil and he is holding that in place using the rim of the lid.  The reason for this is he has 2 cups of chemical fertilizers as "bands" running across the top of the soil. This is his attempt to keep rain water from flushing that massive fertilizer down into the root system thus killing his plants.  If you wish to use chemical fertilizer then mount up the soil at the top so the water runs off of the plastic.


Ok here are some pictures of my 8 foot container. I have two this size.










This is a banana I planted in one of the larger containers.


This is it a few months later. Next to it is what I call my standard size container. It was make using the PVC pipe to support the lid as shown in the first image this posting.


In this last picture just to show you that any type of container can be used This is the one I planted into the ground for my artichoke plant.


So by now I'm sure you got the idea of how to put one together. If you need any help or get stuck on anything just give me an yell.

Oh ya one more item. If you use chemical fertilizers you can only go two years max with the soiless soil. This is because it is a closed system and the salts from the chemicals will built up in the soil. Those salts will kill your plants by the 3rd or 4th year.  Kind of like Mother Earth being a closed system but she is just bigger so it will just take a little longer.

Hab I've been growing things for years. When I want vegetables or fruits I use these type containers. Shoot I even have a dwarf lime tree in one. I've grown watermelons in them where I hung the mellon in a woman's nylon stocking hanging on the side of afence. I live in the city so growing vertical makes good sense.

Try one of this containers and you will have your peppers coming out of your ears.
Olds

[Oldman]

Hey can you tell me what is funny about this picture? Now I have done this before and it is a hoot; however, this one is not a picture of one that I did.


Now NO peeking until you give up.
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The flowers are growing out of the top of the container. The tomato plant is growing out of the bottom hole of the container.  It totally freaks people out when they see tomatos hanging from the edge of my roof~~! Too funny uh? [:D]

I've done all kinds of nuts-o things in gardening. Sometimes just to see what reaction I get.

Like the time I ran out of room in the back yard so I grew corn in the front.... As my sister said at the time...Raye there is just too damn much Polock in you~~! [:0]

Or the time I took 10,000 yellow cosmos flower seeds and seeded my neighbors side yard (it was dirt only and he did not care what it looked like.) They are the type of cosmos that only grows 18 inches tall. Man o man talk about a wall to wall orange and yellow area of flowers. He never did figure it out, but he like it. [;)]

I have other "gardening stories" but enough is enough.

Olds

[Habanero Smoker]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Oldman</i>
<br />Hey can you tell me what is funny about this picture? Now I have done this before and it is a hoot; however, this one is not a picture of one that I did.
Olds


<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
At first I thought the tomatoes were growing from the ground, beneath the hanging flowers.

Thanks for posting the plans; looks like I will have a winter project to work on.

Right now I'm in the process of packing up my computer. I'm moving out for 3-6 weeks; I should have been out of here yesterday. Hopefully I will be able to hook up to the internet in a few days.