Show Us Your Veg Patch - You Know You Want To!! (Merged Thread)

kazwookie

Squiggle37, well done what lovely bright colours.

hathor

Squiggle37

I've never had anything to do with hanging baskets and flowers, but I'm thinking of raising some lizzies from seed and doing a couple of baskets for my Mum next year. Yours look great: how many plants did you put in each basket to achieve such a "full" result? Loads, or do they spread out?

Primrose

Squiggle - a lovely display! I bet it brightens your postman's day every time he walks up your front path.

squiggle37

hathor wrote: »

Squiggle37

I've never had anything to do with hanging baskets and flowers, but I'm thinking of raising some lizzies from seed and doing a couple of baskets for my Mum next year. Yours look great: how many plants did you put in each basket to achieve such a "full" result? Loads, or do they spread out?

I bought a few packets of half priced seeds from wilkinsons last year, i just grew them all and ended up with loads, the flower pouches (2 for 99p from wilkinsons) took 10 plants my ball hanging basket took about 30 plants, I got them to spread out by taking the buds off, its only in the last couple of weeks i have let them flower, as you can see I had spares so i filled the side of my ugly looking shed with them. Looks lovely when i look out of patio window.
Oh I also filled one of those 3 tier metal baskets thingies thats on a stand with lizzies, I only moved into this house 6 months ago and everyone on close has said something about my flowers good way to get to know new neighbours too.
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z27/nottsfem/P7150150.jpg
hope that helps
Ange

[Deleted User]

squiggle ~ WOW they turned out great!!

wokkies

Needs a good weeding at the minute and is a bit crowded, but we have potatos, runner beans, broad beans, beetroot, lettuce.

hathor

Thanks for that, Squiggle.
A project to tackle for next year, I think. Haven't the pouches spread out well on your shed? Much prettier!

kazwookie

I have never planted pouches, I think I am off to look for some, and see what I can do for this year.

hathor

Kazwookie

One point to bear in mind. As the plants in the pouches get established, the pouches quickly become full up with roots, so it can be difficult to get water down to the lower ones. If you incorporate a tube into the middle of the pouch (perforated is even better) and leave the free end poking out of the top, the roots will spread around this and you can water right to the base via this tube without harming the roots.

I have seen similar arrangments with the big containers of plants the Council puts in the Town Square, which they water via a "leaky hose" in the centre, rather than spray water over the tops of the blooms, most of which wouldn't get to the soil surface, never mind reach the plants at the base.

hathor

Why Self-Watering Containers?

Most veg – except herbs – do better with constantly moist soil/compost than in soil/compost which is moistened then dries out until it is next watered. They need the water to deliver nutrients as well as for transpiration (it’s like breathing) by which they draw moisture and nutrients via the roots from the soil, up through the plant. Much of this water is then evaporated from the leaves (like exhaling). It is the transpiration process which provides the capillary action to deliver resources throughout the plant. So much for the biology lesson.

Thirsty plants, such as tomatoes in fruit, use a lot of water (up to a gallon a day) which is difficult to deliver by watering, especially if you’re not a full-time gardener. Also, conventional watering (in at the top, out at the bottom) tends to wash nutrients out of the soil, so more fertiliser/plant food is needed.

You can buy ready-made self-watering containers (self-watering hanging baskets are readily available) or kits to convert other containers, but I needed a cheap solution.

Thus was born Hathor’s Home-made Self Watering Containers.

You will need:

• A container (obviously!) Choose one with the required depth for soil/compost and water reservoir. This should not have drainage holes in the bottom. Most of mine are black stacking 30ltr storage crates from Argos (017/6776) @ £7.99 for 6. Black is good for keeping light off the roots, and should warm up faster in the Spring.
• Something to create the reservoir. I have made a false bottom using plastic corrugated “board” which I get free from Asda where it is used to separate the layers of milk cartons. They put them aside “out the back” for recycling anyway, so were quite happy to give me what was there. Use what you have to hand, as long as it can cope with the wet and is easy to cut to size. On a bigger crate I used a plastic crate lid from a larger size (purchased from B & Q) which fitted nicely inside with an even gap.
• Spacers to stand the false bottom on, above the container’s base. I started by using sections of 1 ½ in waste pipe left over from a plumbing job, cut to the required depth, but as I am too feeble to do this for myself and OH is absent, I am now using disposable dessert dishes @ 90p for 40. My crates take 6 to give plenty of support for the false bottom. Again, use what you have to hand to create the gap you want.
• A wick to deliver the water from the reservoir into the soil. I have used capillary matting @ £1.50 per yard. Earth boxes (another form of SWC) use the soil/compost itself as the wick by cutting out two corners from the false bottom so the soil/compost goes right into the reservoir in those areas, but I didn’t like the idea of it spreading across the whole reservoir area as I shovelled the soil/compost in, reducing the capacity for the water.
• A filler tube to get the water into the reservoir. Initially I used ¾ in overflow pipe, drilled at one end to let the water out (‘cos it’s going to be standing on one open end) but as above, I needed an alternative. I’m now using ½ in plastic pond hose @ 65p per metre. With a rigid filler pipe you can add a floating marker (I made mine out of a cut-down wine cork – sadly, I had to drink the wine first – speared with a wooden kebab skewer, and marked off with indelible pen) but now I don’t bother, I just top up the containers anyway till the reservoir is full.
• An overflow so the container doesn’t get waterlogged by too much filling. This is a simple hole drilled in the container wall at the depth of the underside of the false bottom, and I just fill/top up till I see water appear from this hole. Simple enough even for me!

Now for the assembly.

Stand the container on the false bottom (FB) board, draw around it, and cut out the FB. Bear in mind that you will be tucking the capillary matting around all four sides of this, so it will have to be trimmed back so that the finished size allows for this.

Next organise the spacers. The board I use isn’t all that strong, so I like to support it well. You could use fewer spacers if your board was a bit more rigid. So that the spacers don’t displace any water in the reservoir, severely reducing its capacity, I cut little wedges out of the rims, so the water can flow throughout the reservoir area. You can fasten these down or not, as you prefer. I have used brown parcel tape, but gaffer tape would do equally well.

Arranging the overflow is the only tricky bit, as many containers have a rim on the underside which disguises their true depth (haven’t we all felt diddled when we found this on cartons of cream, yogurt & the like and realised the pots were smaller than we thought?) or else the base is quite thick.

First measure the outside depth (height?) from the rim of the container to the workbench. Then measure the internal depth of the container, subtract this from the external measurement, and make a note of this figure.

Then lay the FB on top of the spacers and measure carefully (inside the container) from the base to the underside of the FB. This will be the depth of the reservoir. Add this figure to the “difference” figure you just calculated, to give you the height of the overflow hole.

Measure the overflow distance from the workbench up the outside of the container, and mark it. I used a blob of Snopake as I have black crates, but anything you can see would do. Then drill a small hole through the wall of the container where you have marked it. I have put one overflow hole in the middle of both the long side and the short side of my crates, so whichever way I place them on the balcony, I will still be able to see the overflow.

Measure the internal height of the container, add a couple of inches to obtain the length of filler tube required, and cut this to size. As you will be “standing” this on one end, make a hole or holes in the “walls” of the hose at one end to let the water out. With the pond hose, I just cut two slits and cut off the “tab” between them to make a notch or slot.

Attach the filler hose with the water outlet facing inwards, to the wall of the crate with waterproof tape as above, making sure that it reaches the bottom of the container. This can be at any position you think will be convenient. I like to plant things in the corners, so allowing for the foliage to be in the way, I place the filler hose halfway along one side, for ease of access.

Offer the FB on top of the spacers, mark and cut out a notch to allow it to sit in place with the filler tube passing through it.

Lay the FB on top of the capillary matting, with a margin all around it equal to the depth of the reservoir, so that the “overhang” will reach the base of the container when the FB is laid on the spacers. (Think of it like a tablecloth.) Cut to size.

Mark the position of the filler tube notch and cut two slits in the matting, so this “tongue” of fabric can be pressed down, allowing the FB to nestle up to the filler tube.

I have found it easier to handle by making cuts at the corners of the capillary matting and folding each corner up in turn around the FB, stapling these in place so you make a sort of shallow tray with the FB inside. That way you can handle the mat and FB at the same time without needing three pairs of hands, and the edges tend to tuck themselves in.

Place the FB on top of the spacers, with the mat on top of it, and locating the notch for the filler pipe. Ensure that all four sides of the mat are tucked into the container.

Fill up the container on top of the capillary matting with soil/compost of your choice, moisten as desired and add seeds/plants.

Place in final position, add a funnel to the filler hose and fill up reservoir with water until you see it appear at the overflow. If you have used dry-ish compost, it will take up quite a bit of water from the reservoir until it is evenly moistened, so it’s worth checking the reservoir after a few hours for topping up.

Thereafter, just top up with water or feed once a day or less as required. You will get to know how long you can leave each one by how much water it takes to top it up, depending on the weather, what you have in the container, and how big you made the reservoir. The plants will take what they need, which will be instantly compensated by the capillary matting, so long as there is water in the reservoir, so they always have ideal moisture levels as dictated by themselves. This also can cut down on watering duty if you are busy, absent or just not in the mood!

To illustrate this description, I have uploaded a few work-in-progress pics (I’ll apologise now for the poor focus etc, but the containers are now planted, so I couldn’t re-do them) plus a simple diagram.

http://s332.photobucket.com/albums/m345/OneHathor/

I'd love to hear anybody's thoughts on the above, and if you have a go, let us know how you get on, won't you?