I’ll definitely check out that YouTube channel. I’ve gotten a ton of gardening advice from there already. One thing I like about the planters is the water well that just about everything plant in has. If we pop away for a weekend in August, we don’t come back to plants wilted all the way to the ground.
If I did a raised deck planter I’d need to look in to a drip system or something to keep things wet back there. It is full sun and gets mighty hot during mid to late summer.
If you’re interested I made a decent self-watering thingy easy enough for anyone to make. Using jugs means you can seal it against mosquitoes, and you can easily refill with a garden hose.
That’s great. Since I live in Florida, keeping my tomatoes in the back yard watered isn’t an issue due to the rainy season. OTOH plants on the front porch have to be watered daily and sometimes we just forget. Nice find.
The neighbor behind me 20 years ago grew berries, and they spread like a weed. It took years to finally get rid of them.
We had artichokes, snow peas and beans earlier, but right now, especially with the heat settling in we are hoping the peppers, tomatoes and zuchinni do well.
But this has been probably the best year ever for our nectarine tree. It and the apricot are both turning ripe now, with the peaches and plums to follow.
If I get a million dollar settlement like Lt Winters I wanna move to a warm place and plant citrus trees and mangos. I think that’s my “retirement yatch”.
Not gonna lie, that’s pretty neat. And it easily wicks the water out of the jug without issue?
That’s kind of how those green planters work that you see in my back yard. The well at the bottom wicks up through two small areas where the potting soil goes all the way to the bottom. The plants LOVE it. I shifted to three of these this year and the plants in those are far above ones in normal planters. I’ll probably pick up a couple more for next season. There are online guides where people create the same thing seen here in either 5 gallon buckets or other types of containers.
I don’t remember, I only used it once or twice but I didn’t have a problem. The fatter the cotton, the more water it wicks. I do see how I raised the container with that styrofoam box so maybe I did need to raise it a bit after all. The best part of the design is it’s very foolproof and very very easy to make. You don’t need to buy anything fancy, just find an old t shirt to cut up. The bolt is important because it makes it heavy enough to prevent the wick from falling off. I originally tried to tie a knot on the inside but I think the water would get all caught up in the knot.
I do remember I added lots of tape to the wick afterwards to minimize waste. It is very good to keep an indoor plant alive for 2 weeks or so. I have not tried outdoors. Now that it’s 90 F+ I think plants may need a lot more wicking than this design. Maybe I will experiment again this year. I have a bunch of plants in containers now because trees have taken over my original grow area.
I do like those “earth boxes” but they are so expensive if you need a lot. $67 at amazon for a piece of plastic with holes and casters. I’d be better off getting PVC, mesh, and $5 food-grade buckets.
Yeah there are certainly DIY methods to do the same with cheaper supplies regarding the wicking grow boxes. I got em for roughly $34 each, but for that money could have just created a raised bed planter instead. The garden is always a work in progress though. How to plant, what to plant, where to plant it, it’s part of the fun.
So these are not edible but I figure this is as good of a place to show it. I am not much of a gardener, and I swear last year I got one bloom before it just fell over… this year I am getting a lot more and I propped her up.
Pretty!
That’s a very cool looking flower.
Awesome looking flower, Nesrie. What type is that?
Asian Lily?
I think my dad had those and he used to stake them up. Have you tried growing hybrid day lillies, they come in pretty colors like that and take less work.
Nice! and well deserving of being staked for support.
Speaking of stakes, if you do the tie tomato to stake thing, I like using velcro strips. They don’t wear out when you leave them in the winter, you don’t need scissors or knots, and they don’t cut plants like wire will.
I wish I knew. The previous owner had a lot of lillies, and this is one of them. I’ve spent some time supporting them and trying to make sure they got water. This year, int he midst of our heat wave, this one is just… doing super well. Most of my guests notice it when it’s blooming like this. Last year it did bloom and stood on it’s own but one day I came home and it had just fallen over. This hear I started supporting it the minute she showed up again to see if it would do better that way. I guess that works!
I didn’t want to speak for you you, but it is an Asian Lily :). We have many and they are so beautiful. But ours are much shorter unfortunately.
BTW, I don’t see how you’re supporting it. Is it a green stake in back that blends in?
Yes! My master plan must be working. Green stake and green Mircale Gro tie, which just looks like twisties to me but hey it’s holding up and was on sale.
And if you say it’s an Asian Lilly, well next time someone asks me I will say yes, that’s an Asian Lilly!
Oh my, you should see how crappy my stake jobs look lol. You are a MASTER!
