I have definitely grown a lot of things in non-food grade plastic tubs though. Guess I'll eventually be joining you all ;)
New Ebucket thread (we continue) PART III
I'm gonna miss all my D G friends , (until I join you )
Don't worry, Digger!
We're just gonna push up some daisy's for your spring garden!
I like daisys . Dmail fur ya .
On our walk yesterday I noticed a neighbor (in another street) had 5 gallon buckets growing tomatoes lined up on either side of her front steps.
I'm torn about whether to do it again this year. Linda! Help!!!
I was so discouraged by the wilt and whatever happened to my watermelon and my squash that I didn't much care after that. :(
I AM growing vegetables from seed and most are ready to plant out. A neighbor across the street moved in and there are 3 raised beds behind the house left by prior owners. I have helped her to plant one with some basic things using the Sq FT method. Most of the squares on the perimeter were raided by squirrels methinks, but some luck in the center with peas and beans.
There are 2 more beds. She knows nothing about gardening and her idea of weeding is tearing the greens off at soil level. When she went to "weed" the raised beds with me, I told her "no thanks." It took me 2 days to weed the first bed down to the ground to get most of those running weeds out. The beds are each 4' x 8' and not more than about 8" of soil above ground. Anyway.
The 2nd bed is weeded but I am going to put cardboard down and soil on top of that. The 3rd bed I have to cut down with shears first because weeds have gone to seed. UGH.
Anyway - still have the teepee trellis I made last year and have started the trionfono purple pole beans, but nothing else in buckets. Maybe because they were in front of the retaining wall (although at least 5-10 feet most of them) they didn't get enough airflow? I refuse to use chemicals to control pests/disease, so I'm pretty limited.
Thanks for any thoughts, pep talk, or kick in the pants.
A.
Kick in the pants LOL ! would you consider weed and grass killer ?Eliminator from W M is the same stuff as Roundup except stronger and much cheaper .
Digger, Same as RoundUp, but stronger and cheaper? Give me a link! Probably not liscensed in Ca. , but worth looking. My new neighbors paved their yard, and now I've got their tree roots comming up in my yard. I'm getting to old for all that shovel work!
OW!
thanks digger - will think about it. ;)
I don't have a clue how to give links , but if you Google Eliminator weed and grass killer , you should be able to bring up a bunch of sites . You could probably order it online if they don't sell it in Ca . If they let you buy Roundup , I don't know why you couldn't find it at WalMart. That's the only place I've found it . I buy the super concentrate , makes up to 42 Gallons and I mix it 2 1/2 oz to a gal of water in a hose end sprayer . My jug has lost the label so can't give you more info . I'll be going to town tomorrow and will report back . Oh , and it was around 25:00
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Eliminator-Weed-and-Grass-Killer-II-Concentrate-32-oz/17126444?adid=bzv_fb_revshr_001#Specifications ^^_^^
guess who?
Digger,
How do you keep this stuff from killing the St. Augustine grass? Sounds pretty potent!
This message was edited May 18, 2012 5:52 PM
I had access to the good RoundUp for years, but I'm retired now , and the 50% stuff is expensive at Home depot. I'll check out Eliminator. Not all herbecides are licenesed in all states.
Eliminator is still licenesed in Ca. so I'll check out the price. I have to admit I'm not crazy about usuing Diquat though.
Roundup's patent run out , so others got on the bandwagon .
G G , I use a hand sprayer to get a good clean edge around my beds and adjust the nozzle to a tiny straight spray . Hold it close to the ground and just control the spray . Gotcha bedroom ready fur ya at the coast this winter .
We have a LOT of honeysuckle here in Ga to control . It takes over everything , worse than kudzu .
You use this stuff just as you would Roundup . Only difference is strength ( So can mix leaner ) and price .I've used it ever since I first saw it right after Roundup's patent run out and only buy it now .
I compared several of R U 's products, and some say super concentrate , but when compared side by side with each other , very missleading
I've not done any gardening since I was a child helping my parents but I've been wanting to grow tomatoes for about 25 years now and decided to try the Ebuckets. I got two 5 gal buckets at home depot and all they had in the paint department were cloudy white translucent type with large black lettering. I should have looked around for a better color but at the moment I decided to get a can of textured spray paint. This paint did not cover well so I found some old tan, and gold left over spray cans to use as primer. It took 2 more cans of the textured to cover them well and I'd probably start with a better color base or just get a better color bucket - see attached picture. I used grey central vac pipe for the watering pipe since I had some and I think it looks a bit better with the thin wall and less obvious color. The colander that I used had to be cut down a lot and was not very strong in the end, so I put about a 4" leftover plastic pot in upside down with holes drilled in it to provide more support - it was just the right height. The colander I used had holes that I think are too big, but we'll see how it goes.
I purchased 2 Bonnie tomato plants in roughly 6" pots and should have looked at the variety, they are Black Prince variety. I wanted some Basil also and also got 2 Bonnie pots. They look crowded, and I'll probably do cherry tomatoes next year since I use more of them. It is very hot here in the North East but you never know when it will snap back much colder. I have no experience and am open to suggestions about growing them.
Thanks for the great ideas and all the info!
Pete B.
This message was edited Jul 8, 2012 5:47 PM
This message was edited Jul 8, 2012 5:53 PM
There were a few, what I think are Pillbugs (Isopoda?) in the tomato containers when I transplanted them and I'm wondering if I need to worry about them. I read that they like instant mashed potatoes that blow up inside them; should I just sprinkle some on top of the soil or push some down into it? One thing I'm wondering about, I believe that the overflow was intended to be say .5-1" below the top of the colander which should provide some air between the soil and the water; was this the intent to airate the soil? I included a hole in the watering pipe at the air level so that there is a path for more air than just from the overflow tube - a minor detail probably not important, not even sure if this is correct.
I used Fafard potting mix, and the following in each pot:
4 tbsp of garden lime
2 tbsp of Epsom Salt
2 tbsp of Osmocote
I'm not reliable about watering and I have a nice simple faucet timer so I just need a drip kit to set them up.
A few more pictures:
This message was edited Jul 8, 2012 6:10 PM
Pete - here's a link you might find helpful about bucket gardening
http://www.globalbuckets.org/
Thanks, so aeration is part of the design.
PeteB7 et al,
Here are two, step-by-step pictorials I put together on eBucket construction. They may be helpful:
Make An eBucket: http://allthingsplants.com/thread/view/3230/Make-an-eBucket/?offset=0
24" ePlanter conversion system 101: http://allthingsplants.com/thread/view/3231/24-ePlanter-conversion-system-101/?offset=0
Linda
This message was edited Jul 9, 2012 2:54 PM
Thanks everyone. A squirrel took all of the tomatoes, only had 3. I saw him running away with one in his mouth, lol!
I'm also planting blueberry plants but in our front beds. Dug the hole and it happened to rain. I noticed that even with it being about 18" deep it was not draining, not even by the next morning, the level was about the same, give or take an inch, with 6" in the bottom. Then it rained again and now there is about 12" of water in there that has not lowered much in the past 6 hours. Odd that it seemed to me that there was 5" of top soil, then what I would describe as sandy soil; it does not look like clay to me but I'm new at this. Anyway, I was wondering, before I even dug this hole, if there might be a way to make an e-bucket in the natural ground, or if there would be an advantage. It seems that this soil holds water really well and I could just put a collander in the bottom, but I have no control over how much water it gets when it rains so I suppose this would not work very well.
I've been advised to dig much deeper, another 1-2 ft and loosen up the soil so that it drains. I'll post in a better spot concerning this soil. Just wondering about an in ground Ebucket.
The tomato plants are growing strong now, we had an intense heat wave right after I transplanted them and they were not looking very good. I watered them a lot, probably too much. It cooled down and they are really growing now, the stems are probably twice the diameter since just 20 days ago when I transplanted them. They were not flowering and I did a lot of reading about this, then yesterday one is showing several flowers starting the other is not showing any signs of flowers and is not growing as strongly. I've stopped watering and am letting the timer system work which is set up to water about twice a week (skips 2 days). The feed hose fell out of one and I decided to fill it manually, then did the other just to see if it was already full. The drain was plugged on that one; this is the one with flowers and about 20% more growth. Perhaps I put the drain tube too low in the bucket so that there is not enough water, or perhaps it is just the intense heat that we've been having that is making it more favorable for more water.
I was at my daughter's home this morning and saw a large pile of used kitty litter buckets in her back yard. She thinks my son-in-law might have set them aside for me.
Keeping my fingers crossed!
A large pile of kitty litter buckets?! What a good son-in-law. Ha ha ha.. :)
Crossing my fingers for you girlie.
A.
I sure like my K L buckets . I can use less soil in them and not so heavy . Good for shallow rooted plants .Still use the e-bucket system .
Daughter has confirmed that the kitty litter buckets are for me. I just need to drive over there and pick them up!
I have an idea for an experiment using them...
Will keep y'all posted.
LIKE THIS?
I will leave the ones I have here in GA . I'll do ebuckets in Tex .
Digger, are you moving to Texas. If so I have many plants I can send you because you were so great sending me the Irises. No cost except a hug. Sharon
PS: Where are moving to in Texas?
O linda that's great - a hoop house too!
I wish I had more room here which is funny because it's already like, 10x what we had at the condo. Never enough room for plants. ;)
A.
Try using the Aqua Oasis Garden. Its complete and trouble free..Grow tomatoes, peppers, herbs, flowers. It's proven and patented. Has flushout design. I have had over a hundred plants this last year and plann to get 10 plus years out of the buckets.
Growking,
One AquaOasis unit costs $29.95 + shipping. That's a bit cost prohibitive for me.
Our colander eBucket design does the same thing. I can make one for $1.65...
A bucket, a basket, a green and yellow gasket ...
I collected suggestions for finding free large plastic buckets from another thread:
-----------------------------------------------
5-gallon plastic tubs:
I think this captures all the suggestions in one place:
car washes
burger joints (pickle tubs)
school cafeterias
restaurants (especially Asian)
bakeries & doughnut shops
delis
supermarket bakeries
supermarket delis
painters & drywall contractors (if they don't use plastic-lined cardboard tubs)
Home Depot ("Homer's buckets" or "Leaktite" in the paint isle 10/$30)
cat peoples' kitty litter tubs (maybe less UV-resistant)
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Gymgirl or somebody would you please start part IIII . We are at 230+ posts now. It takes awhile to scroll down to the latest posts. Fred
Ok! Thanks!
Ford , just above the word," content ", is a" skip to new ", and it'll take you to the bottom of the posts
Digger, Thank you, new enough here that I did not know about that feacher. Fred
Will start a new momentarily ...
I'm still learning too !
Digger
THIS THREAD IS CLOSED
New Thread here: New eBucket Thread, PART IV
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1295824/