potting bench set up? how are you set up?

Hi All!
I wanted to know what you all keep on your potting bench and how you organize it. I use it for setting up my winter sowing flats and cuttings. My hubby built me a potting bench and now I'm trying to figure out what will be the best thing to outfit it with. I'm thinking of some sort of system for storing the potting soil underneath and maybe some other soil additives like sand, lava rock or peat. It's basically a tall little table 3x4ft. with a little shelf i set on top of it.
I'd love to hear how you guys have yours set up. This is a very basic set up. Just trying to streamline my process so i can do it throughout the day without a big set up and breakdown.
Thanks!
Lydia

I don;t really consider mine a potting bench after seeing so many set up , on here , sinks and running water , full sets are are beyond me for now .
I have a wrought iron stand with table and a motor table (small lathe type ) I use , Two shelf , one corner of the patio , and another grated table top on a stand , not fancy but it works ..

Not real organized , pots under the tables and in another corner of the patio (there are lots) soil under on the shelf or the corner under the pots ..
Kind of stack it the corner goes on .. but it functions , easy ,quick to get to everything ..

I have a potting bench which is well organized with pots and saucers stored underneath and hooks on the back for hanging trowel, whisk broom, shears, etc and a shelf above that for small items like rooting powder, string, etc but I never use it for that. I use it with a huge plastic saucer to grow seedlings and cuttings. I do my potting at the kitchen sink. I root a lot of cuttings in water on the bar in front of my (flourescent lights) sink and I go outside and fill the pot with soil and bring it to the sink to pot up the rooted cuttings. I think one of the things that keeps me from using my potting bench is the mosquitos or sometimes it's the heat out doors. Im scratching my head right now, trying to figure out how to get some use of that potting bench for well...potting. I dont think Im sure why I havent used it for the purpose intended. I think having a sink might make me use it but I dont know.

Hm interesting. Ive done seed starting in my kitchen but get so irritated with the mess.

I built my potting bench myself starting with a garage table.
I dumpster dove and got a cool old sink.
I put a plastic box (from dollar store) under the grate to collect the door.
Bought an old furnace grate but you could use an old wire self from a refrigerator and when I am filling my pot with new expensive potting soil the extra falls to the plastic box below

One thing I didn't do which is the one thing that would help is to put a bucket and another grate for the old used soil.
The shelf above is very handy and I can change the height because the shelves are held up by pieces of cut wood. So if I decide they are too tall I can put shorter pieces of wood or taller with bigger pieces of wood.

Hope this helps.

So clever. Attractive too. Sure gets me thinking...

I looked at LOTS of pics of potting benches and thought about it for a couple of years. I was given a potting bench but they are just too small for me.

One thing you might come up with a better way than I could think of. When I am potting I open the door under the grate, pull the plastic storage box (with lid) out part way. That way I have a scoop to get the potting soil out of the plastic box and the pot goes on the grate and the excess soil falls back into the box. Hope this makes sense? You might think of a better way, without having to open the door but it works great for me.

This is what I started with, from that work bench then using that pattern I built the rest of the bench.

Hope this helps.

Now I am even more impressed. And just look at the greenhouse in the background.

I'm pretty impressed too, that's one great potting bench...great job!

My husband, Jack, made a potting bench for me in 2006. When we got rid of the kitchen granite I had a big piece put on top never knowing it would become very hot in the sun. The umbrella in the photo is heavenly. I put the potting mixes in a big barrel, add lots of Perlite, and just fill my pots directly over the barrel, as needed - no mess to clean up when I'm done.

Trays are kept in a plastic basket under the table and I keep bowls in a plastic milk crate. In the photos it looks neat enough underneath the top but seldom stays that way for long!

rofl, pirl same here mine is never clean unless I have other gardeners over...rofl. Good idea on the big blue barrel. I also us a big umbrella for shade, don't want a solid roof cause it is too cold in the spring and fall, umbrella works perfect. At first I didn't put doors but then decided I need to hide alot of the mess. I stapled screen in the doors so I can see thru but it still hides my mess.

Oh I wish that was a greenhouse in the background, that is the duck and chicken taj mahal is what I call it...rofl dh went a little overboard, dang maybe I should get rid of the animals and turn it into a greenhouse! lol That is the south side and it is covered screened in porch...then next to it is the chicken house portion, then the north side is an outside run.... here is a pic of it during construction guess i don't have one of it complete.

Love the Taj Mahal!

thank you pirl, you know I would of never thought about the granite getting hot but that makes sense. Oh the thing I forgot on my bench is the wooden slat top lets the water run down to the shelves so who ever is reading this think about that. I have everything in storage boxes. I was thinking of putting something over the wood slates on mine so water wouldnt run thru the bench and had looked at granite because salvation army restore has lots of pieces of granite. . But I think I will try to figure out something else.

When mine had the wooden top the water would leak through as well.

I started using plastic boxes on the shelf but they all cracked with the cold of winter. Then I went to an old refrigerator basket and some coated wire baskets. It would be best to unload everything and bring it all in for winter but I doubt that day will ever come.

The only plastic containers that haven't cracked were the coffee "cans".

Formica might be the way to go, everything else I think of would heat up. My plastic boxes haven't cracked yet. Just tired of water pooling on top of the lids. whine whine whine...lol

If the the wood was all close together , I would say
""This Looks Like A Job For Mighty Seal ""

If not Clear paint over over sealing tape or over duct tape Your choice of color of course ..

Brings to mind a potting bench Table top with racing stripes (zoom ,,, , sorry for the silliness ,, , only maid myself laugh when I witted that ... ^_^

Yes A water clean up joke there also as I can't spell and type anymore either , and can not edit my post either ,, Would not let me , this time
Nice set-ups , BIG SIGH ) For, oh someday

Yeap you are right we need mighty seal...lol