Heres my makeshift greenhouse in my basement--I ran out of room up stairs with all my other plants--just hung the lites from the rafters--works for me and cheap--next pic is of work in progress--ok Im bored
basement greenhouse
I got this idea from Garden Gate--painting them and the pedestals and will set them in my flowers beds--yes Shirley the unpainted one is yours--thought I would practice on mine first
I'm bored too,let me get next game on that Foosball table!
Great light set-up! Love your leaf castings too!! What leaf did you use to make the impression?
Wow Cheryl, you don't hear me complaining. Great castings. Your basement greenhouse is something that I wish would work for me for all my plants, but it is too cool down there for some.
I used elephant ears--it was pretty easy to do and also kinda fun--i have never worked with concrete before----yes rootdoctor that is a foosball table--dont you have the keen eye--Iwould like to sell it and make room for more plants
Leaf castings look like so much fun to do! What a great arts & crafts project, plus you have the added benefit of using it in your garden too!!
Yes the castings are cool--I showed all my friends and I had to make them some too--now next summer Im going to try other leaves--they are suppose to be bird baths but I have 7 outside cats--so not to many birds in my yard--so I will use them just for looks
Cheryl: They are gorgeous. You did great girl. I thought they looked like EE's. I do have rhubarb that the leaves get huge on and also have EE's. I gotta try them next spring. Love the pink color. I have seen them done with hosta leaves too. I think they would look great just on the ground among flowers.
Debby: thanks the ones I saw were done with rhubarb leaves--they were neat--i didnt have any so i used EE's--if you do try them make sure on the backside of the leaves to put a 2 inch lip so the leaf sits on your pedestal--I'm working on the painting--they say to use a wash but i have already put 10 coats of paint on the leaves and i even made my wash real strong and its still doesnt cover well--good luck
Love your winter plant room.
Those plant castings are really clever! I think Kristi made some last year, maybe she has a solution for your paint problem, Cheryl.
Oh MY GOSH! I love those castings
I gotta learn how to do that!
crestedchik--The directions are on garden gate magazine--look up "sand cast a bird bath" then it tells you how to make a pedestal. I used vinyl cement patch for my concrete--it was real easy to do--like playdough--have fun!!
kell--I would like to try some other kind of paint--I used acryllic hobby paint for my wash--then when Im all done painting you use a concrete sealer--that's if I ever get done painting them--it just soaks right in the concrete!! The first coat you couldnt even tell I painted it!!
Maybe if you seal the concrete first the paint would go on easier. With mosaics a mix of one part Wellbond glue to 9 parts water is recommended to seal any porous material before adding the mosaic.
There's a good FAQ page on leaf casting posted on GW http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/accout/2002072754010311.html I've always wanted to try these too. Yours came out great :)
Kids moved out and I turned on of their bedrooms into my plant room. I have a huge gorilla rack with 8 lights - however, we got our first gas/elec bill and it was $$246 - yikes!! I may have to turn some of them off or else get a job!! Winter storm warning here tonight - blowing snow - police saying to 'stay off the roads' - it's the pits!! I reallyyyyy have cabin fever. Hey, are those hypertufa things you made?? I want to try them myself sometime.
sarve48---I just turned my lites on 3 weeks ago--hope my bill doesnt go up to much--or I guess I will have to let something else go--but not my plants!!!I dont exactly know what hypertufa is--I used a elephant ear from my garden--then piled sand up and put my ear on top of it and then put my concrete on and let it set for a day then let it cure for 1 week and it is ready to paint--was pretty easy and fun to do
I get Garden Gate too and I it's the one I like the most. The editors know what we want; clear and simple, straight-forward articles, good illustrations on projects, questions and answers, and of course eye-candy.
They are so collectable now that they come with 3 holes punched in them. I don't have the room to keep them all so I cut out the articles that I am most interested in and put them in a binder by subject. I also like Carolina Gardener. By the way I'm coming over to play foosball with rootdoctor.
woodspirit1---I just started getting Garden Gate and I really like it--great articles--I have never heard of Carolina Gardener. Yes, everyone will have to come over and we will have a foosball tournment!!!!!Lucky you live down south--it is -7 outside and I have to go out and feed my horses--just hate the cold!!
My Daughter-in-law works for Garden Gate. The last two years she has given me 3 yrs. of the magazine for Christmas. They are in a nice 3 ring notebooks by the year.
Debby-enjoy "Garden Gate" magazine. It's one of my favorites. I keep it handy and refer to it often!
Shirley1md: Yes, I am enjoying them. I have about 1 1/2 yrs. left to read. So much to absorb. I am going to try the plant castings this year. They are so nice.
That is so cool! I love crafting things, just never enough time... Yours look great! I saw the magazine on a newstand last week for the 1st time but didn't have a chance to thumb through it and didn't buy. Yesterday I received a solicitation to subscribe. Sounds like it is worthwhile. How long has it been in existance? Thanks, Gretchen
I would be very happy to have a basement greenhouse if I cant have one outside. But sadly I know the dogs and kids would end up killing or shredding and then they would hide the evidence(yes the dogs too). I love what you did with those EE thats pretty cool, one day I too will have time.
Dravencat--I keep the door closed so all my cats and dogs keep out--my kids are older-one left to leave the nest--then I can see how the empty nest works--you should try to make the castings--they were pretty easy and fun--now Im thinking what I can make this summer--of course in all my spare time
I'd be very happy with a basement.......
I need to put up a gate or something then, its a split level and we had the door and wall taken out so it would be more open and could keep an eye and ear on the kids.
Oh how I wish I had a basement. It would be so much easier than a GH and much more room.
If the basement is tall enough,mine is pretty low,that limits what can be brought down.
I'm thinking that next fall I'll take those that I'm going to grow in 1 or 2 gallon pots, down to the basement and just lean them into a corner. I'm getting tired of tossing everything and starting over. Have to find out if Bonnie bored holes in her gallon pots that she dug into the ground.