Do you do "no-dig, no-weed gardening"?

A book by Raymond P. Poincelot (c1986) by that title is very interesting. Do any of you follow his gardening proceedures? I'm especially wondering about planting in slit styrofoam cups with 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 perlite and 1/3 sphagnum moss and the syrofoam peanuts. Have you had success with it?

i probably wouldn't use styrofoam myself. but i did just go order his book. i found it used at alibris.com after i read it i'll try to remeber to come back here...

Thanks TamaraFaye, I like to know your opinion of his methods.

To anyone who has ever used his methods, I'd like to know your opinion. The book is copyrighted in 1986 which is less than 10 years, I'd like to know if you found his methods to be successful and helpful.

I haven't read his book but read some reviews about it. I wouldn't call this method "his gardening procedures", many people before him have done the "no work garden". Ruth Stout comes to my mind immediately.

From reading the book review he points out some very valid facts and many of them could be utilized in most people's gardens.

Barbur, can you tell us more about planting in the styrofoam cups, and why? Am always interested in different ways to do things, would love to hear more.

Corny, will be awaiting your review and comments. (And don't forget the BookWorm!) ;>)

Corny,
Poincelot stresses the importance of having a healthy rootball on transplants with lots of healthy feeder roots on the surface because they take up the water and nutrients. In order to encourage healthy feeder roots he says the plant needs lots of localized aeration so they have oxygen. He uses syrofoam cups that he modifies. First, 3 holes are placed in a triangle pattern in the bottom using a drill bit, or large nail. Then using a double-thickness hacksaw blade, he cuts 3 slits upward from each of the holes to below the cup rim. Then he makes 3 more slits halfway between each existing slit, from under the rim and half way down the cup. He says the air that enters the cup through the slits bathes the surface of the root ball with oxygen and the root ball slides easily out of the cup. He uses a bulb planter for digging holes in the garden to plant in so the root ball formed by the cup slides easily into the hole. In his growing media he uses sphagnum moss, vermiculite and perlite with styrofoam peanuts (used as packing material) added to increase aeration and improve drainage. He says, "The feeder roots seem to thrive at the surface, most likely a result of excellent aeration and the diffusion of water and nutrients. Evaporation pulls the water and nutrients to the surface of the root ball. The slits admit air and help to increase surface evaporation on the sides of the root ball." This is the short version of what he does, there are many more details and photos in his book to show the gardener how to do it which he says can be done quickly (and they are inexpensive). I haven't tried this method of growing transplants, but it does sound interesting.

He (and his friend Bill) give very detailed instructions for everything from how to save on hard labor by using no-dig methods to how to beat weeds, bugs and diseases without using chemicals.

Surely there are some of you that have tried the method for growing transplants, I would like to know if it will produce the results that he claims.
Barb

Well, for me, I grow so many transplants it would be an increase in labor for me to cut and work with so many styrofoam cups. Modern-day cell packs, flats, nursery pots, etc are designed with holes for drainage; some even have ridges along their sides to inhibit root-circling, etc.

I don't seem to have any problem with lack of aeration as that can be easily accomplished with a proper medium and correct watering. I bet you'd enjoy doing an experiment with both types of transplants, Barbur.

I'm not quite sure I'd want the feeder roots to stay on/near the surface of the root ball. It seems to me that would increase the need for water and would also tend to be quite a shock when you set your transplants out into the garden.

However, I found a used copy of the book on Amazon for only $2.00! Will be an interesting read I'm sure. Thanks for bringing up this topic Barbur.

hey, that was MY copy! LOL

i got istracted & didn't get to go through check out

no,wait, that was a different site

Shoe, you just love to brag on those bargains, don't you?

Next chance i get, i will be getting it. i may even post a request in the book swap thread in general discussion forum...hmmmmm.

here is a link about the "air-pruning method", Barb...
http://agebb.missouri.edu/mac/agopp/arc/agopp027.txt

tf

hahah!....Corny...it was your post above that made me go search for the book! By the way, they had quite a few folks selling it, the lowest price was 1.99 and others were only 2 bucks and up. Check it out at Amazon.

(And yes, I'm a serious miser and love a bargain!)

That does sound like interesting reading!

I recently picked up tropicals at a big sale. I had to dump and clean some to mail them to someone else. I was oddly suprised to find they were planted in soiless mix with styrofoam balls instead of perlite. Is that a common thing or no?

Not too uncommon, BS. I've used the styro-peanuts and such for large containers. Not only does it help a tad bit with drainage but also takes up some room in the big pots so you don't have to use as much potting mix. Another big plus is that for large containers it makes it easier for folks to pick them up and move them around; really decreases the weight of the container.

I'm working on starting an upstairs patio container garden and all of the books I've read on the subject at least mention using Styrofoam cups/peanuts in the drainage layer to cut down on weight. I don't have any Styrofoam and I can't see buying some for this purpose, but it makes sense, it doesn't biodegrade so your drainage layer won't break down, it's light weight, and it seems like it would be easy to set-up a layer that holds enough water but drains easily especially if you used the peanuts. The only qualm I have about it is that it seems like it might compact over time and cut off drainage. Maybe mix in some rocks? Also, if you already have the Styrofoam, it seems a far better disposal method then the garbage dump, or at least more use out of it before it goes.

I don't know about the aeration part but the reasons listed already seem to apply somewhat for planting in the ground as well and the cup isn't strong enough, especially with several holes cut in it that it will create a root bound plant like a more standard plastic container might. Drainage is important in ground plants as well as containers. My mom lost a couple plants to root rot shortly after we moved back to WA after living in CA due to the ground that she planted them in holding too mach water.

zhinu, A hearty WELCOME TO DG!

I just rec'd the above-mentioned book but haven't had the time (or taken the time) to even look thru it yet.

Poincelot claims that the styrofoam peanuts "promotes exceptional, rapid root growth." He adds them to the potting mix at a rate of 1 gallon (by volume) to 4 gallons of growing medium. "Their addition not only improves drainage but, more importantly, also increases the aeration of the growing meixture." I was hoping someone had already tried this but I guess I'll have to try it and see what happens.

Let us know how it works.

Like I mentioned above, I've only used it in big pots. However, to ease my mind I was getting concerned about any toxicity styofoam would have so did a few web searches.

It appears the worst toxins are given off from styrofoam are mainly through it being on fire and the cyanide/toxins are released in the smoke. When kept in a stabilized form there is no toxins, or very little, given off. However, from one web site they have notice some plants can suffer from it. Taken from
http://www.growingedge.com/community/archive/read.php3?c=GM&q=816

"We have found that some types of Styrofoam and polystyrene seem to have some sort of toxicity problem with plants. Over time, when in contact with the nutrient and especially if the roots try to grow into the material, phytotoxicity problems begin to show on the plants. This has occurred with one system we had. The plants begin to look like they had severe mineral deficiencies or toxicities with stunted, twisted, and puckered leaves and yellow leaf margins--even though testing showed no problem with nutrient solution itself. This doesn't seem to apply to all Styrofoam and polystyrene materials, and I am not sure what might happen with the type used for packing, but it might be something to watch out for."

Also note, the above symptoms happened when used in an aeroponic growing system, not a soil system. However, the symptems they described might be something to keep an eye out for so just wanted to bring it up.

Happy Gardening!
Shoe.

i've been using "peanuts" in the bottoms of my containers for a couple of years now. when i pull a plant out to re-pot, it more or less is still in quite good shape, doesn't break down too much. it does make it lighter and also makes for better drainage. i also used them for orchids. the orchid roots don't mind a bit attaching to styrofoam. i really hate peanuts. i hate when i open a box and it's full of them-blowing everywhere, sticking to everything. since i was ebaying alot back then i came up with the pot idea. it worked for me. debi

Interesting trackinsand, now I wish I hadn't thrown away all those peanuts.

very interesting .... as most of my gardening is in containers ... I am always looking for "no dig" "no weed" methods. Anyway I am missing something here....why does this guy need chainsaws and drill bits to cut into styrofoam cups?

Good question.;)

sedrick, That seems like overkill doesn't it! They are not electrically powered. The saw blade is a hack saw blade broken in half and glued together to get the correct thickness. The drill bit is used to the get the holes about 1/4 to 3/8 inch in diameter.

Sedrick, I working on the same type of garden. Have you looked at Linda Yang's books? That's where I've gotten the most useful information on container gardening.

Zhinu ... I havent read any books here lately....but that might be a good idea. I have loads of gardening books and most refer to container gardening but nothing significant. I even installed a drip irrigation to go around my courtyard ...which I thought was essential for this hot Texas weather, but the maintainance of the small tubing and emitters requires too much work. Its works fine for the raised bed and and under the fence, but I have about a hundred pots out there and I am still using the water hose.:)
Sylvia

From advice I received here on DG, I used packaging peanuts in the bottom half of my larger containers this summer. Shoe is definitely right in saying that a major bonus is in the reduced weight :) Those things are heavy all filled up with soil! The peanuts added extra drainage and took up room for me. Cool trick, huh? I'll definitely do it again :)

Jacci