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Dollar store plant plugs
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Posted by chuck Z10,SW FL (n6xf@yahoo.com) on Fri, Jun 27, 08 at 16:49
| When I first started on this project, everything was pretty simple. Set up a vertical tube, put a pipe with small holes drilled in it down the center, fill the tube with potting soil, make plant holes in the tube, insert plants, connect a water hose to the internal pipe with the holes to water. Then, I started getting some ideas and some advice here and there. Now, what I have is the vertical tube with a halo sprinkler at the top, a base tank with a continously running pump, and a constant film of water running down the inside of the tube. So, how to get the plants to grow on the outside of the tube? After some good suggestions, I decided to use something that would soak up moisture. I found some foam hair curlers at the dollar store. They are about 1 inch in diameter, and about 3 inches long. They have a hole running throug the axis of the foam tube with a light weight plastic clip for the hair attached. I remove the plastic clip, cut the foam tube into two 1 1/2 inch peices. Then, to insert the tiny seedling, I cut up through the center hole so that the foam tube can be opened up. I place the seedling in the center and close the foam back up with the small leaves coming out one end, and the small roots out the other. Cutting through the aluminum wall of the vertical grower tube causes a lot of water to bleed out. A little bending of the metal around the hole reduces the leakage some, and then the foam plug is inserted into the hole root first. Sound fun? Well it is kind of fun. I hope that the little plants can addapt to their new environment, and don't drown. I stuck several plants into the system yesterday, and they still looked healthy today, so a added all the rest of the little guys today. My main concern now is that a really heavy hard rain might rip the little plants apart. Pictures will help make the discription easier to follow. Use the link below and click on the plugging link to see the results. chuck |
Here is a link that might be useful: pictures o f foam curler plant pluging
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Dollar store plant plugs
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| Wow chuck, you're a real innovator. This is starting to look very sexy! Well done. |
RE: Dollar store plant plugs
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| Hi greystoke, well I am having some concerns about adding the nutrients to the water in the tank. Being that the tube is aluminum, there may be some etching. I wonder if the aluminum itself might be a problem with the edibility of the spinach. Any ideas? Maybe I ought to just use foliar feeding. chuck |
RE: Dollar store plant plugs
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Well, Alu wouldn't have been my first choice, but . . it dissolves more easily in alkaline solutions, so if you keep the pH close to 7 (6.5 is a good number) I don't think you're gonna die of alzheimer in a hurry.
Remember, a few years ago most pots were made of alu . . . and we're still here. |
RE: Dollar store plant plugs
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| Oh my project is not doing so well. But, I am going to let it run for a while longer to see how the curlers work out. But, at this time, I can't recommend it to anyone. chuck |
RE: Dollar store plant plugs
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| Those curler plant plug things are a great idea. I bet those would be perfect for a lot of the various cloner systems people use. Most hydroponics only use the medium as a way to support the plant. This is a decent solution to cut out the middle man. |
RE: Dollar store plant plugs
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| Well, the vertical grower is now horizontal, and six foot under, so to speak. But the intresting thig is that I pulled out all of the hair curler plugs with the young plants in them and put them in a pan. I have been giving them some water everyday now and they are all still doing pretty well for their pitiful situation. I feel so sorry for them that I am going to plant them in the next day or two in the new trough system I am building. |
Here is a link that might be useful: from vertical to horizontal trough, no Aluminum this time
RE: Dollar store plant plugs
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| Looks pretty cool. Spinach, right? Grow some big tomatoes and give extras away to your neighbors - that'll generally keep 'em from complaining about your gardening. |
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