hiddenleaf41996
Member
So let me start off by saying that I know that the concept of what im thinking of isn't new. People have been hanging plants up for awhile now. But I recently have been putting allot of thought into guerrilla growing and how I could pull it off in a metroplex setting. These thoughts led me on to what I believe to be a new design (or at least an old design revamped) and some flaws I would like to discuss with the community before put it into practice. I drew a diagram and scanned it, if I can figure out how to attach it I will. WitHout further ado, let me explain my concept. This is all I have conceived right now, under this I'll explain my problems.
Supplies:
Large office water cooler jug
Paracord (chain?)
Nuts bolts washers (eye bolts?)
Pearlite
Potting soil (coca base?)
Paracord
This is a very simple build with some complicated questions towards the end
Take your water jug and cut the bottom off as close to the bottom as possible.
Take a drill or other hole puncher and punch 3-4 holes an inch or so from the lip of your cut. The holes need to be an equal distance from each other, as we will hang the jug up with these. We will call them support holes.
Take your bolts and thread them from outside in like this - bolt washer jug washer nut for every support hole you just made. Make the connection snug as duck and the washers need to be a large size so they can properly grip the sides of the jug. These are what the paracord will be attached to.
Attach the paracord to the bolts and bring loose ends up to meet in a focal point a few feet above the jug. Tie off focal point to branch with a length of cord, based on your setup.
Fill bottom contour of jug with pearlite, a large section with soil and the top with mulch.
Take a drill and drill as many holes as you can along the diameter of the jug where the layer of mulch meets the layer of dirt without compromising the jug (you should be able to easily see this layer from the outside if you got a clear jug if not then just measure out and per cut holes before adding soil. These holes will drain excess water when it rains on your setup.
Plant!
OK so here are some problems I have foreseen with some possible solutions. Any suggestions or anything I might of missed would be greatly appreciated. However. Before you post....
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING, YOUR QUESTION, COMMENT OR CONCERN WAS MOST LIKELY ADDRESSED ALREADY.
This concept won't get very far if we are all discussing things that have already been thought out.
Rain - obviously with an outdoor setup, rain is going to fall in my pot.I've included holes drilled in between the layers of mulch and soil so excess water runs out before it soaks the soil. The bottom of the jug is left open and pearlite used for extra draining properties.
Nutrients - I know that the rain will wash out allot of the nutrients from the soil, and I also know that the plant needs to be fed. My ideas on this are to make some sort of gravity drip feed tank that can hang over the pot and slowly feed the plant through a tube that drips a diluted liquid fert water mix to the base of the stalk. The tube would be loosely secured to the cord holding everything together by zip ties, it's done loosely so that when the setup rotates (which it will) the tube won't wrap and tangle around the chord.
Wind - these pots are going to be fairly high in the air, these will be windy conditions. I thought i could support the stem to the same cord the feeding tube is connected to in the same way, lose zip ties will keep the stem from leaning while keeping everything loose enough to not tangle when the pot rotates.
Pests - here is the real bugaboo. I'm no expert, but it seems like if I'm growing anything in a tree, I have a whole new set of pests to deal with. Caterpillars, birds, squirrels, opossums etc. The only real solution i could come up with was a possible screen made out of chicken wire or something similar and or snares or other preventative measures around where the setup is tied to the branch. In not very exp in varmints and how they operate, so this is where I need the most feedback. For a reference, this operation will be executed in dallas fort worth area.
Sun & Security- I know this one is coming. "I don't think that the plant will get enough sun, because it's being hid in the branches." If this were the case, trees would be barren all around their roots. There are less branches to block sun the closer to the top you get. My idea is to be very particular about the trees I chose. They need to have thick foliage around the lower half of the tree and thin up top. I'm a landscaper, so I feel that with a pole saw or similar tools I could cut an artificial "canopy" out of the top of the tree that could easily allow sun to reach my plant. The thick foliage at the bottom would easily hide the pot from a casual glance, the only way to see the plant would be to fly over it or catch me climbing the tree.
I think that this will be a success, but there area few kinks to work out. My main concern and what I want feedback for is how to set up an auto feed (so im not climbing a million trees) gravity drip, and the pest situation, but any problems you see that I didn't would be great.
Supplies:
Large office water cooler jug
Paracord (chain?)
Nuts bolts washers (eye bolts?)
Pearlite
Potting soil (coca base?)
Paracord
This is a very simple build with some complicated questions towards the end
Take your water jug and cut the bottom off as close to the bottom as possible.
Take a drill or other hole puncher and punch 3-4 holes an inch or so from the lip of your cut. The holes need to be an equal distance from each other, as we will hang the jug up with these. We will call them support holes.
Take your bolts and thread them from outside in like this - bolt washer jug washer nut for every support hole you just made. Make the connection snug as duck and the washers need to be a large size so they can properly grip the sides of the jug. These are what the paracord will be attached to.
Attach the paracord to the bolts and bring loose ends up to meet in a focal point a few feet above the jug. Tie off focal point to branch with a length of cord, based on your setup.
Fill bottom contour of jug with pearlite, a large section with soil and the top with mulch.
Take a drill and drill as many holes as you can along the diameter of the jug where the layer of mulch meets the layer of dirt without compromising the jug (you should be able to easily see this layer from the outside if you got a clear jug if not then just measure out and per cut holes before adding soil. These holes will drain excess water when it rains on your setup.
Plant!
OK so here are some problems I have foreseen with some possible solutions. Any suggestions or anything I might of missed would be greatly appreciated. However. Before you post....
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING, YOUR QUESTION, COMMENT OR CONCERN WAS MOST LIKELY ADDRESSED ALREADY.
This concept won't get very far if we are all discussing things that have already been thought out.
Rain - obviously with an outdoor setup, rain is going to fall in my pot.I've included holes drilled in between the layers of mulch and soil so excess water runs out before it soaks the soil. The bottom of the jug is left open and pearlite used for extra draining properties.
Nutrients - I know that the rain will wash out allot of the nutrients from the soil, and I also know that the plant needs to be fed. My ideas on this are to make some sort of gravity drip feed tank that can hang over the pot and slowly feed the plant through a tube that drips a diluted liquid fert water mix to the base of the stalk. The tube would be loosely secured to the cord holding everything together by zip ties, it's done loosely so that when the setup rotates (which it will) the tube won't wrap and tangle around the chord.
Wind - these pots are going to be fairly high in the air, these will be windy conditions. I thought i could support the stem to the same cord the feeding tube is connected to in the same way, lose zip ties will keep the stem from leaning while keeping everything loose enough to not tangle when the pot rotates.
Pests - here is the real bugaboo. I'm no expert, but it seems like if I'm growing anything in a tree, I have a whole new set of pests to deal with. Caterpillars, birds, squirrels, opossums etc. The only real solution i could come up with was a possible screen made out of chicken wire or something similar and or snares or other preventative measures around where the setup is tied to the branch. In not very exp in varmints and how they operate, so this is where I need the most feedback. For a reference, this operation will be executed in dallas fort worth area.
Sun & Security- I know this one is coming. "I don't think that the plant will get enough sun, because it's being hid in the branches." If this were the case, trees would be barren all around their roots. There are less branches to block sun the closer to the top you get. My idea is to be very particular about the trees I chose. They need to have thick foliage around the lower half of the tree and thin up top. I'm a landscaper, so I feel that with a pole saw or similar tools I could cut an artificial "canopy" out of the top of the tree that could easily allow sun to reach my plant. The thick foliage at the bottom would easily hide the pot from a casual glance, the only way to see the plant would be to fly over it or catch me climbing the tree.
I think that this will be a success, but there area few kinks to work out. My main concern and what I want feedback for is how to set up an auto feed (so im not climbing a million trees) gravity drip, and the pest situation, but any problems you see that I didn't would be great.
