[BlueJack]

I'm attempting the most inexpensive way to grow out my clippings. I'm just going to use a plastic box, a mixture of my garden's dirt/topsoil, and the sun.

I figure the topsoil has a good amount of N,P,K to fuel the plants for quite some time. The rain water will provide small amounts of whatever minerals it comes in contact with on the way down (Ca, Zn, Mg, Mn, Fe, etc). I even think rainwater is slightly acidic( < 7.0) which my plants will like. It rains here in Miami almost everyday.

Hopefully simple convection will move nutrients around, and since it never gets too cold here I won't have to worry about heating.

I got this idea from these videos....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j88KaO8zBv8&feature=grec_index
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkMcyHLxYQc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzkYIcWGUoA

Dirt from the garden

I put this in the shade

Amazon Sword, Ambulia, rotala wallichi. First plants to try this out on.

I also threw some Anacharis and Wisteria in the mix. I'll update in a few weeks to show how things are going.

Any help or ideas would be awesome. roud:

 

[bpb]

Very interested in seeing how this turns out. I have a good bit of peat, some potting soil, and spare pots. I may have to try this too. I imagine you can expect some significant die off since a lot of aquatic plants don't have such thick cell walls to prevent water loss. Am i way off mark?

 

[BlueJack]

Very interested in seeing how this turns out. I have a good bit of peat, some potting soil, and spare pots. I may have to try this too. I imagine you can expect some significant die off since a lot of aquatic plants don't have such thick cell walls to prevent water loss. Am i way off mark?

I filled it with water, just didn't post the pic. :icon_smil

 

[Hilde]

So you have plastic bins with water and plants?
Read 1 whom did that had to make a wooden box around the plastic boxes for with the water the plastic bowed.

 

[DogFish]

Read 1 whom did that had to make a wooden box around the plastic boxes for with the water the plastic bowed.

I would be that "1". I had to do frame the small thin walled storage type box....NOT a big storage tub.

Storage tubs have various thickness and different kinds of re-enforcement molding. I have some larger tubs that would be fine without framing. A great way to re-enforce a larger tub is to "nest" on inside the other.

Also, you don't need 10" of water above a plant in an outdoor tub, it will get plenty of light with just a few inches above it. The water level will also affect how the plant will grow.

 

[BlueJack]

Thanks...I didn't see any bowing in the container yet. Maybe it'll happen after a few months from being exposed to the daily temperature fluctuations.

How deep was the water you kept them in? I know once a plant breaches the surface it has non-limiting CO2. Isn't that only for sturdy plants? Do ambulia, rotala wallichi and anacharis breach? Or just spread all over the surface?

 

[DogFish]

I'm sure the UV rays from the Sun will work on it a bit. Bowing will more be from how much water you put in the tub. Really, it's only an issue if you need to move the tub from place to place to take advantage of the Sun. Which is something I needed to do.

The less we disturb the root systems the better.

 

[chiefroastbeef]

I'm sure the UV rays from the Sun will work on it a bit.

Just spread some SPF 30 sun screen on the tub, and no more worries.

 

[BlueJack]

Things seem to growing well. Not as good as in my CO2, EI Dosing tanks, but not too bad either.

 

[planted goldfish]

cool

 

[ErikO]

You may want to put some small fish in there to eat mosquito wigglers.

 

[BlueJack]

You may want to put some small fish in there to eat mosquito wigglers.

I was thinking about that. There are already some waterbugs in there, and at night it's the new hang out spot for a bunch of tree frogs. Do you think those guys eat mosquito larvae??

 

[DogFish]

Go "save" a HMPK Betta (they call them "dragons") from PetCo or PetSmart. A pair of gouramis would work too, might even spawn.

 

[radioman]

You could just get some rosy red minnows from petsmart. They are 13 cents I believe.

 

[mjbubbles]

What a great idea! I wonder if this would work in Northern CA?

 

[meowschwitz]

What are the small, green plants on the top left and the yellow-orange plants in the middle?

 

[BlueJack]

What are the small, green plants on the top left and the yellow-orange plants in the middle?

The green plants are hygrophila corymbosa, the reddish-orange plants are alternanthera reineckii "cardinalis"

 

[BlueJack]

What a great idea! I wonder if this would work in Northern CA?

Don't see why it wouldn't work. The only thing I'd worry about is the temperature. How cold does it get over there?

 

[CrazyCatPeekin]

Oh...I might have to try this. We do usually get a couple of freezing nights in the winter time though....Maybe move it to the garage under a grow light for the winter and keep it outside March though December? That just might work.

 

[BlueJack]

some updates and some questions. I'm wondering why these plants are doing just as good as my CO2, EI dosing tanks. For the first time my sword has sent out 2 runners. I've never had this happen in my tanks inside. Also, my H. Kompact is showing some slight reddish hues in it's leaves(supposedly only happens in high light/high tech circumstances). This hasn't ever happened in my CO2 enriched, EI tanks either. Anyone know what could be the cause of this? My only guess is sunlight, and maybe rain?

My dog seemed amused