Neccessity is the mother of invention! When garden funds ran low, my desire to grow food blossomed, and this project was born. Traditionally, small newspaper pots are used to start seedings. Inspiration for this pot came from a Natural Wood Raised Garden Instructable I read a while back. I thought the piles of bamboo we had laying around the yard could add the structure needed to put our little newspaper stash (the bamboo and newspaper were both craiglist scores) to use for something other than weed control in 'conventional' raised beds. Bamboo also improves the appearance of the pot, probably useful for people living in communities with strict landscaping rules. This is my first Instructable, so please go easy on me.
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Most of this stuff was either free or laying around our house. I'd say we spent about about $50 for the plant and some of the compost mix ingredients.
To make this pot, you'll need:
1) A good supply of bamboo (at least 60 3" pieces per pot, even more if you want to completely camouflage the newspaper). A couple that lived out in the country wanted to get rid of clumping bamboo in their yard, so we harvested hundreds of 6' pieces and have used them for everything imaginable).
2) Newspaper, we only used the black and white portions.
3) Loppers to cut bamboo to the desired length.
4) String to hold the pots together (we made string out of tshirts).
5) Mulch (newspaper works great, you can also use straw, or paper bags).
6) Potting mix (90% of the time we use the Squarefoot Garden compost blend -- equal parts compost, vermiculite and peat moss (or coir for something more sustainable) with a small amount of blood meal (provides nitrogen for leaf growth) and rock phosphate (phosphorus improves fruit and root development) blended in for good measure. Always read and follow fertilizer instructions before use. We buy compost (and tree mulch) at the local landfill for $10 a ton.
7) A large pot to serve as a template to get the diameter right.
8) The plant, of course! In our case we purchased a small grapefruit plant from a local garden center. This setup would also work well with herbs or other 'bushy' perennials.
9) PLEASE NOTE: The pot takes shape when we pushed the bamboo into the ground, so you may want to call ahead and find out where utilities are buried in your yard to avoid harming water, electrical, cable and/or gas lines.
To make this pot, you'll need:
1) A good supply of bamboo (at least 60 3" pieces per pot, even more if you want to completely camouflage the newspaper). A couple that lived out in the country wanted to get rid of clumping bamboo in their yard, so we harvested hundreds of 6' pieces and have used them for everything imaginable).
2) Newspaper, we only used the black and white portions.
3) Loppers to cut bamboo to the desired length.
4) String to hold the pots together (we made string out of tshirts).
5) Mulch (newspaper works great, you can also use straw, or paper bags).
6) Potting mix (90% of the time we use the Squarefoot Garden compost blend -- equal parts compost, vermiculite and peat moss (or coir for something more sustainable) with a small amount of blood meal (provides nitrogen for leaf growth) and rock phosphate (phosphorus improves fruit and root development) blended in for good measure. Always read and follow fertilizer instructions before use. We buy compost (and tree mulch) at the local landfill for $10 a ton.
7) A large pot to serve as a template to get the diameter right.
8) The plant, of course! In our case we purchased a small grapefruit plant from a local garden center. This setup would also work well with herbs or other 'bushy' perennials.
9) PLEASE NOTE: The pot takes shape when we pushed the bamboo into the ground, so you may want to call ahead and find out where utilities are buried in your yard to avoid harming water, electrical, cable and/or gas lines.
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