Seed Grenade

Step 6 Final Product and Thoughts

After all the hard work involved in making your seed grenade, it almost seems a shame to use it for it's intended purpose, which is to be smashed and give the seeds inside a chance to grow.

Thoughts on this instructable are that we made the grenade too small, as when broken it was clear that there wasn't enough compost in relation to clay, and also that the clay was a bit too thick to be broken properly when thrown.

A further idea on the clay would be to substitute the air hardening clay with a salt dough recipe, as this would be more biodegradable than the clay itself. However, the recipe for the dough would not be able to contain salt, as this would stop the seeds from germinating properly.

Another thought would be to incorporate a water balloon into the finished, larger recepticle in order to water the plants when the grenade is smashed and the balloon is burst. However, this would have to be a biodegradable balloon in order to minimise litter.

Any thoughts or comments on this or any other matter are welcomed, as input from other people can only make a project better, and no project is perfect on the first try. Thank you.

Comments

[shilohjim]

How about paper mache? The rain should disolve them and water the seeds at the same time. Just a thought.

[kgaite]

You have a point. And there is a clay paper mache recipe out there.

[Nenona]

Suggestion: Instead of a balloon, how about a very thin-walled paper mache glob or such? by making it thin enough to shatter against a wall, also, if it gets wet, it can automatically fall apart and allow the seeds to grow.

[worldgnat]

Clay dug directly from the ground would be cheaper and possibly more environmentally friendly. Also, if you made the scores in the sides deeper, then the seed grenade would break at those points more easily than the rest, and hopefully shatter more evenly. Very nice instructable, though. I've been meaning to get into gorilla gardening for a while now.

[worldgnat]

And by "gorilla," of course I meant guerilla. That's embarrassing...

[amoliski]

I am actually a big fan of gorilla gardening. The trick is to teach them to plant the seeds, not eat them. Once you teach them, though, they will blanket the city, and plant seeds in every single crack. Their climbing ability helps them get to crevices in buildings!

[worldgnat]

My trials with gorillas were pretty good, but I found the flying squirrels to be quicker and more versatile, not to mention the natural storage capacity in their cheeks and seed-burying instinct.

[amoliski]

The problem is teaching them not to eat the seed bombs. They are far to energetic to have them sit still long enough.

[worldgnat]

Perhaps, but if you can get them to plant seeds on the move, they'll cover a great area in a small time. And seed eating can be kept to a minimum if the squirrels are well fed, though a day of running around planting seeds in the cracks of small buildings will certainly run them out by the end of the day.

[brkingsbury]

Seed bombs are meant to be thrown before or during rain in order to give it the water it needs so a balloon really isn't necessary.