New Ebucket Thread, PART IV

Well, we have very little humidity and the air is moving constantly. Wind is just something that comes with the desert.

I miss it here Sharon. First thing I noticed when I moved here from Boston. That, and the obvious lack of shoreline. :/

Question for Gym Girl or whoever jumps in, do you prefer the e-bucket over the dutch bucket and why?

Fordpickup,
I'm not familiar with the Dutch bucket. I'll Google it and read up.

Whaaaa?!

Linda is not familiar with something? Bursting my bubble here, c'mon!!!!

Oops! My slip is showing!

Your slip is showing ? You're telling your age , kids these days don't care if it all hangs out .

LOL!!!
Kids these days don't even know what a slip IS!

I have been inspired by the information on this thread, built a self-contained bucket (my daughter works at a bakery) and put a tomato plant in it yesterday. My question has to do with staking the plant as it gets older - what is the best method of keeping the plant growing upward and still give it some stability when the wind blows? In the hot months the wind is not usually too bad, but toward fall it is very gusty (so I'm just thinking ahead.) I would be very interested to hear any ideas, thanks!

Ladypearl,
I just use those long 6 ft. covered metal stakes from HD. They're kinda pricey when you have a lot of plants to stake, so I've pressed some free bamboo stakes into service since the initial purchase.

Congratulations on building your eBucket! LMK how it progresses.

Can you post some pics?

Hi Gymgirl, Yeah, I can get some pics tomorrow and try to post them (sometimes it is harder than it looks since I'm not a computer person!) I mighthave some of those green plastic metal stakes that are only 2 feet long - will look for the big ones next time I go to the hardware or feed store. Right now I have a regular tomato cage stuck in the bucket upside down (it just seemed to go better that way because the top ring is missing). If the tomato gets big enough the stake will certainly be needed.

It's time to make friends with somebody who hates their bamboo..... (smile)

Here the tomato will get sun and still be close to the house but not up on the porch. I used some rocks we collected from a friends pasture to sort of hide it since that white stands out so much. Will have to monitor to see if the rocks absorb too much heat as the season goes along. I also planted some basil below in the ground which will hopefully thrive on the overflow when I water the bucket (and help hide the bucket as it grows.)

A view from the top. The basil will only get morning sun (till noon) until it gets a little bigger. If this works out I hope to do this in other places near the house. Since we are under water restrictions here because of the drought, I'm not planting the main/big garden at all. (This seems like a perfect fix for times of drought.) Who can resist pesto on pasta topped with chopped homegrown tomatoes and extra
garlic?

View from the sidewalk. I am curious how others make your buckets blend into the landscape or do you not bother with that?

This message was edited Jun 18, 2013 12:19 AM

Paint with camo , gray , dark gray and shades of tan and brown .

Digger, do you know which brand of paint will stick to plastic the best?

Krylon makes a spray paint just for plastics. Home Depot.

Okay, thanks!

I saw a pretty idea on Pinterest (shhhhh)(my petticoats are rustling).

Buckets were wrapped in canvas cloth and tied up around the rim with cord or twine.

A.

Um, I recreated those Pinterest burlap-bag covered buckets. They looked amazing at first. But, once they got wet and stayed wet on the bottoms, the burlap rotted out.
I'd only do it again if the buckets were out of the weather.

Just got my puter fixed . Been out of pocket with the first virus ever .
Krylon spray even does the ugly black tubs . G G is right on the ball . Thanks , Linda .
Gotta deliver a micro -wave for wedding gift tomorrow . For Johnny's grandson's wife to be shower . I won't stay for the shower , don't want to spend garden money on jail bail . Or ruin the day for bride to be by putting her future grand mother in law in hospital . LOL

If I was trying to decorate my grubby old pots, I would price some plastic contact paper.

Say, if it was cheap enough, it might help hold together some of my cracked, splitting old pots!


This message was edited May 17, 2013 7:53 PM

Wow I haven't been lurking much and I have missed a lot. Love your garding ideas Gymgirl, haven't talked to you since the hardwood floors were =being installed and you were growing tomatoes. Do you know what ever happened to Carolyn who was a professor at Cornel Univ?

Lavina

Are you talking about Carolyn on the tomato forum ?

Carolyn's in the hospital. There's a link to the Contributor thread that has updates. over on the Tomato forum.

Hi Friends,,
I just use silver contractor bags to cover my grow boxes. To fasten the cover,
I use those steel spring paper clips from the Office store; the one inch ones.
They hold the cover on great and are reusable.
I will forward a picture tomorrow; oops Friday, I will be out of town the next three
days. Taking my bride to the Oregon coast for our 47th.

lonejack Happy early anniversary'
That is so wonderful

Lavina

It's pretty funny how crafty one has to be when gardening this way.

One of my neighbors comes over to ask for my help sometimes because she claims I am the best at rigging stuff with odd parts. A regular MacGyver. :D

Amanda, you have a Masters in Kluging. Most gardeners are Master Klugers. LOL, Mother Winter

Holy crow! Mother Winter taught me a new word!!!

Thank you m'dear. Yes I suppose kluger/kluging is the best way to describe it. :)

This is my 3rd year with my ebuckets. They are all planted up and ready to grow.

My mom's getting e buckets for Mother's Day:)

Wow. Y'all continue to amaze me!

J planted pepper , radishes , and sweet potatoes . My toms are waiting for planting , some in straw/ground , some in buckets

Last Saturday, I helped my 6-yr-old niece plant four Earthboxes, out on their sunny patio.

Yesterday she pulled back the blinds, and the cukes, sunflowers, and Asian Yardlong beans were all up! She was sooooooo excited!!!

We're still waiting on the mint....so are the parents....something about Mojitos...

I've got to build her a trellis now...

I hope by next year I can have some space to try some of these things you are doing here Everything looks great
Gymgirl how are your maters doing this year?
Lavina

LavinaMae,
Due to a family crisis, I don't currently have anything growing in the summer garden. Been thinking I have enough time to throw some okra seeds in, and maybe some cowpeas, but, that's about it.

I'm mobilizing toward the fall/winter seedlings, cleaning out my indoor grow rooms, and preparing to sow seeds in the next week or two, under lights. I have a TON of drinking water bottles coming in from a co-worker (who drinks a case a week, LOL), so, I'll be ready with those.

My plan is to start some seeds for broccs, cauliflowers, and cabbages, and have transplants ready by September 13th. I'll stagger sow a batches of seeds every month. Final batch will be sowed in October and harvested the 2nd week of February, 2015. I'll start tomatoes at the Winter Solstice (December 20 & 21st) for plant out February 14, 2015.

I finally finished that trellis last night. Just hope the cukes don't mind all the handling they got!

Hugs!

Hello Linda , haven't kept in touch this last year for health issues . Having total knee replacement July first . No exercise since last November . Getting fat (er) . I'll be better with my sister friends , I promise . Off topic , but easier than dmailing everyone .
J is using buckets for his little garden and I planted some climbing spinach in three . New dog finally dug them all up last night after me replanting the ones I could salvage . Bummer . Hugs to all and I can see the sun at the end of the tunnel .

Hey, Sally!

Wanda has been keeping me posted on what's going on in your world. You'll be like brand new after that knee replacement and the physical therapy! Of course, that's the worst part, but, the sun WILL shine brighter when there's no more pain and you can get around like you want to.

Hugs!

I love that sweet Wanda , she offered to spend the weekend doing the cooking . Then we remembered it was Fathers Day weekend so that got axed . T V dinner tonight . I pigged out on cottage cheese and pineapple . Poor Johnny .
New dog finally dug out all my climbing spinach . Johnnys buckets look good and my toms are in hay compost , looking like they would feed a city . Need to spray , might lose them later if I don't . About the time they are looking like blue ribbon winners , the mites start sucking on them .