What a fantastic and beautiful project. I will definitely have to try to make one of these.
How to make papercrete containers.
Hi Knolan,
I'm right up the road from you in Houston near Hobby Airport! Welcome to the forum! What grows in your Sugarland Garden? Do you frequent Joseph's Nursery on 518?
Hi Gymgirl.....you're not far at all. Thanks for the welcome.
I've never been to Joseph's. What kind of stuff do they carry?
I grow lot's of stuff. In the front, mainly flowers and flowering trees (esperanzas, chaste, bougainvilla, mandevilla, durantas, crepes, lantanas, agapantus, some cannas, four o'locks, passion flower, bower vine). On the porc, LOT's of succulents and herbs and in the back I have a rose bed, a vegetable garden that is just about finished (tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, okra, green beans, peppers of all sorts, basil, shallots, chives, lettuce (not anymore), and a cacti bed with giant aloes, agave, oleander and arabian jasmine.
What grows in your world?
Kristi
Good Lord! That's a mouthful! I'm just a newbie with some Canna Stuttgarts and Cleopatras, coleus, dusty miller, hostas, geraniums, ferns (I have a Tasmanian Tree fern -- looks like a hairy sago palm); I'm also growing Sago Palms (have counted upwards of 60 on the property, so far); Vincas, petunias, Sweet Potato Vines (Blackie & Margarita). I'm also nursing a badly damaged Persian Shield back to life. Hope it survives.
Here's a pic of my Sago nursery out back.
Stay in touch.
Linda
Okay, Gymgirl, you asked for it:: I bought a sago from Lowe's. It's smaller than the little one in the picture next to the red pot on the top left. Now it's turning brown. I have it sitting on a table in the kitchen. It gets east light, but it's inside. I know TX is not TN, but what do I need to do to make it happier? Thanks for your wise words :)
Stop watering until your Sago drys out almost completely. They prefer to be on the dry side and root-bound in their pots. When it gets bigger over time, repot it to a pot only the next size up from the one it came out of (or no more than 1-2" more in diameter). The roots grow in a spiral, like a coil) under the soil, so keep it in a tight spiral when you repot.
Make sure that the Sago "ball" sits right on top of the soil. It should not be buried under in the soil or any more than 1/3 down into the soil. Sagos seem to take in oxygen through that ball and need to breathe.
Finally, I've heard that Sagos put out only one new set of fronds per year (which is why the older ones are so valuable - it took time to get all those layers). I observed that mine put out new shoots beginning in April. I have Asian Leaf Scale (those white spots, which are parasites sucking the juice out of the leaves). I cut all the fronds off the diseased Sagos and treated the whole Sago population with NEEM Concentrate. This stuff is really good. Once treated and the diseased plants settled down from the "shock," they threw out new fronds! Some have even given me two sets! They are a pleasure to work with.
P.S. Even though it's in the house, it will adapt to your light conditions. I think water is your issue. Use some Miracle Grow fertilizer for Acid Loving plants every now and again. Not too much, maybe once every 3-4 months.
Don't be afraid to let it dry out!
Hope I've been helpful. Keep me posted on your results.
Linda
P.S.S. I priced Sagos on sale at HD and Lowes. The big one in the bottom of my post was selling for $99.00. I told my DH I wanted to start a Sago patch and give them away as Christmas gifts...and I'm doing this just for fun?!
Back on topic, has anyone made any large ones? I have a big round plastic bucket that they sell as toy buckets, has rope handles, 3'x3', you know what I am talking about? Anyway, I am thinking of making one in that but am unsure if I will need reinforcing. Chicken wire maybe? I am afraid the weight of the wet soil pressing against it when full would cause stress cracks. Please tell me what you think. Thanks! :~)
When I ge around to trying this I'm going to press silk ferns in while it's still wet and then pull them out when dry. I did this on my bathroom walls with wet compound and then stained. Came out looking like fossils. I think the technique would work on this type of pot as well.
PudgyMudpies, I would definitely reinforce and chicken wire sounds like a safe bet.
Knowlan,
There's a post on the Papercrete thread with a fossilized container, just as you propose.. .. it came out great!
Oooohh.....just found it. That is nice. I pulled the plants out after it dried and an indention was made in the wall. Then I painted it and added a stain. I know this isn't a garden pic. but it's an idea for the papercrete.
Whaddya think?
Yeah, that looks great! Good luck.
BUMP!
Gymgirl, I promise I won't say anything else about my sago palm after this post. I did as you suggested, and mine has put out new fronds. So maybe it's gonna be okay. Thank you for your good advice.
Darn, all LAST fall/winter/spring I said it was too cold and yucky to do Papercrete OUTSIDE and too messy to do INSIDE. Well, here it is again, too cold to get all wet and messy OUTSIDE! LOL! The June posts should have been all the kick in the butt I needed. Oh well............ my 15 year old daughter was melting down or maybe it was really crashing and burning in June.
xxxxx, Carrie
These pot are terrific! I love the natural look.
I'm going to have to try this.
I heard reports of papercrete getting mushy and moldy.
How long will these containers last in a damp environment. Could they be sealed with concrete sealer?
FlowrLady!
Don't you DARE stop talking about your Sago Palms! As the not-so-new NEWBIE to DG, I am truly excited that ANYTHING I said worked!!!
Please, please, please, tell me everything you did and keep me posted on your progress. Post a picture and tell me about your growing conditions. As we share, we also learn from one another, and this helps me remember what I need to do, as well!
Thank your eversomuch for sharing.
P.S. If you don't want to hijack or bore this thread with Sago Palm talk, send me a d-mail!
Hugs and Congratulations!
Linda
Linda, you have dmail.
Tomtom, thanks for rsharing tis technique. It's wonderful to see what a little imagination can do and this is so simple too. Most anyone could make one, I think and no two will ever be the same. They're great !!
I have got to try making these pots. I wonder how large it's possible to make them without having the whole thing collapse, I'll find out and let you know.
This message was edited Oct 31, 2006 4:03 PM
Hi pweelee
They build houses from papercrete so I don't think you have to worry about them collapsing.
Papercrete is tough but some recipes are prone to getting mushy if kept too damp.
Take a look at this papercrete statue.
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hypertufa/msg1019075321017.html?19
And here is one of several reports on building construction
http://www.livinginpaper.com/
Thank you both, got the message loud and clear. It'll be a few weeks til I can get to these but will post pics after.
Thanks again
Thanks Tom Tom, I am looking forward to trying this, will keep you informed.
Congradulations Japans horses won our very biggest race today.
Seems kind of like hypertufa..... Thanks for such easy instructions, Tomtom. I want to try this next spring. Really enjoying reading everyone's comments. And thanks for "bumping" this thread back to life, Gymgirl.
I've used this technique several times and love it. Thank you Madam TomTom! You need to really soak the shredded newspaper for days and mix it and break it up. Don't want any clumps of soggy newsprint stuck in the midst of your concrete. I've made several planters that I'm very happy with.
Aguane, Can you post pictures of your planters. pleeeeease.
I was going to ask the very same thing. Pics please!
Hi all, Its nighttime and I just took a couple of pics of two of the planters I can get to..... The rectangle planter was framed in a shoe box and the round-ish one framed in a roughly woven basket. They are small and hold sedum and some Jade plant. When making these I just line the 'shoebox' with plastic from the cleaners, Line the bottom of the frame with 1/2 inch of papercrete, begin to build up the sides evenly with the papercrete, patting and compacting and laying vegetation against the planter outside as you go I guess you could embed anything you like. Once you've reached to rim, smooth it out as you like, rustic is OK. Cut the necessary number and size of holes for drainage. Push the left over plastic bag into the center so as to keep the wall's integrity while drying. Wait a few days, the more the better. Voila. Dirt and plants. As you can see when the container dries I keep all the vegetation in the cement. Just the way I like it. Dusty Miller sticks really well.... I've also used Rosemary on this one. I've used grasses in the mirrors I've made with papercrete and plain old concrete. I love doing this stuff. Sorry for the fuzzyness of the pics but you get the idea.
This message was edited Nov 8, 2006 8:20 PM
The round-ish one...
Mirror I made a couple of years ago ... some may have seen this already.
The 'shoebox' planter the first day. I've posted this before as well.
Hope you all try this technique TomTom shared... its fun.
Aguane, they're simply great. I'm so glad you posted pics for us.
The mirror is lovely -- how did you make that?
Hap-
Thank you for the nice compliments! I had posted comments and some instruction on how to make these mirrors at the Garden Art Forum. Here's a link. If you page through you'll see my entries and other useful comments on making these mirrors.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/663830/
Wow!! These are so super cool! I am going tomorrow to get the few things I need to do these! I think they will look GREAT around my water garden!!! Thanks for the info!!!
Turbo-
I haven't made any myself, but I think the question came up before, and the answer came back (from Japan!) that the papercrete is not hard enough to withstand constant water.
xxx, Carrie (a lurker)
Well, dookie-doo! Here I was gettin all excited..But wait..I wont put them IN the water garden..Only around it..like container plants..This will work wont it??
I should work for you! Papercrete shouldn't be used where water will be running over it .... Can deteriorate. But mine are about 2 years old and I have no deterioration... not much contact with water since they are planted with succulents and the mirrors themselves have no contact with water. 'course I live in the desert so things here are never even 'damp'.
I wonder if you could use differant color grout mixed with the portland cement to get the color you want?
Anyone heard from Tomtom?
I have been viewing her Web site over the years and it seems its gone or relocated. I found it very informative and beautiful.