Slicing Up A Basket

This is meant to be a demonstration of how to make one of Tomtom's planters that are not available in the US. Here's a pic of the planter.

What I started w/ was a 10" hanging basket. $0.97 from Wal-Mart. I tried using dry wall mesh tape to line the cut out areas of the planter. I found out after watering it that I would like something a little more rigid, so I'm going to try this with some other materials, but I wanted to get the general instructions posted asap because I think there may be some folks waiting on them.

I measured from top to bottom on the inside of the pot so I'd know how long to cut the dry wall tape. I cut it to length, then made it 5 layers thick. I made sure the layers of mesh were NOT even, only the sides were even. Then I laid them out in the pot evenly. I didn't measure I just eyed everything up. Make sure the tape is not over the areas that the hanger goes into to hang the basket. Where the tape is will be cut away.

Now mark on the outside edges of the tape. I used a yellow water color pencil. A permanent marker was too hard to see against the dark green color of my pot. I would guess you could also use a crayon or chalk...see what the kids have on hand. Mark all edges of the tape, and when you remove the tape mark under it as well so you know what pieces get cut out and what pieces stay.

Then begin cutting, being sure to stay on the inside of your marks a bit. You want the tape to have something to stick to when you are done. I used a wood burner to melt the plastic away. I tried scissors and the plastic cracked more than it cut. I would guess you could use a utility knife (box cutter), but I am really bad at using them. Don't forget to place something substantial under your pot if you're cutting w/ a utility knife. I made my cuts 1 1/2" wide because that is how wide my plant plugs were.

You can see in that last pic how far I was from the line I drew at the edge of the tape. Here's a pic of all the pieces cut out of the basket.

The next thing I did was to spray the 5 ply pieces of dry wall mesh tape with spray adhesive. Here's a pic of the spray adhesive I used. Follow the directions on the can.

Then put the tape back into the basket, covering the slits. Try to place it evenly over the slits. Press and rub it into place well.

Next is to cut holes for the plants and actually plant the basket. That's when I decided I didn't like the mesh tape. It was too flexible. I think it could work if you didn't have anything else to use, or had it on hand and didn't want to spend anymore money.

Here's how it worked for me. I added a small amount of soil to the bottom of the basket and then used an X-acto knife to cut the tape to place the plant in. The cutting went well. I held the tape in place tightly with one hand and cut with the other, I always cut down or towards the center. Sometimes there were a few threads that didn't want to cut and I used scissors for them.

Putting the plant in was the hard part. The tape wanted to pull away from the basket too much. The tape also wasn't wide enough for the plant to fit thru it. I ended up washing the soil off the root ball with running water to make it fit. This worked and didn't hurt the plant, but it's not what I wanted.

Here's a pic of the cut in the tape, which I had to make longer from the top to bottom to even fit in the washed off root ball.

I planted some pitiful looking pansies. This is the pansy before rinsing the extra soil away. The pencil is for size comparison.

Here's the same pansy after rinsing away some soil. On some of the pansies more soil washed away, on other ones I had to cut bigger holes.

Anyway, I managed to get them thru without damaging the plants, and that's what's important. Here's a pic of a pansy planted. You can see the cut in the tape is longer.

I planted three pansies around the bottom, one in every other slit I cut. Then I added some soil and planted another row in the three slits that hadn't been planted. More soil, more plants in the slits that were planted first and three plants for the top of the planter. You get the idea.

Finished product before watering.

After watering. BOO HOO!! Acutally, it's not that bad.

I think if the slits in the basket were a wee bit smaller and the mesh tape were put in place with silicone there wouldn't be any problems at all. I may try that later. For now I'm off to try plastic canvas, sticky craft foam or something else. I'll let you know when I find something that seems to hold up well.

Here's a gooshy pansy. I had to cut the hole too big and the tape didn't reseal to itself well enough. Foam wouldn't do this!!!



edited for speeeeeling


This message was edited Apr 14, 2006 10:14 PM

Actually, overall, I lost very little soil even with 9 holes cut in the tape. I originally thought that when I watered it I was going to lose all of the pieces of tape. I watered it well too.

This project is definately do-able. It's just going to take a bit of tinkering to get it perfect.

If you've made it this far thru this thread, why not check out where this all started....here http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/585868/

Please, if anyone has any ideas, please post them!! I'd be very appreciative of any and all help!

Thanks,
Heather

Heather keep it up your getting the idea..Did'nt your plastic smoke and stink??I think the pot I was trying to use was too thick...

Loretta...

Hey Loretta,
I think I've got it! I've found our mystery foam!! Mwhahaha!!

Yeah, my plastic smoked and stunk, but that's better than losing a finger to a utility knife! If it gives you a headache do it outside or open a window. Have a fan on, burn a candle and don't do too much at one time.

I think you might be able to use tin snips to cut the pots too, I couldn't find DH's tonight to try them, but will eventually.

My pot was pretty thin, and that makes a big difference too. I have a thicker one I might try tomorrow. Ok, I have to go resize some pics and post some more.

Heather

I got some thin junky pots I'm gonna try tomorrow..I do think your on to something tho...lol..What about using that carpet tape?The one for outdoors is thick..You got any of that?

Loretta...

The mystery foam is called "Foamies" I bought it at Wal-Mart in the craft section. It is made by Darice and comes in many different colors. Some of them have a sticky back and that is the kind I used. It measures 9" x 12" and mine cost $0.48. Mine is 2mm thick. Here's the label. If you use this you won't need any extra adhesive.

I used the same pot as before, I just pulled all the tape off of it. I drew a line around the openings of the slits I cut in the pot onto the foam using just a regular pen.

Then I cut around the markings so the piece of foam was larger than the cut out area of the pot, this way it will stick inside. It's the same idea with the tape. I tried to leave an extra 1/2" - 3/4" on each side so I would get good adhesion.

Remove backing and stick foam over slits in basket, being sure to center them. I began by lining my foam up with the top of the basket edge, then worked my way towards the bottom of the basket for each piece of foam. That way I was sure the entire opening was covered. Do your best to keep the foam taut across the opening. You don't want to try to stretch it, but you don't want it hanging loose either. Some of mine were a bit loose, it's easier to plant thru the tighter foam.




This message was edited Apr 15, 2006 12:22 AM

Since the adhesive on the back of the foam is so sticky I thought it would make them hard to plant, so I decided to place the white peel off paper back on mine. Where ever the foam was showing thru the slits I covered it with the white paper. I had to cut it to fit. This made the whole thing easier to work with and kept it free of animal hair too.

Time to plant! This basket is so much sturdier than the first one I made! I planted this one the same as the first, the only difference was the foam and the soil was wet from being used before. That made the soil heavier and was a great test for the foam.

I still found it easiest to cut down and towards the center. You could see thru the mesh tape so you knew where to cut, with this foam you have to poke it from the inside with your finger at the soil level to see where to cut it. It's no big deal, but be very careful not to cut yourself. I used the same X-acto knife...it was gooey from the spray adhesive so I had to sharpen it.

I found I could make my cuts much smaller in the foam! YIPPEE!! The white paper doesn't cause problems or get in the way at all...if it starts to peel off just rub it back in place.

Here's the first cut.

The inside view of the same cut. This foam "gives" a lot more than most other materials would. I'm also thinking it will cushion the plant rather than be abrasive to it like a mesh could be.

Next add soil and insert plants thru cuts. Putting the plants in was soooo much easier than with the tape method. I think on one piece of foam I may have torn it a bit, but that's fine, I'd rather have the foam give than the plant. Since my plants were already rinsed down to the root ball I wasn't inserting huge wads of soil, but this was still a lot easier and better to work with.

Also, anyone can try whatever they'd like, but I think I like the idea of the plant's soil being wet when inserting them thru the cuts in the foam. I bundled up the roots into a ball and kept my finger w/ them to guide them thru the hole. There was no damage to any of the plants, and remember these poor pansies were already planted thru tape earlier today!

When I get them thru the foam I gently move them around a bit and fool with the foam to get everything in place. I'm guessing the right place for the foam is right where the plant and soil meet. Also, the foam needs to come back together as much as it can to keep soil from coming out of the hole. It takes about 3 seconds to do.

Here's a pic of the pansies planted.



This message was edited Apr 15, 2006 12:40 AM

All planted and time to water. I wasn't even nervous this time!

After watering....everything is still in place...no problems at all!! :~D

I actually overwated, until the water was standing in the top of the basket and not draining. I wanted to make sure that adhesive was going to hold and it DID!

Now, all we have to see about is long term use. There's only one way to see about that...and it's too cold to put anything outside here yet.

More pics from after watering...

I didn't lose ANY soil when watering this time. The foam doesn't seem to absorb too much water either. I did a tiny bit of research on foam last night and found out that most closed cell foams don't absorb water, or don't absorb water well. Also, if they don't absorb water well they are usually resistant to mildew, mold, bacteria, etc. I guess I'll have to do some yucky & gross tests to see what will grow on this stuff and what won't. If nothing else maybe there's a way we could seal it. I'm going to see if I can find out exactly what it's made out of.

Last pic of after watering the basket.

Heather do a test and see how it grows in there..If those are ice pansy you can put them outdoors...I can't wait to try one but I'm gonna use the carpet tape..

Loretta...

I'm very impressed that you did this. What is keeping the remaining pot walls in place or is there a continuous rim of plastic at the top? Do you really think this is better than burning holes in a pot? I guess we'll just have to see how it fares over the course of time.

Nope, not ice pansies, wish they were. I'll just have to take them in and out each day is all till it warms up.

Let us all know how the carpet tape works out. I'm not familiar w/ it. If you can, make sure it's at least a 1/2" wider than the cuts in your basket. A 1/2" on each side of the cut I mean (1" overall bigger). That will give lots of room for adhesion so it won't pull apart when you are cutting and planting it. I think that was my biggest problem w/ the dry wall tape. Even if you have to put it together side by side. Send us some pics if you can also!!

Heather

No continuous rim at the top. The plastic is sturdy enough to hold itself in place. Of course, if you pushed down on it hard enough it would snap. The foam is sticky enough that, if it's tight enough, it helps hold the pot together also.

I do think this is much better than a pot w/ holes in it. I think you have more planting room, and you can choose where the plants go. I just still can't figure out how a pot w/ holes in it won't lose soil??? I suppose it's possible, but HOW?

This was actually a very easy to do project, and it wouldn't take long to do at all now that I know what I'm doing. Once I get some kind of template or pattern made it'll be even quicker. I'll have to be on the lookout for cheap plastic pots!!

I almost forgot, I wanted to give a tally of the cost of the items used to make this planter so everyone knew the costs upfront. I purchased everything at Wal-Mart and did my best to keep all prices as low as possible. Oh, the flowers came from Lowe's.

10" Plastic Pot.....................................................$0.97
1 Sheet Sticky Foam.............................................0.48
2-6 packs of Pansies....2 @ 1.73 = ....................3.46
Total $4.91

I had everything else I used on hand. I didn't buy the pansies just for this project, but $1.45 just sounded way too low for the cost!! I would have to say that this was way worth doing!! Plus it was fun to do. I didn't forget something did I? LOL

Soil..

I had soil here, but that is $8.88 a bag for Miracle-Gro at Wal-Mart, and I used prolly about $0.25 worth, but we'll call it $1.00 to cover all bases well. That would bring our new grand total to...........$5.91

Still worth it!!

Hi heathrjoy,

Boy,did you do a wonderful job!!
I'm literally stunned .

Your baskets look just like those sold by Ito Shoji Co. ,and far more inexpensive!!
I'm really impressed.
I'm looking forward to seeing the plant therein in full bloom.

Tomtom

Heather really did good..I can't wait to see her basket bloom..I tried one and gotta figure out the rough edges...
Tomtom what you been up too??Planting more pots??Let us see if you have...
I tried contacting that company with no LUCK..Hopefuly Heather will have better luck..

Loretta..