- Sun Aug 07, 2011 2:47 pm
#115732
Hi Everybody,
Just wanted to share my current project with all of you. As Matt and Steve know, I've been buying up some VFTs. I need someplace to keep them all, and even though this may seem like a bit of overkill...I'm having fun with it anyway.
I kept CPs ~8-9 yrs ago for a couple, 3 yrs. Got out of it and into other things. I've always had a penchant for VFTs, so I've decided to get back into at least those. Getting setup just for the plants that I have received has been a lot of work and a lot of fun. I am and will be keeping them outdoors 24/7/365. I'm in zone 6b, and I prefer things to be as automated, or at least semi-automated as possible. So, enter my current project.
I'm a project/hobby kind of person. I like to think outside the box a bit. I've documented some of my other projects on the web, and I will link to some of them after this first set of posts. My current project is not finished...it's in progress. I still have to finish what I'm doing now, make it functional, automated it and then prepare for winter. However, I am ready to sit down and start the documentation on it. So, for those of you that enjoy following along on a project, come on, let's go for a ride...
I'm not intending to let the cat right out of the bag, so ya'll will get to puzzle a bit about what exactly is going on here. Some things really won't make much sense at this point, and, Yes, some things could be/have been done differently, but it is what it is and this is what I'm doing. I would like to point out that this has grown from ~16 sq ft. to 56 sq ft...almost 4x larger. Gives me room to grow in the future...
Day 1
First I needed to pick a spot that would get sun all day everyday. A spot that was somewhat level. So, after finally picking the spot, I got out the mower and cut the area down as low as it would go (1"?). Got out some tools, landscaping timbers and started to see what was involved with getting things level:
The weeds in the background have already been sprayed with Cornerstone (like Roundup). All of that will be cleared with a trimmer and mower. Has noting to do with this project though.
After I determined what was involved with getting things leveled, I got out the spray paint and marked the area:
Moved everything out of the way and sprayed the area with 1/2 gal. of Cornerstone:
Dug a little hole for future reference:
Then I got out the miter saw and beveled the ends on some of the landscaping timbers. Got out the 6 mil plastic sheeting, laid it out, and got the initial wood set up:
My sporty little hole in the ground :
Fastened the corners together:
Just a quick note: The plastic sheeting stapled to the landscaping timbers is a non-issue. The grass will cover most of it when it regrows and the weedeater will damage and destroy what's showing on the outside...intentionally and unintentionally on my part.
I added a divider and started dumping in sand:
Divider fastened:
Another note: I bought 6 bags of the sand below. I used ~20lbs for VFTs. I do not know what all is in that sand, but there are blue chunks of slate, brown chunks of something else, and I have no idea how many gallons of water I went through trying to get the ppm down to a reasonable level. After a lot of rinsing, and then having to soak it for 24 hrs, 2 days in a row....I think I finally got it down to ~22ppm, which is much higher than I prefer. The sand that I had run out of, I got down to 5ppm without much fuss. So, personally, I do not recommend using this stuff in a potting mix:
So, I dumped the rest of the sand in, cleaned up the mess and called it the End of Day 1.
.
Just wanted to share my current project with all of you. As Matt and Steve know, I've been buying up some VFTs. I need someplace to keep them all, and even though this may seem like a bit of overkill...I'm having fun with it anyway.
I kept CPs ~8-9 yrs ago for a couple, 3 yrs. Got out of it and into other things. I've always had a penchant for VFTs, so I've decided to get back into at least those. Getting setup just for the plants that I have received has been a lot of work and a lot of fun. I am and will be keeping them outdoors 24/7/365. I'm in zone 6b, and I prefer things to be as automated, or at least semi-automated as possible. So, enter my current project.
I'm a project/hobby kind of person. I like to think outside the box a bit. I've documented some of my other projects on the web, and I will link to some of them after this first set of posts. My current project is not finished...it's in progress. I still have to finish what I'm doing now, make it functional, automated it and then prepare for winter. However, I am ready to sit down and start the documentation on it. So, for those of you that enjoy following along on a project, come on, let's go for a ride...
I'm not intending to let the cat right out of the bag, so ya'll will get to puzzle a bit about what exactly is going on here. Some things really won't make much sense at this point, and, Yes, some things could be/have been done differently, but it is what it is and this is what I'm doing. I would like to point out that this has grown from ~16 sq ft. to 56 sq ft...almost 4x larger. Gives me room to grow in the future...
Day 1
First I needed to pick a spot that would get sun all day everyday. A spot that was somewhat level. So, after finally picking the spot, I got out the mower and cut the area down as low as it would go (1"?). Got out some tools, landscaping timbers and started to see what was involved with getting things level:
The weeds in the background have already been sprayed with Cornerstone (like Roundup). All of that will be cleared with a trimmer and mower. Has noting to do with this project though.
After I determined what was involved with getting things leveled, I got out the spray paint and marked the area:
Moved everything out of the way and sprayed the area with 1/2 gal. of Cornerstone:
Dug a little hole for future reference:
Then I got out the miter saw and beveled the ends on some of the landscaping timbers. Got out the 6 mil plastic sheeting, laid it out, and got the initial wood set up:
My sporty little hole in the ground :
Fastened the corners together:
Just a quick note: The plastic sheeting stapled to the landscaping timbers is a non-issue. The grass will cover most of it when it regrows and the weedeater will damage and destroy what's showing on the outside...intentionally and unintentionally on my part.
I added a divider and started dumping in sand:
Divider fastened:
Another note: I bought 6 bags of the sand below. I used ~20lbs for VFTs. I do not know what all is in that sand, but there are blue chunks of slate, brown chunks of something else, and I have no idea how many gallons of water I went through trying to get the ppm down to a reasonable level. After a lot of rinsing, and then having to soak it for 24 hrs, 2 days in a row....I think I finally got it down to ~22ppm, which is much higher than I prefer. The sand that I had run out of, I got down to 5ppm without much fuss. So, personally, I do not recommend using this stuff in a potting mix:
So, I dumped the rest of the sand in, cleaned up the mess and called it the End of Day 1.
.
Last edited by Naja002 on Mon Aug 08, 2011 12:29 am, edited 1 time in total.