Rain Gutter Grow System - as a raised bed

[tnkrer]

Luigiwu
Thanks for the diagram. That clears things up very well. I was worried about the contact point between the hardware cloth and the rggs frame. I still worry about hardware cloth breaking in a few seasons. If it does, it should be easy to staple a new one there.
The 2x4 - I thought that the 5/4 cedar decking planks were 2x4 lumber.
I might go with 1x8 or 1x10 instead to get more depth
Also, those net cups from local hydroponics store work great. They are about dollar a piece. Only reason I asked is, I saw some yogurt cups in one of the images next to your rig
I think I will try to build it for this season. It seems easy enough. I am planning to go with the pipe. Wife is always very worried about open standing water.
Also at the moment, i will keep filling up the water reservoir instead of using a valve. Not sure how I can introduce right amount of liquid fertilizer in the valve based system

[Imthechuck]

I have been thinking about this next year; if you use a pipe instead of a gutter you can fit a 3 inch net cup which should stop bugs and such from getting in

Plants get really thirsty in our heat, when the plants are huge they will empty the pipe/gutter daily if not 2x

Originally Posted by kayrobbins

I am so glad you posted this. Larry's system looks great but when I watched the video and saw that the water was exposed in the spaces between the growing container all I could think about was what a great mosquito breeding spot. That is what living in Florida does to you, always worried about mosquitoes.

[tnkrer]

Luigiwu, getting ready to buy materials. What was the hole size of your hardware cloth? 1/4" or 1/2 inch?

[luigiwu]

Originally Posted by tnkrer

Luigiwu, getting ready to buy materials. What was the hole size of your hardware cloth? 1/4" or 1/2 inch?

1/4 inch.
DO you know how wide you are going to make yours? If you make yours wider than 16-inch, I think you need to start thinking about putting in two pipes underneath and if you do that then you might as well make it a min of 24-inches wide?
Imagine the diameter spread of each net cup (ie. wicking/capillary action.) I estimated it to be 12-inches and pushed it to do 16-inch. Does that make sense?
I like this weed fabric, cheap and works well (does not fray etc)
http://www.lowes.com/pd_510602-23132...ric&facetInfo=

[tnkrer]

As I am getting ready to buy the components, I am liking the traditional rggs more. It has the advantage of moving your pots anywhere on the gutter (and its cheaper). It does not look as nice though ..

Or I can put gutter at the bottom instead of drain pipe and then your planter on top of that ..

hmmm, I will view few more youtube videos before I make a decision

[luigiwu]

Yup, I said the same thing as much. My first build was the only PVC pipe water supply I made. All my other one since have been the U-shape gutter - the flexiblity is awesome. You can make it look as nice as you want it (ie. build a wood enclosure, use all the same color grow bags, etc.)

My raised bed will also work over a gutter. The thing is you have to cut holes in your hardware cloth and then that's that (its all fixed locations)

Are you interested in the kiddie pool at all? because Larry recently uploaded a compilation what I consider the cadillac of kiddie pools (complete with a cattle panel overhead support) by a guy named Michael. Its simply gorgeous!
https://vimeo.com/95573364

[tnkrer]

don't really see the advantage of kiddie pool, its seems like lot more work.

[luigiwu]

Originally Posted by tnkrer

don't really see the advantage of kiddie pool, its seems like lot more work.

Its actually not because the idea is you can literally take an ugly plastic kiddie pool and just set a grow bag in it. No carpentry or any special skills req'd. It is a heck of a lot more work to make it look nice, so I do agree there.

[tnkrer]

Originally Posted by luigiwu

Its actually not because the idea is you can literally take an ugly plastic kiddie pool and just set a grow bag in it. No carpentry or any special skills req'd. It is a heck of a lot more work to make it look nice, so I do agree there.

Oh right OK. I saw the whole pond liner in the wooden pools business .. I have done that once in my huge planter, so I know its a pain to do it.
Just using a kiddie pool will be easy, but wont look good. I have almost convinced myself to go with gutter at the bottom and your planter on top. Its going to be on the deck where we sometimes entertain guests and "looks" will matter.

[BigVanVader]

This great idea is similar to how I want to make my greenhouse shelving. I would like to be able to have a metal trough of some sort underneath and have all my seedling/plants sitting down into it at all times with the water level controlled by a float valve (I think that would work?) so I could keep the water line on at all times. This would eliminate one of the biggest time sinks for me in growing plants and make it much easier to fertilize everything at once not to mention I could leave town and not need to worry.

[ChrisK]

I just made one of these this weekend. A ten foot long piece of PVC can support 15 one gallon pots. The only thing I found is that the pipe sticks up above the top of the 2x6 a little bit, so will need to cut the underneath supports.

Instead of net pots I am using little disposable plastic cups with holes melted in them. A 2 1/8 hole in the bottom of the pots made them fit perfectly. Now to see how well they actually wick water.

My plan is to use it in the garage over the winter with fluorescent lights for the micro dwarfs. I figure I can get 2-3 of these inside. The frame will also be stained.