4:04 pm

April 5, 2012

Hello. I have a lot of sunlit space on grills attached to my windows, but there are vertical bars, about 4-5 inches wide on the windows! This makes it impossible to get a pot into the grill space.
Does anyone have ideas for containers that are wide, but not very deep - as in something less than 5 inches that I could insert vertically between two bars, and then straighten and put on to the grill? (I also thought of putting individual planks of wood and fevicol-ing the box in the grill itself. But I don't know if that's possible.)
Has anyone seen containers that are this shallow? What, if anything, could be grown in such shallow containers? I hate to see the space go waste.
Another idea is, could I take a thick plastic bag, place it on the grill (since it can pass between the bars), then slowly fill it up with soil, and grow something in there? Just thinking aloud here...
4:15 pm

April 5, 2012

Okay, just reading around the forum after I posted, I am reading about "grow bags". Are these a particular type of container that one can buy? Does one just ask for it at nurseries, or is it just a name for any kind of plastic or cloth bag that is deep and holds soil?
(Sorry if my questions are very basic and silly...)
10:45 pm

December 9, 2011

Hi @ frangipani,
I had faced similar problem as my balcony is very narrow. I could fit nothing which was available ready-made. About "Grow bags'' you answered your question and these things are still not readily available in Indian market.
So yes I used plastic bags which you are already thinking of and many more things.
I recycled lot of things.
I use silver foil line bags by inverting them.
If I run out of thick plastic bags I used 4/5 bags together.
I use plastic bottles - 2 liter ones + smaller too by cutting them in half and using both the sides.
Old purses/handbags, cane tokris, plastic baskets (by lining them with felt, plastic or breathable organic material I have at hand).
I have even used power supply box of CPU, plastic cups (for shallow rooted plants), plumbing pipes! So just look around and you will find many things.
Just remember to make drainage holes in whatever you use or put grit/pebbles before you put your soil mix.
As plant roots need breathing space I never stuff the bags with soil mix,keep it loose and never over-water.
And I use my space vertically too. I tie them up on grill.
99% of my plants are happy!
Hope this helps.
Happy gardening!
1:18 pm

April 5, 2012

Thanks Shetur,
This is most helpful and inspiring! Thank you. I am putting together 4-5 large plastic bags, and making a makeshift container this evening for some "puin shaag" a kind of green leafy vegetable that grows here at this time, like a creeper. The grilled window will be good for it to climb on, I think.
The tip about grit/pebbles is also good, I think this is why my mogra pot is retaining water at the top, I just filled it with soil-compost mix. I will repot that too.
shetur said:
Hi @ frangipani,
I had faced similar problem as my balcony is very narrow. I could fit nothing which was available ready-made. About "Grow bags'' you answered your question and these things are still not readily available in Indian market.
So yes I used plastic bags which you are already thinking of and many more things.
I recycled lot of things.
I use silver foil line bags by inverting them.
If I run out of thick plastic bags I used 4/5 bags together.
I use plastic bottles - 2 liter ones + smaller too by cutting them in half and using both the sides.
Old purses/handbags, cane tokris, plastic baskets (by lining them with felt, plastic or breathable organic material I have at hand).
I have even used power supply box of CPU, plastic cups (for shallow rooted plants), plumbing pipes! So just look around and you will find many things.
Just remember to make drainage holes in whatever you use or put grit/pebbles before you put your soil mix.
As plant roots need breathing space I never stuff the bags with soil mix,keep it loose and never over-water.
And I use my space vertically too. I tie them up on grill.
99% of my plants are happy!
Hope this helps.
Happy gardening!
10:02 am
August 1, 2012

12:34 pm
August 1, 2012

[img=http://imageshack.us/thumbnmail.png] [img=http://imageshack.us/thumbnmail.png] [img=http://imageshack.us/thumbnmail.png]
Wonder if I got the technology right
An attempt to show my trial with recycled coke bottes the scrap dealer sold 6 bottles for Rs10
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