Vertical Container Gardening
This page is dedicated to all those folks who live in an apartment or condo and have no space to grow a victory garden. I’ve got good news for you. You do have space after all. Browse through the following pictures and instructions and you’ll see how easy it is to have a mammoth garden in the space of a small patio. If your patio faces North, there could be a bit of a challenge, but baring that instance, grab a glass of milk and a plate of cookies; here we go:
Be sure to use galvanized wire!
First, I made a bunch of these little hangers out of bailing wire. Originally (see picture) I used tie wire, but it rusted in about 8 months, so be sure to use galvanized wire only.
I fashioned a "jig" to spin the wire on and make the loops.
I constructed a “jig” out of a piece of ABS drain pipe, which turned out to be “just the right size” to wind the wire around. The trick is to get it to fit just under the little ridge, which comprises the top of the plastic growing pot. The weight of the pot with the plant and moist soil inside holds it in place on the tower.
Spool of tie wire and a few pieces cut to length.
Here’s the spool of wire I used as well as some pieces of wire cut to the right length. If you choose to do this, you’ll have to experiment with the length of wire to use. Also, you’ll have to come up with the right sized “mandrel” (the “jig”) that is spun with the drill and winds up the wire plant-pot hangers.
Twisting the two loose ends to make a "fish" tail.
Next, each length of wire is bent into the form of a little “fish” by crossing the ends of the wire and giving it a little “twist” so it holds itself together.
The assembly line; one looks a little aggressive, eh?
I made a bunch of these at a time to let me do somewhat of an “assembly line” operation.
Using vice grips to hold the wire fish by the tail.
Using a pair of “vice grips”, the twist at the tail of the fish was clamped to hold it in place as the jig spins the wire, forming the hanging post.
Twisting the loop around the mandrel.
This shows the wire hanger spun onto the jig, having been twisted there by holding the “fish” with the vice grips and at the same time, using the battery-operated drill driver to spin the jig. Be sure not to spin it too far, or you’ll twist off the wire and it’ll break. If this happens, you’re back to square one!
Wire dispenser for assembly-line production.
Knowing I will have to make literally thousands of these little wire pot holders, I cooked up a wire dispenser. All I have to do is pull the wire to the desired length (I put a piece of tape on my workbench at the desired length) and cut it with a side-cutter (dykes). Once you do a few, it’s easy to just crank them out in no time.
The Salad Wall
Now we will manufacture a vertical pot hanger and utilize plastic tubes, with small holes drilled into one at specific intervals allowing a wire plastic pot hanger to be inserted. The idea is to use vertical space to house as many plants as would be grown in several rows of a “regular” garden on the ground.
Look everything over and you’ll get the idea. It’s easy. I use this method to grow several of my greenhouse plants. Most everything I grow is container-grown and the only plants sitting on the ground are those in larger containers, like some large pots housing potato plants growing in perlite using the Static Hydroponic Technique.
The vertical growing stations are made from 3/4\
Here is the naked PVC structure lying on my workbench top. The entire contraption is made of Class 200 3/4″ PVC and 3/4″ PVC Tees. Nothing is glued, so if I want to add to it or take it apart, it’ll be easy. When it’s mounted in the “growing” position (with plants hanging from it), it will be clamped to a permanent structure using pipe clamps screwed into wood.
Measuring and marking where to cut 1/8\
This shows how I measured where to drill all the little 1/8″ to 5/6″ holes (depending on how thick the twisted wire ends turn out) in the PVC tubes. The small twisted wire “tails” of the wire pot hangers will get stuck into each of these holes and just hang there, supporting the plant vertically on the run of pipe.
Close-up shot of drilled holes.
Here’s a close-up shot of two of those little 5/16″ holes drilled into the PVC pipes.
Inserting the twisted hanger ends into the PVC tubes.
This shows the hangers inserted into the holes.
Bend the little ends at 90 degrees (right angle).
Here’s a tight shot of the little “bend” in the wire hanger. It doesn’t show well here, but I found it works best if the tail is bent 90-degrees to the plane of the hoop. When the pot is inserted in to the wire loop, the bottom of the pot touches the pole into which the little tail is inserted, holding that 90-degree bend vertical. There’s “no way” it can slip out and just hangs there securely.
Thirty-five plants in the same space as one!
This shows the entire structure holding 35 four-inch plastic pots standing next to and taking up about the same amount of surface room as just ONE yard plant in my front yard. You can readily see that a vertical garden makes much better use of space, especially when it’s the only space you may have.
I use a similar arrangement inside my small greenhouse to grow bare-root strawberry starts in 4″ plastic pots. Many of the strawberries will remain in the 4″ pots and on the vertical holder, while others will be transplanted into Strawberry Burritos as well as other potting arrangements.
Grow On — We Dare You!
Tags: build, container, garden, patio, strawberries, vertical
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