The Experiment:
I am going to attempt to get this poor plant healthy using a homemade sub-irrigated planter out of a discarded juice bottle.
I learned about them on the website listed below.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenscaper/sets/72157604735985648/
The above website shows you step by step how to make a sub-irrigated planter (Sip for short) out of a recycled 2 liter bottle. I am going to attempt this with a juice bottle because it is all I had on hand.
What is a Sub-irrigated planter or SIP?
Sub-irrigated planters (mistakenly referred as “self-watering planters”) are amazing systems for growing both houseplants and edible plants. SIPs hold reservoirs of water and air inside the planter, giving plants a constant supply of what they need to grow. With access to a constant supply of water and oxygen through the reservoir, the root system can now grow exponentially. Finally, the gardening adage of “the bigger the pot, the bigger the plant” now no longer applies! (Explanation used from: http://www.brooklynseedcompany.com/how-to-make-a-plastic-bottle-sip/ )
The plant I am attempting this on:
I learned about them on the website listed below.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenscaper/sets/72157604735985648/
The above website shows you step by step how to make a sub-irrigated planter (Sip for short) out of a recycled 2 liter bottle. I am going to attempt this with a juice bottle because it is all I had on hand.
What is a Sub-irrigated planter or SIP?
Sub-irrigated planters (mistakenly referred as “self-watering planters”) are amazing systems for growing both houseplants and edible plants. SIPs hold reservoirs of water and air inside the planter, giving plants a constant supply of what they need to grow. With access to a constant supply of water and oxygen through the reservoir, the root system can now grow exponentially. Finally, the gardening adage of “the bigger the pot, the bigger the plant” now no longer applies! (Explanation used from: http://www.brooklynseedcompany.com/how-to-make-a-plastic-bottle-sip/ )
The plant I am attempting this on:
This plant has a few problems:
I love plants but kind of have a black thumb. My Grandma could make a popsicle stick grow roots. I decided to try and do some research on plants and learn more about them so maybe I will have better luck with them.
I will post pictures later showing the progress of the plant in its new home:) This poor plant is a couple of years old and has never grown due to the poor conditions I placed it in. My hope is to turn it into a healthy thriving plant! Wish me luck...
- I put it into too big a pot. A pot that's much larger gives the roots too much space to grow into. The top of the plant won't grow until its roots begin to fill the container.
- Look at the crusty residue on the pot. This crusty stuff is an accumulation of soluble salts and indicates that high salt levels are building up in the soil threatening the health and vitality of the plant.
- I put it in an unglazed terracotta pot (I didn’t know you are supposed to pre-soak the pot in water before planting) Terracotta is a very porous material. When you fill an unglazed terracotta pot with moist soil the terracotta actually acts like a sponge and wicks/robs moisture from the soil leaving the plant thirsty. When clay pots "wick away" moisture from the soil they contain, they also absorb soluble salts. So this is why my pot is covered in this crusty stuff. If you presoak the pot it is supposed to prevent the pot from wicking moisture from soil.
I love plants but kind of have a black thumb. My Grandma could make a popsicle stick grow roots. I decided to try and do some research on plants and learn more about them so maybe I will have better luck with them.
I will post pictures later showing the progress of the plant in its new home:) This poor plant is a couple of years old and has never grown due to the poor conditions I placed it in. My hope is to turn it into a healthy thriving plant! Wish me luck...
