Follow Up On Over The Top Couture Container Gardening

I guess what I lack is the flair for design and knowledge of plant material but I’m learning more and more each day and the internet and library are endless sources of ideas.

Hey….don’t you go putting yourself down. All of us have alot to learn. And it’s stories like the one about the containers at Chanticleer that inspire and show us that there are ways of achieving a certain look. I think the most important thing for you to do is just to work in the garden and not be afraid of experimenting…..you’ll find out what work, what doesn’t and what you like and don’t like!! fran

He’s certainly talented, Fran, and an inspiration to anyone who’s ever wanted to try something a little unique in containers. I love the results, and his attitude, too.

Jodi-
Thanks for chiming in….yes, I agree. His attitude is refreshing. fran

I am always amazed how people express their creativity. Thanks for the container series.

Kathryn

Kathryn-
With pleasure….yeh, it’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?? fran

Huh. He sounds like us (no time for anything high maintenance)! I might have to get over my fear of mixed containers and try something stupendous this year too. I’ll have to try to channel Dan for design inspiration… Thanks for the follow-up.

Kris-
Am going to try to get over to Chanticleer over the next couple of days to photograph the containers as they look now and continue with a progression throughout the season. Yes…..it is nice to know that Dan does not fuss and primp over the containers. Fran

Regarding how to make containers work (reducing labor), I care for about 19 containers on one large property and a similiar group of smaller pots on a somewhat smaller property.

I am using several techniques to reduce watering: first, gel sheets (they may be a gel type of capillary matting — I purchased retail at Gardeners’ Supply but maybe there is a wholesale version) rather than actual gel) – I think these are very helpful in shallow containers that tended to dry out too quickly in the past. I have been less clear about the benefits of gel.

I also used the GS automatic reservoirs, even using them on slightly larger pots than recommended and I can’t complain about the results. At first I was leery of the bottom -up capillary action watering, but I do feel that pots hold over better with this technique AS LONG AS the top soil doesn’t dry out.

If it does, rewetting can be a challenge. As a wetting agent, I use an ingredient that I first learned about when brewing compost tea — yucca schidigera extract. There are many versions of it — I use the stuff from T&J Enterprises which is food grade and keep it in the basement or refrigerator.

It lasts forever. In a gallon of water probably 1/2 cap is more than enough (careful because it foams up tremendously). This is beneficial to soil organisms and will rewet hydrophobic (dry and water-rejecting) potting mixes.

Lest you think that I am a GS astro-turfer, I have also surfed the interiorscape container suppliers and t hey are into the reservoirs to reduce watering big-time and could represent another source of supplies or ideas. I don’t like plastic containers, but all I can say is the principle is plenty easy to understand and apply to an upscale container, and if you buy an auto watering setup and examine it, making your own custom auto reservoirs should be quite intuitive.

Finally, in terms of irrigation, because commercial potting mixes are formulated to not allow overwatering, if you made a wetting pattern/diagram to show how water moves through that media, it would be pretty vertical (it’s more like the way water moves through sand — in contrast, with clay , the wetting pattern tends to move out laterally before it moves downward). I have been working with Netafim’s greenhouse watering system using what they call arrow drippers — stakes with tubes attached to them. The water drips into the soil and not on the surface, unlike most landscaping emitters. I think it helps prevent rotting leaves in closely planted pots, and allows me to target the most water-sensitive rootballs precisely. I have greatly reduced the time I am charging the client to water pots in a baking Western exposure by working with these drippers. If you are putting all the pots on one zone, there are limits — no more than 55 emitters to a zone, says Dave Sokol of Milikowski’s (greenhouse supplier and the guy who helped me understand how to use these stakes). I have not found that in any way restrictive.

You can get Netafim emitters of 1 gallon, 2 gallon, and 3.2 gallon per hour that hook up to these 2-way 4-way and 4-way stackable “harnesses”, and connect onto the emitters from 2 to 8 drippers. I don’t put less than 1/2 gallon per hour through a line because they don’t handle it all that well, I’m told. That means I would not use more than 4 arrow drippers off of a 2 gallon emitter.

You can also buy the drippers and tubing separately, but my advice is: don’t do it. your labor is likely far more costly than buying pre-assembled 4-ways, and there are a variety of length (e.g. 18 inches, 24 inches, 36 inches, 48 inches) and even combos of 2 plus 2 different lengths.

To use in a pot, so far I have been using landscape sod staples to anchor the white tubing around the pot rims, and then angle the drippers inward and stick into the soil when I have reached the rootball of choice. The idea I had was that with the longest possible lengths in a pot, I could re-use the drippers in a future season. If you have a molded pot, the tubing will fit neatly under a rolled inward molded edge.

I have gardenias and large pots with higher gallonage emitters, and somewhat shaded pots that get by on less. I based my setup on how much I had been watering them by hand, since I always used a one-gallon watering can.

I don’t have the system perfected — I do still spot water for dry spots in my pots (I would like to add more emitters and arrow drippers, but require help in working out the hardware details to do so). The fact that I can add extra water on scorcher days just by running the zone a few more minutes is a huge time saver.

I do not miss hauling water around a sunny western exposure property on 96 degree days AT ALL.

What has impressed me about watering bottom up in particular is that I think I was overwatering and ending up with yellowing plants that I attributed to nitrogen deficiency. With the bottom up watering, I think the oxygen levels in the soil are better and the plants don’t have the greenish cast they had in the past.

The surface in those pots does not tend to be as moist as it is in other top watered pots, but the plants are not unhappy.

The only caveat I would add is that as the season progresses and roots fill the containers, the time between watering, which might be days earlier in the season, might be as much as once per day.

When I deconstructed the pots after using the reservoirs last year, i found roots had grown through the perforated grid on top of the reservoir (looks kind of like a vegetable steamer) and were hanging into the water itself.

Chris-
Thanks so much for all of the useful information you are sharing with us on how to minimize watering pots. I have never tried the gel sheets (have seen them advertised before) and will now go ahead and order next year. Will also need to check out arrow drippers. Whew!! You have given all of us alot to think about when we assemble our container gardens in the future. Your input is greatly appreciated. Fran