Steve Farmer

Brett Andrzejewski wrote:I had come to the same conclusion about the concrete pots.  I never plan to waste my time with them again.

I have some ideas on pot design for subsurface irrigation and concrete is easy and cheap to prototype with. I'm aware concrete is porous and might need to be sealed. Just how wasteful are such pots? It's only the base that will be concrete whilst the upper part exposed to the air will be an off the shelf plant pot.

I'd rather lose a bit of water than double the complexity by sealing the concrete. After prototyping I'd be more willing to seal or perhaps avoid concrete altogether.

Get some shade and ground cover using RGGS and wicking beds. These are very efficient with water and slightly less complicated to build than hydroponics. You need to do whatever you can to grow something so you can get started with some biomass. The RGGS/wicking output (branch trimmings, leaves etc) can get you started with material for mulch, compost to build your sand into soil.

Not manufacturing as such but an idea is to run a compressor to fill cylinders with compressed air. These cylinders can be used to run air tools, inflate tyres, for scuba diving or .....

Hi, I've only watched a couple of vids so far and looks good so will watch some more but obviously will take a while to see it all.

can someone point me to which vid covers preparing the bed ie what its filled with please? ta

The above for €399 is a 3KW inverter but only a 1KW charge controller.

Here is a 3KW inverter with 4KW charger at €599
https://www.leroymerlin.es/productos/energias-renovables/inversores-para-conexion-a-red/inversor-hibrido-omega-umv3-3000w-24v-masterpower-82477655.html

I'm in spain. €399

https://www.leroymerlin.es/productos/energias-renovables/inversores-para-conexion-a-red/inversor-hibrido-monofasico-master-battery-omega-um-3k-24-3kw-82477653.html

interesting thread. i was aware of the deep planting but this thread has brought up a couple of things i either missed or forgot last time i looked at this method...

1) putting the soil back in the order it was dug up
2) using the right type of hopi corn that has been selected for pushing thru nearly a foot of soil.

1) is easy, I'll try that... but how important is 2)?
With bog standard corn, do i just plant more in the hole to get more chance of success, or can i go halves on the method going maybe 4 or 6 inches deep rather than 8 or 12?

Jane Mulberry wrote:Steve, did any of the loquats survive?

Only for a few weeks. i think they would have survived with more water but i was really pushing the edge on how drought tolerant they might be.

I've since grown others from seed successfully with deep seeding, but being more generous with water.

Corn is great for this. you probably wont get a good crop but youre growing your soil amendment & mulch rather than hauling it in.

Corn grows fast and makes a lot of roots. the roots arent deep but tbh its best to focus on the first few inches anyway.

add in some N fixers like peas/beans or leucaena if you have the climate.

Don't weed, don't worry about harvesting. Once the corn is done just trample it. Now you're ready to plant something else.