Grow Box Tip

BonsaiTwit

I am sure that most of you out there use grow boxes (or at least have thought about it). Of this group, I am sure that there is a good percentage that have questions on how to make them or what a good alternative is. Up until recently I have been using old 6 inch high baseboards. My father in law has his own construction business so I raided his scraps. I would just cut the baseboards to the lengths that I needed and nail them together. For the base, I would use the plastice mesh that ppl use for crocheting, or whatever they do, you can buy these at any craft store. That is an easy way of making grow boxes.

Now, if any of you out there make your own wine from grapes or know anyone that does, have them save these boxes for you. They are about 1 foot by 18 inches, all unfinished wood, and are perfect for growing trees in them. I currently have some of my pomegranates in there. The boxes are about 6 to 8 inches deep as well. They are perfect for your tropicals if you live in an area that gets a winter. That is my two cents for the day, I hope that it helps at least one person out and relieves some stress for the day. I will post a pic of ones these shortly, today is a rainy day here, so maybe tomorrow.

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Joanie

Thank you, that's a very good idea!

Joanie

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PeterW

I use 9 litre (2 gallon for all you ppl across the water) fruit boxes. They are free and readily available. They only down side to using them that i have encountered is that they dont allow you to tie down any large cutting type stock, eg.. big bougs etc. They keep the root system nice and cool in our hot climate.

clrosner

Many years ago, I used to use styrofoam boxes. Most pharmacies recieve certain medications (that must be kept chilled) in them. They were there for the asking. It is easy to punch holes in the bottom for drainage....

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Carl L. Rosner - near Atlantic City zone 6/7
arteacher3725@yahoo.com

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bonsainotwar

Old bureau drawers are good,too.You can either drill holes in the bottom,or there is often enough space in the slit that runs along the bottom,for water to drain out.

bumblebee

Pet stores often get shipments of fish in the big shallow styrofoam boxes. I'm buying them for 75 cents a piece. They don't look too bad, considering, and I can make any kind of holes I need to very easily. They are relatively light-weight, too.Libby

JMac

I have a very good friend who is the director of a local animal shelter and she gets me all the cat litter boxes I can use. They're rectangular, shallow, and come in many sizes (and fashion colors to boot). Easy to drill and they last a long time (much longer than wood, I've found). New are best, but even used ones are ok if you don't mind a bit of scrubbing first.

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Joseph McCoy

Austin, Texas zone 8b

zen

Pond baskets. Cheap with great drainage,...thing is I can't really find them in large to extra large sizes. I'm about to go and ask the neighbors, who just pulled up the horseshoe throwing pits, if I can get the 2x6's that are just lying in their yard now. I guess i'll just run some window under them to make raised grow bed. I need a large area to put 2 huge ilex crenata (I'm pretty sure) that a friend wants gone from a bed against his house.
If anyone knows anything better, let me know, I'll probably lift these sometime this summer,...I'm trying to put him off til fall, but he has mentioned just "tyin' a chain around 'em and pullin' 'em up with the work van" .

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"Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity, and that wherever it is so applied it lends an unmistakable quality to the work."

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Terry_Crump

When I found out that some of you were using grow boxes I thought that was the best idea. It could be cheap, I could make just the size I needed, When you have a lot of trees in training it’s a lot cheaper then buying pots. It could be a good way to get the root system ready for a bonsai pot and build up the trunk ( In the ground would be better to build the trunk, I think)
But what would I use for wood, I did not want to buy it. Then one day at work I was out back were we keep our pallets and got this idea to use the wood pallets. The best part was they were free, we would take them to the land fill to be ground up.
The wood seemed to weather good. pallets tend to sit out side in the weather and did not rot.
I would use a Reciprocating saw to cut the nails from the slats, I tried to use a hammer and bar but I would end up splitting the wood. also the slats would be 3 inches to 6 inches wide so I did not have to rip them, just cut length. For the bottom I use pet screen ( works good for covering up the drainage holes in pots ) you can get at Home Depot I also found it at Walmart. To put the boxes together I would use galvanized deck screws.