Low clearance. Raising plants off ground ideas..

[smurfin'herb]

Hey guys im just looking for some ideas here on how to raise plants off the ground. More minds are better than one. Theres 40 plants in 5gal smartpots in a basement. It gets freezing cold in the winter here so im worried about the cement floor being too cold. I usually do small plants on tables or milk crates but this time its bigger plants being flowered. And clearance is DEFINATELY an issue here. I was going to use pallets, but they are big, bulky, and made of wood which rots and gathers mold when damp. Then i was going to use grated shelving but thats heavy and bulky. Ive used foam boards before but the water that collects under them just sits there and get all rotten smelling and created mold sometimes. I dont have much cash flow left after everything ive bought so im looking for something that costs me 2 bucks or less per plant. Im looking for something that i can set each individual 5gal smartpot on that is only elevated a few inches or less . Tables are out of my price range at the moment, and milk crates are too high for the amount of clearance im dealing with. Ive seen small plastic drain covers for cement patios at lowes, if they made ones with a bigger radius i think id be set. If they exist i bet they are expensive tho. Any help appreciated thx!

 

[astartes]

You should be able to get 4x8 sheets of insulated styrofoam at your local home improvement store. You can cut them to size and double up if it's not enough insulation. Shouldn't cost you more than 4" in headroom. Should be able to drill holes it it or create a divide in the middle for drainage...

a.

 

[growshopfrank]

if there is a plastic recycle business nearby they will probably have something that will work at a very reasonable price

 

[mad librettist]

Books in a bag

 

[yortbogey]

You should be able to get 4x8 sheets of insulated styrofoam at your local home improvement store. You can cut them to size and double up if it's not enough insulation. Shouldn't cost you more than 4" in headroom. Should be able to drill holes it it or create a divide in the middle for drainage...

a.

thats the ticket for sure......

 

[cravin morehead]

how about building a few 'stands' out of pvc. if you use like 1", and build it smartly, should be pretty cheap. a bunch of 90* elbows and a bunch of 3-way connectors and less than 10 sticks of pipe.

or using concrete blocks (cheap) with 2x4's running across them?

or something similar...

you have lots of options, start looking around

 

[yortbogey]

If u gotta go cheap just use..... hay and sheet plastic....

 

[yortbogey]

even 3 inches of old newspaper would offer..... insulation

 

[yortbogey]

phonebooks......dam i'm baked..

 

[Iron_Lion]

I use plastic shoe boxes to give plants a boost, but the air gap they provide should give a bit of insulating. And they stack nicely when not in use.

 

[Phillthy]

i like the styrofoam sheet recommendation. i use milk crates when plants are shorter than others. you could always build a small platform with 2x2's and osb.

 

[mrdizzle]

rippled sheet roofing, you can tip one side slightly higher and add a gutter to the low end to collect all your run off if you fancy

 

[SuperConductor]

Put garden trays on top of your foam boards. Drill holes in one corner of each tray for drainage.

 

[Green lung]

I use pot saucers.


Just flip them upside down, if you have the weak clear kind you can double them up to make them stronger.


The best ones are the square black kind they sell at the hydro store, very low profile.



lowes has different kind of saucers in the grden section



.

 

[smurfin'herb]

All good suggestions thank you. Funny someone mentioned the corrugated roofing and gutters idea. I posted pics years ago of a run i did using that exact setup. Worked like a charm. As for the insulated styrofoam, Ive worked with similar stuff before and its the same problem..water gets underneath and just sits there and smells funky. Im trying to keep this KISS, no cutting or screwing. So honestly i like the book in a bag idea the best so far. I can just picture myself now lugging 40 books the size of 5 gal smartpots into the place haha. Phonebooks are too small what could i use thats bigger that i could find a lot of easily? Thanks for geting the ball rollin guys!

 

[yortbogey]

Coke and Pepsi flats out back of convince stores used to hold 6x ... 2-liter sodas.....
should work well for U'r needs.....or old milk crates.....

 

[Tfresh420]

Use a couple bricks per plant, they cost about 60 cents per brick and will raise your plant a few inches and will not rot. Put two on the ground and sit the pot right on top, works great.

 

[Ichabod Crane]

Just get the size you need. They come from 3/8 on up to several feet. And they don't mold and they dry quickly. Just put them under your saucers.

 

[smurfin'herb]

good idea ichabod, but im using smartpots so the bottom would sink to the floor if i did that. Ive actually though about coke/pepsi flats, but i have no idea where i could get 40 of em easily..

 

[Bob-Hope]

Get some tanalised timber around 3x3 inch diameter, 6 ft in length ( found in all good garden centres )

cut it into lengths that are slightly longer than your smart pots,

get some chicken wire,

Take 2 batons,

Cut chicken wire the same length as batons, but 1 1/2 times wider than your smart pots,

Get a staple gun,

Staple the ends of the chicken wire to each baton,

You can now place your chicken wire over a plant saucer and tuck the two batons underneath,( this is why you cut the chicken wire longer than your pots )raising the saucer around 4" of the ground.

the wire will support the surface area of you Smart Pots,

Or Buy some cooling racks for cake or Pizza and sit them over the saucers instead.

Bob.