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melvalena

Photos -- containers

melvalena
12 years ago

Here's how I keep the mess contained when I'm working in the kitchen:

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its an under the bed storage thing. Using this makes cleaning up afterwards so much easier. This photo was taken the day I dug the swiss chard out of the milk jug and potted them up in little pots.

As I'm working away, head down, being ever so careful of those tiny roots and blocking out everything else going on around me.... suddenly I look up....and have a heart attack!

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How the heck did he get up there?? Oh my gosh...he was feeling left out and wanted to see what I was working on so he pulled a table inside from the patio --I never heard a thing!

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Experiment with under the bed containers:

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I threw way the lids, melted holes top and bottom. Put a few along the side lips to tie shut with pipe cleaners. It holds a lot of little pots inside:

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and it worked!!

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little bitty blanket flowers!!

Comments (11)

  • morz8 - Washington Coast
    12 years ago

    Congratulations on your seedlings, hope you have lots of blooms to come...

    I loved the little supervisor, your photos gave me a chuckle this morning What a cutie! And a little gardener in the bud ;)

  • melvalena
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks Morz8!

    He'll be a gardener when he learns to not step in grandma's flats and to leave the labels in the pots I put them in!

    He loves being outside, but hasn't quite got the hang of what's ok and what's not ok to do out there, but I'm working on that.

    I have tons and tons of sprouted containers and its about time to start planting out too.
    The last of our 3 days of rain has passed. Next 10 days will have 70's for the highs and upper 50's -60's for lows! (with slight chance of rain/storms too..)

    Hummers should arrive any day now, and we're ready for them! We've almost turned the corner here in N Texas!

  • ladyrose65
    12 years ago

    OMG! The baby is so cute! That's the best Sprout!

    I like your set up, very nice! Congratulations on baby and sprouts.

  • melvalena
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks, Ladyrose!
    He's even cuter now that his mom got his hair cut. He looks like a little boy now. :)

    I tried everything to get out and work with my plants today but the inside chores kept us busy until it was too late to get out there. Its still pretty wet from all the rain we just got so its a good thing we didn't make it outside today.

    All these years I don't know why I never thought about using those under the bed things to keep the kitchen cleaner when I did the dirt work inside!
    I hope I've been able to help other's keep the kitchen cleaner with my post.

  • docmom_gw
    12 years ago

    I use an old, over-sized baking pan in a similar fashion. It's big enough for three milk jugs, so I plant them and carry them outside without any dripping or spilling dirt.

    Martha

  • corgitrbl
    12 years ago

    That's one cute petunia and sweet tomatoe.

  • pippi21
    12 years ago

    Both of those pictures of the little fella are worth enlarging and framing!Adorable! Tresure those moments!

  • Edie
    12 years ago

    I love the expression on the munchkin's face in that first pic. Looks like his jaw dropped in amazement when he saw what you were doing.

    I use old cafeteria trays when working with potting soil, but I may switch to the under-bed box like you. Looks like they would keep more mess contained, since they have sides. Thanks for sharing the idea and pictures.

  • pippi21
    12 years ago

    Are you bottom watering those? Why did you throw the lids out? Do you have something else like plastic wrap or Press&seal to put over them until they germinate or did I misread your posted message? Are you growing "under lights" or putting those outside?

  • melvalena
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks everyone for your comments. Grand kid #5 is a joy to have around but he sure slows me down when I'm on a mission out in the yard!

    pippi21,

    I'm not sure which picture (s) you are questioning, but I'll try to answer your questions"

    "Are you bottom watering those?"

    no. I haven't needed to water since they were sown.

    "Why did you throw the lids out?"

    Because they were useless for what I wanted to use the containers for. They were a solid white and didn't let in enough light, and were too low. The seedlings would have outgrown the container before it was warm enough to set them out if we had a slow spring or late freeze.
    I wanted to offer more protection from our really bad heavy spring rains, hail and tornadoes.

    "Do you have something else like plastic wrap or Press&seal to put over them until they germinate or did I misread your posted message?"

    No, nothing else on top of them but the 'bottom' of another under the bed container turned upside down. Holes melted for air and rain.

    "Are you growing "under lights" or putting those outside?"

    Outside. I wanted a different type of container, other than the milk jugs and yogurt containers I had.
    I wanted something that was bigger and would hold the nursery pots. I wanted something with more head room for the plants to grow in.

    The 'totes' didn't hold as many pots and were taller. I was looking to create something lower to more easily hid behind bushes. We don't really like the looks of all these containers in the yard, so I hide them behind and under bushes.

  • Jessica Hill
    12 years ago

    What beautiful pictures! I have tried the baggy method with my WSing and also the 'traditional' gallon milk jug, strawberry container from the grocery store and a large cool whip container.

    The baggies haven't sprouted yet, but the plastic jugs all have. The Cool Whip container is by far my biggest success. The sprouts in it are at least 3 times bigger/thicker than the other two jugs. I didn't expect that since it's not transparent.

    Thanks for the inspiration! :)
    ~jr

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