Five Ways
to Grow Edibles
Vertically, Rozie Apps/
Πέντε τρόποι για
να μεγαλώσουν τα κατακόρυφα, [βότανα, φυτά, δένδρα], της Rozie
Apps
Growing salads, fruits and herbs
vertically not only allows urban dwellers to grow food in small spaces, but follows
the permaculture principles of stacking, using renewable resources and making
the most of the edge.
For those who live in urban
environments, growing space is often limited. Growing vertically is a great way
to make the most of the space you do have. Here are five easy ways to help you
grow your own fruits and vegetables in small spaces.
1.
Create a salad tower
It is possible to buy vertical
planters online or from nurseries and garden centres, but it is just as easy to
make your own. You will need:
A large plant pot
A wide plastic tube, around 25cm
wide
A narrower plastic tube, around 4cm
wide
Compost
Drill
First you need to drill planting
holes in the biggest tube. These have to fit plants through, so you need to cut
out circles of around 5cm diameter. They need to be big enough for the plant to
grow from but not so big they fall out. Once the roots take hold, they will
become more stable.
Then drill small holes in the thin
tube. This will act as the watering device, so the holes only need to be small.
Place the large tube in the pot,
filling the bottom few centimetres with gravel for drainage and the rest of the
pot with compost.
Place the small tube inside the
large tube, and fill the layer between the two tubes with compost. Do no cover
the top of the small tube.
You can now plant through the large
holes into the compost.
To water, pour into the small tube.
image by Bernhard Gruber
2.
Grow in a pallet
All you need is:
An old pallet (make sure it isn't a
chemically treated one, find a heat-treated or untreated pallet)
A roll of landscape fabric
A staple gun and staples
About 2 bags of compost
Flowers, herbs, plants
First you have to cover the bottom,
back and sides of the pallet with the fabric. This prevents soil and the plants
from falling out. The only sides to stay uncovered are the top and the front,
where the spaces between the slates are (this is where the plants go).
It can be good to double up the
fabric, so it is thicker and stronger.
Staple the fabric around the edges,
along the top, the sides and the bottom.
Make sure you hold the fabric taut
before you staple, and check that the fabric is secure, so that no soil will be
able to fall out.
When planting up the pallet, move it
close to where it will finally stand and lay it flat so that you can fill it.
Place the plants where you want them
along each row, planting tightly so they cannot fall out. Fill around them with
compost, making sure they are held in tightly, but without damaging the roots.
It can be easier to plant the top layer first as they grow upwards, and then
continue with the lower rows where the plants grow outwards.
It is a good idea to leave the
pallet flat for a few weeks, regularly watering until the roots have begun
growing. This will ensure the plants stay in place when you lift up the pallet.
3.
Plastic bottle tower
These can easily be made with
recyled bottles and some scissors or a sharp knife.
All bottles need their caps, as
these become part of the watering process.
Firstly drill a small hole in the
centre of each bottle cap.
Then cut the bottoms off the
bottles, around 2cm off.
Take the first bottle, turn it
upside down, cap downwards, and fill with compost. Be careful to not pack the
compost in as it will need to be loose enough to plant into.
Secure the bottle to the wall or
structure it will be next to. As shown below, a suitable wall or structure
could be mesh or netting, as the bottles can easily be secured with cable ties.
You could also tie them to a strong length of string or thin pole that is
secure.
Place the next bottle, cap down into
the first and fill this one with compost, then tie in the bottle. Repeat this
process until you have the desired height.
Once filled, each bottle needs a
hole cut for the plants. Here a knife can be more useful than scissors. The
hole doesn't want to be too big, but take a look at the root system of the
plants and gauge the size from them. You don't want to be squeezing the roots
in and damaging them.
Once the holes have been made, your
salads, herbs etc. can be planted.
When watering, water from the top,
and it will soak through each layer, through the holes cut in the bottle caps.
4.
Trellis
The trellis is a well known
structure for growing plants vertically. They are great for many plants, especially
climbers. You can grow beans, squashes, vines, cucumbers and more!
You can build them from wire, bamboo
and all kinds of wood. They can be an arch like the photo below, using the edge
of two beds and the vertical space above the walkway, or they can run up the
side of a wall.
They are easy to make to the needs
of what you are planting.
5.
Hanging pots
Everyone's seen a hanging basket,
but why not create baskets or pots from all kinds of recycled items, and hang
them in different places. Instead of one or two hanging from a hook, cover a
whole wall in recycled bottles, or attach flower pots, or jars. You could use
anything!
There are so many other ways we can
grow vertically, so get out there and be creative. Use whatever you can find in
the space you have.
Rozie Apps is assistant editor at
Permaculture magazine and Permanent Publications.
Πηγή :
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ενεργός σύνδεσμος (link ). Νόμος 2121/1993 και κανόνες Διεθνούς Δικαίου που
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αναρτώμενα από το διαδίκτυο κείμενα ή εικόνες (με σχετική σημείωση της πηγής),
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αποκλειστικά τις απόψεις των συντακτών τους και δεν δεσμεύουν καθ’ οιονδήποτε
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