homemade smart pots DIY

[Team Microbe]

GREAT thread! I made some 45 gals last year out of the same materials, except I substituted your fabric for some black mesh tarp. It has more air capability and is strong as hell, I believe it's for keeping weeds out of garden beds. Garden bedding cloth? Idk what it's called but its not hard to find!

 

[Drue Bleam]

I used the original concept of wrapping the chicken wire with landscaping cloth. I used zip ties and overlapped the cloth. The pots are holding up really really well, and I would presume could be used season after season if left in a good area, and amended seasonally.

That's what Schrews and I did last year, we are about to amend them in mid March or early April. They held up great last year. Only downside was they were 200 gallons and put a bunch of holes in our hands making them. How easy they are to work with depends on how much landscaping cloth you use(we only lined the inside).

 

[Team Microbe]

That's what Schrews and I did last year, we are about to amend them in mid March or early April. They held up great last year. Only downside was they were 200 gallons and put a bunch of holes in our hands making them. How easy they are to work with depends on how much landscaping cloth you use(we only lined the inside).

Landscaping cloth is the term I was looking for, bingo. You're right this stuff is great and it gives awesome aeration. I got mine for free so I wrapped the inside and out since my chicken wire glares in the sun. You can toss the wire through a fire and char it up a bit but I'm lazy lol

I def cut myself a lot during the first time making these, a pair of thick work gloves should do the trick next time though. Why pay a dollar a gallon for commercial smart pots when you can literally save 90% of your money for other things like amendments and soil?

seems like a no brainer to me folks!

 

[Team Microbe]

bumping an old thread...I live in the north Sonora desert...we get lots of hot days...I'm not concerned about stealth as much as health...would white pots work better than black???

they would, but why aren't you worried about stealth?

black conducts more heat than white does, that's why I say they would BUT white sticks out from the air like a sore thumb... anything unnatural for that matter does

 

[Drue Bleam]

black conducts more heat than white does, that's why I say they would BUT white sticks out from the air like a sore thumb... anything unnatural for that matter does

Schrews and I had serious heat issues here outside of Yosemite, we should have gone with white. The Sherriff has already come and spoke to us, and we had a ton of fly overs with the fires last year. Go with white if you aren't worried, the heat makes a big difference when watering.

 

[Drue Bleam]

I def cut myself a lot during the first time making these, a pair of thick work gloves should do the trick next time though. Why pay a dollar a gallon for commercial smart pots when you can literally save 90% of your money for other things like amendments and soil?

seems like a no brainer to me folks!

My hands were to big, and I'm not very nimble in gloves. Luckily I didn't build most of them, Schrews did. Making your own is the way to go.

 

[Team Microbe]

My hands were to big, and I'm not very nimble in gloves. Luckily I didn't build most of them, Schrews did. Making your own is the way to go.

haha I hear that, "XL" gloves are more like "M" right? Mine are big to the point of being awkward and not being able to work well with screws and small tools... life is so hard sometimes....

 

[Team Microbe]

Schrews and I had serious heat issues here outside of Yosemite, we should have gone with white. The Sherriff has already come and spoke to us, and we had a ton of fly overs with the fires last year. Go with white if you aren't worried, the heat makes a big difference when watering.

oh damn really? yeah then white would be the best bet, maybe covered in some clumps of tall grass or something for stealth.


What did the sheriff say?!?! Thats crazy haha

 

[Drue Bleam]

The funny thing was, he walked up when we were shooting guns. Didn't trip at all. Just asked for paperwork and if the previous owners still lived there(he was there to serve something). Times are changing.

 

[Team Microbe]

The funny thing was, he walked up when we were shooting guns. Didn't trip at all. Just asked for paperwork and if the previous owners still lived there(he was there to serve something). Times are changing.

That's pretty cool then. They are changing, it's a good feeling isn't it? Ten years ago I never would have seen this coming... it was one of those "haha yeah right" day dreams I'd have

 

[Drue Bleam]

I was ecstatic, dropped some L after... let the experience sink in. It was one of my biggest fears for a while, and it wasn't issue. Reminds me of a video someone showed me of firefighters saving their plants, I think there was even a similar story that aired on some TV station also. Hearst's propaganda can only stay credible for so long, people are over the bullshit.

 

[Team Microbe]

I was ecstatic, dropped some L after... let the experience sink in. It was one of my biggest fears for a while, and it wasn't issue. Reminds me of a video someone showed me of firefighters saving their plants, I think there was even a similar story that aired on some TV station also. Hearst's propaganda can only stay credible for so long, people are over the bullshit.

Amen brother, Amen. Thats beautiful to be honest.. and I'm not the sentimental type lol


I'm still very fearful of LEO's, but maybe that's because I haven't been caught by one. The unknown is pretty damn scary...

I had 2/10 plants in a plot last summer chopped by a Statie that found my site. I was suspecting game cameras and all this shit so I masked up as usual but to be honest they just chopped them down and took them. They don't really care, and I'm not even sure if it was a LEO. Just saw really wide SUV tires like theirs on the path entering the forest near my path... hmmmmmm