Inside Urban Green

Root System Explodes in Just 3 Weeks

This Ficus benjamina (a bonsai in training) in a recycled soda bottle sub-irrigation planter (SIP) surprised even me with all my years of growing plants.

I'm in the process of reinstalling plants in the CuGreen lab to increase the plant care interval beyond weekly care. I need to do this pending upcoming knee surgeries and months of rehabilitation.

The tree was moved up from a 2-liter to a 3-liter soda bottle SIP on December 26, 2011. There were, of course, no visible roots after the replanting. When watering it this week, I was amazed to see the root system "explosion" in just 3 weeks. This is awesome!

As an aside, all school kids should be able to see the amazing “hidden world” of plant roots that I see every day because the SIPs have clear walls and the roots grow so well. 

The most important factor about what we see here is the vivid demonstration of how plants thrive in SIPs. Know that sub-irrigation is scalable from windowsill herb growing SIPs to 4' x 8' raised bed SIPs. SIP “plumbing” fits all sizes of watertight planters. The key element is the water and oxygen reservoir that is an inherent part of all SIPs regardless of size or shape.

The benefit to the plants is that they receive an online supply of water, oxygen and nutrients. All we need to do is add an adequate amount of light.

In addition, the systems are hygienic when growing edible plants. There is no exposure to often-contaminated city soil. Why risk the possibility of a serious health problem when such a productive way of growing plants is readily available. All it takes is a little bit of knowledge. The systems are so simple to make. 
 

CuGreen Plant Lab » Indoor Plant Season is Here Again

These are some of the plants growing in the CuGreen plant lab. All are either sub-irrigated or growing in expanded clay pebble hydroculture. There is no drainage. They are watered on a fixed schedule. All soil based plants are growing in the same artificial soil media. There is no need for "special soil" based on the species of plant. Any terrestrial plant (with roots), including cactus, can be grown and maintained using these methods.

I am writing a how-to guide for what you see here. It will be a free download. Stay tuned.

The Daily Drain Hole Report »The Big Deception Part 2

About the photo - Light from the windows made this shot more difficult to show details. The trees actually live on the rack in the window to the left. The objective is simply to show the quality of these coffee trees growing in a planter with no drainage. Click on the photo to view larger sizes on Flickr. Click on Actions for the menu that includes "View all sizes".

About the plants - These are a couple of coffee trees (probably Coffea arabica spp.) growing in a sub-irrigated planter (SIP) made from a storage box.

They were 4” pot size plants from Lowe’s purchased back in October 2006 that looked similar to the photo. They have never seen a drain hole since. No drainage!

They were combined into the current SIP on February 15, 2010. My how they have grown in just 5 years.  

About the growing method – The sub-irrigated planter (SIP) was made from a translucent storage box. The internal plumbing consists of a recycled juice bottle, inverted nursery flat and water bottle fill tube. No need for power tools.

Since it is an indoor plant, I did not include an overflow drain hole. A scale or a soil probe is the best way to measure soil moisture for indoor plants growing in subdued light. In this case it is also helpful that the planter is translucent. I can see the soil moisture at a glance.

More about the big deception – The vast majority of gardeners who read houseplant and gardening books would say, “You can’t do that, you need a drain hole!” They will also say that so-called “self-watering” planters are only for moisture loving plants or for when you go on vacation or a business trip.

Spend some time on houseplant forums such as GardenWeb and Dave’s Garden and you will soon find this to be true. I have done it, but not any more.

While many of the folks on garden forums may not have much formal science education, they are not stupid people. It is simply that our horticultural education system is broken.

As a long time industry insider, I know that much of the misinformation and disinformation is intentional and that bothers me greatly. It did not matter as much to me when it only involved decorative plants. Now it involves hunger, obesity, job creation, environmental concerns such as water wastage and the health threat from contaminated city soil and more.

I plan to escalate this issue to the highest levels of government. If you care about doing the right thing, please join in this effort. Even Tweeting helps. I may be speaking naively but I still believe there is power in public awareness.

Phytoremediation » 86 Plants to Clean Your Indoor Air?

Osmunda japonica Flickr photo By Polylepis

This is the story that will not die (read ScienceDaily story below). The only things that will likely die are these supposedly "indoor plants" that will supposedly make the air in your home squeaky clean.

First, see if you can find the following plants in your favorite houseplant emporium. Good luck! They are neither easy to find or easy to grow indoors

If you get lucky you will likely be told to make sure your plant pot has a drain hole and be sure you stick your finger into the soil before you water. That advice is the beginning of the end of most houseplants in the care of most who are not dedicated green-thumbed houseplant freaks.

You will find lots of photos and advice about growing and maintaining plants using sub-irrigation methods on this blog. Sub-irrigation works and is used by most professional and experienced interior plant maintainers. It is also likely that the plant you buy was grown in a greenhouse using sub-irrigation.

Sub-irrigation is far superior to traditional drench and drain that I call “poke, pour and pray”. You can easily prove all this to yourself. It is not rocket science.

Do plants growing indoors maintained by any method really clean indoor air? Who knows? Personally, I am skeptical but am a firm believer that HEALTHY plants in your environment will improve your well being in many ways, none of them measurable. 

Phytoremediation potential was assessed by exposing the plants to gaseous formaldehyde in airtight chambers constructed of inert materials and measuring the rate of removal. Osmunda japonica (Japanese royal fern), Selaginella tamariscina (Spikemoss), Davallia mariesii (Hare's-foot fern), Polypodium formosanum, Psidium guajava (Guava), Lavandula (Sweet Lavender), Pteris dispar, Pteris multifida (Spider fern), and Pelargonium (Geranium) were the most effective species tested. Ferns had the highest formaldehyde removal efficiency of the five classes of plants tested, with Osmunda japonica determined to be most effective of all 86 species, coming in at 50 times more effective than the least (D. deremensis) efficient species.

via www.sciencedaily.com

ScienceDaily (June 24, 2011) — Formaldehyde is a major contaminant of indoor air, originating from particle board, carpet, window coverings, paper products, tobacco smoke, and other sources. Indoor volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as formaldehyde can contribute to allergies, asthma, headaches, and a condition known as ''sick building syndrome." The concern is widespread; a 2002 report from the World Health Organization estimated that undesirable indoor volatiles represent a serious health problem that is responsible for more than 1.6 million deaths per year and 2.7% of the global burden of disease.

Recycling Plastic Bottles » A Roof or Growing Fresh Food?

via www.telegraph.co.uk

The Growing Gardens Project Community Garden was created by volunteers on a patch of disused land at Deen City Farm, Colliers Wood, and is well-known for its quirky features. It has a turf maze, an eco-building created out of more than 5000 plastic bottles (pictured), and organises regular workshops on horticultural subjects such as bee-keeping.

This is a creative way to recycle plastic bottles but there is an even better way to upcylce them. Learn how after the jump.

Hydroculture Sansevieria in a Blue Ceramic Rice Bowl

This is a Bird's Nest Sansevieria (Sansevieria trifasciata 'Hahnii'). It is in the same expanded clay pebble hydroculture setup as this tabletop Ficus tree. 

Those are polished decorative pebbles as "ground cover". You can see a couple of the brown clay pebbles peaking up.

Sansevieria is a very durable indoor plant that will tolerate lower light conditions. It is also easy to propagate. This plant is a newly cut offset from another plant. The total out-of-pocket cost of this plant as pictured is about $5.

This would be a great desktop plant for your office, or a gift for someone else's office. With desk lamp lighting like this it would likely need watering every two weeks or longer. The key is to check the water level with a pipette tube and only add more water when it shows that the water level is at empty. 

See more tabletop plants like this on Flickr.

Hydroculture Ficus in a Blue Ceramic Rice Bowl

This blue glaze rice bowl caught my eye at Fei Long Asian Supermarket. It is bonsai quality for only $3.99. The little Ficus tree now has a new hydroculture home growing in expanded clay pebbles covered with decorative polished pebbles. There is no need for a much more expensive planter with a drain hole.

Note the 1/2" diameter clear plastic pipette access tube. Simply insert a length of 1/4" tubing to the bottom, hold your finger over the top end, lift and see the water level. Add water only when empty. Plant care is that simple and virtually fool proof, keeping in mind that when dealing with living organisms nothing is totally fool proof. Hydroculture is probably as close as it gets.

The tree was propagated last October from a bundle of cuttings held together with a rubber band. The propagator was a recycled soda bottle SIP with a deli container hood for holding humidity.

The small caliper stems will fuse together over time to create a thick trunk. No pruning has been done at this point. I will prune the tree for bonsai type character at a later date.

The houseplant market is a dying business in more ways than one. Why don't we have sustainable indoor plants like this available at retail? Why are houseplants essentially a feminine product. Surveys show 80% of the market with a large part of the remaining 20% purchased by men as gifts for women.

A more masculine symbol tree like this could be a young boy's lifetime companion.

See more tabletop plants like this on Flickr.

It's Your Secret

The secret follows...

IKEA » A Modern Look Sub-irrigated Planter

Thanks to a link from reader Karen, here is a cool looking sub-irrigated planter - SIP (aka "self-watering).It is available in 6 3/4" and 8 1/4 in. sizes.

With all of my medical issues this year I have not been to IKEA Brooklyn in a long time. I will soon remedy that and buy one of these for sure. I just checked and they are in stock.

IKEA also has other well designed watertight containers (not necessarily meant to be planters) that can easily be adapted to SIPs or used for clay pebble hydroculture. I will see what they have. Stay tuned. 

via www.ikea.com

Sub-irrigated Crassula Golem Bonsai

This is a Crassula Golem (Jade plant) bonsai growing in a recycled soda bottle sub-irrigated planter (SIP) inside an IKEA ceramic cachepot. There is no drain hole. You can grow any terrestrial plant from Peace Lilies to Cacti in SIPs. You do not need to grow plants in containers with drain holes.

The need for drain holes is an urban myth perpetuated by the USDA extension program, houseplant growers and houseplant book authors who do not know any better.

This plant was installed back in August '07. Even though it was happier in the dry Mediterranean climate of San Diego it has stayed in good health growing on an east facing windowsill here in Brooklyn since the fall of '07. I staged it here under a CFL desk lamp for the photo shoot but you could grow it under artificial light this way.