This is the cheapest design for reservoir-planter conversions yet!

Lucked out at the dollar store this weekend, here you can see a mesh drawer organizer which fits nicely inside a rectangular planter.  Total cost? $2!

materials: (1) wire mesh drawer organizer, (1) rectangular planter, (4) screws 

Dollar store planters are great because they have this latice design which helps you position your screws perfectly every time!

 Next, drill yourself a drainage hole like so.  Go slowly! Otherwise you'll end up cracking the plastic (like in this pic)

Voila! The finished product! Next up, aeroponic conversions...........

Garden Labels

The garden needed some labels but all that was available on ebay were the platic popsicle stick variety,

the copper foil on steel variety, and some expensive terra cotta ones that were way too "traditional" looking for my garden. 

Yeah.. I know.. I plant my stuff in 18-gallon totes and it sounds odd that I'd whine about the labels of all things!

However, I wanted something whimsical and original.. 

After searching online and finding nothing cool under $1.50  ea .. I got the idea to make my own from scrap aluminum metal.  Here's what you need:

• Scrap aluminum metal (preferably cutable with scissors) - $0
• Old Nail polish - $0  
• Nail polish remover (if you screw up) - $0
• 12 gauge steel wire ( to make the stems) - $8.99 (for 100 feet)
• mixed bag of small glass marbles - $1
• mixed bag of large glass marbles - $1
• 26 gauge copper craft wire - less than $2.49 (for 30 yds)
• 24 gauge silver craft wire - less than $.99  (for 25 yds)

Total: about $15  in materials for over 30 garden labels
(50 cents each! and the results speak for themselves...)

Last year, I had made a bunch of Earthbox(tm) style planters for all my crop plants out of 18-gallon Rubbermaid totes and some plastic office carts from Walmart.  They held up well through the season and were good to go for another year of abuse! What I didn't expect was some of the crops actually surviving the winter (we're in a Zone 7 area of NJ).  So I had to think of a way to make some more planters.. pronto!  

WHAT YOU NEED 

Walmart no longer carries the pvc office carts used to make last year's Earthbox(tm) style planters.. so this year, I hit up Family Dollar for some ideas.  Here's what I got:

• Square Planter $4
• Mini Dishrack $1.50
• Piece of plastic $0
• Screws $0

Total: $5.50


There were some square planters  which fit the bill and scouting around the same store, I located a perfectly square black mini dishrack.  I figured the slots normally used to dry forks and knives would make a good place to plant annuals or small herbs.  The only problem with this design is the gap between the rest of the rack and the pockets, easily solved by tucking a piece of plastic (I'd reccommend a contractor bag, recently purchased mattress, or vinyl dropcloth segment) into the pocket and holding it down with a few pebbles until you can get some dirt into it.

CONSTRUCT YOUR PLANTERS 

1. To secure the dishrack in place, I screwed them in (see "lessons learned from last year" at the end of this article)

2. Then just drill yourself a drainage hole about 1" under the bottom of the tray into the planter's exterior and you're done.

 

3. Here I've started transplating my seedlings..
Lavender and basil in the back left, Hyssop and Cilantro in the back right,  Burdock and Cilantro in the front left, and one more getting prepped for the Amaranth (not shown). 

 4/2008 UPDATE:

At Home Depot or Lowes, you can pick up a light fixture cover (like for fluorescent lights in a drop-ceiling).  Trim these to size using common wirecutters and it'll fit perfectly in the dishrack! I've converted all my planters from '07 already and the mesh works MUCH better than flimsy plastic. go figure.

Last year's planters are still holding up quite well! (Made with Walmart 10-gal Totes and plastic office carts)  They cost just under $7 each to make.. a bargain compared to commercially available planters of this size.   There are a few things to keep in mind if you decide to go this route:

• screw in the racks to prevent them from toppling into the reservoir mid season.

• don't jam the racks down too far or the totes will crack or develop stress marks in the corners (see pic).

• after adding water, treat the reservoir with some mineral oil to prevent mosquitoes from using your planters as a breeding ground.

• fill the pockets where the "handles" are either with molding clay or soil otherwise you could have yourself an uninvited mosquito party.