Re: creating grids

quiltbea 4/19/2012, 5:43 pm

You got it right ladies.

I also use the hoops to drape over old towels on suspected frosty nights. With clothes pins the covers are held in place, and also to shade newly-transplanted crops that need some protection from too much sun or to hold row cover up off the plants against bugs. They sure come in handy.

givvmistamps 4/20/2012, 12:08 am

plantoid wrote:Bamboo tends to split after while and make fantastic homes for all sorts of bug that are " Public enemy No 1 " to your plants and beds

How long is "a while" plantoid? I really hoped I could use those. Sad

*sigh* Now I have to come up with something else to use for my tomato supports, too...and here I thought I'd come up with something attractive instead of the ugly tomato supports I keep finding at the store.

kbb964 4/20/2012, 8:15 am

hruten wrote:I know a lot of people mentioned string, but I'm not sure this was brought up. I use construction string. It is cheap and found in the tool section of your local hardware/big box store. I used neon pink, but it comes in several EASY to see shades (pink, green, yellow, blue). It's nylon and works well just wrapped around some small brads I had in the fastener bin. It will also stand up to the elements and probably be reusable ( 1st time SFGer)

thats what I use ORANGE

Too Tall Tomatoes 4/20/2012, 9:26 am

kbb964 wrote:
hruten wrote:I know a lot of people mentioned string, but I'm not sure this was brought up. I use construction string. It is cheap and found in the tool section of your local hardware/big box store. I used neon pink, but it comes in several EASY to see shades (pink, green, yellow, blue). It's nylon and works well just wrapped around some small brads I had in the fastener bin. It will also stand up to the elements and probably be reusable ( 1st time SFGer)

thats what I use ORANGE

That's excellent. I didn't want to have to build wooden grids and something like colored string would look neat. What a Face

Unmutual 4/20/2012, 3:54 pm

I use hot pink too! For some reason it doesn't show up well in photographs though.

H_TX_2 4/20/2012, 4:17 pm

Last year I used twine and it blended in nicely since it is a tan color. This year I was out of twine and I looked for my yellow construction string but could only find my hot pink construction string. It still irritates me a little since I don't think it looks all that great but I garden for the purpose of the vegetables not aesthetics. Glad to hear I am in good company with the brightly colored string used for the grid.

AvaDGardner 4/20/2012, 5:03 pm

givvmistamps wrote:Another cheap method of marking squares I just thought of yesterday is getting bamboo sticks and tying them together. You can get a six-pack of bamboo for around $2 locally. Bamboo is durable, and I think it'd be kind of pretty. Using the stuff Plantoid came up with, it'd last a long time without having to re-tie it together, too.

One of my fellow gardeners used bamboo. She used wire to lash it together. She's seeing how she likes the spacing style of SFG.

It's thin, inexpensive, and doesn't take up much room.

I'm with LM. I didn't want to lose 1/2 per piece of grid, so I went with wood. I use 8' laths, on their side. I cut them for the cross pieces, and for the end pieces (my boxes are 10' long). Sometimes I rearrange the grid a bit to fit what I'm planting (e.g., removing them for the asparagus, removing the 'ladder' look and splitting the box in two for two large single SF plants on one end). The squares at the top of the photo (with the century plant) are re-arranged.

I started with blue tape, wanting it just to exist for planting, but it wasn't going to hold up. I didn't want to pierce the boxes (because of wood eating insects) with nails or eyes, so string was out. Lath was the skinniest wood I could find.

Ava

AvaDGardner 4/20/2012, 5:06 pm

Here's the question: how do you avoid getting caught on your suspended grid when you put in plants (not seeds)? Even with pressed in wood, I run into "where do I put this dirt while I'm in this square? If I had string, it would seem like I would be catching my trowel on the raised grid.

Ava

H_TX_2 4/20/2012, 5:27 pm

Ava,
I misplaced my trowel some time ago and so now I just use my hands and with MM that is an easy thing to do. I like the string because I can plant small things in the corners or intersection of my grid. I like to place marigolds near my tomato plants so I dig a hole under the intersection of the two strings and place the marigold in the hole. The strings go across or thru the plant but that's fin with me.

TechnoHippie4351 4/20/2012, 6:15 pm

I used twine. Cheap and if it ravels, I've got plenty to replace it with.

floyd1440 4/20/2012, 8:37 pm

Unmutual wrote:I use hot pink too! For some reason it doesn't show up well in photographs though.

I feel outnumbered here. Build wooden grids yet everyone else seems to have picked string but I do like the nylon idea. Sunday I will post some pictures and you can decide. They are pretty cheap and satisfying to make for me.

To each their own though............

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Nonna.PapaVino 4/20/2012, 8:53 pm

Guess I'm outside the main stream: I used white, thin venetian blind slats bought at a garage sale.

kbb964 4/20/2012, 9:36 pm

I would have liked the wooden ones but i was impatient and no time to go to the store for lath wood ! the string was in the shed .........

Lavender Debs 4/20/2012, 9:49 pm

kbb964 wrote:I would have liked the wooden ones but i was impatient and no time to go to the store for lath wood ! the string was in the shed .........

Grin! I do have some wooden grids. They are not tacked down and I move them from box to box as needed. BUT last year, like you, I was impatient too. I had blue mylar birthday ribbon. I could have curled the ends but resisted. I was amazed how well it held up. Just pulled it off today to put my chicken tractor on that box.

This is an accidental picture of the ribbon grid. Put it up last year. The picture was snapped yesterday before I ripped it all out this AM. Over the year I have hit it with the back of a hand shovel while working in compost or digging a hole for a plant. It held. Except that it does not compost, I'd use it again. I might use it anyway.

Debs......loving all the ideas

Too Tall Tomatoes 4/20/2012, 10:39 pm

floyd1440 wrote:
Unmutual wrote:I use hot pink too! For some reason it doesn't show up well in photographs though.

I feel outnumbered here. Build wooden grids yet everyone else seems to have picked string but I do like the nylon idea. Sunday I will post some pictures and you can decide. They are pretty cheap and satisfying to make for me.

To each their own though............

Hey Floyd, whatever works for ya. What a Face

floyd1440 4/21/2012, 6:48 am

kbb964 wrote:I would have liked the wooden ones but i was impatient and no time to go to the store for lath wood ! the string was in the shed .........

quiltbea 4/21/2012, 10:25 am

@HTTX 2......I am doing the same thing this year, sowing petite marigold seeds (6" vqariety) down the center of my beds after I get them filled with crops so the twine works best.

In my coldframe I use venetian blind slats buried into the soil on their ends. I can cut them to size and they are easier to move as I sow different crops and transplant them out and sow new ones.

Above: Here I have 6 squares each sown with a different lettuce for now and 1 sq with bunching broccoli and 1 empty as yet. The little bits of green showing ( mid right) are the rads I sowed at the end of that square. This is working well.

angellea 2/26/2021, 9:15 am

I have a stone wall raised bed. 32'. what would anyone suggest for my grids?

**sanderson** 3/1/2021, 11:53 pm

Angellea, What is the inside width? It looks very close to 14" ?? What is the fill? I'm not sure that grids would be feasible for this unique shaped planter. Just make sure you plant things that require 1 sq foot 12" away from another one. The planting square may be your best option.
https://www.amazon.com/Seeding-Square-Perfectly-Vegetables-Conserves/dp/B00US8ESWK

markqz 3/3/2021, 1:23 pm

This is just my own thought. But in that genteel location, 1/2 copper pipes cut to the width of the bed and spaced 1 foot apart at the centers would give it a distinguished look.

angellea 3/3/2021, 1:26 pm

what a great idea with the copper penny's

angellea 3/3/2021, 1:29 pm

the bed inside is actually 24" deep and 32 feet long. The photo can be deceiving since the arborvitae hedge is 25+ ft tall. the actual stone bed is 32 ft long on the inside of the longer curve. I am soing to consider the peeny's since it will be a really cool look. I might even glue them on the inside of the bed.... We will see

angellea 3/3/2021, 1:31 pm

Wow I just realized that the person said copper PIPES ...I though copper pennies ....I might just try the (my) copper penny idea epoxy to the inside top of the stone wall..... Then I could use the square mentioned above. I will measure 12" from the inside curve.

markqz 3/3/2021, 10:26 pm

angellea wrote:Wow I just realized that the person said copper PIPES ...I though copper pennies ....I might just try the (my) copper penny idea epoxy to the inside top of the stone wall.....

Finally, a use for pennies!

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