4x3x3 Pine Box

13 years ago

Today I came in possession of a 4x3x3 sturdy pine box at work. It was used to ship some equipment for our hospital, and it was going to be thrown out. I'm new to gardening, but instantly saw the value of such a box to my backyard garden. Although I'm not entirely sure of what to do with it.

I have three ideas for it, and would like some thoughts from more experienced gardeners:

First, I think it would make a great compost bin. However, the lumbar is not treated (it's just plain pine). If I were to use it for this, would it be OK to treat the both the inside and outside with a sealant? My concern is using the sealant on the inside. I don't want to risk any chemicals transferring to my plants through the sealant used. So does anyone know what a safe sealant would be for this purpose?

Secondly, it would make a great planter box. It has three 2x4s along the bottom (left, center and right), so all I'd have to do is add some drainage holes and I'd get great drainage from this box. It would work great for tomatoes, as I would get good drainage, plus when filled with soil would be heavy enough to support a lattice of concrete wire that I have on hand. All I'd have to do is figure out a way to secure the lattice to the box. the first thing I thought to use it for was potatoes, but I think it might be a little late in my zone to plant taters.

Thirdly, This thing would make a killer hot box... but a hot box won't help me immediately, i.e, I wouldn't get much use out of it this year. And besides, there's a good possibility that I can acquire several of these kinds of boxes over the next year.

So I'm looking for some advice on this. I guess my main question, which pertains to my first and second thoughts for this, is what would be safe to coat the inside with to slow the pine wood from rotting down? Is there a sealant that I can use that would be safe for either compost or planting? Thanks in advance for any advice,

Tom From KS.

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Comments (6)

berry_bob
13 years ago
you could ad some legs and use it for pots and smaller hand tools, kind of a mini shed
jonas302
13 years ago
Sounds like a great find for the price of it I wouldn't bother with the sealer and then you have no concerns it will take several years to rot out
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Thanks for the response. The cut it in half idea isn't too bad, but not a worth while effort for me. I don't own a circular saw, so it'd take extra time and effort to cut it down. Also, 3' height was an estimation. Looking at it now, it's maybe 2 1/2 foot... but that includes the 4" taken by the 2x4s on the bottom, plus the bottom is two 3/4" boards. The container itself is maybe just over 2' deep. If nothing else I can get gravel for free... so I could potentially use that for filler on the bottom if necessary. As it is, I'm kind of leaning towards making it a compost bin anyways. I could make some improvements to it by buying a few hinges for the lid, remove the 2x4s, make a few 3" holes on the bottom, then paint the whole thing black. Homemade bin for around $10. I do like your idea of lining the inside with plastic though. I know I can get a roll of thick plastic for around $8 at WalMart. I might even have some in the garage left over from a project a few years ago. For whichever purpose I use it for (compost or planting), that will likely be what I do for the inside. Thanks again for the thought. My wife is going to think I'm crazy when I get home with a pine box, lol...
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Kimmsr
13 years ago
Pine, untreated, can last in contact with soil for 4 to 5 years, in my experience, and sometimes longer. Treating with boiled linseed oil, or other material available to you adds a year or two to the life, hardly worth the time, energy, and money to do that. I have some SPF (Spruce, Pine, Fir) 2 x lumber that I used to edge some gardens 30 years ago that are just now beginning to deteriorate.
TomFromKS
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks to everyone for the feedback. The mini shed is a decent idea, but I already have a pick-up truck tool box next to the garden to keep materials in.

I think I'm pretty much sold on turning it into a compost bin. I don't have any compost going right now, and don't really want to keep buying bags of it from the store. Plus we own a couple of horses (on a different property though) and have a couple of large round bails of hay that went bad and don't know what to do with it. I could bring home a truckload of that and have plenty of carbon material to use.

What I'll likely do is paint this one black, put a couple of hinges on the lid and try to get a fast compost going. On top of that, if I manage to find a few more of these boxes I can set up a couple of compost bins next to this one.

Speaking of which, would painting it black be a bad idea? I know that you need the pile to get pretty hot for fast composting, and have seen a lot of commercial bins made of dark green or black material. My main concern is that it will get too hot. I think the ideal maximum for temp is 130 F. The July/August heat in Kansas will already be pushing the air temp to well over 90 F. Yes or no on painting it?
TomFromKS
Original Author
13 years ago
Correction on that. I just read that the optimal temp is between 135-160 F. Anything over 160 could kill the microbes needed to compost. Thoguhts?
Kimmsr
13 years ago
Painting those boxes would be a bad idea. While compost can get quite warm it is because of bacterial activity not solar energy. The most bestest place for a compost pile is in the shade, and in that shade, if all things are like they should be (or even fairly close) the thermophilic bacteria will go to work digesting that material and as they work generate heat.

4x3x3 Pine Box

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