Wow! That is a neat idea. I might have to borrow it from you. It would work great in the sunroom during the summer and outside with other small potted plants. Do you think thick cane poles would work in the center?

brilliant! my brain is already spinning.... there is much potential here for individual style and creativity! dont patent this.... i may want to copy your idea someday. :-P

frankielynnsie, Thanks for nice comments. You don't have to borrow it, its not mine.....take it and run with it, and have fun.

I seriously considered using bamboo for my prototype, but all I had was several pieces of huge bamboo that's been under my porch for years. I was going to make a bobbing water fountain at one time, but it just did not happen.

The reason I did not use it was: #1. the size of my bamboo, and the impatience to wait for newly cut canes to dry properly. and #2, I could envision some considerable difficulty getting the holes to line up on both sides of the bamboo, and the difficulty of running a wire into the bamboo and even finding the tiny hole on the other side. It all came to size.

Give it a try, it will certainly be much lighter than most other wood. Mine weighs a "ton" right now, but when dry will be much lighter. I really wanted, and am still looking for a small tree that has been vine wrapped. We have Wisteria around here, and when it gets into the woods, it tends to climb up small seedling trees. The vine wraps itself around the tree, and as it grows it gets tighter around the tree. The tree grows and makes the wrap even tighter, producing a tree with deep indentions spiraling up the trunk. I think that would be prettier than what I have, but that's the next project.

Bill

Just a follow-up for anyone who finds this post in the future and might be interested.

I finally used the bamboo, as a table stand, not as a hanger. I glued a single joint of bamboo to a 8 inch square piece of flooring tile and mounted 8 holders around it. It allows growing 8 wicked (or unwicked) minis in an 8X8 inch section of shelf. the total height is about 16 inches. It sure makes turning the plants easy, just rotate the stand 1/4 turn, and all 8 plants are rotated.

A friend of mine found the vine curled sapling I wanted. I mounted 10 holders to it and put a hook in the end to hang it. I do not have a photo yet of the finished product, but below is the photo of the section of vine wrapped tree trunk. I'll try to get a photo of the finished product and post it in the near future.

Bill

Now show us the fully populated tree...of course if you require a couple months to grow them out, that's ok too :)

dbarron, Yep, I'm well known in these parts for jumping the gun, and getting the cart before the horse...I probably have 5 years worth of empty growing stands now, with 5 miniature violet plants and about 15 leaves that have been rooting less than two weeks.

I'll keep posting updates......that seems to be what I do best.

Bill

I see, well at least you're prepared!

no worries, these plants have been known to assess how much space you have prepared, and then accumulate past full capacity :-p

Karin

Will this "tree" survive pets and kids?

That is a great idea! Except it may survive pets and kids better than my husband! That man can't come around a corner without tripping on invisible lint! I have a long thin table that my plants are set on. He can't walk past the length of it without dragging something off of it! And NO their leaves don't hang over any part of the table. It is just him! I laugh every time it happens. (Then I cry as I pick up my plant) Last night he walked into the living room (the entrance is 4 ft. wide!) and cut the corner so close he almost took out my pothos growing in a 16in pot up against the wall way out of his way!

Gotta love him!--Rosie

At a flower show, I saw something like this that is commercially available. It came in several sizes to hold various sizes of pots. It is a clever idea because many plants can be in the same space that would normally be occupied by only a few. If I come across the flyers I picked up on it, I will let you know. Or if the same vendor comes to our flower show in Sept., I will pick up some information to pass along. Good luck with it and thanks for sharing. Joanne

Only problem with growing potted plants like this is the whole rig has to be taken to the sink, or outside to water. I guess you could make a trip with two plants each time, but then you have to let the things sit and drip dry before replacing them in the holder. I have given the drip problem some thought, but the wicked plants solved all the problems, and this I just too simple. Every week or so I can turn the stand, or the hanging log 1/4 turn, and every plant on it has been turned.

Right now there's not a wire coat hanger or half pint canning jar in the county that is safe.....☺

Bill

Hmm, I hadn't considered the ease of rotation...another benefit!

The commercially manufactured item I saw is a freestanding pole apparatus on a heavy metal base with arms suspended to hold pots. It is meant to be stationery. The pots can be removed. You would be removing the plants, anyway, for grooming.