Hi, thanks for your suggestions. Yes, I was concerned about the drips. These are 30" long planters, so i guess I will have to figure out a way to catch the drips. Also, the autopot idea is neat but alot more infrastructure than I was hoping for. I'd always wondered about the auto-irrigators though - how do you rig them up for plants that like a lot of water, and then like to get dry? Because the drip irrigators provide constant low-level moisture, correct?

I don't use plastic in my hanging baskets, which is essentially what you have. You setup at this point sounds like something that should be outside.

What kind of plants are you growing? (I like to be surrounded by plants too. I haven't quite gotten the hang of inside growing though, so this interests me too.)

Do you have a picture of the 30" planter? I don't really know what a hayrack looks like. I image googled it but there are a ton of different shapes. I wonder if maybe you might start with just using individual plant pots, that you pull out and water in the sink? You can cover the between-areas with moss, I believe. With plastic saucers under. (Like those cute little basket gardens. They can last a long time really.)

My current strategy is I am thinking about a nice indoor tree of some sort. They have a lot of visual impact and with luck, and if I hang out here enough, maybe I won't kill it. Just one big thing to worry about instead of too many small ones.

Oh, also, have you checked out the House Plants forum? People there might have good ideas about containers. And to answer your question, I think anything can be a container -- anything you can put drainage holes in can have a plant in it, is my sense. Let's ... take over the world!!! ; )

Hi N2SG, this is the planter I was thinking of using (I changed my login, I am also Eileen J). But now, spurred by your comment I'm thinking I'm going to be even more cheap and maybe use plastic milk jugs for my planters, with the handles (hopefully) threaded through a curtain rod.

If you are going to try to convert an outdoor wall planter to indoor use there are a couple things to consider. The first is the plastic liner. You are going to want to use a heavy epdm or pvc pond liner. The thin plastic you get at Home Depot in the paint section isn't going to cut it. It will deteriorate and then you'll have a major problem. The other issue to consider is mold and humidity. Those wall planters hang tightly against the wall. Any moisture that gets between the wall and the planter is going to deteriorate the drywall and also cause mold. In order to counter that you'll want to attach the planter to the wall with spacers that will hold the planter off the wall by about 1/4-1/2". This will allow air to circulate around the back and allow any water to drain away.

I think you'll find that not having drainage is going to be a problem though. You'll end up with fungal issues.

Those are great suggestions and points to note. Thanks for cluing me into them, Nil13. From your sig, are you a Fed? I worked for DHHS once upon a time...

Definitely not a fed.

Oh, I saw the USDA and made an assumption, my bad. :)

That's usda hardiness zone followed by sunset gardens hardiness zone.

bahaha shows you how much I know about plants. Nice wakeup call.

Hi

Have used the coir liners and generally find they rot away lol Note they keep a large supply of replacements . Indoors would probably last longer but can't imagine rigging up an effective "drip" catcher As to milk jugs also use those mostly to store rainwater but they are sensitive to UV I get an endless supply of standard nursery pots for free so generally use those though I have a few fiberglass . Dislike terracotta mostly because of the weight but also because they break easily and also because of the cost For hanging types I usually make my own from hardware cloth often lined with fiberglass window screen depending on the mix Can't imagine an effective drip catcher??

If it will hold soil it will work and fail no matter what lol gary

Wow. Never even heard of hardware cloth before, though I guess I've seen it in action. Thanks for the idea about the cloth/screen rig-up. I'm thinking of cutting a milk jug in half; poking a bunch of holes in the top half; lining the entire top half (including holes and pour spout) with mesh; inverting the top half and placing inside the fat bottom end. Would that provide adequate aeration/drainage? (the fat end would catch the drips)

Hi

I grow almost everything outdoors so dripping is not a problem for me.

Sounds like it might work though I've found milk jugs a bit flimsy and will degrade over time.. Another problem is that light can penetrate so algae grows on the inside . give it a shot and see what happens indoors is a another ballgame with another set of problems lol gary