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DIY Planter

Joined
27 Oct 2009
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Location
Cumbria
Found a use for the little pots you usually get from the lfs if anyone is interested . I can't claim all of it as I saw someone make wires for curling round the plants on YouTube so it's just a variation on the theme.

I was using one of those glass bowls with suckers you can get online to put my house plants in on the side of the tank in the water. Problem was the roots didn't trail down into the water and hunched up in the pot, also my shrimp would creep into the pot so when I dropped the water level for changes I kept forgetting and had a frantic moment trying to get them out.

Anyway, came up with this, essentially just get a plastic plant pot. Drill a couple of holes in the size of airline tubing. Feed some wire through the air line tube, a coat hanger or similar, bend to shape and snip of the ends with side cutters. Voila, hang on pot for my pothos etc that will let the roots trail in the water and not catch shrimp.

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While we're on the subject, can you plant pothos cuttings in soil. Stuff I've found on net shows putting in glass of water until root develop then just putting in a bowl with what looks like clay balls or stones.

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Yes, you can grow them in a pot of soil like a house plant (keeping it mind they get huge and very little of the plant is actually in the pot. Don't see why you couldn't start cuttings the same way. You could also layer them - pin a section of the growing plant down in a pot of soil without detaching it from the mother.
 
Just normal soil? I took a cutting from a Pothos that was on the rim of my tank and put it in some soil in a small pot that was well watered but it just dried up and died. The Pothos has filled out again so was going to try and get another cutting. A youtube video showed putting the cutting in a glass of water until roots start developing then pot it but was in some clay balls or something.

I have a pothos and Peace lilly in my tank but I was wanting to start a couple of "normal" potted house plants out of them.

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You can definitely grow it in soil - my brother has one growing that way with quite erratic watering. You could use water and then pot into soil, or try covering the cutting with a plastic bag over the pot to keep the air moist. They'll lose water through the leaves, but not be able to replace it from the soil until the roots grow. Layering might be easiest if you have a convenient temporary spot for the new pot - just use a U shape piece of wire to pin a joint to the soil and it should root itself at that point, when it has, cut it off from the original.
 
Great advice above.

Pothos have aerial roots so if you look for an area with little brown knobs starting to form it makes taking cuttings easier. I would also say to do smaller cuttings if going straight into soil so they don't transpire as much. Growing in water to begin with seems to have a higher success rate however.
 
Nice one gents, I think I'll leave the cutting sitting on the edge of my tank until I can physically see some root growth to edge my bets. Do you know if the same applies to peace lilly?

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Peace lillies should be easy to divide as they grow into a group of small plantlets each with its own root system, so you only need to tease them apart when they are large enough and pot them on.
 
Hi all,
Drill a couple of holes in the size of airline tubing. Feed some wire through the air line tube, a coat hanger or similar, bend to shape and snip of the ends with side cutters. Voila, hang on pot for my pothos etc that will let the roots trail in the water and not catch shrimp.
Genius.
Pothos have aerial roots so if you look for an area with little brown knobs starting to form it makes taking cuttings easier.
That one.

They root really easily in water, but if you use potting compost (or leaf mould), you need a <"pop bottle propagator"> over the cutting until it is rooted.

cheers Darrel
 
Life can sometimes be so simple. :thumbup: Nice one... Lately got a couple of <mesh pots> with the square holes in it. Than even no need to drill. :)
 
Great idea if you already have the stuff at home!


You can also used these from IKEA:
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£0.50 is not bad for a HOB planter

Just made some holes in the bottom, filled it with Clay Pebbles, and added Pothos. It has been growing well on my Fancy Goldfish tank.
 

Honoured :)

Growing in water to begin with seems to have a higher success rate however.

The peace lilly cutting I have is still thriving and I actually got a cutting off the Pothos that already had quite a large section developing on it when i lifted it out of the tank. Going to leave them both in water for a while the try Darrels pop bottle thing until it establishes. Also think I'll do another diy planter for the peace lily which currently only has three leaves on it and see if I can spit it again so I have one for the tank and one in a pot.

Nice one... Lately got a couple of <mesh pots> with the square holes in it. Than even no need to drill.

Nice one, on the subject of drilling I found that the pots could shatter quite easily so best to put it on a round piece of wood for drilling. I brush shank was perfect for this ;)

Great idea if you already have the stuff at home!

I think most will mate, I must have about 15 of these pots from plant purchases from the LFS that came with rockwool in, I knew they would come in handy some day :D. I guess we all have some airline tubing the only thing would be a coat hanger or something. Never actually tried but it would have to be something fairly flexible. I actually used some wire I use at work for hanging suspended ceilings which was perfect. If the wire is too rigid you might end up shattering the pot trying to do the tight bends as there's little to get hold of, I used pointy nose pliers but the more you work the wire the more flexible it gets.

Happy now any way, I was using one of these glass bowls which seemed like a good idea at the time.

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The roots just curled up in there, some of them were about a foot long when I uncurled them! Snipped them down a bit and now they can hang in the water as intended. I might even have a try at one of those red ones that people get ripped on in the LFS if he still has them, bit like the one in the far left in @kadoxu tank. Can you do the same thing with those? Got a nice desktop garden going on here. I think i've found a new hobby :D
 
They'll lose water through the leaves, but not be able to replace it from the soil until the roots grow

That explains what happened to mine then.
 
Oh, that's what I meant to ask. There's a lot of stuff about these plants removing "Toxins" in the air, usually by the people selling them. Any scientific fat behind this @dw1305
 
Hi all,
Oh, that's what I meant to ask. There's a lot of stuff about these plants removing "Toxins" in the air, usually by the people selling them. Any scientific fat behind this @dw1305
Not really, they remove CO2 and a certain amount of particulates (dust) and add oxygen and water vapour to the air, which are all good things, but nothing specifically to do with "toxins", whatever they may be.

cheers Darrel
 
Thought it was a bit of a push, I've read that it removes everything from benzene, carbon monoxide and even formaldehyde from the atmosphere.

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Interesting, the chemical removing properties seem to be more focused around the roots, soil and rhizosphere rather the plant foliage. Either way, great to have a few plants kicking round the house. Thanks for taking the time to post that.
 
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Job done this time I hope. Is it best to keep a fair amount of water in the soil or can this rot the root? I've actually got it standing in an old cd case nigh on filled with water or would it be best to just keep the soil moist and not underwater?

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