Floating Grow in Reed Field

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salieri

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I live near a reed jungle, so i was wondering what if i could make a bucket float, stabilize and hide it in there. Obviously building a square pontoon with lots of buckets would be easily spotted from the air, but if its just a few, scattered randomly, they would look like animal nests or micro islands with bushes.

So here is the basic idea:
7 gallon camo bucket with a few drain holes at the bottom
4 small chains at the bottom sides of bucket that connect to a weight 2-3 feet below the bucket for stability
wicks that go through the entire length of the bucket and hang out from the holes at the bottom

buoyancy devices:
either plastic bottles attached to the bottom or sides of the bucket
or some sort of small tire chamber roughly the diameter of the bucket, strapped around it (or in it?) like a life ring at the bottom

Fill the bottom of the bucket with a few inches of small stones and then earth.

Obviously there would need to be a lot of experimentation to make sure the whole thing floats within a certain range, ideally only going a few inches into the water (stone level), rain not weighing it down too much and the wind not capsizing it. But the benefits are huge, you will never have to water it (wicks), flooding wont affect it and its well hidden and as long as you use organic fertilizer it should be fine for the environment (fish poop too).

Its a lot of trial and error but once you get it....
I mean people grow on trees, so this cant be that crazy?
 
Sativied

Sativied

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salieri said:
I mean people grow on trees, so this cant be that crazy?
Click to expand...

Dude... I've been having the same idea in my head for over a year. Outdoor aquaponics. I probably need to get a boat before I can do it properly but I've been scouting locations already. We got a LOT of reed fields in NL. The weather sucks here but that means the water usually doesn't get very warm.

salieri said:
buoyancy devices:
either plastic bottles attached to the bottom or sides of the bucket
or some sort of small tire chamber roughly the diameter of the bucket, strapped around it like a life ring at the bottom
Click to expand...
Get out of my head! :D

One of the selecting criteria for my current breeding project is a good response to being soaked in water with no temp and oxygen control for the first weeks. I'm kinda hoping I will end up with a batch of which some will be able to survive outside in a reed field next year.
 
Seamaiden

Seamaiden

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I think that as the plant grows, the container will need a keel or something to prevent it from tipping over. I think it's a fantastic idea!
 
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geologic said:
good camo and unexpected location...
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Exactly, in my case the idea sparked as a direct result of not being able to find good outdoor grow locations (I have no garden) yet seeing so many reed fields nobody ever goes in to. Many rives and canals that have reed on the sides. High too. At most it will be visible from a plane, if that happens it would probably be in the local news.

Seamaiden said:
I think that as the plant grows, the container will need a keel or something to prevent it from tipping over.
Click to expand...
Yeah especially in windy areas, wouldn't want it to tip over it's huge colas in the water/swamp. I was thinking of using a huge car tire with one of those pond net pots, but when using bottles they can be filled partly to keep it afloat yet pull it down at the same time for stability. Probably a good idea to test a keel or something with a wooden fake tree or something, before taking the risk with an actual plant.
 
Gandalfalfa

Gandalfalfa

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I've seen people living on floating pontoon-island type structure in Vietnam.

Traditionally, the Uro people of Lake Titicaca also practiced this.

Water Town 007


It would work providing you are doing it in an area of low-flow not prone to flash floods and heavy rain.
 
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salieri

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keel wont cut it, it only functions when the boat is in motion, stationary the keel has almost 0 effect (unless its really heavy)

partly filled bottles probably also wont work unless they are spread out really wide like legs of a spider, because the water in the bottles is not terribly heavy and will only begin to counter balance once it is above the water level and by that time it might be too late, also this gets quite big and noticeable, ideally most of the stuff should be under water

also pond net pots would probably wash away the fertilizer way too quickly

as i mentioned:
4 small chains at the bottom sides of bucket that connect to a weight 2-3 feet below the bucket for stability
the weight is below the water, think chandelier but the chains are not going to one point in the ceiling (bottom of bucket) but are spread out around the bottoms perimeter, this way even a slight swaying motion will trigger a counter force

i am gonna test out the idea next week, if only my math teacher would have used these examples i would have paid much more attention :)

should work, its just a question of how to minimise cost / work per float bucket.
 
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salieri

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marz said:
Wouldn't the root rot in the water?
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i think the trick is to not let the roots touch the water let it wick upwards into the pot
often reed water is stagnant and low on O2, hence the smell but i might be wrong would be nice to get some data on that, is there a simple / cheap way to measure O2 ?

my current calculations show that a bucket would be too unstable
we need a bowl like pot and a tire chamber acting as a life ring
6 gallons of soil, fully wet weigh 30 pounds so the life ring has to have a volume of at least 4 gallons
now to find a tire chamber of the right diameter so that the bottom part of the bowl barely touches the water and test wick (cut stripes of towel)

also considerations about the rubber being exposed 5 months to the sun and punctured by constant rubbing against the reed, might require a sheet has additional benefit of acting as camo

to battle heat i would not cover up the soil or mulch it up so that evaporation cooling can occur since we have infinte supply of water...
 
marz

marz

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Aha I'm understanding more of what you want to do now. i was imagining an artificial island rather than a raft with pots. only fast moving water would be high enough in O2 for it to work like hydro. Still water would see those roots rot pretty quickly.

tire rubber would be uv stable dude. You can't have cars and trucks driving on tires that break down after a few months of exposure to the sun! lol
 
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salieri

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tires and tire chambers are different things i am more concerned with temps, as the black would increase the air pressure and cool off during night, this constant back and forth might brittle the rubber
though you still might be right
 
FlyinJStable

FlyinJStable

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I too have a love for the ponds and such that I had this in mind the moment you said it
totally check this out
its a sub strait of old used plastic bottles shredded up then formed to a round shape with holes for net pots and its big enough to stay stable even in heavy weather and you can anchor it with a milk jug full of rocks on two sides and be totally. stellar.


FlyJ
 
marz

marz

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salieri said:
tires and tire chambers are different things i am more concerned with temps, as the black would increase the air pressure and cool off during night, this constant back and forth might brittle the rubber
though you still might be right
Click to expand...

oops must have missed you meant tire chambers. Makes sense, they would float! lol might not be uv protected then..
 
caveman4.20

caveman4.20

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Aztecs grew like this might get some ideas researching that way...best of wishes and also patient for pics:cigar:
 
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