Diapers & corncobs..watering solution for outdoor grow

[fluffygrrrl]

Think about it..take your kid to the pool in regular diapers, and those things swell up big time! Why not use them in your garden? I'm surprised I haven't ever read about using these in grow books as they would certainly be great for guerilla grows.

I'm a master gardener and have been using diapers in my planting bed and garden pots forever. Much cheaper than buying the polymer pellets, and takes up space in planters making them more lightweight and not have to use as much potting soil.

For your garden..
Take a post hole digger and dig down around 2 feet. Place diaper in plastic side down. Then take a piece of plastic pipe and put the base in the bottom of the diaper. Pipe needs to be at least 3 feet long. Fill in with dirt, then put your seedling in. put in remaining soil. The piipe needs to be sticking out of the ground, so you just water your plant through the pipe...this will drastically reduce you having to water..this is a must if you don't have irrigation setup or can't get out there to water. Your plant will take the water as needed from the diaper .(or depends, or blue bed pads) You water roots, rather than plant, Plus you are watering deep so your roots grow deep, rather than stay shallow, which requires more frequent watering. You will also have less problems with mold as you are watering through the pipe,

Before diapers were used.. farmers used corncobs, so if you have corncobs laying around, they also hold water, and you can use them the same way. You can also use 2 liter bottles, milk jugs, etc for watering. y
also if you feel guilty filling up your local llandfill w/ your kids diapers, why not use the used ones? Your plant will love the extra urea

 

[Seamaiden]

Wow! I had no idea and never for a moment considered diapers. Great post, thanks for sharing.

(Pssst! even better? posted by a girl)

 

[vaporedout]

damn sea, now you pee all over your plants and not worry about leakage ;) thats a kick ass idea. im putting some into the ground this year so maybe ill snag a diaper from my sister-in-law and throw it in there..

 

[baba G]

I just hope the diaper isn't composed of nasty plastic....

 

[midwestdensies]

its now cool to pee your pants haha depends ftw

 

[Seamaiden]

A'ight, vapored, I don't pee ON my plants (sometimes I've missed, though, and peed on my pants). It's got to be properly diluted first. :D

I just hope the diaper isn't composed of nasty plastic....

Could the plastic be any nastier than, say, totes or bins that many folks use for many things, like, say, hempy tubs? I won't go out to buy diapers just for this, but the corn cobs are a good idea, and how many diapers are going into landfills?

When I had my kids, I tried the diaper service. Then I read about how much water is used to get them really clean, as well as the chemistry and I realized, Holy fuck! It's really a wash or worse! back to disposables I went.

 

[vaporedout]

A'ight, vapored, I don't pee ON my plants (sometimes I've missed, though, and peed on my pants). It's got to be properly diluted first. :D

i have taken that advice since the day i saw you post it..... i have a special watering bucket that i use before i water the plants. then i dilute, then i water..... since the wife and i are on an organic diet and we juice alot im sure those plants are loving the extra nutes.

 

[green punk]

look up Hugelkultur, Cottonwood is the best what I understand from locals using it.

 

[cannabeans]

Im building "hugel" beds in my greenhouse this spring, and have been collecting cottonwood all winter. Special thanks to Sepp Holzer.

 

[homebrew420]

Cool idea fluffy I may have use this advise, corncob part. Thank god the kids are long out of diapers!
And Sea no joke when I read the same info about the diapers I nearly choked! Sad to say be we too used disposables.
Fwiw " peeding" is cool and old school!

 

[below frigid]

When I had to truck in my water I tried the polymers but after I realized ho un enviromentaly friendly they were, I switched to a product called Zeeba. it was derived from corn starch and held a lot of water. Not an issue for me these days.

 

[kolah]

Simply. Sponges.

 

[fluffygrrrl]

Glad to give a tip that hopefully can help someone. If you don't want to use the entire diaper, just cut out the crystals.
I did the same thing Sea, when I had a child, went and bought cloth diapers, then read it cost more to launder, so I didn't last long before switching to pampers.
greenpunk, what is the deal with cottonwood, it doesn't rot quickly? I've got 2 large trees that are getting cut down on sunday.' They've okayed outdoor grows in Michigan, so I'm enlarging the area around my greenhouse and putting a fence up as soon as this snow melts.
I've never heard of Zeeba, bf, anything that is earth friendly, is a friend to me..I'll have to check that out.

 

[cannabeans]

Hugelkulture is the practice of composting large woody material to create a raised garden bed. It is a way of dealing with excess amounts of woody garden wastes, for example prunings, hedge clippings, brassica stems, or brashwood.
The name comes from German - hügelkultur translates as "hill culture".
The technique involves digging a circular trench about 1' (30 cm) deep and 5' (1.5 m) wide, in the centre of which is dug another hole 1' (30 cm) deep hole. The material is piled in. Turf (grass) is then stacked face down on top, then layers of compost, well rotted leaves and manure, etc as available. The layers break down slowly and creating rich humus over four or five years. It is claimed that this is ideal for growing hungry crops such as zucchinis (courgettes) or strawberries.
As the years pass, the deep soil of the raised bed becomes incredibly rich and loaded with soil life. As the wood shrinks, it makes more tiny air pockets - so your hugelkultur becomes self tilling. The first few years, the composting process will slightly warm the soil giving a slightly longer growing season, in temperate and cold climates.

 

[Seamaiden]

YES! Lovin' the hugelkulture love cannabeans is throwing on us.

In dryland areas those logs act as water reservoirs for as long as they take to decompose.

An FYI, a hugel bed can be damn near any shape or configuration.

 

[cannabeans]

An FYI, a hugel bed can be damn near any shape or configuration

This is a great point!

 

[green punk]

Cottonwoods have a very efficient vascular system that allows them to take up water. They are notorious for tapping into irrigation ditch system and robbing farmers and ranchers of their water rights during peak irrigation season. A large mature (several feet diameter) will use over 100 gallons per hour or so. They remove most of them near the ditches to prevent the losses. When put in the beds those same vascular systems become the reservoir for your crop.
Where I live we have many large cottonwoods lining the rivers and creeks. The perma/hugel folks haul it in and use it for the beds. Its awful for fire wood.

 

[Sailor Jerry]

I was browsing the arbor day website and I found these self watering bags designed for trees. Its a 15 gallon bag with a drip emitter in it that slowly drips the water out over the course of several days. Tree gator is another brand of basically the same thing. maybe its a little better quality. I think Im going to buy a couple to try out this season. Ill use them at a location where i am not able to water my plants daily or weekly. The ooze tubes are 15 gallons and run about 10 bucks each. the tree gators are 20 gallons and about 20.00 each.

I dont know if these are the best deal out there but heres the arbor day foundation link.
http://www.arborday.org/shopping/trees/TreeDetail.cfm?ID=274


http://www.treegator.com/


and for the DIY crowd:

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Tree-Gator-Water-Bag/

 

[Seamaiden]

Neat, thanks for sharing that, Jerry. :)

 

[pinky]

What about Terawet water absorbents?Like a diapers but special developed for plants. :)