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I finally deconstructed my old plant wall. I was hoping to video the deconstruction . . . no joy. I had to leap while the weather was good.
You’ll need to click on each thumbnail to see the entire picture. The thumbnail feature on WordPress truncates the image width.
The goal of my original plant wall was to test plant wall technology. I wanted to see how it all worked without putting out a bunch of money. Anyone interested in plant walls a la Patrick Blank might consider this approach. You will learn a ton and be more able to spend your money wisely and construct more logically when you do decide to go all out and build the wall of your dreams.
The pictured dribble tube worked great. I drilled holes using a small bit. These are spaced a ½” apart. One end has an elbow, the other is plugged with a shaved length of wood doweling. I did the same kind of plug in my new wall and I think it works fine.
I used a piece of 2″ pvc for my gutter. I used it because it was something I already had. I cut a wide slot in it to accept the foot of the wall. One end is plugged by a small olive can lid silicone sealed on. The other has a radiator hose elbow stuffed in the end. The idea is to use what you’ve got rather than spend money buying new stuff. If it’s a miserable failure you can recycle the bits you choose to and chuck the rest.
I’m going to recommend you wash as much of the dirt as possible off the roots of the plants you’re sticking in your wall. I really do believe the plants without dirt around their roots did better.
And finally, plants started from seed have a tendency to get top heavy and fall down the wall. I think the plant doesn’t have to put out significant roots to get the nutrients they need so the root structure isn’t sufficient to hold the plant upright. Look at the picture of the coleus planted from seed and you’ll see what I mean.
I’m working on a new step-by-step for a budget plant wall. I’ll finish it and get it published as I have time.