Felt, plant wall dis/assembly and starting seeds

LouAnn and I went to see Avatar yesterday (great movie, awesome in 3D) and on the way to our next errand stop I saw the business where I buy the felt for my plant wall is closing shop.  Ack!  I will have to swing by there today or tomorrow and pick up the felt I need for both my and LouAnn’s walls.  When I do I’ll make sure to get all the particulars (content, manufacturer, et al) and list it here.  At this point (prior to disassembling my test wall) I don’t know if that felt is the best stuff to use, but I’d rather stock up.  I can always use it somewhere as carpet padding . . . <grin>

The projected date for assembling the new plant walls is March.  I have decided to disassemble my current wall just before assembling the new . . . or at the same time so I can use those plants in the new wall.  Waste not, want not.

Disassembling the test wall will allow me to see how the plants grow, whether a single layer of felt is sufficient and how the staples hold up.  The new wall, because it will have small plants that will turn into big plants, will require a little more structural support than a single layer of felt will supply.  On Patrick Blanc uses a layer of woven material between layers of thinner felt as structural support.  I need to use what I can get inexpensively and readily.  We’ll see what the substructure of the wall looks like when I pull this wall apart in prep for constructing the new.  I think I want to screw (stainless screws and fender washers) fish net over the surface.  It depends on what I can find.

The seeds I ordered from Hirt’s Garden have arrived.  The streptocarpus seeds are so small they will require I wear magnifying glasses to get them transferred to my grow medium.  <gulp>  I may be able to use the moistened tip of a toothpick as the transfer tool.

With seed starting in mind I’m researching methods.  I did a bit of research on gel but I don’t think that’s going to suit me.  Rob’s Garden has a great seed starting page.  Using his technique, for those seeds requiring warmth to germinate, I’m considering placing the seed baggies into a floating  container inside my aquarium.  That’s a warm moist environment which is at the right temperature for the seeds I’m starting.  I’ll keep you posted.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.