packing peanuts? Are these polystyrene balls used in bean bags and the like?
A good thick compressed layer of twigs would do the trick though likely rots down after a couple of years. Depends how long you want the herbs in the tub.
rob
I want to plant herbs in my old cast iron bathtub in the backyard. The tub is too deep, so I need to fill the bottom with something to elevate the plants. (This will also keep the plants from drowning when heavy rain fills the tub.) Filling the whole thing with soil would require too much soil. Anyone have ideas on what else I could use? I want to avoid scratching or staining the inside of the white tub in case I want to use it for something else in the future.
Thanks.
A popular and well draining filler for deep pot bottoms is packing peanuts.
Seriously.
Just be sure to use the non-biodegradable ones.
Turning old plastic pots upside down in the bottom of the tub works, although the packing peanuts work better. I think I would line the tub with weed paper, though to keep the dirt from abrading the finish on the tub.
Penelope
Excellent suggestion!
Would landscaping fabric work as well? Might be tougher and easier to work with?
Yes! Just don't accidently get the biodegradable ones. They dissolve when water hits them. We made that mistake once.
I used that trick in some of my raised planter beds, but I've had to add topsoil to fill in as it "sank" over a period of time.
Foam peanuts are light in weight and don't ever rot... That's what makes styrofoam so bad in landfills. :-(
I've used them as well, a bit of a pain to seperate from soil when re-potting mind.
rob
Dump them into a little water.
They float. ;-)
Styrofaom peanuts? Couldn't that leach out some bad chemicals?
No.
It's very inert...
That's part of the problem with them. The only thing that will really biodegrade that damned stuff is direct sunlight, or solvents!
good tip, glad you didn't expect me to think of something so complex though.
rob
Don't worry, I suffer from that too. It's often the simpler things that we just don't think of!
A good example is when I was at Lowe's the other day. I have a stainless steel sink in the kitchen and it'd developed a pin sized hole somehow. I decided to repair it rather than go thru the expense of replacing it. It's a double.
I was searching all over the store for a small steel disk that I could use metal epoxy to attach to the underside to cover the hole from the bottom. They had roofing disks but I had to buy 500 of them!
I talked to one of the sales people...
He said to just use a pair of metal shears to cut a small circle from the lid of a can and use that.
Duh.
;-)
I spent 2 years trying to correct the filling on a toilet cistern. Eventually I stuffed it, went to the plumbing store and found a simple adjustable piece for $30. Had I gone in the first place mind I would have denied myself 2 years enjoyment of cursing and endless mucking around.
rob
Oh god do I ever know that feeling!!!
best bit of fun mind was replacing 2 sheets of plastic sheeting on the garage roof that had gone milky white. Piece of cake, one hours work max I said.
Theory - simply lift roofing nails out, lift up flashing, remove old sheet, replace with new stuff, hammer down sheets and flashing.
Reality - grooved f'ing roofing nails, would not come out with claw hammer. Using pinch bar and piece of 4 by 2, being prepared to dent roof iron in some places and several new inventive swear words got the nails up, eventually. Tried to remove old sheets, would not come out despite big enough gap between flashing and roof frame. Had to remove nails along length of flashing to lift it, prick nails would not come out with pinch bar or swearing at them. Located tin snips, cut flashing in 2 areas and peeled it back. Went to remove plastic sheet, still would not come out. Resorted to putting hammer through it and removing in chunks, good way to reduce stress, showed plastic sheet who was really 'the boss'. Sheeting all removed, went to slide new sheets in to place. Went up most of the way but stopped a foot or so short of correct position. More snipping of flashing and found iron sheets had been tacked down under flashing to hold them in place before roofing nails went in. Cursed builders who did that. Pulled out tacks, shoved in plastic sheets, tacked down, went inside for smoke and long lunch. Mood very filthy. Much later in the afternoon went back out, peeled back flashing, hammered everything down. Sealed up flashing and primered. Next day painted over everything. Best part of 4 hours up on roof to do a simple job. At some point I will have to replace the length of flashing, sometime.
rob
Why is it that nothing in life is ever really simple in home repair? ;-)
Whenever my dad does any plumbing work, he refers to certain jobs by the number of swear words it takes to get the job done...
"Well that was a 50 swear word job" for instance.
Hopefully that will be simpler?
Just be sure to take some Zantac. ;-D
sarcastic roftl.
rob
;-D
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