Trellis?

[T]

Hi All,

I am going to try my hand at growing schisandra this spring. It is a climber.

Anyone have a favorite trellis for such?

Many thanks,

-T

[songbird]

i depends upon how large the plant gets naturally. i.e. how heavy and how strong the vines are. if they will self-support or not. for the large grape vine i had out back i put in poles in cement and then attached

2x4s and cross pieces to hold all the weight. what is the growth habit? if it spreads out as it grows up or does it just go up as high as it can and then spreads out at the top.

also you have to figure your winds and the cross section to the wind or any protection from the wind (like if it is closer to the house or in a corner or there are some blocking trees), etc.

hmm, likes a bit of shade and moist and well drained soil. that's going to be a tough sell in your area. may need to have a lot of mulch to keep it going.

songbird

[T]

It can get 7' tall. And we also can have YUGE 100 MPH winds too, so something that can bend with the wind and not break.

[songbird]

T wrote: ...

think triangle, teepee or dome and well anchored.

songbird

[Pavel314]

Have you ever considered putting in a windmill to generate electricity? Dep ending on the size of your property and zoning codes, you might be able to get your local utility to install one that you could tap off of. I've been thinking of building a windmill for about 20 years now; might get around to in in the next 20.

Paul

[T]

Not zones for it. Damned things are kind of noisy too, maybe not windmills.

I have thought of solar panels on the roof, but the battery storage involved takes a lot of space and is a fire hazard.

[T]

I am wondering if this is a good idea, considering our winds. I think I will be designing a sail!

What if I just the plant to grow on the ground?

[songbird]

T wrote: ...

i only need a small amount of backup (so i can shut down the computer in a good state) and to run an LED light if i need one. as it turns out the computer battery back up will do those things so i don't need a separate battery.

solar panels would be nice, but in the scale of things water heating from sunlight is the best investment to do at first. you can get hot water for a lot less than full electricity replacement and then using solar to run the pumps you can also use the extra heat in the winter. where you are at with all the sun it pays for itself pretty well. then once you have that up and running and it has covered the expense of putting it in you can expand the panels to supply the rest of your juice. stay on the grid and don't bother with batteries if you can avoid them.

chances are that in the future you can have that all incorporated in your car being plugged in so you won't need two battery packs.

songbird

[songbird]

T wrote: ...

not if you don't have surfaces. i was talking about the shape of the frame. :)

i don't know these plants enough to know how they will respond.

songbird

[T]

I am not following. There are trellises that don't catch the wind?

[songbird]

the bare frame won't catch nearly as much as the plant will if it has much in the way of leaves.

if you anchor the ribs well enough a tripod is very stable against the wind. that is why i said teepee as it is just more triangles/ribs...

songbird