Posted on 06/04/2010 5:00:06 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232
No, it’s a crew cab pickup. Not a dually, either. Most people don’t realize it, but a dually has LESS traction in the slippery slops of life, unless it is really loaded down.
Here’s a ‘potatoes in containers’ problem for the gang...I planted fingerling potatoes in a number of 5 gallon buckets...I planted them about a third of the way up; leaving about 12 - 15 inches of growing space to the top of the bucket. The locals said “that’ll never work...too far down”. (New Englanders are compelled to criticize everything and anything regardless of topic...they are very annoying people...plus they are rude...but I digress...) So much for that...the potato plants, which we have been hilling right along, are now OVER the lip of the bucket, and it is only early June. Do any of the great minds here have an idea as to how I can ‘extend’ the buckets UPWARD so I can continue to ‘hill’ the plants without the soil just spilling over the edge onto the ground? Something in the shape of a cylinder? Locals are useless, and I am not a mechanical genius...
Do you have an agricultural irrigation supply anywhere in the area? They have thick wall polypipe that would be like an extension. If you don’t have anything like that around, let me know — I’d be happy to send you a piece to try. We have lots of remnants from rolls we use on the farm.
I wanted to use material similar to that of the buckets, and your idea sounds perfect (as usual). I’ll try my local Tractor Supply and a few other suppliers...so I’d be looking for something referenced as ‘polypipe’?
I'll go out to the equipment shed and see which size is right for a 5-gallon bucket and test my idea quickly. (this kind of improvising is right up my alley!)
or you could cut the bottom out of another bucket? Be sure and let us know what your production was when you harvest. My volunteer potatoes are blooming the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen on a potato plant and the taters I planted have tripled in size in the past 7 or 8 days. We have not seen the sun in over a week with a lot of late rain...
There has been a chill wind blowing though out the the Bender home since yesterday afternoon when my current first wife let slip that she has been eating fresh Raspberries from the garden for the past week. I wouldn’t have known that if not for our daughter stopping by and heading straight to the patch saying “Mom told me they were ripe”. I hadn’t noticed because the new canes have topped the bearing ones...
I’ve never seen potatoes grow this fast...we can’t them fast enough. I’m using Pro-Mix, which is a light soilless mix (along with some compost), and the taters seem to love it...a little too much. That is why I am desperate to ‘extend’ my buckets. I may even use those bushel baskets apples used to be gathered in with the bottoms knocked out for the taters in the raised beds...
.... continuing ... that I cut up and formed into a circle for the buckets and was able to bend into shape for the storage containers. I extend them up anothe 1.5 ft.
Judas Priest...they just issued ANOTHER frickin' tornado watch for us again...second day in a row. I have had more tornadoes and tornado watches here in New England than I ever did down south; where I spent much more time. Geez...I think they do it just to give the media something to panic the locals over...
Sorry...jumped the gun by thirty seconds...that is pretty much what I am looking to do...just got to find the proper materials...
The sheets of plastic I bought, on the net a few years ago, is the same plastic you can find on some 3 ring binders and divider sheets at Office Depot or other office supply stores. Very soft and flexable.
Yeah bad weather in your area! Stay safe and watch you weather closely! I hate tornado season. Sounds like y’all have been getting hammered!
If I were doing this, I'd take an extremely large steel hose clamp and place it over the polypipe at the rim of the bucket and tighten it down. I'm sure you could come up with another method to secure the polypipe to the bucket.
If you think that this would work for you, Freepmail me your address and let me know how many feet of polypipe you need. I'll mail it to you tomorrow.
Duct Tape!
Duct tape was an option, but I didn’t know the environment of the buckets. If duct tape will take some water, that would be great. “If you can’t fix it ... duck it”
I forgot to add that you could put twice as much polypipe on the bucket as you currently need and fold it down like a cuff. As you add soil, scoot the cuff up a little to make the extension taller.
Wow. Thanks a bunch!
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