milehigh_7
Mister 500,000
First a quick nod to the father of the "happy accident." Thanks Bob Ross!
Everyone knows I love me some strainers. I have been using them since @Vance Wood's patented work turned me on to them about 10 years ago. (Hey Vance, who knew you would pretty much change the way pre-bonsai are grown and get zero credit? I digress...) Anyways... As much as I love them, they have a limitation (this limitation was discussed in a very old thread here and I can't remember who mentioned it. I think it was one of the So Cal gang.) The problem is that, the roots really never make full use of the strainer as they get too hot and dry as they near the edge. This is exacerbated in hot and dry climates. To remedy this, one has to 1) Water much more frequently, 2) add in organics such as bark that hold more water or some such thing. Both of those have some drawbacks. I also believe this is what gave rise to the MYTH of doubling the strainers. I believe this happy accident solved this problem.
I was getting ready to repot something, don't even remember what in one of these 10" dollar store specials.
When I repot, I like to have everything at hand so I can move fast. So when carrying the strainer out from the garage I gave it a toss into a pile of other miscellaneous junk. It landed in one of the millions (very slight hyperbole) of cut down 5 gallon cans. You all have em, you know you do!
Well as "happy accidents" go, this was a great one! It fit perfectly with the rim of the strainer resting perfectly on the rim of the 5 gal can! I thought, well that was a nice toss. I finished the repot and went to bed.
(Get ready for a peek into the very strange mind of Milehigh. This is a greatly abridged version as the rabbit trails criss crossed the galaxy a few times.) If you don't want to mess with this... simply skip to the next paragraph! I started thinking about all the seedlings and cuttings I want to get started, then I got sad because as many of you know for the next 3 months it will be over 100F and under 5% humidity which is not great for new plants... Then I started thinking about possible solutions to keep the root zone cool on those root-maker pots. Then i remembered many years ago taking a 3" hole saw to plywood and dropping in those hydroponic net pots. Then I started thinking about the folks that put t-shirts over their pots. Then I remembered I don't like that look and always thought about just dropping one pot into another that was painted white and then it hit me!
I decided to go get some of that spray paint that bonds to plastic and paint those cans! So Here is what I got:
Krylon Fuson in Matte Glacier Grey (I think Rust-Oleum makes one as well but this works pretty darn good)
Finished product:
Here is a couple of pics with a new Escambron 'Clerodendrum heterophyllum' (I love this plant BTW) Thanks @markyscott I believe it was you who recommended them.
As you can see it's a perfect fit. I have not done any scientific tests but the 5gal can is cool to the touch with the sun of a 110F day beating down. The screened portion of the strainer is also cool with plenty of air flow (I may drill more holes if this is not enough air.) I put my hand on a black can right next to this and it actually burns and within a few seconds turns my skin red. I dropped this into the can before I left on my cruise and in about a week roots are beginning to poke out the bottom of the strainer and air prune! I think this will work! Let me know what you think peeps.
Everyone knows I love me some strainers. I have been using them since @Vance Wood's patented work turned me on to them about 10 years ago. (Hey Vance, who knew you would pretty much change the way pre-bonsai are grown and get zero credit? I digress...) Anyways... As much as I love them, they have a limitation (this limitation was discussed in a very old thread here and I can't remember who mentioned it. I think it was one of the So Cal gang.) The problem is that, the roots really never make full use of the strainer as they get too hot and dry as they near the edge. This is exacerbated in hot and dry climates. To remedy this, one has to 1) Water much more frequently, 2) add in organics such as bark that hold more water or some such thing. Both of those have some drawbacks. I also believe this is what gave rise to the MYTH of doubling the strainers. I believe this happy accident solved this problem.
I was getting ready to repot something, don't even remember what in one of these 10" dollar store specials.
When I repot, I like to have everything at hand so I can move fast. So when carrying the strainer out from the garage I gave it a toss into a pile of other miscellaneous junk. It landed in one of the millions (very slight hyperbole) of cut down 5 gallon cans. You all have em, you know you do!
Well as "happy accidents" go, this was a great one! It fit perfectly with the rim of the strainer resting perfectly on the rim of the 5 gal can! I thought, well that was a nice toss. I finished the repot and went to bed.
(Get ready for a peek into the very strange mind of Milehigh. This is a greatly abridged version as the rabbit trails criss crossed the galaxy a few times.) If you don't want to mess with this... simply skip to the next paragraph! I started thinking about all the seedlings and cuttings I want to get started, then I got sad because as many of you know for the next 3 months it will be over 100F and under 5% humidity which is not great for new plants... Then I started thinking about possible solutions to keep the root zone cool on those root-maker pots. Then i remembered many years ago taking a 3" hole saw to plywood and dropping in those hydroponic net pots. Then I started thinking about the folks that put t-shirts over their pots. Then I remembered I don't like that look and always thought about just dropping one pot into another that was painted white and then it hit me!
I decided to go get some of that spray paint that bonds to plastic and paint those cans! So Here is what I got:
Krylon Fuson in Matte Glacier Grey (I think Rust-Oleum makes one as well but this works pretty darn good)
Finished product:
Here is a couple of pics with a new Escambron 'Clerodendrum heterophyllum' (I love this plant BTW) Thanks @markyscott I believe it was you who recommended them.
As you can see it's a perfect fit. I have not done any scientific tests but the 5gal can is cool to the touch with the sun of a 110F day beating down. The screened portion of the strainer is also cool with plenty of air flow (I may drill more holes if this is not enough air.) I put my hand on a black can right next to this and it actually burns and within a few seconds turns my skin red. I dropped this into the can before I left on my cruise and in about a week roots are beginning to poke out the bottom of the strainer and air prune! I think this will work! Let me know what you think peeps.
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