hello,
i've just got 3 water chestnut plants.

just re-read the previous thread about them & intend to put them in a
container, but my question is: in the absence of spare laundry tubs & so
forth, what type of container should i put them in? i.e. how deep does it
have to be?

i was hoping some sort of plastic container or something that i already have
might be suitable, if it doesn't need to be too deep.

also, i was wondering if digger's club claim is true - that one corm can
yield 2kg(!) - in which case i'm also wondering how _wide_ the container
should be!

i was just going to put the container in the shade under a tree near a
tap... or somehting like that. not forgetting netting, to keep the sodding
ducks off.

many thanks!
kylie

On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:00:58 +0000, 0tterbot wrote:

i.e. how deep does it have to be?

We are trying 20cm, 10cm of soil with corm in middle and 10cm for
flooding. We have three in an old dairy vat about 1mx1.5m and two in an
old plastic lined wheelbarrow.

also, i was wondering if digger's club claim is true - that one corm can
yield 2kg(!) - in which case i'm also wondering how _wide_ the container
should be!

As wide as you can manage. I can not remember if the instructions said 1/2
sq mwetre or 1 sq metre each. AIUI they spread by runners, so you want
somespace for them to spread, but I have no idea of how far they run
before they corm. could be totally wrong there, but I'll guess we'll soon
know.

i was just going to put the container in the shade under a tree near a
tap... or somehting like that. not forgetting netting, to keep the
sodding ducks off.

Lol, our problem is all the other stuff that germinated from the well
wetted soild, tomatoes, spinach, lettuce, basil, etc. SWMBO wanted to try
and transplant them all, but I've suggested early cropping of te lettuce
and spinach (baby spinach leaves for salad?) and just weedt he rest so we
minimise soil disturbance for our first effort.

"terryc" wrote in message
news
As wide as you can manage. I can not remember if the instructions said 1/2
sq mwetre or 1 sq metre each. AIUI they spread by runners, so you want
somespace for them to spread, but I have no idea of how far they run
before they corm. could be totally wrong there, but I'll guess we'll soon
know.

crikey, i thought they grew in a clump together like potatoes do... :-/

clearly i don't have anything suitable (yet) anyway.


i was just going to put the container in the shade under a tree near a
tap... or somehting like that. not forgetting netting, to keep the
sodding ducks off.

Lol, our problem is all the other stuff that germinated from the well
wetted soild,

this is a problem? :-)

tomatoes, spinach, lettuce, basil, etc. SWMBO wanted to try
and transplant them all, but I've suggested early cropping of te lettuce
and spinach (baby spinach leaves for salad?) and just weedt he rest so we
minimise soil disturbance for our first effort.

yes, baby spinach in your salad is where it's at!
thanks terry.
kylie

On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:02:18 +0000, 0tterbot wrote:


crikey, i thought they grew in a clump together like potatoes do... :-/

As I said, I have no real idea. The chief gardner decided she want to grow
them and that was how I explained why they needed the space. I wasn't keen
on planting six into a wheel barrow.

However, the image here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_chestnut
suggest you are correct.

Hmm, perhaps something deeper might be better, but that is what we have
based on the little slip of paper that came with the corms. If they are
productive, then I construct something bigger for next time.

If you have the space, you could simply dig a largish frog pond and
line it with plastic, then dump soil back in the bottom and plant them
there. Alternatively, how cheap are those large plastic bins at the $2
shop?



Lol, our problem is all the other stuff that germinated from the well
wetted soild,

this is a problem? :-)

Actually, it has me thinking about where the garden is heading. We have
one large bed about 7mx4m, plus three X 2mX1.5m raised beds that were
going to be converted into a second bigger bed about 9m x 3m.

Our major problem is water. The two tanks really hold an insignificant
amount, so we are paying for it and being under/near some big trees, it
disappears very fast.

Current brain activity is how can I do something similar to the water
chestnuts, but not as wet, for a general garden.


yes, baby spinach in your salad is where it's at! thanks terry. kylie

We have decided that if we can pull off baby beetroot leave in our salad,
just like some mixes in the F&V shop, then we are doing great. Sadly,
something ate all the beetroot seedlings this year.

"0tterbot" wrote in message
hello,
i've just got 3 water chestnut plants.

just re-read the previous thread about them & intend to put them in a
container, but my question is: in the absence of spare laundry tubs & so
forth, what type of container should i put them in? i.e. how deep does it
have to be?

i was hoping some sort of plastic container or something that i already
have might be suitable, if it doesn't need to be too deep.

also, i was wondering if digger's club claim is true - that one corm can
yield 2kg(!) - in which case i'm also wondering how _wide_ the container
should be!

i was just going to put the container in the shade under a tree near a
tap... or somehting like that. not forgetting netting, to keep the sodding
ducks off.

I thought I saw that Matthew had a bathtub in his veggie garden???? -
perhaps you could ask him to lend it to you for the season.

I had thought of lining those bicg black plastic pots that you buy advanced
trees in with black plastic but given the post about them spreading by
runner, perhaps you could rig up a black plastic pond like shape with old
boards or something to hold up the sides.

On Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:00:58 GMT, "0tterbot" wrote:

hello,
i've just got 3 water chestnut plants.

just re-read the previous thread about them & intend to put them in a
container, but my question is: in the absence of spare laundry tubs & so
forth, what type of container should i put them in? i.e. how deep does it
have to be?

i was hoping some sort of plastic container or something that i already have
might be suitable, if it doesn't need to be too deep.

also, i was wondering if digger's club claim is true - that one corm can
yield 2kg(!) - in which case i'm also wondering how _wide_ the container
should be!

i was just going to put the container in the shade under a tree near a
tap... or somehting like that. not forgetting netting, to keep the sodding
ducks off.

many thanks!
kylie



No real need to go all fancy.

I quite sucessfully grew a nice crop in an old small square aquarium I
had laying around some years back.

"twas only around 450 L x300 W x 200 H.

I just went to a local swamp and got a few of the small fish that you
find in the and put them in and had no problems with mosquitos after
that.

from the department of ag in WA

http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/pls/porta...VEG/F12899.PDF