"Omelet" wrote in message
news
In article . com,
wrote:

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.

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.

In article . com,
wrote:

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.
--
Peace, Om

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"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

On 22 Dec 2006 07:09:03 -0800, wrote:

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.

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
--
You have proven yourself to be the most malicious,
classless person that I've encountered in years.
- "pointed"

In article ,
Penelope Periwinkle wrote:

On 22 Dec 2006 07:09:03 -0800, wrote:

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.

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?
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

In article ,
"George.com" wrote:

"Omelet" wrote in message
news
In article . com,
wrote:

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.

packing peanuts? Are these polystyrene balls used in bean bags and the like?

Yes! Just don't accidently get the biodegradable ones. They dissolve
when water hits them. We made that mistake once. G


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 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. :-(
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

"Omelet" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"George.com" wrote:

"Omelet" wrote in message
news
In article . com,
wrote:

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.

packing peanuts? Are these polystyrene balls used in bean bags and the
like?

Yes! Just don't accidently get the biodegradable ones. They dissolve
when water hits them. We made that mistake once. G


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 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

In article ,
"George.com" wrote:

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. ;-)
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

Styrofaom peanuts? Couldn't that leach out some bad chemicals?

In article .com,
wrote:

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!
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

"Omelet" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"George.com" wrote:

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. ;-)
--
Peace, Om

good tip, glad you didn't expect me to think of something so complex though.

rob

In article ,
"George.com" wrote:

"Omelet" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"George.com" wrote:

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. ;-)
--
Peace, Om

good tip, glad you didn't expect me to think of something so complex though.

rob

snicker

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.

;-)
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

"Omelet" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"George.com" wrote:

"Omelet" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"George.com" wrote:

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. ;-)
--
Peace, Om

good tip, glad you didn't expect me to think of something so complex
though.

rob

snicker

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

In article ,
"George.com" wrote:

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!!! lol
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

"Omelet" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"George.com" wrote:

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!!! lol
--
Peace, Om

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