Balcony Gardening
Welcome to c/BalconyGardening @ slrpnk.net!
A young community dedicated to balcony gardening.
About
Show off that vertical veggie garden 35 stories high. Or that bucket of potatoes you're proud of. Perhaps some fall mums that have been catching your eye through the sliding door into your living room. Any and all balcony gardens are welcome! Come and show your's off because we love to see it. :)
We also welcome ideas, tips, and items which have helped you in your balcony gardening journey. No balcony? Feel free to join in with your container garden with limited space too!
Notice Board
This is a work in progress, please don't mind the mess.
Resources
Sustainability:
Rules: (interactive)
We respect the basic rules of the SLRPNK server:
be constructive
there is no need of another internet space full of competition, negativity, rage etc.;
no bigotry
including racism, sexism, ableism, transphobia, homophobia or xenophobia;
be empathic
empathy is more rebellious than a middle finger;
no porn and no gore
let’s keep this place easy to manage;
no ads / spamming / flooding
we don’t want to buy/consume your commodified ideas;
occasional self-promotion
by active members is fine.
Related Communities
Sister Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
Plants & Gardening
Physical Sciences
Humanities and Social Sciences
Memes
view the rest of the comments
I would say for 1. melting instead of cutting is a sure way, but any kind of cutting that doesn't deform the container too much usually also works. You can also take a small drill and make a series of holes in a circle and then cut it out from there.
As for 2. you need to experiment with the compatibility of glues with the plastic of the container. A two component epoxy glue will nearly always work, but is probably overkill. Another common method is to used rubber gaskets and screw on clamps of some sort.
P.S.: in some cases a simple siphon will also work if you can ensure it never falls dry.
Melting sounds like a good idea. What would you typically use to do it? A soldering iron perhaps?
When you say compatibility, do you mean in terms of adhesion, or are there other things I should be concerned about?
The proper way to cut the hole would be using a drill with a hole saw, drill in the center pilot bit like normal and then cut the actual hole with the drill running in reverse for this specific application. If you ran the saw forward the teeth of the hole saw will be far more likely to catch and crack the container.
Whatever method of cutting you use, make sure to clean up the edges with some sandpaper so there isn't a rough edge.
A bulkhead fitting should have a rubber gasket that will seal properly without additional sealant, but a nice fat bead of clear silicone sealant will help if the spot you put the hole at isn't a perfectly flat surface and the plastic doesn't deform ideally when you tighten the fitting. Aquarium silicone would probably be ideal for planter use, bathroom or construction silicone can offgas harmful stuff for plants.
The sides of the container won't be parallel to the ground, so a straight pipe will put strain on the container that will lead to a failure. You will probably want to use flexible hose to connect the two containers, but two 45 degree elbows at each end of ridgid pipe(so 4 total) can take the strain out once you play with the orientations.
Thanks for a great description!
A couple of questions:
Since bulkhead fittings were suggested, I've been looking them up. The installation seems easy enough, but in all the videos I see I am stuck with a hole with threads on the outside, no one shows what comes next. What are the parts I would need for this? Do I need a join to connect the threads on the outside of each container?
I didn't really understand this. Do you mean there will be strain due to the downward force exerted by the weight of the pipe and water? I'm hoping to have the distance between the tanks as short as possible, and the diameter should also not be too big.
There are oodles of types of bulkhead fittings. The typical type have a threaded end that gets inserted into a hole from the outside and a nut with a flange tightens down and clamps a gasket to the inside surface.
The end outside of the container can have any number of means to attach a hose or pipe; like a barb, flange, thread, etc. For your application you will want a barbed bulkhead so you can just put a hose on there and don't need to worry about the additional cost and work involved with rigid pipe.
As for the stain issue. The type of container you described leads me to believe it is a typical plastic storage box, almost all of those have a taper to the sides. So if you put a bulkhead fitting in it, the fitting will be tilted downward. You are looking to connect two containers, which will have both fittings pointed towards the ground and not straight at one another. Connecting them with pipe would require you to either force them in line(adding strain) or use angled pipe bends to get things to line up. So a vinyl tube would be better to connect the containers than a pipe.
Tube and barbs also have the benefit of being easier to connect across a short distance and ensure a watertight connection. I would recommend putting the tube on both sides first, then installing the bulkheads in the containers to make life easier and avoid damage when trying to press the tube on the barbs after the bulkheads are installed.
The size of the containers will dictate the diameter of the tube. A one gallon would probably be fine with a 1" tube, but a 30 gallon would do better with 2-3" diameter.
Ah, I've seen those kinds before, and that seems fairly simple. Thanks!
Of course, now I understand what you meant! Yes, the boxes are slightly tapered, so that would be an issue.
Great tips, noted! Now I'll have to figure out where I can buy these locally.
Thanks again for great help!
I have seen them at larger hardware stores. I would check hydroponic supply stores, if you have those. Farm supply stores and gardening stores might be good options as well.
Look for a hardware store. Even if they don't carry it, a local place might be able to order one for you, or at least point you in the right direction. If you can find someone who's more plumbing focused, it might be easier, but I don't know how many of those there are left these days.