Repurposing Abundance And Waste: Earth Deeds!

in #ecotrain5 years ago (edited)

This is my entry to @ecotrain's repurposing abundance & waste challenge!

I do this kind of reuse and upcycling stuff all the time, so for post cohesion, I'm going to focus on garden/houseplant reuse!

That long white chain that the plants are hanging from is from an old overhead light that died. I was always in need of "s" hooks to hang pots a bit lower for the best light; so I used the chain instead and got two plants at the best height at once!

A trio of reclaimed pots: the lampshade from a broken floor lamp, a wooden crate that once held grapes (back when grapes came in wooden crates - I've had that crate since the 90s), and a mug that the handle broke off. Now all pots on my balcony!

A trio of reuse in one plant:
Dudley's pot is an old storage/laundry basket tub; his dirt is full of Happy Meal toys and other knickknacks because Deidre (my cat who crossed the bridge a few years ago) was fond of using big plants as litterboxes, and half burying the toys in the dirt kept her from climbing in and killing Dudley with pee; and...

I have a homemade aqua globe that is the tip end of an old turkey baster and an old face wash bottle. I can pour right into the turkey baster or the bottle or both, upend the bottle in place, and it slowly waters the plant from below, so that the top of the soil isn't always wet and fungus gnats don't breed in it (fungus gnats are a pain in the butt!).

And finally:

My compost system is made from two excess litter buckets I had, washed out and with holes drilled in for air.

Just a few ways to reuse items in the garden - the apartment garden, that is! ;) I hope maybe you got an idea for your own reuse projects. :) Thanks for reading!

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Awesome stuff Phe, I LOVE the lampshade planter, just gorgeous, and I don't remember grapes coming in crates...maybe that's a US thing cause I'm definitely old enough that I should remember that. Your turkey baster water bulb cracked me up, just genius!!!!

I have another one made of a glass soda bottle filled with marbles and the hook end from a bungie cord to hold them in in my oxalis. 😄When you need more aqua globes, you get creative!

I love the half-burried toys guarding the plant from the cat. Aesthetic and functional.

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Thanks! 😁 I got the idea from someone I volunteered with.

Ohhh fungus gnats! I am dealing with the. What nasty buggers! Love your projects Phe! Best of luck on the contest!

They ARE nasty buggers! They will take up in sink drains, too!

Gah!! They are so hard to eliminate. I have been severly drying out my plants for months! Only giving them a dribble of water when they are about ready to die. And, still after the last watering these damn gnats are thick! They are everywhere 🙄. Oh man!! Silly me, neglected to get soil over winter and to keep it out in the cold to help negate this bug issue (they came in soil i got from the store a few seasons ago) argh!! Looking forward to your next contest! (And, to the end of these damn tiny flying bugs!)

Yeah - I just had THIRTEEN of them in one of the cat's water dishes, ten in the dishes I left to soak in the sink, and one INSIDE my old school water bottle with a lid and straw. Did it crawl down the straw? The pressure release hole?? How??!?
AAAaaarrrrrrrrgh.

🤔 UGG! Bug bug buggidy-bug!! 😱

So phreash, and so clean ;) Nice entry into the earth deed and eco trains contest!

LOL I'm Phreash.

This may be one of my favourite posts this week
How cool is this
I love the ideas

I have done filling of pots with stuff especially the ones the cat likes to dig... I have not found anything as yet, but I don't want to either hahaha

Thank you for the cool ideas. Might have to try that aqua globe thingy :D

The kitty who would use the plants as litter box passed a few years ago, and months after she died, I was cleaning out pots on the balcony to start the garden, and found cat poop in one. I literally started to cry because I knew it was hers and I missed her. The crazy things that imbed in your brain and make you miss someone.

Awesome contribution. Love your upside down lampshade pot! Such creative repurposing!!!

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Thanks! It was just so darn pretty, I wanted to reuse it for something. 😃

love it! i really appreciate the true rustik look.. no trying to hide things and make them look all shiney..

and Great to see how you use two buckets to compost.. looks like a simple smart way to get the water out..

<3 thanks for taking part!

My decor style is definitely "patchwork upcycle make do reuse homemade chic," lol.
I actually got the bucket idea from another Steemian, whose name I don't remember off the cuff as I don't think they are active anymore; I had tried it once prior but hadn't drilled holes and stacked two together, so it molded. But this one has been working well for me for about a year! 😊

I'm terrible at keeping plants alive in containers (I confess, I forget to water them and if I remember that I forget they need food), so I'm in admiration!

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I think if I ever get property and start planting in the ground, it'll be a different learning curve for me, lol. I'll have to deal with different pest problems (in an apartment it's fungus gnats and once a squirrel climbed onto the balcony and ate my cucumber plant - stalks and all, as it wasn't even fruiting yet). And if the water/food needs are different, I'll have to figure that out, too. 😂

Haha! The squirrel must have been so excited to find edible thing's growing on building edges! I think we get so many critters because we're the only ones growing much edible in our garden.

I read something on someone dealing with fungus gnats a while ago, but I'm struggling to remember what he did. I get the feeling it was adding something like diatomaceous earth. Anyway, it's interesting to hear a new trick of keeping the dampness below the surface layer.

That's probably true - we're the oasis in the city desert here! <3

Keeping the dampness below helps because they lay their eggs in the damp soil. If the top layer is dry - they don't!

Love the use case @phoenixwren! I love plants of all types and they certainly need some good placing to live and grow. I’m currently repurposing a cooler right now for a poinsettia that I just couldn’t bear to let die. It’s currently doing quite well and I look forward to seeing it give bloom once again this holiday season. Thanks for sharing!

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Nice! I hope your poinsettia does well in their new home! :)

this is awesome and if every one did just this, the world will be cleaner and healthier

Aw, thank you! :)

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