It was first designed by Patrick Marris while he was a student at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design, in London, the sky planters were originally produced by New -Zealand's company BOSKKE, out of porcelain but now they are available in recycled plastic.
As you can see for stunning ceramic sky planters suspends ferns, ivy, orchid, herbs and vegetables. A porous reservoir refillable with water through the hole at the top delivers the right amount of water through the diffusion process.
It is a great way to save space, reserve water, decorate the ceiling and purify the air with plant's life. In today's world of development, we are going away from our plants; we are losing our interest in nature.
The rapid development in urbanisation, resulting in the construction of large buildings everywhere, but the construction of buildings all over the land, sometimes leads to a lack of space for the plants to grow.
People are interested in the development and busy only in the construction of industries, buildings, and bridges, etc. but no one is worried about nature, the use of the land where these plants used to grow.
Man has become so selfish. Development in today's life is a must but we can't go alone in our journey. We have to develop along with showing care towards surroundings, as nature feeds us, we also have some responsibility towards it.
But nothing is lost, it is possible to have a garden and do gardening in less space even inside your rooms. It is true, we can grow plants in the air (hanging downward), we can do air gardening, which involves growing plants hanging downward.
It is a great method or technique to utilize and save spare space. An upside-down garden can be grown inside rooms, halls, balconies, washrooms, kitchen, living area, etc.
It is an easy way of gardening where no soil land is required. Thus hanging plant pots purify the air inside our houses. Some of the plants that can be grown in sky pots are:
1. Cucumber
2. Squash
3. Mint
4. Strawberry
5. Grapes
6. Zucchini
7. Eggplant
8. And beans can also grow well as sky planters
9. Some flowers can be grown as ornamental plants inside the room
Materials For Sky Planters
For bucket like or pots like sky planters
1. A large bucket, such as a 5- gallon bucket (100% recycled plastic)
2. Strong carabiner ( hook ) must hold 50 pounds if you are using a heavy bucket, length of strong chain (3 feet long, hold at least 50 pounds)
3. Fertile soil
Plant For Bottle like sky planters:
1. Cleaned 2 litre of soda bottles
2. Utility knives or scissors
3. Hole punch
4. Plotting soil
5. Hook or place to hang your plant
6. Plant which you want to grow
Instructions For Bucket pots
1. Take a bucket and create a hole in the bottom of your bucket. Turn the bucket, and make small holes around the open end of the bucket
2. Now tie three holes with heavy, strong string or wire and then tie at one place now hang it with the help of a hook to the ceiling
3. Take 4cm diameter of a circle of sponge and cut half-inch hole in between sponge and fix your plant between this
For bottle like hanging planters:
1. Firstly cut off the bottom (¾) part of the bottle with the help of scissors
2. Now, you can cover the edges (sides cut with a knife) with duct tape
3. Make three holes in a duct and bottle edges (which are cut)
4. Pass out the 3 strings from these holes and tie them at a point and make it hang with the help of a hook
5. Gently slip the plant through the top of the bottle so the plants hang and out from the cap and the root remains inside
6. Fill the bottle with potting soil up to the space leaving 1 inch or 2.5 cm of space below the cut end
7. Now hang it anywhere you want to, water it and flourish your house
Conditions required:
1. Temperature: should be 60F but a temperature of about 50F in winter will result in flowering
2. Humidity: place them in the kitchen or bathroom
3. Fertilizer: urea, green manure, etc
How to water the sky planters
A porous ceramic reservoir sits at the top of the sky planters and connects with soil. It is filled through a small hole at the top of planters and water is gradually released dropwise into the soil by diffusion method.
This makes the water come in direct contact with the roots of the plant, reducing the evaporation and conserving the water. This ensures that you do not fill the reservoir, again and again, saving time and indicates that there is a good connection between soil and reservoir for the water to flow sufficiently.
Advantages of Sky Planters:
1. No need to fill the reservoir all the time, saves time, ensures conserving water because of less evaporation method. Very beneficial for plant and the planter( farmer)
2. No threat of destroying of plants by birds, insects, and animals
3. Protection from the hot sunny days during summer and extreme levels of rainfall
4. Plants enhance the beauty of the house
5. Purification of air (polluted air)
6. Occupy less space
7. Include the elimination of garden tasks such as tilling
8. Watering is very much easier and plants grow vigorously. No chances of rotting and attack of any pests, insects or microbes and reduced soil-borne problems
Disadvantages of Sky Planters:
1. No proper sunlight or natural sunlight to the plants' affects the proper growth
2. No proper spreading of roots
3. Water evaporation system sometimes went wrong due to misbalance of the provided climate conditions
4. Dry leaves and ripen fruits fall makes the ground dirty and slippery
5. During watering, filling of the reservoir and overflow of water makes place slippery
Gardening in a small space needn't restrict your ideas or planting opportunities, accept the challenges and discover new possibilities.
Written By - Chavi Goel
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