# DIY Planter



## AverageWhiteBloke (25 Jun 2018)

Found a use for the little pots you usually get from the lfs if anyone is interested . I can't claim all of it as I saw someone make wires for curling round the plants on YouTube so it's just a variation on the theme. 

I was using one of those glass bowls with suckers you can get online to put my house plants in on the side of the tank in the water. Problem was the roots didn't trail down into the water and hunched up in the pot, also my shrimp would creep into the pot so when I dropped the water level for changes I kept forgetting and had a frantic moment trying to get them out.

Anyway, came up with this, essentially just get a plastic plant pot. Drill a couple of holes in the size of airline tubing. Feed some wire through the air line tube, a coat hanger or similar, bend to shape and snip of the ends with side cutters. Voila, hang on pot for my pothos etc that will let the roots trail in the water and not catch shrimp.








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## AverageWhiteBloke (25 Jun 2018)

While we're on the subject, can you plant pothos cuttings in soil. Stuff I've found on net shows putting in glass of water until root develop then just putting in a bowl with what looks like clay balls or stones.

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## tam (25 Jun 2018)

Yes, you can grow them in a pot of soil like a house plant (keeping it mind they get huge and very little of the plant is actually in the pot. Don't see why you couldn't start cuttings the same way. You could also layer them - pin a section of the growing plant down in a pot of soil without detaching it from the mother.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (25 Jun 2018)

Just normal soil? I took a cutting from a Pothos that was on the rim of my tank and put it in some soil in a small pot that was well watered but it just dried up and died. The Pothos has filled out again so was going to try and get another cutting. A youtube video showed putting the cutting in a glass of water until roots start developing then pot it but was in some clay balls or something.

I have a pothos and Peace lilly in my tank but I was wanting to start a couple of "normal" potted house plants out of them. 

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## tam (26 Jun 2018)

You can definitely grow it in soil - my brother has one growing that way with quite erratic watering. You could use water and then pot into soil, or try covering the cutting with a plastic bag over the pot to keep the air moist. They'll lose water through the leaves, but not be able to replace it from the soil until the roots grow. Layering might be easiest if you have a convenient temporary spot for the new pot - just use a U shape piece of wire to pin a joint to the soil and it should root itself at that point, when it has, cut it off from the original.


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## mort (26 Jun 2018)

Great advice above.

Pothos have aerial roots so if you look for an area with little brown knobs starting to form it makes taking cuttings easier. I would also say to do smaller cuttings if going straight into soil so they don't transpire as much. Growing in water to begin with seems to have a higher success rate however.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (26 Jun 2018)

Nice one gents, I think I'll leave the cutting sitting on the edge of my tank until I can physically see some root growth to edge my bets. Do you know if the same applies to peace lilly?

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## mort (26 Jun 2018)

Peace lillies should be easy to divide as they grow into a group of small plantlets each with its own root system, so you only need to tease them apart when they are large enough and pot them on.


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## dw1305 (26 Jun 2018)

Hi all, 





AverageWhiteBloke said:


> Drill a couple of holes in the size of airline tubing. Feed some wire through the air line tube, a coat hanger or similar, bend to shape and snip of the ends with side cutters. Voila, hang on pot for my pothos etc that will let the roots trail in the water and not catch shrimp.


Genius.





mort said:


> Pothos have aerial roots so if you look for an area with little brown knobs starting to form it makes taking cuttings easier.


That one. 

They root really easily in water, but if you use potting compost (or leaf mould), you need a <"pop bottle propagator"> over the cutting until it is rooted.   

cheers Darrel


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## zozo (26 Jun 2018)

Life can sometimes be so simple.  Nice one... Lately got a couple of <mesh pots> with the square holes in it. Than even no need to drill.


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## kadoxu (26 Jun 2018)

Great idea if you already have the stuff at home!


You can also used these from IKEA:


 
£0.50 is not bad for a HOB planter

Just made some holes in the bottom, filled it with Clay Pebbles, and added Pothos. It has been growing well on my Fancy Goldfish tank.


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## kadoxu (26 Jun 2018)

I also spray painted them black...


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## AverageWhiteBloke (26 Jun 2018)

dw1305 said:


> Genius.



Honoured 



mort said:


> Growing in water to begin with seems to have a higher success rate however.



The peace lilly cutting I have is still thriving and I actually got a cutting off the Pothos that already had quite a large section developing on it when i lifted it out of the tank. Going to leave them both in water for a while the try Darrels pop bottle thing until it establishes. Also think I'll do another diy planter for the peace lily which currently only has three leaves on it and see if I can spit it again so I have one for the tank and one in a pot.



zozo said:


> Nice one... Lately got a couple of <mesh pots> with the square holes in it. Than even no need to drill.



Nice one, on the subject of drilling I found that the pots could shatter quite easily so best to put it on a round piece of wood for drilling. I brush shank was perfect for this 



kadoxu said:


> Great idea if you already have the stuff at home!



I think most will mate, I must have about 15 of these pots from plant purchases from the LFS that came with rockwool in, I knew they would come in handy some day . I guess we all have some airline tubing the only thing would be a coat hanger or something. Never actually tried but it would have to be something fairly flexible. I actually used some wire I use at work for hanging suspended ceilings which was perfect. If the wire is too rigid you might end up shattering the pot trying to do the tight bends as there's little to get hold of, I used pointy nose pliers but the more you work the wire the more flexible it gets.

Happy now any way, I was using one of these glass bowls which seemed like a good idea at the time.



 

The roots just curled up in there, some of them were about a foot long when I uncurled them! Snipped them down a bit and now they can hang in the water as intended. I might even have a try at one of those red ones that people get ripped on in the LFS if he still has them, bit like the one in the far left in @kadoxu tank. Can you do the same thing with those? Got a nice desktop garden going on here. I think i've found a new hobby


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## AverageWhiteBloke (26 Jun 2018)

tam said:


> They'll lose water through the leaves, but not be able to replace it from the soil until the roots grow



That explains what happened to mine then.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (26 Jun 2018)

Oh, that's what I meant to ask. There's a lot of stuff about these plants removing "Toxins" in the air, usually by the people selling them. Any scientific fat behind this @dw1305


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## dw1305 (26 Jun 2018)

Hi all, 





AverageWhiteBloke said:


> Oh, that's what I meant to ask. There's a lot of stuff about these plants removing "Toxins" in the air, usually by the people selling them. Any scientific fat behind this @dw1305


Not really, they remove CO2 and a certain amount of particulates (dust) and add oxygen and water vapour to the air, which are all good things, but nothing specifically to do with "toxins", whatever they may be. 

cheers Darrel


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## AverageWhiteBloke (26 Jun 2018)

Thought it was a bit of a push, I've read that it removes everything from benzene, carbon monoxide and even formaldehyde from the atmosphere.  

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## sparkyweasel (26 Jun 2018)

Here are a couple:
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19930072988 
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:WATE.0000038896.55713.5b


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## AverageWhiteBloke (27 Jun 2018)

Interesting, the chemical removing properties seem to be more focused around the roots, soil and rhizosphere rather the plant foliage. Either way, great to have a few plants kicking round the house. Thanks for taking the time to post that.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (9 Jul 2018)

Job done this time I hope. Is it best to keep a fair amount of water in the soil or can this rot the root? I've actually got it standing in an old cd case  nigh on filled with water or would it be best to just keep the soil moist and not underwater?





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## tam (9 Jul 2018)

Usually I would go for moist but not in standing water - but that's general growing stuff rather than specific to this plant though. You should find with the cover over having watered it once it will stay moist a long time.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (9 Jul 2018)

My logic was that this is a bog plant generally submerged in water? The cutting has been sitting in the tank a few weeks and already has one big main root. Not sure if coming from unlimited water to moist soil is good or bad so thought water half way up the soil might benefit, not sure now.


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## mort (10 Jul 2018)

Are you planning to keep the plant dry or wet long term? I say that because lots of the sulking you see when adding plants to a riparium is because the roots are adjusting to being underwater and you see lots of the dryer root system die off before being replaced. So I'm not sure whether we see different root growth for different soil moisture levels.


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## zozo (10 Jul 2018)

AverageWhiteBloke said:


> Nice one, on the subject of drilling I found that the pots could shatter quite easily



Find a cheap small soldering iron with a round pointed tip and melt the holes in.  No pressure, Nothing to shatter.  A large nail heated on the stove does too of course.
But soldering iron than you have a 2 in 1 tool, you never know..


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## AverageWhiteBloke (10 Jul 2018)

mort said:


> Are you planning to keep the plant dry or wet long term?



Hiya mate, I'm planning on keeping this cutting in soil only permanently. I figured fill the pot up with water and let this evaporate or plant drink it away so the cutting goes from one stage to the other gradually. Sort of like a pond drying up like a bog would at certain times? Not sure if that makes any sense.


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## mort (11 Jul 2018)

AverageWhiteBloke said:


> Hiya mate, I'm planning on keeping this cutting in soil only permanently. I figured fill the pot up with water and let this evaporate or plant drink it away so the cutting goes from one stage to the other gradually. Sort of like a pond drying up like a bog would at certain times? Not sure if that makes any sense.



Makes sense. It will live quite happily in surprisingly dry conditions as well so you shouldn't need to keep it that wet to begin with.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (10 Aug 2018)

What about Umbrella plants? Where I was working today they had quite a large one in the corridor which was in serious need of a trim so I helped them out  I've just placed the cutting in the top of the tank for now until I work out what to do with it.


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## zozo (10 Aug 2018)

AverageWhiteBloke said:


> What about Umbrella plants?



Buy one in the garden centre for a few Euros and put the plant outdoor in the summer in a sunny spot, it'll flower and produce seeds.. Lots of seeds, its a grass sp.



Than sow these seeds again and wait for it to grow, than you'll have very young Cyperus to grow in your aquarium planter. That way you can enjoy it a bit more and longer and easier managable keeping it in suitable size. 

This is in a pot with a palm tree in my garden, all young Umbrella plants from seeds fallen in.



Took a bit out and planted it above tha tank in a small planter.  It still is hidden behind teh fern and needs to grow.




But it will not survive a freezing winter outdoors.. Than you need to take it in..

Btw i still have a load off seeds, if you want some PM me your address i can send you some.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (10 Aug 2018)

We talking the same plant mate? Mine looks like this...


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## zozo (10 Aug 2018)

AverageWhiteBloke said:


> We talking the same plant mate? Mine looks like this...
> View attachment 117098



No we are not. . Cyperus grass is also called Umbrella plant, i guess common names is a regional thing.. Your's is the Schefflera i guess. Isn't that Umbrella tree? Quite i big boy for an open top tank don't you think? I also have one in the living room almost 2 metre tall..

edit:
https://www.ourhouseplants.com/plants/umbrella-plant-schefflera


> It's not to be confused with Cyperus which is another type of Umbrella Plant altogether.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (10 Aug 2018)

Haha yeah, might be a bit heavy for a tank. I was just meaning would leaving it in some water until roots establish like I did with the Pothos and Peace lilly work or does the cutting need to go straight into some soil?

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## AverageWhiteBloke (10 Aug 2018)

Having said that, I'm sure I seen something on Walsted that said that you can plant it directly into the substrate as long as the top portion was out the water 

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## zozo (10 Aug 2018)

In principle you could do that, aqaurium soil is not only much different as normal potting soil. In potting soil on the window sil is always said keep it moist but not too wett. Because the soil is much to compact when soaking wet, stagnant and prevents aeration and susceptible to all kinds of fungus and can cause rot. In an aqaurium with a completely different soil in water with turn over it will not have this issue. Than any plant that grows riparian or as bog plant in nature could survive like that. I think <Pachira aqautica> is also such a tree.. Simmular leaf as the sheflera and might be a tad easier to maintane, but in the end also to big. These are not plants for long term projects i think, a few years and they might crack the tank..


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