So I’ve been working through an idea to creat a floating garden for the pond and have worked through several iterations, and I think I have finally settled on a good proof of concept. I wanted to ensure the plants always stayed with the water level since I am irrigating the garden with this pond. I also wanted to not spend any money, so using found and recycled materials. Please watch the short video I put together and I’ll provide updates as time goes on. Let me know what you think could make this better.

https://youtube.com/shorts/k_2DmhYfSbA?feature=share

#grownostr #permaculture #plebchain #pond #permiestr

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I’ve heard of people doing this but also putting lights on it to attract bugs at night and consequently feed the fish

Oh yah, I never have to feed the fish. They are the mosquito killers.

True, I think you can stimulate them a bit more this way

I will describe what I see and you can correct me.

1) Shade lattice is used as a base, it is roughly as deep as the water will rise to relative to the plant. Roots grow through the holes.

2) Wire panel provides structure to the raft and plant supports

3) Empty Bottles provide buoyancy and determine the distance from the shade lattice base and the wire panel support.

4) zip ties attach and secure everything together.

If you don’t want the roots of the plant to be directly in the water you place a growing medium between the lattice and the panel. (Soil pot, rockwool, cage, etc) + drop some wicking material from the medium and into the pond.

Bottles can be arranged however required to provide buoyancy where need to balance or support a larger growing medium.

Only challenge I see is that it looks like it can’t really be adjusted after assembled the bottles are large enough they can’t fit through the grid. Not really a problem just means you will need to preplan what the raft will grow and build accordingly.

Alternatively if you placed the bottles in a particular arrangement the ‘gaps’ in where the bottles are could act as the walls for where you place growing mediums.

The soil medium doesn’t look like it will ever dry out. That’s good, but for plants that don’t want to be waterlogged you may need to use suspended aquaponic nets and a wick for the roots to grow down leaving an inch or so for the plants to grow air roots.

Ah, I see how you interpreted it, and that could certainly be a solution, but it was not how I intended it. Perhaps the image I attached could explain my purposes a little better. I intend to grow out a variety of water-loving plants on this island, like water spinach, mint, Vietnamese coriander, canna lily, and banana and malanga/taro starts. The air-prune bags I use will let water wick in as necessary, and the roots will eventually make it into the pond.

Since this is really a first prototype, and I was just using found materials, I’m sure it could be built differently. I was testing some options using floating buckets, but those kept in mosquito larvae and didn’t let the fish access them.

I like your idea of a permanent wicking island. Perhaps placing a burlap or jute mat base could act as the wick under the growing medium. I think that could be a future iteration!

My

Ah I see. Thank you for the additional explanation. Looks good.

I will describe what I see and you can correct me.

1) Shade lattice is used as a base, it is roughly as deep as the water will rise to relative to the plant. Roots grow through the holes.

2) Wire panel provides structure to the raft and plant supports

3) Empty Bottles provide buoyancy and determine the distance from the shade lattice base and the wire panel support.

4) zip ties attach and secure everything together.

If you don’t want the roots of the plant to be directly in the water you place a growing medium between the lattice and the panel. (Soil pot, rockwool, cage, etc) + drop some wicking material from the medium and into the pond.

Bottles can be arranged however required to provide buoyancy where need to balance or support a larger growing medium.

Only challenge I see is that it looks like it can’t really be adjusted after assembled the bottles are large enough they can’t fit through the grid. Not really a problem just means you will need to preplan what the raft will grow and build accordingly.

Alternatively if you placed the bottles in a particular arrangement the ‘gaps’ in where the bottles are could act as the walls for where you place growing mediums.

The soil medium doesn’t look like it will ever dry out. That’s good, but for plants that don’t want to be waterlogged you may need to use suspended aquaponic nets and a wick for the roots to grow down leaving an inch or so for the plants to grow air roots.

I will describe what I see and you can correct me.

1) Shade lattice is used as a base, it is roughly as deep as the water will rise to relative to the plant. Roots grow through the holes.

2) Wire panel provides structure to the raft and plant supports

3) Empty Bottles provide buoyancy and determine the distance from the shade lattice base and the wire panel support.

4) zip ties attach and secure everything together.

If you don’t want the roots of the plant to be directly in the water you place a growing medium between the lattice and the panel. (Soil pot, rockwool, cage, etc) + drop some wicking material from the medium and into the pond.

Bottles can be arranged however required to provide buoyancy where need to balance or support a larger growing medium.

Only challenge I see is that it looks like it can’t really be adjusted after assembled the bottles are large enough they can’t fit through the grid. Not really a problem just means you will need to preplan what the raft will grow and build accordingly.

Alternatively if you placed the bottles in a particular arrangement the ‘gaps’ in where the bottles are could act as the walls for where you place growing mediums.

The soil medium doesn’t look like it will ever dry out. That’s good, but for plants that don’t want to be waterlogged you may need to use suspended aquaponic nets and a wick for the roots to grow down leaving an inch or so for the plants to grow air roots.

I will describe what I see and you can correct me.

1) Shade lattice is used as a base, it is roughly as deep as the water will rise to relative to the plant. Roots grow through the holes.

2) Wire panel provides structure to the raft and plant supports

3) Empty Bottles provide buoyancy and determine the distance from the shade lattice base and the wire panel support.

4) zip ties attach and secure everything together.

If you don’t want the roots of the plant to be directly in the water you place a growing medium between the lattice and the panel. (Soil pot, rockwool, cage, etc) + drop some wicking material from the medium and into the pond.

Bottles can be arranged however required to provide buoyancy where need to balance or support a larger growing medium.

Only challenge I see is that it looks like it can’t really be adjusted after assembled the bottles are large enough they can’t fit through the grid. Not really a problem just means you will need to preplan what the raft will grow and build accordingly.

Alternatively if you placed the bottles in a particular arrangement the ‘gaps’ in where the bottles are could act as the walls for where you place growing mediums.

The soil medium doesn’t look like it will ever dry out. That’s good, but for plants that don’t want to be waterlogged you may need to use suspended aquaponic nets and a wick for the roots to grow down leaving an inch or so for the plants to grow air roots.

I will describe what I see and you can correct me.

1) Shade lattice is used as a base, it is roughly as deep as the water will rise to relative to the plant. Roots grow through the holes.

2) Wire panel provides structure to the raft and plant supports

3) Empty Bottles provide buoyancy and determine the distance from the shade lattice base and the wire panel support.

4) zip ties attach and secure everything together.

If you don’t want the roots of the plant to be directly in the water you place a growing medium between the lattice and the panel. (Soil pot, rockwool, cage, etc) + drop some wicking material from the medium and into the pond.

Bottles can be arranged however required to provide buoyancy where need to balance or support a larger growing medium.

Only challenge I see is that it looks like it can’t really be adjusted after assembled the bottles are large enough they can’t fit through the grid. Not really a problem just means you will need to preplan what the raft will grow and build accordingly.

Alternatively if you placed the bottles in a particular arrangement the ‘gaps’ in where the bottles are could act as the walls for where you place growing mediums.

The soil medium doesn’t look like it will ever dry out. That’s good, but for plants that don’t want to be waterlogged you may need to use suspended aquaponic nets and a wick for the roots to grow down leaving an inch or so for the plants to grow air roots.

My apologies for spamming your post my client did not appear to be posting when I clicked on the post button. And I apparently pushed the post button as many times as I spammed here.

Haha no worries sir