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gardening for beginners

carboy cloche

Robert Ray

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posted 3 years ago

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A local water company will give me all their old plastic carboys for a donation reciept from our non-profit. I initially made an inquiry thinking of cutting the bottoms out for garden cloches. Once they heard what I was thinking they made the no cost offer. Yes it is plastic but I would be doing nothing that would prevent me from recycling them after what I would hope be several years of use. Commercial plastic versions aren't as robust as a carboy. I'd love to be able to afford glass but it's not in the budget. Has anyone used the carboy cloche idea? Maybe an olla experiment as well.

Our inability to change everything should not stop us from changing what we can.

Douglas Alpenstock

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Yes, I have been using them for years, as scoops, cloches, mini-sleeve greenhouses etc. They work well, holding heat and moisture. They are a #7 so they will not be recycled here: they go straight to the dump. The guy at the local eco-station knows me, and he'll set them aside for me on request.

I posted details on Permies quite recently, several times. IIRC, in a cloche discussion this last year, and also in "ungarbage."

William Bronson

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This is an great opportunity.
The commercial versions this size are rather expensive, in addition to being less sturdy.
I am still fooling around with white 5 gallon buckets for this very reason.
I think you could winter-sow-in-place a lot of the brassicas , and avoid a lot of pests in the process.
A dark sided open top glass bottle could be set inside each cloche, to be a solar heat sink and source of water vapor.

With a large supply, you can experiment.
Each bottle could be a cloche and a container, or you might cut the top off of one and the bottom off another.
Cutting off the neck ends leaves you with big transparent buckets cloches that wont stack and small conical hat cloches, which will stack

Cutting them length wise will make a short length of very low tunnel.
Cutting the ends off of that will make sections of low tunnel.
Heat forming it is a possibility.
These bottles could be used to form a substantial bottle wall, with a lot of insulative value, but also mostly transparent.

Eating Bindweed
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Douglas Alpenstock

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Location: Canadian Prairies - Zone 3b

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posted 3 years ago

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I found my original post in Ungarbage - Recycling:

You know you're a "reuse everything" person ... when the guy who runs the recycling depot saves water cooler jugs for you, because he knows you will grab a fine-tooth hand saw and turn them into:

- water scoops, storage bins, emergency snow shovels (remove top)

- wasp traps (cut off top and invert)

- garden cloches (cut off bottom)

- microclimate greenhouses (cut off top and bottom to form a sleeve -- peppers and tomatoes love them)

- mud for robins building nests (sink the bottoms you cut off to ground level, add mud/cob/clay and keep moist)

Also:
- I saw a guy at a street performer festival use one as a drum, along with other found objects. He was really good!

- For mouse resistant storage, cut off top and invert with the cap on

With the older #7 plastic water jugs, cutting them is a bit of a chore. I have yet to find a power saw that will cut them without cracking. I use a wood saw or hacksaw and it works fine, it just takes time. Once they are cut and the rough edges smoothed off with a rasp or file, they are remarkably durable. I think some of the new jugs are #1 PET.

Jan White

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posted 3 years ago

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We have six of these we've bought over the last six years or so. I just checked and they're all #1 PET. I think we might have bought them all at the same place, though. We have one older one bought somewhere else that has no labeling at all.

Kenneth Elwell

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posted 3 years ago

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I like the idea of cutting the bottom off, to have a cone-top cloche with the option of lid or no-lid for ventilation. Also sheds water/snow, and the neck is a handle of sorts. Admittedly, I may also be a victim of suggestion from historical photos.
You could get a second use from the bottom, depending on your needs, either a shallow tray (for under a potted plant, or a bee-waterer with some stones in it) or a deeper dish (like a dog bowl).
Of course, if a cut halfway would work, then you get two cloches for one jug.

Nails are sold by the pound, that makes sense.
Soluna Garden Farm -- Flower CSA -- plants, and cut flowers at our farm.

William Bronson

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Douglas Alpenstock wrote:I found my original post in Ungarbage - Recycling:

With the older #7 plastic water jugs, cutting them is a bit of a chore. I have yet to find a power saw that will cut them without cracking. I use a wood saw or hacksaw and it works fine, it just takes time. Once they are cut and the rough edges smoothed off with a rasp or file, they are remarkably durable. I think some of the new jugs are #1 PET.

You mention trying power saws and getting cracking, what about abrasive cutters, like angle grinders, or perhaps even a wet cutting tile saw?

Eating Bindweed
Eating Buckwheat Greens
Paul explains why I spend time here,better than I could myself.

Douglas Alpenstock

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Posts: 5520

Location: Canadian Prairies - Zone 3b

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William Bronson wrote:You mention trying power saws and getting cracking, what about abrasive cutters, like angle grinders, or perhaps even a wet cutting tile saw?

I think an angle grinder with a thin cutting wheel might work. It will melt as much as cut, but that's okay, and the thin wheels are cheap like dirt so it doesn't matter if they glaze up. Good idea -- definitely worth a try.

Edit: Since PET is much more flexible, a sabre saw or sawzall may work on those.

Robert Ray

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Location: Cascades of Oregon

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I ended up with over 100 so there will be a lot of cutting. I'm wondering about my friend's bandsaw lumber mill. It's going to be a lot of work. Better work on my Huck Finn talk to get some help. Well you I'd love your help, but you know, it takes a special talent to cut carboys, not just everyone can do it just right.

Our inability to change everything should not stop us from changing what we can.

I agree. Here's the link: http://stoves2.com