Large containers for growing palms

[ViveroLaVida]

Hello all

I am in the process of bumping up alot of my stock and am having a hard time obtaining large containers. We grow from seed in plastic grow bags. That works great til about 15gal after that the plants need a container that will last at least a couple of years in full sun and preferably be reusable. I am located in Mexico and it is not easy  to get stuff here or they are terribly expensive.

Currently I am buying plastic 55 gal drums and cutting them in half works alright but I need bigger.  We have aprox 400 bismarkias in 15 gal growbags that need to be bumped up.

If any one has seen some genious way of containerizing large plants lease let me know. Wood is out of the question  as it is extremely expensive here.

Also if anyone knows of a good wholesaler for containers in the US  I might be able to join up with some fellow nureserypeople in the region and buy bunch. But then the mexican gov. wants their cut and I will end up paying close to %30 import tax.

Thanks all

Oscar

[Tad]

oscar use fencing wire and ground cloth, use the fencing wire as the sides the groundcloth holds the dirt in and you set it on a doubled up piece of ground cloth and you can make whatever size container you want.

when it's ready to go just lift, and stretch wrap the ball or burlap it!!

the picture i have here is silt fence but you should be able to get an idea.

also try kinney bonded warehouse in ciudad allende nuevo leon

www.kbwmex.com

very helpful people !!

[gavilan1]

Oscar, I use plastic modular containers manufactured by Amaroo (http://www.amarootreeboxes.com).  Phil Bergman turned me on to these, and I love them.  The ones in the photo below are 24" boxes, and they assemble easy, they're reusable, and they don't blow over in our Santa Ana winds.

This image also partially shows the big 31" boxes that they make (the triangle is in the 31" box).  Son super buenos! Buena suerte.

(Sorry - the photo is a biggie...)

[RadPalms]

Doug

Thanks for the info.  I am looking also for large containors and I think these will work out for me as well

[RadPalms]

Doug what are the prices on these?  can you buy small amounts?

[ViveroLaVida]

Thanks Tad

so you just place that over some groundcloth and then lift up plant and wrap?

won't the dirt fallout the bottom when you handle it? what about root disturbance?

I like the idea, it might take some playing around with. I could probabely place the

whole thing on a pallet and deliver vertical. wood might rot quickly but there are plastic ones.

Thanks for the link to KBW, I'll check them out.

Doug those are great tree boxes but I have a feeling they are muchos pesos. still i'll check em out.

I just looked at the amaroo website and it looks like KBW is a distributor for them, cool.

Thanks again guys.

Oscar

[Darold Petty]

Doug,  Please tell us how you obtained just a few of the plastic boxes.  Did you purchase just one or two from Phil Bergman?  Or were you able to purchase just a few from the vendor at their location in Fallbrook??

[Kris]

Dear gavilan  

i love your square plastic containers,its very very nice.and the triangle in it looks all the more beautiful_thanks for those still..

and by the way thanks guys for starting such a lovely thread..

and i for one usually never spend much money on pots for palms since most of the favoutiate varities are gona come to the finial resting place_The ground"so decorative plastic pots are not necessary for me.i usually use induistrial chemical barrels which are fully U.V Stabilised for tropical heat.and they are sold very cheap..all i have to do is put a few hole benieth

for water drinage using a elec drill !

here are few stills for you all to see how i do it...

Love,

Kris  

[Kris]

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[Kris]

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[Kris]

Now look at the barrels with fine quality soil filled in it !

[www.dadluvsu.com]

I really like those big plastic boxes with bolts and wingnuts!  Very reusable, look expensive...  Anyone got a price on those bad boys?

[Kris]

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[Kris]

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[Kris]

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[Kris]

Now to cement containers or pots..

[Kris]

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[Kris]

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[Kris]

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[Brian]

Oscar,

I too have struggled with this problem here in Mexico.

I'm currently using 100lt grow bags with good results. Theyre cheap, available and have held up well for the time being. I dont grow commercially but I have had around 50 in use for about a year in a harsh climate like yours.

I like Tad's idea and will have to give it a try.

Saludos

[ViveroLaVida]

Thanks kris, we are doing something similar now , but i need bigger sizes.

Brian where are you located? what are you growing? If you are ever in the southern tip of

baja california look me up. I am also using 100lt. grow bags which are cheap and last alright but even

these are starting to look to small. and I need a container that will last 2-3 yrs and will not disintigrate

when I move it to the retail local.

[Scott]

Kris - post #19 - wow that's a beauty! How old is that?

I too would like to get some of these boxes. I have three wooden ones that are dry rotted.

[Cycadcenter]

Regarding the Amaroo boxes:

1.  They make a regular 24" which we used about 500 of and found that after about three years the roots started popping the sides.  

They are now making a clip together octagonal shapped box the same size for about $10.00 ex San Diego

2.  The boxes which Phil uses are much heavier 24" size and retail for around $18-20

3.  we have used a few of their 36" box sze and I recall they are around $35-40 each

Just give Hoag a call at Amaroo and he'll fix you up

Bruce

[Brian]

Hello Oscar,

I grow my palms at a property on the coast of Michoacan although I live and work in D.F.

Im currently growing around 150 species of palms. Pretty much everything is from seed due to the difficulting in finding rare palms in this country. (and large plastic growing contains that are cheap!)

Next time Im in los cabos I'll send you a PM.

Saludos

[Tad]

(ViveroLaVida @ Oct. 05 2007,10:09)

QUOTE

Thanks Tad

so you just place that over some groundcloth and then lift up plant and wrap?

won't the dirt fallout the bottom when you handle it? what about root disturbance?

I like the idea, it might take some playing around with. I could probabely place the

whole thing on a pallet and deliver vertical. wood might rot quickly but there are plastic ones.

Thanks for the link to KBW, I'll check them out.

Doug those are great tree boxes but I have a feeling they are muchos pesos. still i'll check em out.

I just looked at the amaroo website and it looks like KBW is a distributor for them, cool.

Thanks again guys.

Oscar

oscar, when you plant the plant in the fencing setup, you wait and when its rooted out pick it up and stretch wrap it, I saw them doing this at a nursery in ixtapa or zihuat....but I had no camera I have also seen Horticultural consultants do the same thing as well.

works like a champ.

[ViveroLaVida]

Tad I like the idea for robust palms that might not be affected by the "lift".

But with Bismarkias I've had a couple die or get severly set back when potting up. They are

pretty sensitive when it comes to root disturbance.  I think the amaroo boxes are the  VERY NICE.

Maybe santa will bring me a couple hundred of them for x-mas.

For now we continue w/ 55 gal plastic drums I'll post some pics later.

Thanks

[gavilan1]

Thanks, Bruce,.  I didn't log back in until this afternoon, and by the time I got back to the

bottom of this thread, I saw that you had already answered the questions.  

Curt, Darold, what he said...  

Curt, BTW, I came across an old PM that looks like I never responded to.  Sorry about that.  

I'll get back to you on your question soon.

Kris, thanks for the compliments on my D. decaryii.  It's one of my favorites, and it went into

the 31" square box.  It was the reason that I went with the Amaroo boxes.   My triangle kept

getting blown over in the 25G plastic pot that it was in by Santa Ana winds with gusts up to 50MPH.  I spoke

with Phil, and he recommended Amaroo, which I had seen at his nursery.  He turned me on to Hoag

(thanks, Phil!).  

Bruce,  my 31"s are of the heavy duty variety.  They have the slots for forklift transport and side louvers for

root aeration.  Great product.  Remove the wing-nutted bolts, and the containers disassemble quickly, for

easy planting, cleaning, and reuse.

[Cycadcenter]

  Quote

In reference to the Amaroo boxes I have had burst I must point out that they had Brachychiton trees

planted in them which have a massive bulbus root to match their trunks.  I've never has one break when used for

Palms or Cycads.

Bruce

[Tad]

(ViveroLaVida @ Oct. 05 2007,19:11)

QUOTE

Tad I like the idea for robust palms that might not be affected by the "lift".

But with Bismarkias I've had a couple die or get severly set back when potting up. They are

pretty sensitive when it comes to root disturbance.  I think the amaroo boxes are the  VERY NICE.

Maybe santa will bring me a couple hundred of them for x-mas.

For now we continue w/ 55 gal plastic drums I'll post some pics later.

Thanks

you may not be letting them root out long enough, I never have a problem with mine when we bump them up, I am going to try about a 100 3 gallons in the field, I moved some big ones a few years ago and they are still alive with no problems, and my big one by the kitchen door has been moved twice!!

[metalfan]

I have a number of 15, 20, 30/35 gal nursery pots that I would be happy to trade for small plants, if you live within driving distance of me! Just PM

[Tad]

I a thinking todos santos, baja MX to where you are in Fla is a little bit more of a road trip than he is wanting to take?!?!

[Kris]

Dear Scotty  

those lipsticks were purschased ready-made not seed grown by me.so its age is not known.but its nearly one year that its with me.since big speimens of the lipsticks are not expensive at all.so i purschased it as it is in condition.and by the way its the 3rd lipstick iam growing the previous 2 conked-off due to alternate day watering !

this one survived since i was adviced to water it regularly when visibly the top soil went dry.Bo Goran,Wal & Dean gave me this suggestion and now its under full sunlight with temperatures ranging from 84 to 102 degree farenheat.with daily watering gently.they love our hot,wet,coastal climate.

love,

Kris  

[metalfan]

Actually the offer is for anyone, Tad. Anyone within driving distance, LOL. I think Tank is gonna take some off my hands

[Mr_Christopher]

I really like those Amaroo boxes, hopefully they will answer their phone sometime today.

I bought these 25 gallon containers from growersupply.com this year to repot my 4 Jubaeas in.  They're blow molded and they seem sturdy.

I'm going to see about getting a few of the 25 gallon boxes from Amaroo though, I've got to check those out.

Not a great picture but you get the idea :-)

Chris

[Mr_Christopher]

For some strange reason I am not being allowed to edit my previous post...Anyhow, here is a better picture of the 25 gallons containers I am currently using: