Built in water recovery. Very cool.

Hi FMD
What a great idea, I love it.
Vito

Do u fill the bottom with water?

I had a similar idea for a mouse trap:

• Drill one hole in the top (as described above) for the mice to enter
• Put some bate in the container
• Put the lid back on
• Drop in some dry ice (a little goes a long way)
• Wait
  

I seem to remember reading some where that in normal traps the animals give warning to others, so one is limited to how many can be trapped at a time.  With this system, the mice "go to sleep" without any stress.  They don't know they are trapped and don't alert anybody else.

~james

p.s. do not put your head in the tub with dry ice.

Sorry, I meant to write about figs as well...

I think a slightly modified version of this system would be of great benefit to those rooting in cooler climates.  Basically, if the container is slightly taller than the cups being used to root in, and the holes cut allow for the cup to slide almost all the way into the container, this becomes a greenhouse for the roots.

My greatest success in rooting came when I rooted during the winter months in Houston.  We didn't have any freezes during the period, but the weather was cool most of the time.  I set my containers in full sun so the root zone was heated.  The parts of the cutting above the growing mix was exposed to the cool weather and was slow to leaf out giving the roots more opportunity to grow.

~james

Interesting ideas, James.

I made two more last night. It takes about 15 minutes once you have a template for the holes. You can get these containers with lids really cheap from the dollar store. I like cheap.

Depending on how large you make the holes, you can have the cups sitting at the bottom of the container (and water from the bottom) or have the cups suspended in the container to avoid over saturating the roots(watering from the top).

Really, the biggest advantage to this contraption is in keeping the cups from falling over.

Frank