Plant bucket for the balcony
Buckets
The two buckets will be built from 30×30 mm batten (boards). The batten will consist of local larch (Lärche) and will very likely be supplied by Rolf Unholz AG @ Greifensee in Zurich.
Measurements and count of the batten here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1m0Ckjklm5SpMIT-KSJwGZWupceFy5Mt4q2AaGeaPQdY/edit?usp=sharing. CAD file on request, just let me know the file type you need.
Interior
The interior of the buckets will be lined with waterproof sheeting. (The sheeting was planned to be used for waterproofing multiple balconies in my fathers project but they downsized to only one balcony so he donated a slice – Dankä Papa!)
The buckets each have an opening at the bottom near the drain of the balcony. There we’ll insert a drainage pipe and with some special glue connect it to the inside. This will allow the surplus of water to drain naturally.
First the bucket will be filled with a layer approx. 4-5 cm of swelling clay (Blähton). The swelling clay will be covered with a layer of fleece (Flies) to prevent the soil above from clogging the swelling clay but let water seeping through. This will ensure the plant roots are not interfering with the drainage and prevent overly damp soil.
Soil
I’m still looking into the distribution / division of the soil. Advice is always welcome!
Kitchen isle herb garden
Four boards and a pillar at the bottom for support will hold approx. 105 liters of soil. The bottom board has an incline of about 2% to support drainage.
Interior
The interior will be lined with waterproof sheeting. (The sheeting was planned to be used for waterproofing multiple balconies in my fathers project but they downsized to only one balcony so he donated a slice – Dankä Papa!)
At a bottom inner corner, we’ll drill a hole and insert a drainage pipe. This will allow the surplus of water to drain naturally.
The bucket will be filled with a layer approx. 3 cm of swelling clay (Blähton). The swelling clay will be covered with a layer of fleece (Flies) to prevent the soil above from clogging the swelling clay but let water seeping through. This will ensure the plant roots are not interfering with the drainage and prevent overly damp soil.
Lighting
Since there might not be enough light, we’ll install a “SANLIGHT FLEX20 High End LED Pflanzenlampe 20Watt IP68 88cm” at the front of the tabletop with a 45° angle (reducing brightness outside of the kitchen isle.