Hello Friends!
Spring is here and I have my GreenStalk Vertical Planter planted!
We had a few days in the high 60s this past week so I was able to plant our GreenStalk! This year I planted a lot of salad greens in ours. I had Matthew help me by taking all the layers down so I could put in some fresh soil and refill the layers from last year.
I have a 5 Tier GreenStalk Original Vertical Planter in the Stunning Stone color. This gives me 30 pockets to plant in. The 5 tier planter has deeper pockets, 10” deep, which allows me to plant things with a deeper root system. In a few of the pockets I planted carrots, basil and I even have a spearmint plant that I dug up last fall.
Last year I planted red beets in some of the pockets and they did really well. When we get towards the end of spring I will probably have some salad greens that will need to pulled out, at that time I will add some red beets.
My mom has the Leaf Vertical Planter and has really enjoyed it for her salad greens as well. The Leaf Planter has shallower pockets, 7” deep. This is great for salad greens and plants that have a shorter root system. This planter wouldn’t work as well for plants that have longer roots, such as tomato and pepper plants. Carrots, beets and radishes could still be grown but won’t get as big.
If you are looking for a space saving planter, the GreenStalk is a great option. The Original Planter that I have is 19” wide x 55” tall and the 7-Tier Leaf Planter my mom has is 19” wide x 56” tall.
Our planter is on castors and we are able to move it around on our cement. My moms planter is on a base that you can purchase from GreenStalk. The nice thing about that base is that it has a place to collect water and it is able to move the planter around with ease.
We brought ours into our garage once the weather started getting cold. If I would have kept up with watering over the winter I could have enjoyed greens longer. My mom put hers in her breezeway and has been able to enjoy some rosemary and parsley throughout the winter.
One thing that sets GreenStalk planters apart from other vertical planters is the patented watering system that is in all the models. To water is a very simple process. All you have to do is fill the top water reservoir, then water flows from the top water reservoir, down the center of the planter, to each watering disk, where the water drips out into each of the pockets.
I like to gently water all the pockets with a hose until I know that the seeds have germinated. That has been helpful for me to ensure the soil doesn’t get dry while the seeds are starting to grow. Once the plants are established I just water from the top (unless I let the soil get to dry, which did happen a couple times).
I have a video showing how the GreenStalk watering system works if you would like to see how it works!
The only true problem I had in 2021 with our planter was a hungry momma groundhog. She ate everything at the bottom of planter. My plan for this year is once I see groundhogs around the yard I will try to wheel the planter into the garage at night and see if that helps save my plants.
Until Next Time,
Julie