As the term denotes, “Cylinder Gardening” requires use of cylinders. You can easily make these cylinders by cutting 5-gallon buckets to half. This sizing would make the bucket a perfect cylinder and you can create a whole garden with them. You can even cultivate vegetables in your cylinder garden. For kids and students this would be a natural medium of understanding the food production system which involves a process from seeding to the harvesting.

Cylinders actually perform as temporary beds for regions where the soil quality is poor. It also serves the purpose when you have limited space. Cultivated cylinders can easily be placed directly on the top of soil. It can also be placed in raised beds. You can even think of placing these cylinders on the concrete surfaces also.

Once the 5-gallon buckets have been converted in to cylinders by cutting them half you would be required to fill them up with potting soil and then your cylinders are ready to welcome the seeds. You must keep a regular maintenance schedule with watering the soil and harvesting. Once you complete harvesting you can toss the plants in to your compost. At this stage you should remove the cylinder and place the soil in the compost. Alternatively, you may also spread the soil evenly across the ground.

For cylinder gardening a period based gardening that would revolve around the growing season is always recommended. For convenience, you can select varieties of vegetables. You must remember and ensure that your selection of vegetables is based on compact growth which means that the variety must mature within a period of 30 to 90 days. This maturity involves stages from seeding to the harvesting.

You would be required to ensure an important aspect of gardening that applies to the cylinder gardening with equal relevance. You should prefer conducting thorough research for finding varieties of vegetables that are most suitable to the environment of your area. You should also focus on the gardening season that you intend to select for gardening. Try to spot the varieties which need little space to grow. For this, when conducting your research look for the words like compact, dwarf, and miniature in the descriptions. You may consider contacting a local extension master gardener also. If you have a botanical garden nearby, it would be an added advantage as you can easily obtain a list of varieties’.

Here are some basic tips and techniques summarizing the process of cylinder gardening;

• Plastic 5-gallon buckets are ideal for making cylinders. You must collect a good number of these buckets.
• The buckets which have been used for transporting food products would be best ones. Try to find such buckets in your area at several locations like cafeteria, groceries, and delis.
• In any case, you should never use the buckets which have contained any type of toxic material like paint or cleaners. It may be dangerous for your health.
• Cut the bucket bottoms and then cut the bucket in to half for making it a perfect cylinder. Alternatively, you may also leave the bucket as such and put some holes in the bottom ensuring proper drainage. This will help you moving them up to your garden later.
• Cylinders when ready should be filled with the lightweight bagged potting soil which will help in managing good draining.
• You may include and mix a fine quality fertilizer with the soil at this stage also. Alternatively, you may opt for fertilizing with the use of organic or man-made fertilizer at a later stage of the growing season depending upon the requirement.
• When you purchase seeds ensure that you have noted down the seeding directions and have ensured the compliance while seeding.
• For settling the seeds well in to the soil you must water them gently.
• You must ensure that the soil is maintaining its moisture. Monitoring of the seeds while growing is also equally important.
• If the seedlings are thinner and more sprout then it may grow within the available space. So better opt for thin seedlings.

Watering and fertilizing at the right time must be ensured.

Planting In Buckets Pictures

Garden Transplanting Videos

Transplanting Spring Bulbs from Garden Centers	Transplanting Garden Center Bulbs in Spring (follow-up)
Strawberry Transplanting	How to Grow Plants from Seed : How to Transplant Seedlings to the Garden

Cylinder Gardening Question & Answers

Cylinder Gardening Question: 1

I have a compost bin like a black plastic cylinder with a lid but no bottom.....how do I stop cockroaches?

With the bin came recipes of what you should combine food scraps with (some stuff from the garden shop) but I just threw food scraps in. This attracted cockroaches galore. Can ya spray insect repellant on the compost to deter cockroaches or if I had followed their recipe, would this have avoided that trouble? I didn't put meat in. Just vege scraps and eggshells. I have abandoned the whole project now. Help please. I have lost the recipe.

Answer: 1.
You'll have to empty out the bin and sterilize it (1TBS bleach 1gal water) rinse very well and set out to dry for a few days. If you can set up a small fire pit around the area where the bin was and burn some wood this will clean up that area fine. Set the bin back up, poke holes in the sides (pencil size or just larger, several top mid and bottom) and avoid the food scraps in the next venture since you now know you have roaches nearby. If it's just that you had a particularly warm summer, perhaps you could try again with the scraps except not in midsummer next time. You don't want to use any toxins in the mix as these don't transfer well back into the garden, foiling the point of it all.

http://www.eartheasy.com/live_natpest_co...
ooh this one is 'food grade' http://www.bugsrdone.com/
http://www.pestproducts.com/cedarcide.ht...

I have no idea of the validity of these products

These people have concluded they are just bugs, turn 'em into the soil when the compost is done. I suppose I had the same reaction as you when I read your question, but after reading this, I tend to agree with them. (unless you are in an urban area, the bin is very near your home and these really are household bugs.. )http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load...
Answer: 2.
Yes, of course I found this the best answer, and I read all the links. Thank you very much.

Cylinder Gardening Question: 2

Oil in cylinder?

I have a old garden tiller that not had much use. When it is stored, the horizonal shaft motor is angled with the cylinder angling down. This causes oil to get in the cylinder. I was wondering if I could turn the motor 180 degrees where the cylinder will be sloping up. If you notice, lots of the plain push mower motors that the cylinder is facing the front of the mower. In past times it faced the rear causing the same problem when you pushed the handle down for high grassIt is a older Tecumseh 5hp on a Sears tillerOK, it is a vertical shaft motor !! wow, I can not believe i said it was horizonal,,,About pulleys, it has a gear assy/housing that the motor shaft goes straight down into,

Answer: 1.
If it's a front tine tiller, the wheels or drag stake should be adjustable. When you store it, lower the wheel or drag stake assembly so the cylinder is level. Otherwise every time you neeed to use it, you'll have to remove the spark plug, pull the rope a few times to blow the oil out of the cylinder, replace the spark plug, CHECK THE OIL LEVEL, and start it up. Are you sure it's not a Verticle shaft engine? Horizontal shaft engines have the cylinder on top and it would have to be almost tipped sideways or upside down to fill the cylinder with oil.
Answer: 2.
I want to say yes, but I don't know where the oil slinger is. Small motors have slingers not oil pumps. If you knew the oil slinger could still reach the oil at all times it would work.
Good luck.
Answer: 3.
This is very simple, I have done it myself....Pull the spark plug out....Take and pull the pull cord 6 or 8 times kinda slow but not too slow...You will see oil spitting out of the spark plug hole each time..do this untill the amount is very slight....Take a new spark plug hold it upside down and pour gasoline in the spark plug..hold it upright then insert it back in the head on the tiller...This gives it a hotter and more immediate combustion..which you want due to the oil in the head...Start the tiller up and it should go after a couple pulls..it will smoke like crazy at first untill the oil burns out of the cylinder..but will eventually work out within 10 minutes or so..If it tries to start then bogs out..Pull the plug..and do the same..pull rope a few more times...prime the plug and reinsert..after the tiller is succesfully running...Take the plug out later..and clean off the burnt oil residue...
Answer: 4.
It may be that you will not get oil when your running the tiller. Why not just store it in a level position?
Answer: 5.
The only way to stop oil from getting in the combustion chamber : drain it out when not in use, but make sure you leave a note on it saying theres no oil in it. Or as suggested - leave it level.
Gravity will pull the oil down thru the valve assy or could even get by the rings, if worn enough.
To remove the oil - use a small syringe to suck out the oil - if some is left, thats okay - dump a capful of gas into the carb intake and it should dilute the oil enogh to burn it clear.
Turning the motor 180 wont work - the pulleys wont line up.
Is there any way to lift the front of the tiller up even with the back when hanging? ( like with a rope).

Cylinder Gardening Question: 3

What's the best type of lawnmower for tough grass on an uneven surface?

I've had very limited success with hover-mowers, and metal bladed rotary mowers.I've never tried a cylinder mower, but I suspect it would be better able to handle the tough conditions of my back garden.Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Answer: 1.
Almost all of the lawn and garden equipment manufacturers sell a version of a walk behind sickle mower. These machines work excellent on uneven ground and will cut grass and weeds up to small diameter brush. Check with your local dealer or look for walk behind sickle mowers on the net.
Answer: 2.
A metal bladed rotary is your best bet so long as you keep it under 4 four inches long.

Go for a reliable brand and a big engine.
Answer: 3.
GET a john Deere
Answer: 4.
a flymo
Answer: 5.
buy a goat..seriously two even beter.
Answer: 6.
Push mower or tractor? Whatever you choose, id suggest a Briggs and Stratton , Kohler or Honda engine. Ive had the best luck with Briggs motors.
Kidd
Answer: 7.
better strimmin it
Answer: 8.
Maybe a walk behind string trimmer? They look like a giant lawn mower but instead of a blade they use a nylon string.
Or, a high wheel rotary mower self-propelled.

Cylinder Gardening Question: 4

I just bought a home and there is a green bucket looking thing in the garden. Does anyone know what this is?

It is flat against the ground. Green removable cover says "Water master irrigation control system" inside there are two openings that look like they may be tubes under the ground, and the inside of this thing has a smaller cylinder on the inside that says "ICS" with a small hole in it. If anyone knows how to use this thing, please advise me.I just looked outside and the thing actually reads "Water Irrigation Valve" There is no controller for it anywhere in the garage or on the house. the thing seems to stand alone. and everything connected to it is underground piping from what I can see inside of it.I want to fill it with water but am afraid I will break it if I do it wrong.

Answer: 1.
Yeah, it sounds like you irrigation control system. However, you may not have any pvc pipes running around your yard just yet.

A lot of the newer neighborhoods install the hook-ups for an irrigation system for you, but don't necessarily lay down the pipes. Its nice that they make everything ready, it just means you have a plate in your yard that you may not use.

If it's an older neighborhood, then someone before you has put in a system, and you need to figure out whether it still works or not. As mentioned in a previous answer, call an irrigation company for anwswers. But, if they tell you they "need to totally put in a new one because yours is outdated" (common line), call for a second opinion.

Good luck.
Answer: 2.
it is the irrigation control system.. you have a series of pvc pipes under ground there that connect there... are there valves in there you can turn on or any solenoids? If valves (like a ballcock) you can turn them on manually, if a solenoid, you should have a timer or switch in your garage or possibly in a box mounted to your house.

/edit
don't fill it with water! it connects to your water supply somewhere, and there is a way to turn it on somewhere (or else the valve has been broken off, or the timer was removed) Filling it with water will do nothing except (if it is solenoid driven) short out the electrical (if it is not well sealed).

Contact a local irrigation company (undergroun sprinklers) and have them look at it, they can tell you where to turn it on, if it is operational, etc.
Answer: 3.
It's for the ungerground sprinklers. Probably the on/off valve controls.