cable spools and tomatoes in the Ask a Question forum

Oct 8, 2015 12:17 AM CST

Thread OP

Name: Patricia
Michigan (Zone 6b)

I have two wooden cable spools (large) and I want to plant tomatoes in the center so I can sit on the sides and pick them. Is this possible. Thanks.

| @duchess | Post #965991 (1)

greene

Oct 8, 2015 5:10 AM CST

Name: greene
Savannah, GA (Sunset 28) (Zone 8b)
I have no use for internet bullies!

Welcome to ATP.

What a great idea!

There was a post by someone using cable spools to make a garden. I'll try to track down the post unless someone else can find it more quickly.

Sunset Zone 28, AHS Heat Zone 9, USDA zone 8b~"Leaf of Faith"

| @greene | Post #966024 (2)

Weedwhacker

Oct 10, 2015 7:37 AM CST

Name: Sandy B.
Ford River Twp, Michigan UP (Zone 4b)
(Zone 4b-maybe 5a)

Welcome to All Things Plants, @Duchess !

Are you thinking of filling the middle of the spool with soil and planting the tomato directly into that? It kind of seems to me that it would be harder to get to the tomatoes to pick them than if they were just planted in the ground, but maybe I'm not quite picturing what you have in mind.

“Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight." ~ Albert Schweitzer
C/F temp conversion

| @Weedwhacker | Post #967136 (3)

Hemophobic

Oct 10, 2015 12:19 PM CST

Name: Angie
Concord, NC (zone 7)

I'm having a hard time visualizing this as well.

I think that if ever a mortal heard the voice of God it would be in a garden at the cool of the day. ~F. Frankfort Moore, A Garden of Peace

| @Hemophobic | Post #967284 (4)

Bonehead

Oct 10, 2015 12:38 PM CST

Name: Deb
Planet Earth (Zone 8b)

Sounds like a great idea. Love the notion of sitting at the table and picking tomatoes.

I want to live in a world where the chicken can cross the road without its motives being questioned.

| @Bonehead | Post #967289 (5)

greene

Oct 10, 2015 12:50 PM CST

Name: greene
Savannah, GA (Sunset 28) (Zone 8b)
I have no use for internet bullies!

Don't know the size of the cable spool in question but it sounds like a good plan.
For anyone having trouble seeing what this might look like try plugging the key words "wooden cable spool planter" into a Google Image search and prepare to be amazed at some of the things that have been made using the cable spools. Lots of great ideas out there!

I'm sorry but I can't find the post where someone was using a cable spool as a plant stand; still looking...

Sunset Zone 28, AHS Heat Zone 9, USDA zone 8b~"Leaf of Faith"

| @greene | Post #967293 (6)

dyzzypyxxy

Oct 10, 2015 2:45 PM CST

Name: Elaine
Sarasota, Fl
The one constant in life is change

Is this what you're thinking of doing? This link has a "how to" do it with pictures. I think it would be really neat to grow a tomato plant in one of these. Bear in mind it would need to be in full sun, but you could sit around and eat the tomatoes right off the plant in the evenings - along with maybe a glass of wine?

http://recycledinteriors.org/i...

Elaine

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." –Winston Churchill

| @dyzzypyxxy | Post #967348 (7)

Christine

Oct 11, 2015 6:31 AM CST

Name: Christine
NY zone 5a

I had no idea, these are amazing planters & chairs
https://www.google.com/search?...

| @Christine | Post #967660 (8)

duchess

Oct 14, 2015 12:33 PM CST

Thread OP

Name: Patricia
Michigan (Zone 6b)

Hi everyone, I know it sounds crazy but I think it will work. I have a large yard and enough room. I was thinking of cutting away more of the circle end, tacking wire on the other, filling with dirt and planting tomatoes to spill out over the sides. That way I can stake them and sit on the side and pluck them.

| @duchess | Post #969313 (9)

Weedwhacker

Oct 14, 2015 1:18 PM CST

Name: Sandy B.
Ford River Twp, Michigan UP (Zone 4b)
(Zone 4b-maybe 5a)