Growing Vegetables in Rain Gutters from Seed to Harvest

RemoteGardener Says:

Mar 20, 2012 - Most was just compost although for the lettuces we used a mixture of compost and cheap potting soil. 

NYcitySurf Says:

Mar 29, 2012 - Thanks for the Video! What material rain gutter do you guys use? What material rain gutter is the safest for edible plants? I plan on making an edible gutter garden & plant the greens right into the gutter. In Home depot here in San Diego they have Steel & Vinyl rain gutters for sale, they didnt have aluminum ones which I heard are supposedly the safest. Are these safe to grow food? I read somewhere the vinyl ones might have PVC which is toxic and might leach into the roots. Thanks!

RemoteGardener Says:

Mar 30, 2012 - Thank you for the question. We use the cheapest metal gutters that we were able to find. Working within a budget does that to you. In our other videos you can see us grow larger plants in recycled two liter bottles which are attached to a main system with PVC. If the water to your house runs through PVC, I just don't see how it can be toxic. I have heard this comment several times but sure haven't seen any proof to back it up. If PVC is really toxic then a lot of houses need to be refitted.

RemoteGardener Says:

Mar 31, 2012 - We are working to expand our operation and teach our alternative growing techniques to the masses. Please contribute to our project "Expand / Teach Food Growing in Recycled Plastic Bottles" at Kickstarter.

AirsoftWorrior315 Says:

Apr 1, 2012 - Obamas black

nesein Says:

Apr 4, 2012 - What an awesome idea!! I'm going to run out and get some stuff to give this a try. How did you irrigate it? Was the irrigation set up on a timer so the soil doesn't dry out too quickly?

RemoteGardener Says:

Apr 4, 2012 - Thank you for the praise. This year we have hundreds of feet planted in rain gutters. Wait till you see the next video.

99cachorro Says:

Apr 7, 2012 - I used to do this, helps keep the bugs at bay

yung2b Says:

Apr 15, 2012 - thanks 4 d n4 this is soo-o n formin tks i'm hungry now

justgivemethetruth Says:

Apr 16, 2012 - very interesting ... are these plastic or metal gutters ?

RemoteGardener Says:

Apr 16, 2012 - Thank you for the note. These are metal gutters. I did not want to use plastic since it will decay over time being exposed to the sun on a daily basis. The best part was that the metal gutters were also about half the cost of plastic.

kelkayla Says:

May 3, 2012 - I'm wondering how the tomatoes get pollenated in the green house?

1deleau Says:

May 16, 2012 - How cool!! I'm in the good part of you tube!!I am DEFINITELY going to try this!!

swanz199 Says:

May 20, 2012 - That's smart. Thx

swanz199 Says:

May 20, 2012 - I agree, turn the background music off and speak louder. Otherwise, good stuff thx.

swanz199 Says:

May 20, 2012 - Wow! tomatoes in 4 inch gutters.

MakedasTent Says:

May 21, 2012 - Great idea

justgivemethetruth Says:

May 21, 2012 - That is really amazing ...  very nice, but how is your electric bill ?

thegreangardener Says:

May 21, 2012 - prise winning radishes

RemoteGardener Says:

May 21, 2012 - We have wax vent openers which allow plenty of outdoor flying insects in to pollinate the plants. One year it was wasps and the next bees. We also catch mantis, stick bugs, lady bugs and any other beneficial insect we can find and release them in the greenhouse.

RemoteGardener Says:

May 21, 2012 - Not too bad at all. The goal is of course to make the entire system run from solar or wind in the future but for now the heat line runs at 5 watts per foot so 60 line of heating cord is 300 watts. With one cable you are talking 6, 8 foot gutters (the extra is used to string between the gutters). This produces a gutter of greens, radishes and other fast growing plants as well as two extra gutters for slower growing tomatoes.

justgivemethetruth Says:

May 22, 2012 - thanks for the reply remote gardener.what's the duty-cycle of your heater use? how much of the year do you need to use them, and what hours of the day are they on?About every 3 hours you use a kW-hr of electricity, that is 8 kW-hrs per day - 240 per month is they are on all month. 7x24 use could be close to $40 per month at around $0.15 /kW-hrThis does seem like a great way to apply heat where it is needed, like drip irrigation applies water where it is needed.

RemoteGardener Says:

May 22, 2012 - Hello Just Give... The truth is the entire system is hooked up to a thermostat which is set to 40º F. When the temp drops below that, the heat keeps the temp about 10º warmer -than outside- the heat only runs on the coldest of nights which keeps my bill down.

JustBrowsing219 Says:

May 23, 2012 - What material are the gutters made from and have you considered whether they are leaching anything chemical wise into your soil?

RemoteGardener Says:

May 23, 2012 - Hello Browsing, They are standard metal gutters. At the most I think they will rust which will actually help give the plants some added nutrients. :)