Gutter Growing

14 years ago

I am trying something new this fall/winter. I am growing green onions in a gutter. Ok, it is a 4 inch drain pipe cut in half, not a gutter. They are growing very good, despite the shorter days. These were planted a few weeks ago.

A close up

My idea is this, use every available space to maximize production inside my high tunnels. I have these gutters sitting on the ground, but I hope to attach them to the sidewall or endwall or hang them up. I planted a double row of onions, in each 10 foot piece. Total, I have 60 row feet of green onions. If they do good this fall/winter, next spring, I will have more of these built and I will load up on onion sets. Then every week I will plant a gutter of green onions. I think they will be ready to harvest after 4 weeks. I could very easy keep 8 to 10 gutters growing all spring and summer.

I counted and I have about 250 onions in each 10 foot gutter. If you bunch them 6 or 8 to a bunch, that is 30-40 bunches a gutter. At $1.50 a bunch that is $45-$60 a gutter. The pipes cost $4 a piece, so each gutter costs $2 and I have about another $1 in other supplies. The onions cost $1.25 a pound and I used 3 pounds here (about). The potting mix was very little. I have about $15-20 in materials in these 3 gutters and could have sales of $135-$180 every 4 weeks. If I grew them 12 months out of the year, that would be $540-$720 a year for a 4 inch by 10 feet growing space. Not too bad! I expect I could sell more in the early spring and summer, but green onions are always wanted year around. Now I may have an easy way to fill those orders.

I expect I could grow two plantings in the same potting mix without changing it. The labor isn't too much, and it is very easy on the back. Currently I am watering with a sprinkling can every two days, but I can easily hook up a drip tape next spring.

What do you think?

Jay

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Comments (14)

jcatblum
14 years ago
I think it all looks so GOOD!!!! I have seen wheat grass grown in gutters, but not onions. You could do chives & several types of herbs this way.

Oh-- here is a thought, cut the gutter the width of your table plant something that grows rapidly, maybe parsley? Take the gutter with you to market & let people cut there own herbs from the end of the table. Might need to build a cradle to hold the gutter, but I think could be a nice attention getter.
jrslick (North Central Kansas, Zone 5B)
Original Author
14 years ago
My wife thought the same thing. The only problem is then other vendors would use my idea and I wouldn't be the only one with them at market. Granted I would have the market cornered for several months!

Jay
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magz88
14 years ago
Looks awesome, Jay. Great idea to maximise your space.

Your greens are so beautiful.
myfamilysfarm
14 years ago
Jay, Is there a reason why you are using 'gutter' instead of just planting them in the ground? Just asking. I think it's a great idea for several short-rooted plants.

Marla
myfamilysfarm
14 years ago
BTW, I took green onions into market still in the ground, in a container. Nobody was interested. Don't know why, just no interest in buying them.

Marla
jrslick (North Central Kansas, Zone 5B)
Original Author
14 years ago
Marla,

I have a limited amount of ground and I am wanting to maximize it for other crops. Also, my markets are the strongest during the spring and early summer May-July. In August-October, the markets are hit and miss.

So If I can get more crops to market during this time (inside my high tunnels), then the better my sales will be. I could plant them in the ground inside my tunnels, but they would take up space for another crop that needs more root space.

Jay
myfamilysfarm
14 years ago
I can understand when you get them hung up, but it looks like they're in/on the ground now. Don't forget, you can grow potatoes in the greenhouse in containers also, I did this last spring.

Marla
jrslick (North Central Kansas, Zone 5B)
Original Author
14 years ago
They are on the ground this winter, I just wanted to see if it would work before I attach them to the sides. Also, I figured that it would be warmer on the ground than attached to the wall.

Jay
brgcuvi
11 years ago
Wondering if Jay might be able to provide an update on this? We have 4 rows (100' per row) attached to each side of our hoop house and plan to use for growing greens/salad mix. Did you end up installing yours and if so, did you end up using drip tape in the gutter? A friend has heat cable installed in the bottom of his gutters for winter production.
jrslick (North Central Kansas, Zone 5B)
Original Author
11 years ago
Glad you asked, I am using them again, after a 2 year break. I can't believe it has been that long since I first did this.

I put up a new high tunnel last spring and it is much easier to use the purlins to hang things from. I have onions planted in 3 gutters. They are screwed to 2 by 4's and hung to the purlin using wire. Once it starts to get cold, I am going to take them down and put in the aisle to keep them warmer.

For water, it takes 1, 3 gallon watering can to water them all, so I just do it by hand, at least I will this winter.

Jay
cole_robbie
11 years ago
I want to build some gutter hydroponics in my greenhouse next spring. I think if I filled a gutter with gravel and ran a nutrient solution through it, I could grow some nice green beans, I grew some good-looking mini-lettuce in hydroponics last year, but it was too expensive and too labor-intensive to duplicate.
jrslick (North Central Kansas, Zone 5B)
Original Author
11 years ago
I thought about taking the 3 inch sewer pipe, put drip tape or some sort of drip in the pipe, fill with potting mix and use a small hole saw and cut out circles and plant the mini romaine heads in it. I bet I could plant it 2 or 3 times before I would need to change out the mix.
jnjfarm_gw
11 years ago
Are you familiar with Larry Hall? look him up on youtube
john
jnjfarm_gw
11 years ago
Are you familiar with Larry Hall? look him up on youtube
john