Tomato House

dates: 2003
related:
20 Vacant Lots
Vacant Lot no.1

Vacant Lot@ Louis Vuitton
Food Factories
The Travelling Shed
Plant Room
Facing East
Produce

Plant-Pot Structure Construction methodology:

Phase (1)
Establish a stable, level piece of ground. Set a row of 240mm (diam.) plant pots @ roughly 260mm centres aligned upon a polythene sheet. Set a second row of pots (as first row) in parallel @ roughly 860mm centres. Fill pots with soil and compost and firmly bed-in.

Phase (2)
Firmly place 4No. 1520mm gardens canes (deep inside soil) into the
pots set upon the polythene sheeting. Introduce 4No. cut 1250mm canes (as before) into the other row of pots. Check uprights are vertical.

Phase (3)
Introduce horizontal cane members to both rows of pots and to one
open ended side. Alternately weave each member in-and-out of uprights. Once located firmly secure with string at all junctions.

Phase (4)
For further stability to the frame introduce 3No. cross-brace members to all 3 sides and tie firmly to frame. Introduce 4No. pre-cut garden cane roof members to produce a fall. All junctions with the frame are to be firmly tied with string.

Phase (5)
Un-roll polythene sheet and carefully and firmly drape over the
structure. To improve wind-bracing tuck the end of the polythene sheet beneath the bases of the second row of pots. Pierce a sequence of 10mm (diam.) holes through the sheet and adjacent to upright and roof members. Tie the sheet through these holes back to the sub-frame.

Phase (6)
Create two end panels using the remaining polythene sheet and
garden canes. Cut the sheet to the shape of the end elevation and secure cane members across the top middle and bottom. Tie one end panel back to the sub-frame. Staple the vertical edges of the end panel to the vert. edges of the rap-over main sheet. For the second panel (door), tie the top edge firmly back to the sub-frame at high-level. Hang the panel from these points to form a ‘roll-up’
door. To allow for ventilation, pierce a sequence of 10mm holes through all facades at high and low level. For a tomato-house prototype finally plant out tomato plants within each pot, ‘firm in’, and water well.

Consturction Time: Average 4 hours
Cost: £23.49