Ep 006: Installing PVC Trellis Frame in 3x3 Bed
· Jeremy walks through all four quadrants of the 10x10 tent to give a status update, then focuses on installing a 1-inch PVC corner and crossbar trellis frame in the Grassroots 3x3 fabric bed that was filled with Take and Bake soil in the previous episode. He cuts four legs at 16.75 inches and four crossbars at 30.5 inches using a PVC cutter, installs four 4-way corner fittings, and muscles them into the already-filled bed. He explains the purpose of the mulch layer and the living soil ecosystem being built (cover crop, predator mites, rove beetles, red wigglers), then finishes with a tour of the food-producing EarthBoxes including a harvest of Jericho lettuce from Johnny's Seeds.
Topics
Quadrant tour of the 10x10 tent and upcoming plan · Cutting PVC legs and crossbars for a 3x3 Grassroots bed trellis · Installing 4-way PVC corner fittings into a pre-filled bed · Purpose of the mulch layer as protection and habitat for beneficials · Living soil ecosystem: worms, rove beetles, predator mites · EarthBox vegetable production and Jericho lettuce harvest · Software-planned vegetable seed starting at BuildASoil Family Farms · Self-critique of building the bed 'backwards' (soil before frame)
Sections
Intro and plan for today
Jeremy recaps where he left off at the end of the last episode — the Grassroots 3x3 bed has been filled with Take and Bake soil but is dry on top and sloppy. He explains he held off on adding moisture because he wants to teach the mulch layer setup on camera. The priorities for today are installing the PVC trellis frame and preparing the bed for the mulch layer.
- 1. Recap: bed is filled with dry/sloppy soil from last episode
- 2. Haven't added moisture yet — held back to teach mulch layer on camera
- 3. Today: cut and install PVC (legs + crossbars), then set up mulch layer
Quadrant 1 tour — EarthBoxes and vegetable starts
Jeremy walks to quadrant 1 which will feature two EarthBoxes with two females each. He points out that BuildASoil also runs family farms with a greenhouse doing vegetables — the seedlings here (peppers, pickle cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, white cherry tomato 'the bombs') are being planned with actual software for year-round timing. He compares this year's pickle cucumber germination against last year's poor-performing slicing cucumbers to prove seed quality, not greenhouse conditions, was the issue.
- 1. Quadrant 1 will host two EarthBoxes transplanted with two females
- 2. Vegetable starts on the rack are moving to the family farms greenhouse
- 3. Side-by-side compare last year's seed vs this year's to isolate seed vs environment as the variable
Quadrants 2, 3, 4 status
Quadrant 2 is where the 3x3 bed will go once the PVC and mulch are in — it will hold four cannabis females. Quadrant 3 has one of each soil recipe in 10-gallon containers plus a lettuce EarthBox. Quadrant 4 is the food jungle with tomatoes that Jeremy will show how to hand-pollinate, kale that has been regularly harvested, and bolting claytonia. He notes the plant count is still dictated by sex identification — side branches are popping and leaflets climbing, showing sex soon.
- 1. Q2: four females in the 3x3 bed (once built)
- 2. Q3: one plant per recipe in 10-gallon bags + lettuce EarthBox
- 3. Q4: food jungle — tomatoes, kale, claytonia — ongoing harvest
- 4. Waiting on sex ID to lock in the rest of the plan
Cutting the PVC legs and crossbars
Jeremy grabs the matching 3x3 Grassroots pot cut-sheet printed from Grassroots. He uses a tape measure, sharpie, and a ratcheting PVC cutter (noting a hacksaw would also work but the cutter is clean and mess-free). He cuts four legs at 16.75 inches and four crossbars at 30.5 inches, using the first cut as a template. He explains that 3x3 fabric pots are not actually 36 inches — Grassroots sizes the bed to fit inside a 3x3 tent — and the cut sheet already accounts for the extra length the 4-way corners add.
- 1. Print the cut sheet from Grassroots for the matching 3x3 bed
- 2. Measure 16.75 inches for each of the 4 legs
- 3. Use ratcheting PVC cutter, watching that it tracks the sharpie line (jumps sometimes)
- 4. Use the first cut leg as a template for the remaining three
- 5. Cut four 30.5-inch crossbars the same way
- 6. Note: these lengths already factor in the 4-way corner extra length
Installing 4-way corners and legs in the already-filled bed
Jeremy acknowledges it would have been much easier to put PVC in before the soil. He shoves each 1-inch PVC leg into a corner of the bed — digging into the soil to seat it all the way to the bottom — then threads crossbars through the 4-way corner fittings. The 100-gallon mix pot he carried soil in with is round so the bed was slopping around; the PVC frame gives the 3x3 its square shape and integrity plus the anchor point for the future scrog screen. He pulls out an EarthBox to gain working room and trims the final crossbar slightly short to ease the last corner install.
- 1. Remove the lettuce EarthBox to get working room
- 2. Dig into the soil in each corner to seat a PVC leg all the way down
- 3. Slide a 4-way corner onto the top of each leg
- 4. Thread the 30.5-inch crossbars through the horizontal slots of the 4-way corners
- 5. Pull up on fabric bag edges to get slack if the soil is fighting the install
- 6. Trim a little off the final crossbar so the last corner goes together
- 7. Square everything up and seat all joints firmly
Why the mulch layer matters
Jeremy evens out the top of the soil to avoid deep pockets where moisture could sit, then previews the next episode: sowing cover crop and installing the mulch layer. He explains the mulch layer caps the soil, protects it from powerful lights and wind, and provides a protected home for predator mites, rove beetles, and red wiggler worms transferred from the worm bin. Top-dressing in this system means pulling the mulch back, sprinkling amendment, and letting the worms take it down — the mulch also decomposes into future compost.
- 1. Even out the top of the soil to eliminate deep moisture pockets
- 2. Next episode: sow cover crop seed in the bed
- 3. Next episode: install the mulch layer on top
- 4. Transfer red wiggler worms from the store worm bin into the bed
- 5. To top-dress later: move mulch aside, sprinkle amendment, cover back — worms deliver it
Harvesting Jericho lettuce from the EarthBox
Jeremy wraps with a harvest of Jericho lettuce from Johnny's Seeds growing in an EarthBox. The plants overgrew and ran out of water while he was away for the weekend — the watering tubes got hard to access. He uses a knife to cut right at the stock under each head, leaves some leaf waste in the box, and plans to feed damaged leaves back to the soil or the worm bin. He contrasts whole-head harvest vs salad-mix cut-and-come-again (3 to 5 harvests before quality drops and bolting starts), and reflects on teaching kids where food comes from.
- 1. Inspect the EarthBox — note which heads ran out of water
- 2. Slide a knife under each lettuce head and cut at the stock
- 3. Leave damaged shade leaves in the bed as soil food
- 4. Wash the rest and put it in the fridge for the team
- 5. Rule of thumb: salad mix gets 3 to 5 cut-and-come-again harvests before quality declines
Notable quotes
"I would always recommend doing this first — I needed to get the soil off the retail floor so I did it backwards."
Jeremy's self-critique at the start of the PVC install section, apologising for filling the bed before installing the frame
"3x3 is not exactly the measurement — that's why I did this today."
Explaining why he's measuring carefully instead of assuming the bed is 36 inches
"It doesn't need to be perfect, this is just a bed system."
On measuring only once and using the first cut as a template for the remaining PVC pieces
"Sometimes when you're farming it doesn't go according to plan — you just have to make it work. It's one of the most important parts of farming, that you don't just give up."
Mid-install, struggling to get a leg into an already-filled corner of the bed
"If I let this take a week we're going to be behind it, and when you get behind it that's when your plant health declines. You want to keep these on a steady cycle."
Explaining why he's powering through the awkward retrofit rather than pausing to empty the bed
"I know that this isn't the most glamorous, doing things backwards, but I'd rather be honest and transparent. We're always going to be that way."
Mid-install, on his decision to film the real workflow rather than redo the shoot
"We're building protection for the soil, we're building a home for the beneficials."
The philosophical summary of why the mulch layer matters
"Even though there's deep soil in here, if we need to top dress we can move the mulch, sprinkle a little in there, and the worms will actually take it down and feed our plants."
Describing the top-dress-under-mulch workflow that makes living-soil beds no-till
Glossary terms from this episode
4-way corner (PVC fitting) · Bolting · Cover crop · Cut-and-come-again harvesting · EarthBox · Food jungle · Hand pollination (tomato) · Mulch layer · Predator mites · Quadrant system (10x10 layout) · Red wiggler worms · Rove beetles · Scrog screen · Sex identification (cannabis seedlings) · Take and Bake recipe · Three by three bed (3x3) · Top dress · Trellis kit (Grassroots) · Water tubes (EarthBox fill tube) · Worm bin · Worm castings
Products mentioned
EarthBox self-watering planter · Tape measure · Sharpie · BuildASoil Take and Bake · Grassroots Fabric Pots 3x3 Living Soil Bed · Grassroots Trellis Kit · 1 inch PVC pipe · Ratcheting PVC cutter · Hacksaw · 100 gallon mixing container · 10 gallon containers · Gorilla Grow 10x10 tent · Johnny's Seeds Jericho Lettuce · Pickle cucumbers (unspecified variety) · Slicing cucumbers (last year's seed) · Cherry tomato 'The Bombs' · White cherry tomato · Pepper seedlings (unspecified) · Farm planning software (unnamed) · Knife (harvest knife)