Barrel growbeds

[Pat James]

I have observed barrels used as growbeds cut lengthwise and being supported by screws in in a frame around the top. I have also seen videos of them sitting on a bottom frame with chocks to keep them from rolling.

My question is do barrels  sitting on their own lose their shape and spread out if unsupported? If so, how much support is necessary to prevent this?

I am looking to minimize my  initial investment. I will be building on a concrete deck, so I am not so concerned with termites, but do plan to use treated lumber and am seriously thinking about also applying deck sealant to the wood.

[Alex Veidel]

I don't know if they lose their shape, I've always looked at the setups and assumed that the stands were to keep the barrel-beds upright. Otherwise, they'd just "roll" over.

[Joe Fisher]

I would assume some sort of structure would be needed near the top of the half barrels to support the weight of the water and media as it tends to bow under the weight during a flood. Water and especially a rock / gravel media alone are quite heavy. The plastic of most barrels are only about a 1/4" thick and can't quite support all that weight across the span lengthwise.

Hope this helps.

[Pat James]

Joe, That is what I intuitively thought as well.  I have not seen how bad it would be and think I might be able to correct the situation by placing the barrels close together and use some kind of  wood frame between and around the top of the barrels.

I am thinking of trying to use thinner wood for this. I originally planned to suspend the 1/2 barrels from the frame but the high cost of lumber makes that an expensive investment. I am planning to use 48 of 1/2 barrel beds.