Old bathtub for plants

[j.w]

What kind of sealant would be water tight for use in plugging up the drain hole in a bath tub to use for plants? I saw another thread where pond foam or roofing sealant was mentioned for something else. I don't want the hole to leak out at all so looking for something that would make a nice tight fit. Thanks, jw :lol:

 

[DrDave]

Silicon RTV a stopper in place.

 

[koidaddy]

I thought about doing the same thing since I do home improvements and have removed quite a few bathtubs. DrDave might be right on with the stopper idea. They come in alot of sizes.

 

[DrCase]

One of the big flat rubber ones would work well
Then if you ever want to let water out you could lift it up to drain it out

 

[DrDave]

They also make expandable plugs with a bolt through them. As you tighten the bolt, it expands and plugs the hole. That makes removal for cleaning very easy. I would replace the bolt with a stainless one if you go this way.

 

[malatu]

Depending on what kind of plants, you might want to allow for drainage. A heavy rain could put a lot of water in the tub keeping the roots wet for a prolonged period of time causing roots to rot. Assuming you are not using the the tub for water plants you might want to consider filling the bottom of the tub with 3 or 4 inches of stone to promote drainage (similar to a potted plant). You don't want your roots sitting in water saturated soil all the time.

 

[j.w]

Guess I should have been more specific. The plants will be water plants, like lotus or lilies and floaters like duck weed etc. The tub will be buried down to the rim in the ground so I won't be draining it. If I ever drain it I will have to use a pump. I thought if I just put a rubber stopper in there that it would rot out eventually so I want something to seal it permanently. Dr Dave are you saying I can just use Silicon to plug it up nice and tight?

 

[malatu]

Oh, in that case the rubber plug and silicone sound perfect. As an added measure you could get a square piece of epdm and silicone or rubber cement it over the plug.

 

[DrDave]

Any PVC or ABS plug that fits the hole with a bead of RTV will do it and never rot out in your lifetime.

 

[j.w]

Thanks so much everyone. Think I'll do the plug w/ the silicone and call it good like Dr Dave and others of you have mentioned

 

[DrCase]

Just curious what color is the tub...?

 

[j.w]

Well I believe it is white inside and the outside is rusty colored from being turned upside down out in a pasture. It's actually at a rental house that we own and it's really heavy and we've never turned it right side up because of that. My dad had it in use once for his donkey. It's really old so I assume it is white inside. No legs on it.............just the slightly rounded bottom type. What difference does the color make

 

[j.w]

The tub is installed. I took two little black film canisters and cut them off and with the rim (keeps them from going all the way through the holes) on them they fit just perfectly in the two faucet handle holes with some plastic screen around them so when it rains the duck weed won't flow over the top and out on the ground. Not much in it yet but duck weed and one water lily. Still a work in progress:

 

[koiguy1969]

kind of cool there J.W.

 

[koikeepr]

better recycled into something fun than in the dump.