Reef Ball Foundation Photos and Project Description Database

Before the team went into high speed "assembly line" produciton of potted planters..a small table was set up to test all the methods and materials. It is important to work out EXACTLY what the assembly line will do before you start...because any mistake (or inefficiency) will be repeated hundred...sometimes thousands of times.

A test tabel was set up to determine the best design for the produciton line table.

Part of the temporary test table was to find which methods of moving soil from the mixing container into the Reef Balls was fastest. The team tried cones, scoops and automated filling from a potting soil bag cut into two pieces. However, good old fashioned hands with gloves turned out to be the easiest method and provided higher quality results.

Even on a testing table, things should be set up like a production line to provide the best information for setting up the high speed assembly line.

Muck is prepared by removing roots and sticks. It is supplemented with some garden grade topsoil that does not have floating components. Slow release balanced fertilizer (for example Osmocote), chipped up dead seagrass, and slow release iron (for example Ironrite) can be added.

Kathy Kirbo, Executive Director of the Reef Ball Foundation smiles over the mangrove muck supply for the production line table.

The team got lucky on the first day when the heavy equipment was on site we filled the mangrove muck supply pools with the loader instead of by hand. Filling them by hand was not very difficult, however, because when we built the nursery pond we piled the dirt up next to our table so we only had to shovel dirt "down hill"

We used old pallets to create our potting table because they were easy to adjust height, provided plenty of working space and they were free! (Except for the team's work to pick them up!).

A pickup truck moved the Reef Balls from the container to the potting table....note the table and the truck bed were designed to be the same height...this minimizes lifting of the reef ball pots and saves volunteer's backs!

A pickup truck moved the Reef Balls from the container to the potting table....note the table and the truck bed were designed to be the same height...this minimizes lifting of the reef ball pots and saves volunteer's backs!

One dedicated station was the cutting of the burlap to be inserted into the Reef Ball planters. Eric Krassle, Reef Ball Board of Directors and Legal Council, mans this station.

After unloading from the truck to the potting tables, reef balls are lined with burlap and are ready to be planted.

Burlap from the burlap cutting table is placed in the empty reef balls as the first lining for the pot so that soil does not leech out of the holes when placed into the water.

Lined pots are then placed on the working table where they will be filled, fertilized, and planted with red mangrove propagules (Seen in the yellow bin above sorted by size and quality).

Potting soil must be pressed down hard to make sure there is no air space that would cause the soil level to drop after placement in the nursery.

Soil is continued to be added until it reaches the proper height for placing in fertilizers...(about the depth the propagules will be planted).

After fertilizers are added, more soil and then the propagule is added. If the propagule has roots, a hole is pressed into the soil so the roots are not distrubed, otherwise the propagule can be planted directly by pushing into the soil.

Finally, it is topped off with more muck and the burlap is tucked in around the edges to keep soil in, but while still allowing the center to be open in case additional propagules are planted at later stages if the planted propagules do not sprout properly.

The finished pot is then staged in a location to be picked up by the deployment barge. Note: fertilizer is normally buried at the root level of the propagule...not on the surface...this was just for a picture to show what is in the soil.

This is a fully planted Reef Ball ready to be deployed. The number of propagules added per Reef Ball depends on the size and quality of the propagules used.

Todd Barber, Chairman of Reef Ball Foundation, tests the table to make sure working heights and work flow is comfortable for the volunteers. Safety is a big issue for any project and that included not only preparedness but prevention.

After testing, the volunteer team is put into positions...each with a specially assigned task and the table assembly line operation is started.....this table was able to produce and deploy about 100 Red Mangrove Potted Reef Balls per hour.

Once the assembly line table is in full operation...it looks like a bee hive of activity!

Here, fully potted reef balls with mangrove seedlings are pre-staged at a height to make for easy lifting onto the floating deployment raft. The "canal" cut into the ground allows for easy floating transportation directly from the potting station tables where the pots are assembled.

The last step before actual deployment into the nursery is loading up the floating raft...Tim Austin from the Cayman Department of the Environment was perfectly suited for the task with his long arms and tall height.

Proud volunteers....muddy hard work but rewarding too.