Thursday, November 6, 2014

Thrifty Thursday-Homemade Self-Watering Container


Last weekend, my friend Lynn showed me
a do-it-yourself project that I just had to share.
It's a self-watering system that's so easy to make,
and uses materials that are easily accessible.

We've been able to acquire a lot of these 5-gallon buckets
from our local grocery store.
The deli and bakery departments have been putting them aside for us
and we are happy to pass them on to someone who can use them.

The black center ring is the bottom of another bucket cut to fit inside.
It should be snug and sit about 1/4 of the way up the inside.




The PVC pipe fits in a hole cut through the black base.
This is the tube where water is added.
It filters down to the bottom part of the bucket.





The pipe is fastened with a tie wrap.
If you look closely, you can see that a small pot fills in the hole of the black ring.
Soil can then be added to the pot,
all the way up the sides, and in go the plants.




If tie wraps aren't available, string or wire would do nicely.
Just use what you have on hand.



An overflow hole is drilled in one side, just below the black ring.
This ensures that plants won't rot by getting waterlogged.

Isn't it great when folks share inventive solutions?
Let me know how you like this idea!







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6 comments:

  1. Daisy, my system uses bakery buckets as well but set on rain gutters and many get watered at the same time. It's a gravity fed system that uses a float valve to keep the rain gutters full of water. It works really well and doesn't need a whole lot of attention during the summer months as the 550 gallon storage tank stays full from catching rain off my house roof. Full automation is great for those week to 10 day trips away from the garden. I'm working on a bigger irrigation system for my big garden as well. Water for that one will have to be pumped out of the natural spring into an elevated tank for dispersal to the garden beds. Watering is always a necessary thing for gardening and automation is my friend for sure.

    Have a great self watering day.

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  2. Wow, that sounds like quite a project!

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  3. Good idea.... it is great to have things like this to use.... and not have to pay big bucks for. :)

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