Make your own homemade self-watering container. It's easy, using a recycled 5 gallon plastic bucket as the base.
Thousands of these plastic buckets are buried in landfills or burned each day in the U.S. A plastic bucket is one of the most useful garden tools on earth! Thrifty gardeners rescue them from local businesses and use the five-gallon plastic bucket to harvest, store and protect crops, carry water and tools, spread compost, dig weeds and make compost tea. They also make nifty stackable worm farms so if your into this make sure to save a few of the lids.
The University of Maryland researchers have designed a new use for the old plastic bucket: you
can turn it into a self-watering container, a mini-garden for vegetables and
herbs that recycles water and nutrients and uses only compost as the growing
medium.
- "5-gallon plastic bucket and lid (food grade) Bakeries, delis and restaurants will often give them away just to get rid of them
- "A 7.5 inch section of 4-inch diameter perforated drain tile
- A 6 inch section of 1/2 inch (inside diameter) plastic tubing and a 1-1/2 inch wood or decking screw
- >Electrical tape
- "An empty 1-gallon milk jug
- saber saw
- drill
- 5/16 inch and 3/4 inch drill bits
- utility knife
- hacksaw
Construction Steps: (see illustration above)
Using a saber saw or band saw, cut the lid so that it fits inside the bucket. The lid will separate
the soil from the water reservoir.font-family:
Drill 15 holes, 5/16 inch in diameter, in the lid. Plant roots will grow through the soil and pass
through these holes into the reservoir.
With a hacksaw, cut 3 pieces of 4-inch diameter black perforated drain tile, each 2-1/2 inches long.
These are placed in the bottom of the bucket to support the lid-separator.
Drill one 3/4 inch hole 2 inches above the bottom of the 5-gallon bucket. This should be just below the lid-separator.
Cut a 6 inch piece of 1/2 inch (inside diameter) clear plastic tubing. Wrap one end with electrical
tape, being careful not to block the hole. The tape will help to create a snug fit. Now insert it into the hole in the bucket.
Inside the bucket, drive the nail or screw through the tubing, 1 inch from the end, to prevent it from
slipping out.
Now cut an 'X' with a knife or razor into the shoulder of a 1 gallon milk jug. Insert the end of the
tubing into the milk jug and then raise the bucket 8 inches by setting it up on a cinder block or bricks.
http://www.seattleoil.com/Flyers/Earthbox.pdf
http://www.youcangrowit.com/u_m_container.htm
This is also another very interesting idea.
Path to Freedom “Olla Pot"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1zJlwRz-s4&feature=related
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