Attempt at a self watering container

JBinKC · May 28, 2006

You guys are Soooooo Contagious!!! I had today off so made my first attempt at a self watering container.

I was up early, first store went to was closed so went to mine and got the silicone and PVC pipe.
Then I went to this Bargain place and they said they were out of totes. Wandered around and found This perfect sized planter for 6 bucks. So this is what I ended up with. I think it's pretty good, and I did it all by myself.
Took me a bit to figure out how to get the hole saw on the drill, have to use the hole mandrel (my Husband says that's a typo it's supposed to say Man Drill ha ha!

Anyway by the time he got home I was done )

Oh that is a 20 Gallon tote (the Blue one)

timcunningham · May 28, 2006

Awesome JBinkC!!

Welcome to the fun! Your Self Watering container looks great. Have you measured how much water it takes to fill the resevior? I always like to know that as it lets me know how often I will need to refill the water. When I build one I aim to get 4 / 5 gallons of water in the resevior after the soil is completely saturated.

JBinKC · May 29, 2006

With the wick in place and full before I put it all together, it held 6 gallons of water. I put the overdrain hole a tad lower than the top of my wick so prolly 5 to 5.5

I'm realizing now I should of siliconed the PVC pipe into place too...sigh

Afterthoughts are better than no thoughts )

May 28, 2006	#1
JBinKC Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Kansas City Posts: 174	Attempt at a self watering container You guys are Soooooo Contagious!!! I had today off so made my first attempt at a self watering container. I was up early, first store went to was closed so went to mine and got the silicone and PVC pipe. Then I went to this Bargain place and they said they were out of totes. Wandered around and found This perfect sized planter for 6 bucks. So this is what I ended up with. I think it's pretty good, and I did it all by myself. Took me a bit to figure out how to get the hole saw on the drill, have to use the hole mandrel (my Husband says that's a typo it's supposed to say Man Drill ha ha! Anyway by the time he got home I was done ) Oh that is a 20 Gallon tote (the Blue one)

May 28, 2006	#2
timcunningham Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Middle Georgia Posts: 241	Awesome JBinkC!! Welcome to the fun! Your Self Watering container looks great. Have you measured how much water it takes to fill the resevior? I always like to know that as it lets me know how often I will need to refill the water. When I build one I aim to get 4 / 5 gallons of water in the resevior after the soil is completely saturated. __________________ Visit my site: tomatoindex.com a database of over 2700 varieties. Vote for your favorite.

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May 29, 2006	#3
JBinKC Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Kansas City Posts: 174	With the wick in place and full before I put it all together, it held 6 gallons of water. I put the overdrain hole a tad lower than the top of my wick so prolly 5 to 5.5 I'm realizing now I should of siliconed the PVC pipe into place too...sigh Afterthoughts are better than no thoughts )