Have you ever wondered how to construct a contraption that waters your plants for you? If you’ve got a decent amount of plants around your home or property, I’m sure the thought has crossed your mind once or twice. Here’s a great idea from Seattle Sundries that you can use to start seedlings indoors, worry-free, or even cheaply turn your apartment into a self-watering garden.
This interesting little project allows you to repurpose 2 liter bottles that you know you’ve got lying around your home or neighborhood into self-watering planters for tomatoes and cucumbers.
This is a perfect project to do with your kids that’ll leave you free for a few days of worry-free relaxation once you’re sure that your plants will be getting the water they need.
To create this project, you’ll need a 2 liter bottle (or more, depending on how many self-watering pots you intend on creating; one per pot), potting soil, seeds of your choosing, yarn, a screwdriver, blade and hammer.
To begin, cut the bottle in half using your knife. Then, with your screwdriver – preferably Phillips – and hammer, punch a hole in the center of the bottle cap. Tip: do this outside in the grass or over a piece of wood that you don’t mind dinging as you’ll likely punch through the cap more than you expected and wind up denting whatever’s underneath.
Once you’ve got a hole punched, grab your yarn. Cut a piece of string about 1′-1.5′ in length, double it up and tie a loop on one end of it. Next, thread the string through the hole so the knot is on the inside of the bottle cap. What this will do is act like a wick, pulling water up from the basin and into the soil. The plant will act as a regulator in itself, only drawing the water that it needs to ensure that your self-automating system is not giving it more or less than it actually needs.
Once you’ve gotten this far, put the bottle cap back on the bottle and place the top of the bottle, top down, into the base. Then, add soil. As the plants grow, you’ll be able to add more water to the bottom basin of the contraption, as opposed to pouring it over the soil (which would defeat the purpose of the self-automated watering device).
Be sure to label the bottle at this point so you remember what was planted in it. Add the seeds and a healthy amount of water. Be sure to add a bit of water from the top of the pot the first couple times to make sure that the plant has enough water to begin growing healthily.
There are a few tricks and tips that you can put to use to make this project even more effective than it already is; consider using an unbleached coffee filter inside the bottle to hold the soil. This will allow the moisture from the water to wick evenly and allow you to remove the plants very easily if you’d like to transplant them into another pot.
Hopefully this blog post has given you a cool little project to try in your home! Let me know how it goes for you and be sure to share any tips in the comments below for future readers!
Jesse Herman is a contributing staff writer for REALfarmacy.com. He writes and produces video at PowerfulPrimates.com. Jesse began his alternative health journey after chronic back pain and has not looked back since. Follow him on Youtube and Facebook (also more Facebook), broadcasting out of Brazil, Florida, and in a dark distant cave (with internet).
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