Organic vegetable gardening in your patio can be done with much less money if you are determined to find ways to do it. So having self watering planters is good since even if you miss watering your plants for a day or so, the plants still survive and doesn't wilt off. However most of the self watering planters are more than 30$. So i bought a few of them to start off my farming and now i realized that i can possibly make something very similar with 1/3rd the cost of a commercially available planter. So this blog is about that attempt and sharing my experience with those of you out there who are also looking for cheaper alternatives to effective vegetable farming in your back yard or patio.
So the things you need are one good laundry bin or closet organization bin with its lid, a few rocks, a long aluminum beverage can and the soil in which you plan to plant your plants. The laundry bin can be brought from walmart for 8$. First cut the edges of the lid off so that you can lover the lid to the bottom of the bin. Then make a number of holes on the lid. Using a heated kitchen knife will make it easy. Then use a can opener and take off the top and bottom portion of the beverage can so that it appears more like a pipe. If you have a PVC pipe piece lying around in your home, you can even make use of it instead of an aluminium can. Then spread the rocks in the bottom of the laundry basket, keep the beverage can tube in a corner of the basket and then lower the lid on top of the rocks. Once the lid is all the way down spread soil specially along the outside as well as along the corners. Then water it down and spread soil evenly on top the lid all the way to the top of the basket. Mixing some compost with the soil will help in plant growth. Once you fill up the soil you can pour water from top as well as through the tube. Also make two holes on the sides of the container at about 1 inch height from bottom for overflow in case you pore too much water. So the water will stay in the region between the rocks and the porous lid acting as a reservoir. Also the roots of the plants can grow through the pores to reach water. This way even if you forget to pour water for a day plants can get the essential water from the reservoir below. The photo given here also explains the basic idea.
I will share a picture of the planter after i planted some vegetable plants soon as well as post the updates on its growth also here in the coming weeks. Wish you a happy farming.
So the things you need are one good laundry bin or closet organization bin with its lid, a few rocks, a long aluminum beverage can and the soil in which you plan to plant your plants. The laundry bin can be brought from walmart for 8$. First cut the edges of the lid off so that you can lover the lid to the bottom of the bin. Then make a number of holes on the lid. Using a heated kitchen knife will make it easy. Then use a can opener and take off the top and bottom portion of the beverage can so that it appears more like a pipe. If you have a PVC pipe piece lying around in your home, you can even make use of it instead of an aluminium can. Then spread the rocks in the bottom of the laundry basket, keep the beverage can tube in a corner of the basket and then lower the lid on top of the rocks. Once the lid is all the way down spread soil specially along the outside as well as along the corners. Then water it down and spread soil evenly on top the lid all the way to the top of the basket. Mixing some compost with the soil will help in plant growth. Once you fill up the soil you can pour water from top as well as through the tube. Also make two holes on the sides of the container at about 1 inch height from bottom for overflow in case you pore too much water. So the water will stay in the region between the rocks and the porous lid acting as a reservoir. Also the roots of the plants can grow through the pores to reach water. This way even if you forget to pour water for a day plants can get the essential water from the reservoir below. The photo given here also explains the basic idea.
I will share a picture of the planter after i planted some vegetable plants soon as well as post the updates on its growth also here in the coming weeks. Wish you a happy farming.
No comments:
Post a Comment