Making a Self-Watering Container System Items needed:
• Two recycled, food-grade five-gallon buckets for every 4 students in a class (You can often find free buckets at local restaurants or bakeries or via online services such as Craigslist. Do not use paint containers.)
• One 16-ounce recycled yogurt container or plastic cup • One 17-inch bamboo stick or a similar length hollow tube or pipe about 1/2 inch in diameter • One bag of organic potting mix • One cup of dry organic fertilizer • Drill with 1/4-inch drill bit • Keyhole saw and/or a utility knife
Procedure:
1. In the next few steps, you will find instructions for drilling or cutting the following holes in the bottom of one of the five- gallon buckets: one large hole for the 16-ounce container to sit in (which will act as the wicking chamber); one medium hole for the bamboo stick or tube (which will deliver water to the bottom reservoir bucket); and approximately twenty small holes for drainage.
2. To determine how large of a hole to cut for the wicking chamber to sit in, you will need to find out the height of the water reservoir. To do this, put one of the five-gallon buckets into the other in front of a light source. On the outside of the outer bucket, mark the location of the bottom of the inside bucket, then measure the distance from the bottom of the outside bucket to this mark. Measure this same distance on your yogurt container or plastic cup, and measure the diameter of that container at this spot. Add 1/8 of an inch to this measurement and that will be the diameter of the large hole.
3. Turn the inside (i.e. unmarked) five-gallon bucket upside down, and draw a circle in the center on the bottom of the bucket, with the diameter determined in step 2. Drill a series of 1/4-inch holes around the perimeter of this circle. Use a keyhole saw or utility knife to cut the hole out.
4. Measure the diameter of your bamboo stick or tube. Add 1/8 of an inch to this measurement to give you the diameter of the medium hole. This hole should be near the outside edge of the inside bucket (the one you just cut the large hole in). Cut the hole the same way as above.
5. Drill approximately twenty 1/4-inch holes in the remaining area of the bottom of this bucket. These will be drainage holes that will allow water to seep out of the soil (i.e. in addition to the 1/4 inch hole).
6. Up and down the sides of the yogurt container, drill 14-18 evenly-spaced 1/2" or 3/4" holes. Take care not to cut open the side of the container, or put any holes in the bottom. Once it is inserted into the bottom of the inner bucket and filled with potting mix, the yogurt container will act as the wicking chamber for the water.
7. Next, drill an overflow hole into outer bucket (the five-gallon bucket without any holes) so that the inner bucket will not be sitting in water. Drill a 1/4-inch hole approximately 1/4 of an inch below the mark you made in step 2.
8. Place the five-gallon bucket that is full of holes into the bucket with the overflow hole. 9. Cut one end of your bamboo stick or tube at an angle and place the angled end into the medium hole at the bottom of the inside bucket and down into the water reservoir area of the outside bucket. The top of the stick or tube should be 2-3 inches above the top edge of the buckets. The angled end prevents the tube from clogging.
10. Fill your yogurt container or cup with potting mix and place it into the large hole so that the bottom of the container is in the water reservoir area. The top of the container may stick up into the inside bucket but this is fine.
11. Fill the inside five-gallon bucket with potting mix, compressing the mix along the way. 12. Transplant your seedlings or plant your seeds in the center. 13. Make a shallow, circular channel in the soil around the perimeter of the plant. Sprinkle a cup of dry, organic fertilizer into this trench.
14. Pour water through the bamboo stick or tube into the reservoir chamber of the bottom bucket (you may want to use a funnel to make this process easier) until water begins to flow through the overflow hole.
15. Place your self-watering container somewhere sunny (even if it is on pavement) and watch your plant grow! Page 26 GREEN TEACHER 89
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52