Self-watering plant containers are helpful for the environment if you are living in a green lifestyle. This creation is such a brilliant gardening innovation which helps the gardeners not only to save time and effort but also the water source as well. They are excellent tool to reduce the amount of wasted water from over watering and prevent evaporation. However, they can be costly and often made from environmentally damaging petrochemical products. If you still want to create a self-watering container by yourselves, this is an easy project which is made mostly from the recycled materials from your home. You can bring your children to help you out doing this project too. Just be careful not to let them handle the steps where hot and sharp tools used. Here\’s how to do it.
Things that you need:
- 2 litter empty plastic drink bottle
- hot wire
- sharp cutting tool/ sharp knife/ scissors
- cotton string
- potting soil
- plant
- water
- clay hydroponics medium
Steps:
- Make sure to clean and dry your empty soda bottle well. Carefully, use your sharp knife or scissors and cut the top off the bottle. Cut the area just below where the bottle stops sloping.
- Then, make a small hole in the bottle lid with a hot wire. Be careful when handling with hot wire. Make sure the kids are not playing or standing near you at that time. The size of the hole should be the same size as your string. You have to make sure that the hole is precise. If the hole is too large, you won\’t be able to secure your string. If it\’s too small, your string won\’t pass through.
- Take a string and pass it through the hole that you made in the lid. It is preferable to use a cotton string than synthetic strings, as the cotton string will wick the water properly. Make a knot on the inside or the underside of the lid to secure the string in place. Then, place the bottle lid back on the part of the bottle that you cut off.
- Put the lid back on the top section of the bottle. Now, place it in an inverted way in the bottom of the bottle. Fill the top half with your choice of potting soil. Add absorbent materials such as clay hydroponics mediums to the potting soil to provide a better wicking medium.
Finally, plant your plants and water them.
Additional Reading:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4933575_self-watering-plant-container.html
Image Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/psyberartist/3646059060/
