After reading this post about “Self Watering Containers” on UrbanOrganicGardener.com, I decided to give it a go tonight. If I understand correctly, the “official” title for containers like these is: Sub-irrigation containers or something. I built two containers from soda bottles. In one I put new basil seeds, the other I transferred a small chili-pepper plant I grew in the greenhouse from my own saved seeds form last year. This is a bit of an experiment to see if the plant/seeds survive and continue to develop on the water in the container. With that the frequency of watering can be lowered significantly, which means I can easily go on holiday for a few days without worrying about the watering. Of course there are other things to take care of, but this is a first step.
And if this works well, I might scale things up a bit for next season’s greenhouse project. It would save me some electronics in pumps and stuff to water the vegetables and fruits. Homegrown.org has a nice idea to upscale this (voila: http://homegrown.org/blog/2010/06/homegrown-how-to-cards-how-to-make-a-self-watering-planter/) , as do many other sites if you google “diy sub irrigation planter” or “self watering container”
A quick picture of one of the bottle:
ps: in the background you see the sort-of-greenhouse and vegetable box… isn’t it amazing to see how everything sprung to life?!
Light:
Moisture:
