Check my site for more details: ► albopepper.com/self-watering-5-gallon-bucket-planter.php Learn more about how to use a self-watering planter: SIP Basics: How the systems work ► ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CXyV-XsQWNE.html Self-watering SIP Sub-irrigated Raised Bed Construction (How to Build) ► ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Lp9Jdyno9hI.html SIP Raised Bed (Update 1) + Self-Watering Containers + How-To Monitor Moisture Levels : ► ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5orIjYKFRgE.html SIP Raised Bed (Update 2) + Watering & Aeration Screen Explanation ► ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VJ2T6gUv8Gc.html SIP Raised Bed (Update 3) + Winterizing Planters & Totes ► ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aKrjC5sC5cU.html
I really like your idea. But, for simplicity, we are considering using a 5-gallon bucket with a half-inch diameter hole five inches from the bottom of the bucket to allow excess water to drain out. This way, a substantial amount of water would always be in the bottom of the bucket. We would insert a 1.25" diameter piece of PVC to add water to the bottom of the bucket. Do you think this would be a bad idea? I got this idea from another video.
If you get a third bucket and cut the bottom half off you can stack that between the reservoir and the planter and it will extend your reservoir space while also preventing light from reaching down into your reservoir from around the exposed rim.
I've used a "Gro-Bucket" commercial SIP to grow a variety of plants in 5-gallon buckets. Tomatoes do OK, but I think they'd do better in your system because they'd have more root space, unlike the Gro-Bucket insert, which takes up about a third of the bottom of the bucket. Tomatoes can have massive root systems and the Gro-Bucket doesn't allow for enough root area. For contrast, I've also used an Earthbox, another commercial SIP for tomatoes, and they did a lot better. The Earthbox has done the best for me and I think I'll eventually convert most my gardening to using those. But Albo, you are the ultimate SIP scientist and your channel is awesome.
I had the same results with peppers grown with the Grobucket inserts. My peppers grown in 5 gallon buckets without the GroBucket inserts got much larger and produced A LOT more fruit. I also have earth boxes and have had nothing but positive results with them. I just wish they weren't so expensive. I'm going to keep the GroBucket inserts but use them to grow leafy greens and other things that don't need as much room for root growth.
I've done several other wicking buckets this year since I discovered this. Was reluctant to try two buckets because of the small reservoir. Purchased to many lids to cut and try to make a larger reservoir. Thanks for your tip. Kicking myself because I didn't think of it..
I’m thinking about presenting this as a possible gardening method for a senior center. Thank you so much for this simple but effective growing method. Kudos!
I think that old towels cut into strips will make the best readily available wicking material. I have built about 20 double buckets so far and I hope to build many more. I am collecting old bath towels for my next batch of buckets. I hope to cut them up sideways into strips that will just fit through my 1-1/4" holes. I don't know exactly how wide the towel strips need to be yet. I tie a knot in one end and stuff the other end down through a hole. The knot helps to keep the soil from falling into the bottom bucket. This seems to be the best idea I have hit upon yet for getting my plants through the hot summers. Thanks for the video. There is another possibility and that is to drill two opposing half inch holes about 5 inches up from the bottom of the top bucket and run a piece of 1/2" dowel through the two holes. Then hang a piece of towel over the dowel and let the two ends go through two holes in the bottom of the buckert and hang down into the water in the bottom bucket. That would provide for more surface area for the wet towel to touch the soil in the upper pot. Thanks again.
I lost a few plants in my 5-gallon bucket garden last year due to insufficient watering. It was too hot and I didn't always have time to keep up a regular watering schedule. So this year I built double bucket planters. I used the 1x2x4" blocks as shown here. I use a drill and a 1-1/4" hole saw and I drill 5 holes in the bottom of my top bucket. Four of the holes were across from each other and the 5th hole was next to the handle. I tore rags into 16" lengths and tied a knot in one end and I stuffed a rag into the four holes. The knot helps keep soil from falling down into the bottom bucket. I cut 1-1/4" pvc into 36" pieces with an angle on the bottom end. That 36" piece is my fill tube. It is tall enough so that I can tie off a plant to it if it needs support. I make my own container mix out of rotted, sifted wood chips and chicken coop soil. I add a handful of slow release fertilizer to each bucket. I am hopeful that this year I won't lose any plants due to lack of water. I may even get better yields from more available water to the plants. I use grey latex paint buckets because they are #2 recycle code and have a UV inhibiter so they last almost forever. Other buckets will get brittle in the sun in a couple of years. I am putting a lot of work into these planters so I want them to last.
When i water in the started plants I use water soluble fertilizer in the water and whenever I need to add water. I use 1/2 gallon of urine to 4 gallons of water and I use a pitcher to add water to the bottom bucket and a watering can to water from the top.
Hi from Rhode Island. I built 2 of these shimmed 5 gal. Buckets using the nylon rope wicking. Planted cherry peppers. Used Coast of Maine STONINGTON blend with various fertilizers.. WOW!! What a crop!! I change the water weekly. Been using MASTER BLEND 20-20-20 water soluble fertilizer. I have 40 plus peppers on each bucket. Thanks for sharing this Mike D.
Stunning, just stunning, in it's simplicity, ease of construction and water saving possibilities. I live in San Diego and water is both scarce and costly here. I am thinking of presenting this idea to my garden club members. And sharing it with the local Master Gardener group for their school garden advisors. One source of free buckets might be a pool and/or spa maintenance company as they use a lot of chemicals that come in various sizes of plastic buckets. You would, of course, be sure the buckets could be prepared to be safe for food plants. Thank you for a terrific plan.
Great content as usual! As a bonus, you have a soothing voice! Thank you so much for this tutorial. I tested it this season with a small tomatoes plant and a melon plant (yellow honey dew) and I got a record quantity of those little tomatoes (about a pound a day for 3 weeks). Now the plant is dying and it still produces about a pound every 3 to 4 days and all the leaves are dead!!! The melon plant is doing great, leaves are impeccable compared to the ground ones which have a bit of mildew, even with a preventive spray every two weeks... The melons in the SIP are growing approx twice as fast as the ground ones. Thank you so much for sharing! I will try it on my medicinal plants this winter. Keep up you great content with simple words and no blabla filling like most do!
Add another 5 gal bucket with a float valve with water hose. Now connect water bucket to 5 gal grow bucket with pvc at your 4 or 5" water level. Now you have a AUTO WATERING SELF WICKING SYSTEM.
My passion is experimenting in the garden. I have, IMHO, the premier self-watering containers. However, your design gives me more ideas to help reduce cost. First watched it last week and purchased rope and buckets. I particularly like the way you figured out how to increase the water volume without having to buy more buckets (I have been stacking buckets with the bottoms cut out). Thanks for the ideas. Subscribed
Thank you I always wanted to know which produce was not appropriate for these buckets. I tried watermelon and that didn't go so well. Now I know why melons and corn wouldn't be a good idea for these self watering buckets. Thanks again.
If you're weighing down the bucket with something like a brick, you could probably arrange so that you didn't even have to attach those wooden supports to the top bucket. It's at the expense of reservoir capacity, however.
Making this right now with lowes 5gal food buckets ($4.00). Instead of 2x4's, I put ten 12oz soda bottles in the bottom of the bottom bucket. 8 around perimeter and 2 in middle. Food grade and won't deteriorate like the wood. I drilled 4 holes at the top of the label leaving 1" of air gap in positions: north south east west. I did the same at the bottom following the plastic bottle line 1" from bottom. I used 7/32" drill bit. Bottle lids are tight. The bottom 5gal bucket gets a 1/2" drilled hole at 4-3/4" up from outside bottom of the 5gal bucket. This aligns with the soda bottle top holes. This leaves 1" air gap between water height and bottom of 5 gallon bucket. Following host for top bucket. Following Gardening With Leon for fertilizing. Using 1tsp per gallon of 10-4-3 (amazon) for 3 weeks or until first flower buds appear "feeding" once per week through reservoir and on top. "Watering" from top every other day until roots reach wicking. After 3 weeks switching to his bloom/veggie exploder 14-70-48 which is 8-34-23 (amazon 10-52-10 and amazon 4-18-39. Mix 50/50. 1tsp in one gallon). If you eat the leaves you stay with 10-4-3. If you eat the flower/veggie/root, you switch to 14-70-48. After 3 weeks, you don't have to water from top.
@AlboPepper This is an interesting blend of ideas. It appears the system becomes a partial hydroponics system, based upon the root clusters along the rope. This also suggests that liquid fertilizers would be simple to apply via the fill tube right down into the water reservoir.
Have you tried making the same holes in the lid as you did in the bucket bottom and then just set the plant bucket on the reservoir bucket with the lid on the reservoir bucket? I don't know if the wicking cord though thick is going to work when the water goes down very far. Perhaps a towel or t-shirt from the bottom of the reservoir coming up through the center of the lid and over would do the trick.
Thank you for all the great videos. I have followed your site and advice for the past 5 years. I built boxes and big O and they have performed well for the 5 years. I tried a 30 gal muck tub with a wash tub placed upside down inside the muck tub with wicking ropes to suck up the water. They did the job except that the water in tub went anaerobic. I am not sure if it was too much water for the wicking to suck up before it went bad. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you, Jim
Adding a brick for stability reduces the water holding capacity of the bottom. One could drive 3 stakes in the ground to keep the buckets from tipping over very easily - surround the buckets....
@@Albopepper Brick idea actually came from a water saving trick used in toilet tanks. People used to put a brick in the tank to save water. Hence less water in the tank - less water used to flush. You are welcome.
I love how you make it simple I have one question though. Often should you fill up your Reservoir let's say in the summertime I know not as much in the spring or the fall but I don't want to over water my plants what's your thought nobody never talks about that
Thanks for watching! The way this system is designed, you could keep the reservoir topped off everyday and the plants should do just fine. The overflow hole would prevent excess watering. The plants would probably suffer more from underwatering. It's easy to get lazy and neglect the planter for too long. I think topping it off every 2 or 3 days works pretty well.
Great video. Helpful. I wonder if you ever add something like Clear Res to kill any bacteria growth in the reservoir during the 90 days of sitting pretty still in the tub?
Suggestion, Fill new bucket completely with water, cut a 3 inch hole in lid.. place dollar store tea shirt in hole leaving about 3 inches spread on lid, the place 5 gallon grow bag on lid. For Tomatoes it's a good idea to cut a small slot in bottom of grow bag as the roots will eventually enter the bucket. It's a good idea to build a box around bucket and grow bag because uv light will damage them. It also facilities support for a Tomatos..a professional reusable trelace system. ...all components should last many grow seasons, no mosquitoes and very easy to hook a water hose to, plants don't drown in rain, root self prone in grow bag... ect.. the box frame of the trelace system can be used as a green house tent for early planting or with chicken wire protection against rats, squirrels or ground hogs. With an indeterminate Tomatoes one will have to refill the bucket 3 to 4 times in zone 7 ( other zones may very ) but the reward is great and one must only replace the wick and use some Tomatoe fertilizer next year. I think green. I absolutely strive to get the most fruit from every plant with respect to waste and money invested.
Awesome idea. Thanks for sharing the tutorial. I have one question would landscaping cloth be a good idea around the 1 in holes for the wick or water pipe? I'm wondering if you had any problem with your soil dropping into the bottom water reservoir? Thanks again and I'm planning on shifting my traditional 5 gallon buckets to this system. So glad I found your channel.
Thanks for watching! I've found that once the potting mix gets packed inside of the base of the bucket, it tends to stay in place. I just clean up any mix that had fallen through during the setup process. If you'd like to be extra thorough, you could try the landscape fabric idea as you mentioned. I would just make sure the potting mix directly contacts the wicking rope to ensure good water absorption.
Can you do a video on the cheapest, most affordable leds that are Strip lights? I'm trying to make a bucket hydroponics tower and having a few options for lights that can go vertically around the tower would be great.
Have you experimented with other wicking techniques? Is the nylon cord as effective as the soil wicking? How about the earth box technique or the terry towel wick?
Thanks for watching! If you watch this video, you'll see that I've used several types of wicking systems. But I've never done a side-by-side test trying to see what wick material is most absorbent. Both the soil & the cord wicks have worked well for me.
Hello, I like this idea and recreated one for my garden too. But now I have a question- there is a gap between the buckets walls- will it cause water from the bottom bucket evaporate fast? Did you do anything to cover that gap?
I find that it's hard to know how much water the plant needs because the soil at the surface is always dry. It's been especially tough during heat waves. I've had a lot of end blossom rot with jalapeños since I switch to this bucket system. Any tips on how to monitor?
Very great video btw. Quick question, I’m assuming you have to water the top of the soil a few times in order to keep it moist and so that it can be able to wick from the bottom correct?
Thanks for watching! I would suggest top watering a little bit when the system is first set up. And if it runs out of water at any point, you should definitely do some top watering to maintain or restore wicking properties.
Plant roots that grow into water are naturally adapted to that environment. Think about hydroponics. Some plants can grow with their entire root system in water. So it just depends. With these SIP systems, I've never seen any negative impacts on the plants.
Have you tried the traditional method of doing this with a netpot in the bottom and perlite or sand as a wicking medium, and comparing the soil moisture levels. I've found the wicking rope wicks a lot of water really fast
This kind of rope is not available like this in Europe :( how much water does the rope transport in 24 hours? So I can do some tests with some different ropes to check which comes close!?
Yes, it won't need watered as often. The plant size and weather will impact how often water needs added. But it's pretty easy to go for a week without needing to water, especially when plants are younger.
Great idea, I commend you for sharing but can I use loamy soil for this system and can I fertilize with soluble fertilizer like in hydroponics. Need your feedback
How do you know when the water level is low/reservoir needs to be filled? Also wonder if I should put a little bit of window screen material on the inside or outside of drainage hole to prevent mosquitoes
That might be a possibility. I haven't noticed them in mine, but you could add a "mosquito dunk" in the bottom of the reservoir if that's a issue in your area.
I love the idea of the rope for the wicking. My only concern is the synthetic material. How well does it wick? I do get that you want the synthetic material so it will last I the soil. I may do an experiment in an empty bucket with water, just to see. Looks like you've had some really good results though! ❤
Hi, thanks so much for the information. I built 6 of these (super easy!) and I've enjoyed growing in them. One question---my experience this year with growing zucchini in the wicking buckets was ok....the problem being my plants slowly turned yellow as the summer progressed. Has anyone else had this experience? Any thoughts as to what I can do differently? I assume the yellowness is from overwatering, there are no other signs of pests, etc. I'd appreciate some feedback. thanks
Thanks for watching and sharing your feedback! It's possible for overwatering to cause yellowing. But it also could simply be a depletion of nutrients, especially nitrogen. I would suggest trying a supplemental watering regimen to see if that helps. Check this video for a test I did many years ago: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pkVl3Wg0kHY.html
That smaller hole size is usually not a problem, especially when you are using potting materials. They shouldn't have fine silty particles like you get in top soil.
Thanks for watching! It wasn't too often. As plants get bigger & weather gets dry, hot, sunny & windy you can expect to water more often. I was just checking it every few days once it was mid-summer.
Hi Al - I am using 6 of these for my fall garden. After approx. 3 weeks, the plants (which I planted as seedlings) are doing great, but don't appear to be drawing water from the reservoir. I am watering from the top in the meantime. Any suggestions for this? Thanks Al!
Could I use a copper or zinc-plated steel pipe like the (SteelWorks 36 in. L Low Carbon Steel Threaded Rod) instead of using a PVC pipe? Or what other pipes could I use that aren't PVC material?
