Self Watering Garden - copyright Mike Lieberman
In exploring container gardening for my deck I came across the idea of self-watering containers.
Today’s article is by Mike Lieberman who kindly agreed to share his knowledge on container vegetable gardening.
Last year when I was first became interested in gardening on my fire escape, I knew that my options were limited as to what I could grow my vegetables in. I knew that I had to grow in some sort of container, but wasn’t sure if I had to buy a special one, could make my own, or what.
That’s when I came across the self watering container concept. It’s pretty much a homemade version of an Earthbox, which were way too expensive for me.
Self Watering Containers and How They Work
It’s easy to build a self watering container and cheap as well. It’ll cost around $5.00. The most difficult part in building is cutting out the insert for the container.
The way that a container functions is that the water reservoir is below the insert and the soil is above the insert. There is a small wicking container at the bottom of the container to bring the water up to the soil. A pipe is used to get the water down into the reservoir.
This way the plants suck up the water with their roots, which is a more natural way for them to get water. When plants are watered from above, it takes a few moments for the water to work it’s way down to the roots.
Watering a self watering container is simple as well. When the reservoir is filled, water will start to spill out of the overflow hole. This takes the guessing out of over or under watering your plants.
Container Vegetable Gardening
On my fire escape, I had lettuces, red peppers and cherry tomatoes in self watering containers. The lettuces and tomatoes did great, but the peppers didn’t produce as much. I think that had more to do with sun than with the containers.
For the upcoming gardening season, I plan on changing up the design a bit and using a container within a container as opposed to making the inserts. This is one of the fun things about gardening, the constant learning, tweaking and experimentation.
Self watering containers are something that I’d recommend for first timers, not only are they cheap to make, they take the guessing out of watering. They are also great for gardeners with small and limited space.
Mike Lieberman resides in NYC. He is someone who walks their talk as a living, breathing demonstration of how sustainable living is possible anywhere. Lieberman shows others how they can do the same on his own blogs and writes for others around the web. You can find him at CanarsieBK.com.
Have you tried container gardening? I will be visiting Mike’s blog to view his videos and learn how to build self-watering containers for my deck. I’m amazed at what he has managed to grow in such a small space.
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Your timing is impeccable, Alison! I will be using containers to grow veggies myself, so this is great info.
Debi´s last blog ..My Kids Tour the West L.A. Farmer’s Market
Mike, what can I say, you are an inspiration for all.
Thanks, Alison, for digging out this gem of a guy.
Gina
Thanks everyone. Glad you enjoyed the post.
Debi, I’m glad this works with your project. I was surprised to read recently that plastic containers are better for vegetable growing than porous materials like ceramics. In Scotland containers don’t dry out and cook in the heat like they do here!
Gina, I quite agree. Mike is an inspiration. Totally!
Mike, thanks again for the post. I need to keep visiting and reading your site.
Thank you Alison. Hopefully I can do another in the future.
A very cool idea Mike. I will definitely try this one out! Cheap and very helpful with my container vegetable gardening.
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I discovered your weblog web site on google and examine a number of of your early posts. Proceed to maintain up the very good operate. I simply further up your RSS feed to my MSN News Reader. Searching for forward to studying extra from you in a while!…
Mike — It would be great if you could produce a video showing exactly how you made the self watering part of the containers. Do you already have something like this?
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