How to make a self-watering container
Channel: United Diversity
Date: 2010-07-06

A short video about how I made my self-watering container (note: I should've mentioned the drainage hole that are made just about the water level see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wac-_WULDCk )

Self-watering containers were developed by commercial tomato growers and are the best way to grow vegetables in containers. Many plants grown in containers die due to over watering. In knowledge of this, many people also end up under watering. With a self-watering container you water just the right about and less water evaporates. You also mimic natural conditions where plants seek out water from the water table below, developing better roots and healthier, happier plants.

To make this type of self-watering container you will need:
* a large storage container with a lid (ideally of a dark colour if you're in a cool climate or a light one if you're in a hot climate - to either absorb or reflect heat). I looked around for a large dark one with a lid for quite a while before finally finding one in the rubbish outside my house :)
* one or two (depending on size of container) colanders or similar (anything with holes in will do, but colanders are perfect for the job)
* a piece of plastic tubing that is at least a bit longer than the height of your container. Stiff, quite wide tubing works best (it stays in place better and is easier to down and check water levels)
* a couple of cloths or pieces of material to go over either end of the plastic tube and some elastic bands or string to secure them (to stop soil getting in the bottom and insect, especially mosquitoes, getting in the top).
* enough soil to fill the colanders (any old soil will do).
* enough compost to fill the container almost to the top (leave a couple of inches or so for adding new compost/ fertilizer on top to feed the plants)
* a sharp knife and/ or scissors / cutting implement .
* a few bricks or blocks of wood
* measuring tape

Step by step guide:
1. Wash it out the container with soap and water, then wipe down with hydrogen peroxide to disinfect it. You only need to do the inside of the container, but make sure to do both sides of the lid. I think I went a bit overkill with the hydrogen peroxide so I rinsed it off with fresh water afterwards (not actually sure if this was necessary or wise, but its what I did).
2. Using the knife, carefully cut holes in the lid of the container, big enough to fit the colander(s).
3. Place the brick/ blocks of wood inside the container
4. Using the measuring tape, measure the width and length of the inside of the container at the height of the bricks.
5. Cut the lid of the container down to the size of your measurements. If you're not to good at cutting then cut a big bigger first then cut it down to size bit by bit
6. Cut a gap out of one corner of the lid big enough to accomodate your piece of plastic tubing.
7. Place the now nicely fitting lid with one corner cut out on top of the bricks. 
8. With a piece of cloth attached to the bottom of the tube(to stop it potentially getting clogged up with soil), put the piece of tubing through its hole and make sure its push all the way to the bottom of the container.
9. Just above the height of the inserted lid make some holes in the sides of the container to act as an overflow in case of heavy rain etc.
10. Fill the colander(s) with soil and tightly pack it down/ wet it.
11. Place the colander(s) into their holes in the lid.
12. Fill the remainder of the container with some nice compost. I used the cheaper stuff I got from a local recycling centre at the bottom and put some nice compost especially formulated for growing vegetables from the garden centre on top.
13. Plant up, water and wet down the compost.
14. Fill up water reservoir at bottom of container by watering down the tube in corner. I did this until water started to leak out of my overflow holes (that way I could be sure the reservoir was completely full)
15. Top up from time to time with more water (you can check the water level by poking a stick or something down the plastic tube) and add compost to feed the plants as they grow.
16. Enjoy fresh delicious vegetables! :)

NOTE: if you want to grow root vegetables then the size of the colander should not be more than about 10-15% of the size of the lid, otherwise the soil can be too moist. In the end though, nothing beats experimenting to see what works best in your climate.

Good luck! :)