How to Create Your Own Garden Watering System
Building your own watering system not only makes gardening easier, it makes your home a little greener. Automatic drip systems deliver water directly into the soil, allowing more water to get to the plants' roots. So you use less water overall in your garden because less water is lost to evaporation. The plants take in water when they need it; all you have to do is refill the containers every so often. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- 20 ounce plastic bottles
- Electric hand drill
- 1/8-inch-thick drill bit
- Trowel
- Water
Instructions
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1
Rinse out and dry each bottle, removing the labels and adhesive as you go. Let the bottles dry completely. You may use water, soda or juice bottles. Don't use bottles that contained bleach, acetone, rubbing alcohol or other chemical liquids.
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2
Flip each bottle upside down. Put a 1/8-inch-thick drill bit into your electric hand drill. Drill 6 to 8 holes in the bottom of each bottle, spacing them about 1/4 inch apart. Repeat on the bottom edge of each bottle and in rows climbing the bottom third of each bottle.
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3
Dig a hole for each bottle about 6 inches away from your plants. This is where much of the new root growth is and where most of the water will be absorbed. Bury each bottle up to its shoulders in the soil.
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Remove the caps from your bottles and fill each one with water that is about room temperature. The water will slowly drip out of the holes in the bottles and moisten the soil as needed. Check the bottles each week and top them off as needed.
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Tips & Warnings
You can also fertilize your plants through your system. Simply drip the recommended amount of liquid fertilizer into each bottle when refilling them.
If watering a potted plant, drill only the bottom surface of the bottle and simply set it on top of the soil. Burying bottles in potted plants may crowd the roots.
References
- Photo Credit Jim Franco/Digital Vision/Getty Images
