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Step 4Add the wick, the potting mix, and your plant
Once the final coat of paint has dried, it's time to put it all together.
Note - the top piece of the 2 liter is the planting container, the bottom piece is the water reservoir .
The wick is a scrap of cotton t-shirt, about 8" x 8". Anything close or kinda that size will do. Take one end of the wick and push it though the neck of top piece, so half is sticking out the bottom and half is inside. Wet that down to start the wicking action.
Now it's time to add the potting mix. Take a scoop and put it in the bottom of the planting container. Pull the wick up so it's surrounded by the potting mix. Tap that down and put on a little water to make the potting mix moist.
Add more or less as much potting mix as you need for putting in your plant. I'm transferring in a little thing of cilantro but if you are doing seeds, fill it up to the top. At this point it's just like re-potting any plant. Put in the plant, add extra potting mix to fill the sides, tap it down and water to make it moist.
When that is all done, take a look at where the neck is at the bottom of the planting container. You want to have the fill line about half way up the neck - where the water is only in contact with the wick and not the potting mix. Mark your fill line with the sharpie, pull the planting container up and fill the water reservoir to the fill line just marked. At this point, you are done!
The nice thing about this system is it gives the plant roots a constant level of moisture, it's not flood and then dry, flood and dry like normal watering. Check the fill line every few days to see where you are. The most I've had to refill in hot sun with a thirsty plant is every other day or so.
I've done this with one, two and three liter bottles and they all work. It's a nice and quick way to make a planter that will give your plants a fighting chance with a forgetful waterer.
.
Note - the top piece of the 2 liter is the planting container, the bottom piece is the water reservoir .
The wick is a scrap of cotton t-shirt, about 8" x 8". Anything close or kinda that size will do. Take one end of the wick and push it though the neck of top piece, so half is sticking out the bottom and half is inside. Wet that down to start the wicking action.
Now it's time to add the potting mix. Take a scoop and put it in the bottom of the planting container. Pull the wick up so it's surrounded by the potting mix. Tap that down and put on a little water to make the potting mix moist.
Add more or less as much potting mix as you need for putting in your plant. I'm transferring in a little thing of cilantro but if you are doing seeds, fill it up to the top. At this point it's just like re-potting any plant. Put in the plant, add extra potting mix to fill the sides, tap it down and water to make it moist.
When that is all done, take a look at where the neck is at the bottom of the planting container. You want to have the fill line about half way up the neck - where the water is only in contact with the wick and not the potting mix. Mark your fill line with the sharpie, pull the planting container up and fill the water reservoir to the fill line just marked. At this point, you are done!
The nice thing about this system is it gives the plant roots a constant level of moisture, it's not flood and then dry, flood and dry like normal watering. Check the fill line every few days to see where you are. The most I've had to refill in hot sun with a thirsty plant is every other day or so.
I've done this with one, two and three liter bottles and they all work. It's a nice and quick way to make a planter that will give your plants a fighting chance with a forgetful waterer.
.
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