Self watering recycled vase

Step 6 Let it grow!!

Add water only in the bottom part, never trough the top of the vase, otherwise the water will come down with dirt and algae will start to grow.

Water will come up and will keep the earth moist.

Plants will grow nicely.

Have fun!

Any ideas are welcome.

Comments

[tonic4]

I had everything i needed within about 5 feet. I read this, and made it in about 10 minutes. We had bought a cheap mop with the cotton strings on it for the wicks in our tiki lamps. That worked well, just had to make the hole a little bigger. Thanks for the fun idea. When my kids are older we'll do this together.

[Jojokittie]

Does it have to be COTTON? Or can it be a wool string?

[Hegpetz]

This is an awesome idea! Thank you very much for sharing!!

[PondPlantGirl]

Great idea! I had a teacher that used this idea to draw the leaky roof water into a garbage pale! I am going to try this and share it on my show too! Will link back to you.

HAPPY GARDENING!

GAiL

www.pondplantgirl.com

[intersectionOfSpaceAndTime]

I love this idea. I'm going to try it next August when I plant tomato seeds. Thanks for sharing.

[intersectionOfSpaceAndTime]

I live along side the Colorado river in Arizona. My tomato plants live outdoors from October and into June. Once the day-time temperature reaches 100°F the plants stop producing fruit. They die off when the temperature gets around 110°F. They're thriving right now, growing an inch a day, as the daily temperatures are only into the 90s.

[brabantia]

you plant tomato seeds in august? Where are you???

[bbullet]

I live in Brazil, here we can plant almost anything all year long. :-)

[danjo]

By only watering from the bottom you might eventually have a salt and mineral buildup in your soil. (Mostly if you're using hard tapwater or maintaining the container for a long period of time). As the water moves up into the soil and evaporates it leaves behind any trace salts and minerals, they'll build up over time. Normal watering tends to flush these out the bottom. If anyone has ever used one of those double layer african violet pots they may have had similar problems. Not a reason not to do this, but just to be aware of so you can troubleshoot effectively if your plant starts suffering.

[dnsnthegrdn]

Distilled water should help with that shouldn't it? What about rain water? Could be a good idea to give them a periodic flush to help with the problem. Smart thinking danjo!

[cgthayer]

The bottoms can also get a green algae growth since sunlight gets in through the clear bottles. It should be pretty easy to take off the base and give it a quick hand rinse if it's looking dirty. I would actually avoid distilled water because it may be missing minerals and nutrients that the plant may need, but that depends on the particular water and plant. I haven't tried any plant food or fertilizer....hmmm... Thanks

[andrew101]

thats false. plants dont get minerals to survive from their water. that should come from the soil. think if a plant is wild the rain is in a way distilled water because it evaporates then condenses again. so as long as u have rich enough soil. the less minerals in the water the better. distilled is the way to go as far as this project goes

[makaalohilohi]

it's deuterated water you don't want to be giving your plants. it's slightly heavier, and can't be drawn through the plant's vascular system by transpiration.

[satanclauz]

i totally invented this when i was like 7!! well... sort-of... my invention was just a "hydro pot", the same bottle concept but with no dirt and keep the cap off and put whatever roots in the water :) your version is a fantastic take on my idea, i expect royalties soon! ;) this is a great project to do with the kids, they can even decorate their own bottles!

[resonanteye]

I'd like to know how to make one of those for my seedling starts, wish someone would make an instructable for it

[elfian]

Hi ,tonight I will complete my first one!Its been haunting me since I spotted it 3 days ago.Finally I got the nicest bottle to start with and am glad the comments about mineral build up were there.Cheers

[lurwah]

A waterplant in the bottom part would be a nice addition :)

[janbabs]

Presumably, if you have another bottle you could make a "cloche" top to the whole affair; creating a mini greenhouse.

[bookwormforever]

You can also use tightly-pulled plastic wrap over the top to create that mini-greenhouse effect. We used to do that when I volunteered with special-needs kids at a school garden. We didn't have much budget, and the plastic wrap worked nicely. So do those domed containers you get when you buy a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store, but they aren't self-watering like this bottle vase. This is such a neat idea.

[thomasambroz]

A great idea. Love it. No more need for the trays used for water drainage. How moist does it keep the soil? This is probably recommended for plants that do not require the soil to dry before watering. Right?