Step 7: Planting
Use your favorite potting mix, compost, plants, seedlings, etc., and put it all together! This part is really up to you, but I would encourage you to soak the wicking basket first, and only use a small amount of fertilizer. The bucket recycles it, so you probably won't need to add fertilizer again for a very long time.
If you cut smaller holes in the lid, gently thread the plants through the holes before lowering the lid completely.
If you cut one big hole, line the top of the bucket with black plastic. This helps keep the potting mix moist. (see Mr. Beefhead's comment about why it's important to use potting mix)
To water the dearthbox, just pour water down the pipe. You know it's full when water comes out the drainage holes on the sides. We started with moist earth to make the wicking basket's job easier.
Thanks for checking out our instructable! If something doesn't make sense, please tell me and I'll fix it!
ps: we just got our copy of Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen's The Urban Homestead (http://homegrownrevolution.com) in the mail, and it's great! Their SWC recipe is really really similar to ours, but with a few cool extras and best of all, lots of advice about which plants do well in SWCs and which plants do not. You should definitely check out their book if you're using or thinking about using any sort of earthbox.
If you cut smaller holes in the lid, gently thread the plants through the holes before lowering the lid completely.
If you cut one big hole, line the top of the bucket with black plastic. This helps keep the potting mix moist. (see Mr. Beefhead's comment about why it's important to use potting mix)
To water the dearthbox, just pour water down the pipe. You know it's full when water comes out the drainage holes on the sides. We started with moist earth to make the wicking basket's job easier.
Thanks for checking out our instructable! If something doesn't make sense, please tell me and I'll fix it!
ps: we just got our copy of Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen's The Urban Homestead (http://homegrownrevolution.com) in the mail, and it's great! Their SWC recipe is really really similar to ours, but with a few cool extras and best of all, lots of advice about which plants do well in SWCs and which plants do not. You should definitely check out their book if you're using or thinking about using any sort of earthbox.
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Think of it this way: if the pipe is cut flat, 90 degrees to its length, and the flat end rests directly on the bottom of the container, there is really very little clearance for the water to actually flow from the pipe, into the container. This means the water can only flow out at a low rate, much less than the flow rate from the hose.
Now consider a 45 degree angle cut. Only the tip of the "point" is resting directly on the bottom of the container. The "open" portion of the cut allows fast , direct movement of water from the pipe into the container. Instead of the miniscule clearance provided by the 90 degree cut, there is now a wide-open space for the water to flow.
I'm not sure if you have a question about drainage holes, or? There have to be some holes in the outer bucket so that the water in the bottom doesn't become stagnant, and so that you know when you've filled it up. If something doesn't make sense in the directions, let me know! Would like to clarify.