Upside-Down Hanging Self-Watering Earth-Filled Box!

Step 2 Materials

Since my system evolved over several growing seasons, I used stuff I already had. This instructable shows how I made mine, but since you are starting from scratch, I would recommend some changes (unstructable?):

• Clear hoses are cool and useful to see if the system is working properly. However, sunlight + water + nutrients = algae. The algae hasn't been troublesome, yet, but I thought you should be warned. If you use clear hoses like I did, you might want to cover them with an opaque material.
• The horizontal hose is 1/4" ID (inner diameter). The wick hoses are 3/8" ID. If I were you, I would make all the hoses the same size as the wick hoses to simplify the connections. In my instructions, I will call for 3/8" hoses even though the pics show 1/4" hoses.

All of my materials were purchased off the shelf at my local home-improvement store which is not even that good. I recommend reading the entire instructable to understand how this fits together before purchasing any connectors.

MATERIALS FOR EACH PLANTER:

• 10-quart wastebasket/bucket (Umbra Garbino works great)
• Lid or mulch to cover the dirt on top
• 2" length of 1" diameter PVC (often available in lengths greater than 2" at a discount)
• 12" length of 1-1/4" diameter PVC pipe
• End cap for the 1-1/4" diameter PVC pipe
• 10" wick that can fit inside a 3/8" ID hose (I used tiki torch wicks)
• 6" length of 3/8" ID hose
• (1) quick-connect male connector to connect the hose to the planter. THE WICK MUST BE ABLE TO FIT INSIDE (a barb-style connector will be a lot more difficult to use).
• (1) quick-connect "Tee" connector to connect to the wick hose to the main horizontal line (unless this is the last planter on the end--then this should be an equivalent quick-connect elbow)
• Small tomato plant (between 3" and 8" tall)
• Good soil/compost mix (add some limestone to prevent blossom-end rot)
• Some foam, gravel, or other material to raise the soil off the bottom of the planter

MATERIALS FOR THE RESERVOIR:

• 4' length of 4" diameter PVC pipe
• (2) 4" diameter PVC female adapters
• (2) 4" diameter PVC male plugs
• Quick-connect stop valve that connects to 3/8" ID hose
• Some trustworthy pipe hangers and chains or cable. The reservoir will be heavy and unmanageable when full.
• A large cork (possibly from a large bottle of good tequila)

OPTIONAL RESERVOIR WATER LEVEL METER:

• Elbow connector, barbed for 3/8" ID on one end and threaded on the other
• 8-10" length of 3/8" ID hose
• Tiny piece of cork (smaller than 3/8" but large enough to see)

OTHER MATERIALS AND TOOLS:

• Enough 3/8" ID hose to reach from the reservoir to the furthest planter. Then get a few more feet so you can make mistakes. (hose is pretty cheap)
• A few square inches of screen mesh to keep out mosquitoes
• A rotary cutting tool to cut PVC and the wastebaskets/buckets
• A fat soldering iron if you prefer to melt holes in plastic. I do. (ventilated area, blah blah blah)
• Hot glue or sealant
• PVC cement
• Teflon ribbon for fixing hose connections and leaks
• A ladder, step stool or long arms

Comments

[frogmama]

I'm planning on making some up-side-down planters this year and really like those waste baskets - but looks like they aren't available anywhere anymore  :(

For those who like the frosted white wastebasket look, though, the Dollar Tree has some similar shaped frosted garbage cans that would probably work, but you'd have to drill holes for the chains.