self-watering planter from found dresser drawers

Love the idea of the earthbox but can't help feeling like sticking living things in giant blocks of plastic is somehow just wrong? Don't think much about plastic but highly allergic to ugly? Like finding something old and making it new? This instructable is for you.

If you want more details on why the basics are set up a certain way, there are plenty of great instructables both here and all over the web, so I won't reinvent the wheel in this one, but this should be everything you need to get up & running.

Not starting with a pre-built plastic container as the main housing means some extra steps, time, and care, but for me the final product is worth it.

Step 1 Gather materials

Materials:*
- (3) found dresser drawers

***Before you get the other materials, take careful measurements and know what you're working with. The length and width of any drawer determines the size of the screen/basket(s) you'll need; the height of the bottom drawer determines the height of the ABS pipes, etc.

- 1 piece of 2" diameter PVC pipe (length should be the total height of all drawers stacked, or slightly longer)
- 3 pieces of 3" diameter ABS pipe (about 1/3 of the total height)
- 2 plastic baskets (or something stiff and porous enough to serve as a nontoxic, waterproof, weight-bearing screen)
- outdoor stain & sealant combo wood finish, or paint for waterproofing
- brush
- wood glue
- drill
- utility knife
- wire, string, or cable ties
- landscape tarp, opaque plastic bag, or river rocks
- potting mix
- fertilizer
- plant(s) or seed(s)

Optional:
- painter's tape (to prevent bleeding)
- tarp or old newspapers (for easy cleanup)
- gloves
- river stones or rocks (as one more layer between the soil & water reservoir, and as a topsoil cover)
- Leatherman (it just feels good)

*from the hardware store, .99 store, nursery, your local curb, or the Craigslist free section

Comments

[bongobong7]

Is there a specific reason to needing a porous screen to hold the soil above the water (the plastic baskets)? I am not sure what the benefit of having it porous is over just using a solid sheet.

[chandra.nalaani]

A porous screen allows for some airflow, but as long as there's something for the plant to wick water from (like the pipes), it might be fine. You could try it with a solid sheet and report back...

[bongobong7]

Thanks for the reply. Looking into it more the other reason I found was so that if there was too much water in the soil it could drain out through the screen.

[chandra.nalaani]

Actually, there's an overflow hole in this one - see Step 5.

[Lee-in-Iowa]

This is great, and I see people throwing away broken desks and chests of drawers all the time, so I can create some great wood planters. Thanks!

One thing I learned elsewhere that would work here: Instead of needing the plastic mesh and pipes down in the bottom, you can save time and work, and recycle some plastic drink bottles. Just drill small holes all over three sides of each bottle, cut a slit (about 1 by 3 inches) in the bottom, keep the original lid ON. Make as many of these as you need to lay into the bottom of your planter. These serve to "self-water" through your main pipe to the soil's top just as well as the mesh-and-cut-pipes do. I tried this with one large fig tree and it worked splendidly.

[chandra.nalaani]

Thanks :)

[crossless]

 Wood can't hold water like bucket. It would be good idea to hide some pot in inside of wood so it will loo nicer. :)

[chandra.nalaani]

Agreed. It would've been more practical to use a rectangular bin that fit perfectly inside, or let the bin determine the size and configured the wood as a shell around it, but the peppers still thrived.

[mriedner]

You could use eaves-trough for the water storage. Cut it to length, cap and seal the ends, and treat the rest of it as you would a double bucket or double rubbermaid solution. For wider containers just do the eaves-trough in multiples and use a T or X pipe fitting on your watering tube to split the input pipe so it flows into the multiple troughs.

You can also use different width eaves-trough, it comes in 4 - 10" widths.

It's fairly cheap to do, and would let you keep most of that moisture off the wood. Would also let you customize to almost any size/shape of wood container.

I'm planning to try this using a long window box style planter on my front deck - it gets lots of sun and is quite dry so having the self watering container will be key for growing the planned tomatoes and cucumbers.

[oirfideach]

Like it, and thanks for doing something that allows us to reuse, recycle and reduce!

[barnyardinthebackyard]

Beautiful! One question: I don't understand how the bottom is waterproof. It seems like the water is just settling in the bottom drawer, and that will rot the whole thing. Am I wrong, or do you have some sort of bottom catch for the water?

[chandra.nalaani]

I used an outdoor stain and sealant wood finish to help with waterproofing. See this comment.

[EmKay73]

Could you have used galvanized "hardware cloth"? Its a fencing item like chicken wire that comes in a 1/4" or 1/2" grid widths.

[chandra.nalaani]

I thought about that for the screen, then did some research, and galvanized metal leeches into the water over time - I'm not sure how much time or in what quantity, but I decided against it since these are edibles.

[Lazooka]

Unique idea!

[Donnisha23]

I love this idea, now time to find some drawers.  Do you have an updated so I can now how it's coming aong?

[xhmko]

How is the wood going with water sitting inside it all the time...is it rotting? I guess the stain would help that along.....i have also heard that if you burn the wood enough to char it but not destroy it it helps prevent rot Also, once the roots start growing through the basket at the bottom won't the contact with air be a problem? good idea though, i really like it

[chandra.nalaani]

Thanks xhmko. It was fine for the life cycle of the peppers, then I harvested, emptied it and moved to an apartment with no outdoor space... If I did something similar again, it would be a lot less work to go with something that was already built to hold water.

[FunkNattidelic]

i think a cool addition would be to connect the fill tube somehow to your eavestraughs (spelling?) so that whenever it rains it waters without you doing anything at all. itd be completely maintenance free till harvest time (if your growing food) =P

[mathew112234]

this might have been incredibly obvious to every1 but me... but is there soil under the basket mesh?

[chandra.nalaani]

Yes, but it's contained within the ABS pipes, which have holes to allow water from the reservoir to be pulled up into the soil above it without too much soil escaping below.

[mathew112234]

awesome thank you

[the rural independent]

Very cool idea. I'm with you on the plastic bucket thing not looking so nice in the garden, so this is a great option.

I'm going to add a link to this over on our forum. Our website is centered on homesteading type subjects. Gardening and alternative ideas is definitely a large part of that mindset.

Great job!

http://www.theruralindependent.com

[RayBanFan]

Pretty neat! Good job!

[justinhyp]

This is pretty cool!

[pleabargain]

Cool. What of the the stagnating water at the bottom? Do you get an odor?

[chandra.nalaani]

Good question. Any excess water flows out through a hole in the back just below the soil line (see Step 5) at the top of the reservoir, so the roots take what they need steadily without getting waterlogged. The water won't be sitting there long enough to do anything besides be pulled up by the plant... unless your plant is dead, in which case you should probably clean everything out and try again :)

[guy90]

Nice effect!

[yofortune]

want to keep slugs and snails of it?try my instructable about using a plant to repel snails. just search aloe vera!please vote for me too.

[SinAmos]

I am glad you are addressing the root growth, because most planters don't. Plants need plenty of room to create a root network, or they will suffer in their development.:) Good work. The ground is the best place for plants, but if you must use a planter, a tall one is the way to go.

[Kaelessin]

brilliant idea! can't wait to see the rest!