Make a self-watering bucket planter

An hour · Some tools · 7 steps

Two buckets and a pipe: a planter that waters itself from a hidden reservoir for days at a time.

Cross-section of a self-watering bucket planter
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Fig. Cross-section of a self-watering bucket planter.

  1. Fill pipe: pour water in here
  2. Moist potting mix
  3. Drain holes in the inner bucket
  4. Wicking cup packed with mix, sitting in the water
  5. Water reservoir
  6. Overflow hole: the soil never sits in water

What you'll need

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You'll also need

  • Two food-grade 5-gallon buckets
  • A plastic cup or small net pot
  • A 2-foot piece of 1-inch PVC pipe
  • A drill with a small bit and a hole saw

Steps

  1. Drill a dozen or so small holes in the bottom of one bucket. This is the inner bucket that holds the soil.
  2. With the hole saw, cut a hole in the center of its bottom just big enough to hold the cup. Poke holes all over the cup.
  3. Cut a second hole near the edge of the bottom, just big enough for the pipe to slide through.
  4. Slide the inner bucket into the outer one. Mark the outer bucket just below where the inner bucket's bottom sits, and drill a small hole there: that's the overflow, so the soil never sits in water.
  5. Set the cup in its hole and the pipe in its hole, down to the bottom of the outer bucket. Cut the pipe off a few inches above the rim.
  6. Pack the cup with moist potting mix first, then fill the rest of the inner bucket. The mix in the cup wicks water up to the roots.
  7. Plant, water from the top once to settle it, then fill the reservoir through the pipe until water runs out of the overflow hole.

Tips

  • One bucket planter fits one tomato, one pepper, or a few herbs.
  • Plants in potting mix need feeding. Add diluted liquid fertilizer to the reservoir every couple of weeks.
  • White buckets stay cooler than dark ones in full sun.

Use it in Planting Year