Joined
·
19,540 Posts
We made a couple dozen of these a couple years ago and they worked out great. Click here to get to the first of a series of pictures with instructions how to build these from two cat litter pails and some PVC pipe. I was intrigued by the concept of Earthboxes but wanted something less expensive, so I developed this idea instead. The only cost to us was the dirt that went into them, as we had a pile of cat litter pails (check Freecycle if you don't have pails) and we also had scrap PVC pipe around.
I would use larger PVC for the fill pipe. The smaller stuff we used works okay but some of the later ones we made have larger pipes and fill faster.
We also cut some slits from the back of the lids to the holes in the lids so the lids will slip around the stems of the plants.
I've also come to realize plants don't need that much dirt to grow in, so I'm going to remove at least half the dirt and fill the bottom of the top pail with empty milk jugs, leaving the lids on. That will make the expensive dirt we put into them go twice as far.
Peppers growing in one of our self-watering planters. We actually brought this in the house and had it in the south windows to extend the growing season well past first frost.

Tomatillos. This plant got enormous.

I would use larger PVC for the fill pipe. The smaller stuff we used works okay but some of the later ones we made have larger pipes and fill faster.
We also cut some slits from the back of the lids to the holes in the lids so the lids will slip around the stems of the plants.
I've also come to realize plants don't need that much dirt to grow in, so I'm going to remove at least half the dirt and fill the bottom of the top pail with empty milk jugs, leaving the lids on. That will make the expensive dirt we put into them go twice as far.
Peppers growing in one of our self-watering planters. We actually brought this in the house and had it in the south windows to extend the growing season well past first frost.

Tomatillos. This plant got enormous.
