5 Gal Bucket Gardening

**roar-k** · 03-27-2011, 03:42 PM

Since the fiasco with the house buying and being the impatient bugger I am I wanted to start a garden, but be able to take it with me when we finally get the house we want.

I remember my grandmother using 5 gal buckets for some of her gardening needs and I did some research and found that it's a very popular method. After much time spent on the interwebs I decided to go with the self-watering setup.

The self-watering setup actually requires two buckets. One bucket on the bottom will be the reservoir and the top bucket will be the actual container the plant would grow in. I would also have wick for the water and fill tube to fill the reservoir.

First I had to gather needed tools and materials:

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3/4" Bit:

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2" Hole Saw

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...n/102_8154.jpg

Hacksaw:

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1.5" PVC:

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Buckets & Potting Mix:

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**roar-k** · 03-27-2011, 03:45 PM

The setup will be two buckets stacked:

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Then you will need to use the hole saw and put two holes in the bottom of the top bucket:

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Those holes will be for the fill tube and the wick.

Next will be to add some extra holes for drainage and such:

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You will also need to drill a hole right through the bottom bucket right below where the top one ends as to not over fill. You will be able to see the holes in my last pictures, but they are very small.

**roar-k** · 03-27-2011, 03:47 PM

Cut the PVC to size which is about 3" higher than the top bucket. You will also need to cut the PVC to allow the water to fill the reservoir:

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Arrrgh, I forgot to take pics showing how high the fill tube will be once it is installed. Sorry, next time I will show this.

**roar-k** · 03-27-2011, 03:49 PM

Alright now it's time to add the wick to the buckets and fill it with a potting mix:

Once again I forgot to take pictures of the wick and while I was adding the potting mix, but I will show you what I used. I used a 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 top soil, and 1/3 mushroom compost:

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And the final product:

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**roar-k** · 03-27-2011, 03:53 PM

I have about 5-7 more complete setups to do. In the end I will be growing strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, garlic, bell peppers, potatoes, and tomatoes. I am thinking of adding carrots and some others to the list.

**hunter63** · 03-27-2011, 04:10 PM

Nice set up, great tutorial.
Might want to try an up-side down tomato, (saw your hanging bucket), but use a smaller variety, so the fruit doesn't just simply hang down straight.

My MIL likes to garden but at 85 couldn't take care of it, so I made her a similar set up, but just a single bucket with holes so she wouldn't have to bend over.
Potatoes should be interesting.

PS and to think I used to be able to get mushroom compost for .24 cents a bushel, right from the mushroom farm......Oh well.......

**Don** · 03-27-2011, 04:20 PM

Nice job, kind of like a do it your self earthbox. I've done all my gardening in containers. Tomatos work well in 5 gal buckets with gravel and holes in the bottom for drainage. This year I plan on making a couple of raised beds. Your buckets are a great idea especially if you'll have to move in the middle of the season.

Don

**gryffynklm** · 03-27-2011, 05:06 PM

nice set up. i look forward to the update. What did you use for the wick, can you describe the wick and set up?

**roar-k** · 03-27-2011, 05:38 PM

I used a thick cotton material. It was some of these ugly placemats that my mother gave my wife when we got married.

The original setup usually uses a plastic cup with slits for the wick, but I wanted to try something different and see how it worked.

**crashdive123** · 03-27-2011, 05:42 PM

Great job. I love container gardening.

@Gryf - for my wick I fitted a small pond basket in the upper container (basket with slots all over it) that extended down into the water bath. The basket, along with the upper container were filled with dirt. This way the roots are watered from the bottom, not the top.

**gryffynklm** · 03-27-2011, 06:43 PM

Great I've got the picture, sort of what I was thinking. Crash, I seem to remember the pond strainer from your container gardening posts. I Like the double bucket idea. My yard is shaded by large trees so finding sun to grow things is a challenge. There is plenty of sun around the gravel drive container gardening worked well last year, this year I will incorporate the self watering container idea. Thanks Roar and Crash.

**testhop** · 03-27-2011, 07:15 PM

i have been using buckets for years .
thay savewater, plant food .
and best of all it makes weeding easy.

**crashdive123** · 03-27-2011, 09:11 PM

They sure do testhop. Another way to save water is to stop on by the Intro section and tell us a little about yourself. Well, OK - maybe it won't save water, but it will definitely save plant food.