We Tried This - How to Build the Best Self Wicking Containers! DIY Self Watering Wicking Tubs
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2024
- Discover How to Create the Ultimate Self-Wicking Containers! Our DIY Self-Watering Tubs, inspired by the Arms Family Homestead and Gardening with Leon channels, are a game-changer. Follow our step-by-step instructions to learn how we made it happen. For additional how-to guides and delectable recipes, be sure to visit our blog and website: alvaradocommun...
Your husband is a good instructor !
Your questions were excellent 🌱
Thank you so much!
@@ntxg
Excellent team work
I love wicking bed systems like this! I have experimented with a number of types of tubs, totes, cattle feed bins and others.
One thing I do for all of them that works really well for determening when to add water is to attach a small styrofoam ball to a length of stiff straight wire. I drill a hole in a cap for the PVC pipe and thread the wire through the hole with the styrofoam ball inside the fill pipe until it floats at the full water position. I then attach a bit of tape to the wire at the point when there is about 1 inch of water left in the bin/tote etc.
When the water level is topped off to the drain hole, the flag will be about 2 inches higher than the PVC cap which will indicate maximum water level. When the flag lowers to the top of the PVC cap, I then know there is only 1 inch of water left and it's time to top off the water level.
That makes it quick and easy to walk my garden and see which wicking beds are in need of adding water, and that eliminates constantly top off the system when there is already still plenty of water in the system. Additionally, a PVC cap will reduce evaporation and extend the time between watering. Just a suggestion. Cheers!
Thank you both for taking the time to make this video. I am very interested in making one of these. I may try it! I have to say, I loved seeing each of your dogs make an appearance. It was like they were saying, “Hi Dad. What are you doing? Can I help? I can help. You let me know when you need my help.”
LOL...I know Kristen, they have to be a part of everything and we love it! Yes, you should try one of these, I think you will be amazed at the difference between in ground and tub growing.
I loved the comment, "just do the math". In this world, I wonder how many people can "just do the math".
I use peat moss in my wicking beds and it works perfectly.
THIS upload answered my question from 2 weeks ago:
How you keep everything watered. THANK YOU ! 🌱
Hi SS, thank you so much for watching! Will you be making one?
We did this last year and it worked great. We also got the idea from Leon, he's a wealth of information.
He sure is SMD. Lots of wisdom.
Great tutorial! Hubs is so handy and makes it look super easy. Thanks for sharing the wicking tub video with us. Take care.
He's a keeper for sure!
YAYYYY!!! I've been SOOO CURIOUS ABOUT THESE? EXCITED!!!! THANK YOU!!
Yes! You need to try them...we are having really good results so far!
We have a few wicking tubs it really cuts down on the watering. I've watched Leon make all kinds good man he really wants people to learn to grow food.
He sure is. Lots of wisdom!
I do something similar. I fill the bottom layers with dead punky branches and limbs. Essentially Hügelkultur container gardening. Has been working very well for me.
Hi RSJ. I had wondered about HK and if it really worked! Thank you!
Thanks so much for this video!!! Tons of great info!
Thank you Samantha for watching gal!
I actually grew Cowpeas in two of my longer wicking tubs, Okra in one and carrots in another. I also had some green beans and squash in two of my tubs. The Okra, cowpeas and carrots did very well. I grew tomatoes in buckets that did very well. I plan to do more of the same this year. Since I have limited space in my backyard, these worked like a charm!
Yay Alicia!!!❤️❤️
Thank you for this! Love your dogs and the shepherd. Our two like to be right by our sides also no matter what or where we are doing something.
❤️ Thank you where the trail leads for watching us, we love all the support y’all give us appreciate you heaps love you Jill
❤@@ntxg
This is a great idea since this might be a hot and dry season. Thank you so much.
Yes, La Nina promises a hot dry summer. Our spring has not been as wet as normal but we still have April and May to see what happens.
Rural King had a fantastic sale on these totes this last Christmas time. $6.88/each !! I bought 30 of 'em for many purposes and this plan is one of them! Great vid!
I need to go!!!
I love this setup! Thank you both for taking the time to show all the steps to get one of these setup for growing. Just an FYI, I priced the tubs at Home Depot and Lowe’s. They are currently running around $15. Supply chain issues I guess!
God bless!
Hi Dan!!! Thank you sir for watching us. Costco has tubs for 10.99! Had my daughter pick me more up
@@ntxg Okay, thank you for the tip!
At the time of this comment (FEB 2024), Sam's, Costco and others are just under $10..00 for the 27 gallon.
I took advantage of a Christmas sale at Rural King when they ran a special on 27- gallon totes for $6.88/ea. I bought 30 of them!! Really! 😃
Thank you, Jill and Greg for sharing this very useful video👍 Which by the way, love your German Shepherd💕
She’s my baby! Miss Bear!❤️❤️❤️
We made two of these this weekend using your tutorial!! Easy! Sharing on my Instagram.
Yay thank you gal!
I'm rooting for you Greg. I have to fill the tubs every couple days in the heat of the summer to have consistent moisture to prevent splitting on tomatoes. Peppers are more forgiving. I had some of the commercial weed barrier expose to the outside elements for at least 5 years and it was still good. I had to rip it off the boards to get it off.. I got my 6" at lowes. it was perforated , it doesn't matter.
I just read you comment to him. He said cool, thats nice to know!
@@ntxg I've used 300 feet of the pipe so I have a few of them. LoL
We saw yours! Been watching. You sure put a lot into that Deer Fence. I'm glad we don't have any deer in our area....sigh
well done!
👏👏👏just found the video I've been looking for 👏👏👏👏 Blessings ❤️
❤️❤️❤️❤️yay!!!! Thank you Carolyn for your support😘
Love this Video. Truely Amazing what you have accomplished.
Thank you Lesa...Can't wait till we get you going on your HT.
Hello from north Texas. We are going to attempt wicking raised garden beds in a 4’ x 8’ box. We are looking at pipe in bottom with fabric then course sand for wicking material then soil. Lots to learn for us. All the best from Greenville.
Yay Brent!!!
@@ntxgthanks. We have built our beds and put down pond liner (20mil) and am cutting up the 100’ perforated drain hose. I watched Leon’s channel and he put fabric over ends of hose and didn’t use fabric. Just put the potting soils right on the drain pipes. Am unsure of fertilizer & mulch but am trying to learn. Any advice on that?
I loved your video! Good luck to you with your garden.
Thank you Chris!
I use 17 gallon containers, drill a one inch hole 3 inches up from the bottom on opposite sides. Fill with my growing medium and water twice a week, the 2 each reservoir in the bottom hold enough water in the soil to keep the soil moist enough to feed the plants for 3-4 days in our eastern NC climate.
Do you need food grade container (tubs)? I wonder if cheap plastic ones will leach unwanted chemicals into you soil?
I like it! nice!
I know I’m a year late, but this will be a great help this season. Watering is my biggest challenge. I always bottom water my seed starts and it is so easy. I’m excited to try this in my containers. Thank you. (Btw, who’s Leon?)
Leon is the one who is known for kicking these wicking tubs off! Many channels use him as a reference. So glad you will be doing this! It is very helpful
Thanks for sharing!
Very welcome Mary Ruth. Lots of hugs
Well done tutorial. Thanks
Thank you Ibebebe! Will you be making one?
@@ntxg I’m thinking about it. I have some large containers I use now but they have drain holes. With your design you have more control over water. That’s a big deal where I live. All I have is a little container garden outside of my kitchen. We are able to pick from it just about year round. I’m in zone 9b. Wish we live close I would be over shopping in your green house 😂 just kidding u guys have very green thumbs. Hope the cold snap don’t bite to hard. I saved that video so I can reference it in the future. Your husband did a good job explaining the build. Have a blessed Easter. 🐣
If you were to raise the drain pipe you could put more water in it,, could you use a layer of gravel ?
Yes but be careful ❤️
Great instructional video! Thank you for posting, it simplified the process.
Thank you Rachel! Appreciate you watching.
I've always planted in the ground, I plan on doing some traveling so wanted to do something like this to make it easier on my brother since he won't be able to water on a daily bases! I know nothing about the plastic containers but have seen other videos mentioning food grade buckets, are these food grade or is it not that big of a deal to use any bucket or container?
We don’t use food grade. Not a big deal to us
Great clip
Thank you Stone Homestead! Praying you are well!
I tried this. It worked great. But then the ants marched up the side and into the drain hole and attacked my zucchini.
Put little tuna cán, cat food can, any small near ưith half bạe soda and pơwder sugar, will kill ants. Can use in gardens.
Half Bake Soda and confection sugar will kill ants . Use can opener with hole punch to cut holes in the sides of small tuna cans for ants to go in.
Forgot to say put holes in side of can wirth can opener.
North Texas here as well....
Leon is awesome
He sure is!
Excellent instruction from you both! This answered some of the questions I still had after watching other videos. Y'all made this seem so easy, that now I have to try a least one. Do you think this would work for a lemon tree? Blessings!
Hi TNT. I do think it would work for a lemon tree and help you move it about if needed. Thank you lady. Blessings and Love, Jill
Definitely going to try this method and I wonder if putting logs in the bottom would work
Hmmm interesting!
Thanks for your video! Did the soil at the bottom of the wicking tub turn anaerobic, mildewy rotting smell, by the end of the season? Before I go with it I thought I'd make sure on that.
A lot of salts buildup happened. I did another video on how you should change out your soil at least once a year if not twice a year.
@@ntxg Cool, thank you!
@@ntxg What about a removable plug at bottom of tub, so can flush out whenever you need to? Qld. Oz.
Great video with lots of tips for success. Do you have a way to determine how much water is in the bottom? So you know how soon you need to add more water? Thanks to both of you
Hi Linda I will have hubs answer in a bit!
Can this method work with potatoes and root vegetables 😋 I'm buying all the potting soil ingredients separately as per another video, they shown its much cheaper than the premixed bags 🎒. Thanks for explaining things, the other videos left me still wondering how it all works.
Yes you can!!
Yoy talk about the "sweet spot" when cutting the pipe to length. I have rhe exsct tote, 27 gallon. Anyways can you possibly tell me how long to cut thkse pieces of pipe?
I wondered this too. How long did you cut the perforated corrugated drain pipe?
The length of the tub minus couple of inches
How does the water go up with the weed barrier in the way? That’s the only thing I don’t understand
The water doesn’t go up the soil wicks it up. That’s why they’re called wicking tubs❤️
Excellent video and instructions thank you both I’ll be using your method for sure my only comment is that you would be better off using your own compost from home rather than miracle grow that way you shouldn’t need to fertilise it all season as a real life compost full of microbes and biotic life is much healthier for the plantsAl-Tabatabai if you are using it to grow vegetables in the vegetables will be full of the micro nutrients that you need to keep you healthy whereas miracle grow focuses on NPK.Check out on TH-cam how to make your own compost once you start making your own compost you’ll fall in love with Guarding properly as he will realise there is no waste in the system whatsoever everything gets recycled. Thanks again😊
Indeed DJ! We do not use Commercial mixes with Ammonium nitrates any longer! Thank you for watching us!
It's a little home made self watering
System!
How do you keep the soil in contact with the water (at the ends of the pipes) from going anaerobic?
The pipes are there really only to make space for the water to go down into. The wicking affect is supposed to let the roots grow down into it and pull the water up from the bottom.
Good video! Did you buy your weed fabric at a big box store?
Hi Carol. I purchased the weed fabric from a greenhouse supply company. www.growerssupply.com/farm/supplies/cat1;gs_greenhouse_covering;gs_ground_cover_fabrics_1.html.
How do you know how full to fill the wicking tub? Fill it until you see the water come out the hole, or just guess?
Yes! When water comes out of hole
Question, do the tomatoes get enough sun in the tunnel? Also, can I make my own soil mix that would be more cost effective than miracle gro?
Hi Debbie. Yes they do, when we hit full swing the sun goes right over the top. We have 40% shade cloth to keep it from getting too hot in the summer. I but you can, I just don't know all the ingredients you would need. Possibly some compost, perlite, vermeculite and peat moss. Good soil base like garden soil.
How did you wind up supporting the tomato plants that were in the tubs?
Same way!
@@ntxg I meant did you have to put the support inside or outside of the tub? With big tomatoes I'd think you'd have to place something outside the tub since the soil is not very deep.
Hi Jill, pumpkins ate heavy feeders, wondering how did your grew in wucking tub. I used 15 gallon container this year and not getting any pumpkin (maybe too hot?) Was your wicking tub large enough for pumpkins?
Hi Sang Kim! Yes they are heavy feeders especially for water I don’t know where you’re located but you still have time to get some pumpkins off of the plant it is too hot right now but things are changing for us here in Texas. We are using 25 to 27 gallon tubs let me know where you’re located I bet as it gets cooler you’ll have better luck
@@ntxg thank you. I am in Arlington Tx, I am just keeping the pumpkin plants alive, hoping they will give me something. I am planning in trying the self wicking tub next year. Thanks
👍
If you use milk jugs or water bottles, drill holes in the so the air can escape or they’ll want to float up.
Hi Cindy! Yes ma'am! How are you gal?
What is the name of the weed fabric you used
Hi Leighann. I purchased it from agricultural solutions but my second order never arrived and they did not credit me or return my calls. I then order woven weed cloth from Amazon. It looks to be good
as old school Mansfield, a thumbs down to the Kennedale shirt ;). Otherwise, good stuff
OHHH LOLOLO...Steven...I went to school in Everman....so I'm pretty old school too. I remember when Mansfield was a very small town. My daughter went to Kennedale and was on the drill team, that was my Friday night football shirt!
...no... ...Just, NO...