DIY Self-Watering Raised Planter Bed (Sub-irrigation system)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ก.ย. 2024
- See how I built this Modern self-watering raised garden bed with a built-in sub-irrigation system step-by-step. It is perfect for small backyards and balconies because you don't have to run a drip line through! Or if you just don't want to remember to water every day :)
I am collaborating with my friend Angela @AngelaMarieMade to bring you spring projects.
Check out Angela's beautiful potting bench - • DIY Potting Bench | Ho...
My signature courses:
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My full post with plans and complete supply list - www.anikasdiyl...
How does self-irrigation work? - www.anikasdiyl...
7-week update on the planter - www.anikasdiyl...
The tutorial I found the most helpful on sub-irrigation systems - • Self-watering SIP Sub-...
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Landscape fabric
Corrugated perforated drain pipe - amzn.to/2PmONgH
2″ PVC tube - total 18.” - amzn.to/3sR1tLv
¾” flexible tube - amzn.to/2PqmDkO
Fish-safe pond liner - amzn.to/2PKIF1s
Vermiculite + Peat moss mixture. I mixed them in a 2:1 ratio
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Great project! I might recommend covering all four drainage tubes with landscape fabric prior to filling with soil so that the drainage holes do not get clogged with soil as the water moves back and forth.
is landscape fabric non-toxic for the plants?
She did no? At the 7 min mark, she does cover the ends with landscape fabric and duct tape
@@paulpham7441 I think they mean putting landscape fabric over the top of the pipes, as well as on the ends of the pipes.
You have by far the best video showing and explaining how to do this procedure.
Thank you! Glad you found it helpful
Great build and I love that you got your kids to help! At first I thought they were employees from a gardening center because their shirts almost match 😀
thank you! That's my husband and daughter LOL :)
Love the looks of the planter; what a great idea.
On the leak situation, I wonder if it would have been better if you added on the side at the lowest point from inside and then add a few holes to the liner all the around, a few inches above the reservoir. That way the excess water would seep out from the planting medium once the reservoir is full. An extra layer of the liner might be required, up to a a few inches above the holes in the inside liner, to protect the wood.
I’ve seen similar builds. I’d suggest sealing the liner perforation with silicone to stop the leak. Just dig out that corner to repair. You could also use silicone or hot glue to seal the inlet so it stays in place. I bet the completed planter is very heavy. I’m building a similar one using cedar fence boards.
I read your step x step but I'm still not understanding why the corrugated perf-pipe has to be cut in to strips or how that helps? Why wouldn't it be one continuous pipe snaked in the bottom so the water would be in all of the pipes? As it is it would see the water out-flows the inlet pipe and then collects or runs across the bottom to the drain side and out... how do you get water into the other pipes at any rate to help? I'm interested in a follow up to see how successful this is and how long it lasted between fill ups (and how much water constituted a fill up) thanks for the video, +1 on the likes.
And also how to water gets to the soil. No holes in the pipes. None of the pipes are connected. How does the water flow from one pipe to another? This video is missing several steps...
Since the pipes are perforated the entire length, they don't need to be one continuous piece. Think of them more as a reservoir and barrier that keeps the water and air separate while not letting the soil in. They aren't pumping or transporting water to any other part.
As the planter is filled, the soil in the little spaces between the pipes absorbs whatever water it needs. Whatever is excess and not absorbed flows through the perforations and into the other pipes.
The drain tube keeps the water from rising above that level, ensuring the planter doesn't get flooded
As long as she is happy it doesn’t matter there is water or not
Yep, I seem to be missing some key information too.
Water will find its way around.
Just an idea, You could add casters on the bottom of this raised bed so you can roll it anywhere.
Awesome idea!
This planter is awesome! I love the self watering feature, I always forget to water my flowers! Such a great idea! Thank you for collaborating with me on these fun spring builds!!
Step 1 hock a diamond ring for the lumber costs!
bro i went to home depot $8 for a 2x4
@@smooveb191 -- I KNOW, how insane is that?? Just built cubbies for the garage, and you're right. $7.58 for a 96" 2x4. Ridic.
@@thefrankperspective4247 I remeber it being like 4 the most everything going up exept my paycheck SMH
There is a lot of scrap wood around.
Look for local amish farmers in your area if there are any. Their way more reasonable
Wow, I'm so impressed. I love the planter and would like to try making this myself without the self-watering feature (I'm pretty good at watering my plants daily).
This really economizes the use of water though and the plants take what they need. No guess work or monitoring the needs of the plants for how much water - on top of the bonus of no water waste. It will give us more time to interact with the plants for the other needs they have beyond being watered.
I like it, expressly the use o vericulite clean, and retaining water and nutrients GREAT...THANKS YOU GUYS
Beautifully done! I will use your model to build my own. Thank you so much! I'm trying to grow food, plants, etc. For those who may not be able to buy the lumber, i use palettes (good condition) for projects. It's a little difficult to disassemble, but the wood is free.
Shouldn’t the drain hole be higher than the pipe diameter for it to hold water in the pipe?
good thought, i was thinking the drain should be coming out the bottom of the planter
It would raise the standing level of the water, basically making a boggy mess at the bottom.
I must be missing
something here.
The pipes aren't
interconnected at all.
Your input side will
be soaked, and the
other side dry.
I agree. The build makes no sense. No connection between the inlet pipe and outlet pipe. These pipes would need to be connected for the output pipe to drain as she demonstrated. Really dumb demo.
Even though they are not connected, the vermiculite and peat moss allow water to transfer between the pipes and fills them up. The soil will keep wicking the water as needed. It works. Plenty of articles including mine have shared this method. They do not need to be connected.
@@Anikasdiylife
Thank you, Anika.
So you don’t need to fill up the inner tubes with water? What’s the purpose for those tubes that don’t have an inlet or outlet
The bottom fills up with water when you put water in the pipe that sticking out of the soil.
I'm not sure I follow, how does water get into the other pipes if they not connected. Seems like the water runs out of the clear over run pipe before the other pipes fill up.
@@rctcjc28 I had same thought, it is not real that this will keep water inside for month and hydrates the plants.
All the pipes are perforated. Water from the filled pipe will leak water out of the holes and bath the other pipes. What I don't get is the idea that water located 14-20 inches below the planting surface will somehow get to the roots that aren't reaching the water table.
@@roses2155 capillary action
Fun project and great video! Thanks Anika!
Thanks so much! 😊
Sorry if this is a dumb question. How does the water get into the other black plastic perforated pipes if the pvc pipe goes into only 1?
I will be building this and making a video this week! Can't wait, thank you for the inspiration and instructions xoxo Sandy DIY
I like the planter being deep as i think i could grow watermelon in that thing
Great idea planning on doing it for my herb garden. I just thought maybe you didn’t need to cut the pipe , just fold it instead so you don’t have to deal with possible leaks and this way the water will have one continuous source and drain
Thanks. You actually CANNOT use a continuous pipe. The water will just go in on one end and flow out on the other. It will not hold water and this concept will not work.
Looks great and minimal
Thanks!
Great job! Thanks for your video.
Thanks for watching!
Superb Anika, great design and execution.
Thank you so much 🙂
Great idea! I love this planter...
I am in the middle of building a planter and your terrific video has given me the motivation to make it self watering. The one thing that confuses me is how the water goes from the inlet to the other end without the pipes being connected…? Very much appreciate your time 🙏🏾
Best of luck! Happy building!
love this idea!!!! cause i forget a lot!!!
Gotta do everything I can to help the black thumb :)
@@Anikasdiylife black thumb??? You've been talking to my friends ain't ya 😂😂😂
Awesome
Great job thank you for the idea
Most welcome 😊
Today was my first time to your page and absolutely LOVED it!. Great tutorial!
Great diy project enjoyed watching
Thank you! Cheers!
This was a great tutorial with great resources. Thanks.
Great job 👍I love it 😀 I want to make two of them for my daughter 😀I love the idea of it being self watering because I’m not good on watering anything but myself lol
Nice job, Anika!
Thanks for the video. This is a great project.
Glad you liked it!
Great, I just did similar one myself. You are really professional
Awesome thanks God bless you and your family well done
..Bottom line
Turned out great Anika! 😃👍🏻👊🏻
Thank you! Cheers!
This was so awesome! Im ready to build!
That is a good concept but u don't show how all the pipes are connected. U got a water inlet on one side and a water outlet and nothing to connect inner pipes
Very nice job ! And you got some help from your family as well! Thank You Anika.
Might not be a bad idea to put some garden cloth over the perforated tubing and up the sides - to help keep dirt from clogging the drain holes and filling the pipe. I use these types of SIP's at my Up North property - and they work great! You can leave them for 3-4 weeks and will still being doing well. My bigger problem is to keep the deer out (which then made me put a hoop house over top of them.
3 individual hose pipe covered with Tape and how it connected each other by water
The pipes are perforated so water from one seeps into the others.
Love it. Great job
Well done. It looks great.
Thank you! Cheers!
Are there any updates on the planter? So basically the water fills into the tube pipe that is fed into the top (white pvc Pipe) - and then the water fills all of the pipes that are laying down on the bottom? The water seeps into the pipes through the Weed fabric That covers the Pipes? And then the water seeps back out and wicks up to feed the plants? I have seen this done similar but not cutting the corrugated pipe on the bottom they just snaked it around the bottom- and then covered the ends like you did- also the drainage hole I have seen on other builds was higher at the water level close to a little lower then half the depth of the planter. So those two questions I had and was wondering if the performance of the planter was good- also on the pottom the other builds I have seen used gravel or small rocks to fill in the spaces on the bottom instead of peat moss and vermiculite- it it seems that peat moss and vermiculite would work better- just checking to see if there was any update and or anything you would change about the build - very informative and very well made video- thank you.
You want the peat moss and vermiculite going all the way down around the pipes so it can wick the water upwards. If you filled the bottom with gravel the water would stay on the bottom and not wick upwards as well
Wow! Good for you! Great project!
nice wicking pot
Nice planter, if you have a garden you can put holes in an old pop bottle (2-3ltr) out holes in it and sink it in the soil. It pushes the water down so you water from underneath. Cheaper and easier.
Great idea for the planter as you get months rather than a week or few days with the pop bottle.
Attach the hose to something strong and walk it out...use less energy that way. You looked like you were struggling with it 😂🥰
Love it, I've seen these and been tempted to make one myself. I love the dark base! Also, I love it that you work in flip flops too 🤣
haha! Thank you!
@3:40 - Om Namah Shivaya! Blessings from Lord Shiva, for making Anika's stain application technique flawless; such that not one drop of stain hit the pool's concrete.
Bravo! 👍
Thanks!
You can use zip ties to tie the ends of the pipes instead of using duct tapes.
what stain color on the box you used?
// pulls out pond liner, to create water tight seal inside the planter // --> first thought: ROOT ROT.
Nope. It works. Read the update
Great job, Thank you
Thank you too!
I’ve seen a few videos that do this perforated pipe all across the bottom. But no one explains how water gets to the other pipes since all are sealed off with duct tape except for the one with the pipe sticking out the top
I have a full explanation of how this system works in my blog post www.anikasdiylife.com/diy-self-watering-planter/
The pipes are sealed with fabric which allows water through and stops soil from getting into the pipes.
Great idea
Anyone else thinking, how much to buy one already made. This didn't look easy N needing slot of expensive tools I don't have. Super nice job! Love it
That's a fine option if you have more money than time, but DIY this is super inexpensive and commercial bought is expensive.
A credit to you well done
You said a 2:1 mixture of vermiculite and peat moss but did not specify which one is the 2 and which is the 1.
Vermiculite 2, peat moss 1.
Nice tools!!!
Good job 👍
This is almost good enough but the outlet is a mistake. You need to have an inline float valve to stop overfilling the planter. This will remove the need of the overflow pipe and associated issues with breached liner etc.
Is the pond liner food save? If you plan to use it for a vegetable planter? I would think it would leach into your food.
get HPDE pond liner / aquaponics liner. HPDE is food safe.
so basically the 4 perforated tubes are independent but feeding water to/from each other (I've noticed other methods use a continous tube) - the first gets more water first and then the water flows via the holes to the other tubes - but aren't these obstructed by the soil/gravel somehow?
It is actually important to have 4 individual tubes to hold water longer. Otherwise the water will just go in and go out. The water goes from one tube to the other thru the soil and vermiculite which acts like a sponge. When a sponge saturates, it overflows.
Anika is 1/2 wrong about 1 thing on her website and in video, YES you can bend the pipes/tubes, but you just have to make sure that you use 2 separate pipes/tubes. Just as long as the exiting pipe isnt connected to the entry one in anyway and you will get the same results.
Also you can purchase pipes/tubes with cloth like material over it, its called a sock in my country and its there for the sole purpose of not letting dirt in. As the pipe/tube used in this video will still get dirt in it under pressure, for example; pushing down into the dirt will push dirt into the pipe.
I know this for a fact as i have this exact pipe in my front yard and when it rains and cars drive over the pipe it pushes the dirt into it and clogs up the pipe and creates a water patch on my lawn.
This is a great video and i really enjoyed it, now i am going to apply this to all my garden beds around my home, thanks for the self-irragation tip - Thanks and Well Done!
Cheers,
Thank you ! ❤
You're welcome 😊
Im not clear on the pipe... does it have seep holes or some kind of wicking material that access the water to soil?
Yep! the pipe is perforated and the vermiculite does the wicking. The way this self-irrigation works is that water fills in one piece and overflows out of the holes. It gets absorbed in vermiculite. Vermiculite is like a sponge and can only hold a certain amount of water. Once it is saturated, the rest of the water flows wherever it can find space - the holes in the adjoining pipe. This process continues until it reaches the last piece and overflows.
Well done 👍👍
Thank you!
What a clean work! I loved it. But I couldn't understant, how does the water travel between those pipes and irrigate the soil?
See how it works - www.anikasdiylife.com/diy-self-watering-planter/#h-how-does-this-work
CAN YOU SHARE SOME DIY ON FISH FARMING
That's an interesting topic but not one I know much about! Sorry!
You have 4 individual pipes in the bowl but only one inlet and one outlet... Please would you explain..I don't understand?
How can it be self watering because at some point it will need to be refilled with water to me this is just a simple type of bog garden
Great Job, I'm planning to add the self watering feature to my existing raised planters. How much vermiculite and peat moss did you need?
Good plan. What do you think of the feasibility of using the DIY self-watering method shown here with the DIY tiered raised bed by replacing the landscape fabric with pond liner, and daisy chain the top bed to the bottom bed so there is a single watering point and a single overflow point?
Yes absolutely! I refer to it at the end of video.
What a great idea!
I am not a gardener so I am puzzled - how can one infill PVC tube fill water in four pipes? The landscape fabric is not waterproof?
Good question! Landscape fabric is not waterproof, it's designed to let water flow through. Even though they are not connected, the vermiculite and peat moss allow water to transfer between the pipes and fills them up. Go check out the post for more details on how it all works but let me know if you have more questions!
Someone explain the point of the tubes and how it works. Ive seen other people do this type of planter but they dont really try to be jnformative about this
It's all explained in the blog post because the question is so common. Go check it out (linked in the description) and it should help!
Why would you have the water coming out at the same level as it is going in, also why did you put the dirt directly on the pipe? This will only clog the holes. This is not a proper wicking system. Nice tools.
9:34 do you remember how much vermiculite you used?
Question, in the plans you have the 2x2 at 15” for the cut list. But in the drawing you have it labeled as 16.5”?
Does jt even matter?
You did a great job making the planter box but something is troubling me. The corrugated hoses are 4 separate hoses that lines the bottom. You put a PVC pipe in one end of a corrugated hose and ran a clear plastic hose on one that is diagonally opposite for an outlet for the water. You covered the ends of each of the corrugated hoses. After you added soil you ran water through the PVC pipe and water came out the clear hose at the opposite diagonal end of one of the corrugated hoses. How is that possible when the corrugated hoses are not connect to each other in anyway? Did I miss something?
See how it works here www.anikasdiylife.com/diy-self-watering-planter/#h-how-does-this-work
@@Anikasdiylife Thank you!
If you painted the base w BITUMEN it’s waterproof and insect proof
All pipes get water?
How does the top of the soil stay wet? Based on how it looks the water can only go about 2-3” from the bottom up before it drains out
I don't see how it works how does it fill with water
Question - can this same self watering set up be used in different sizes of planters, like taller ones? I made several planters out of filing cabinets and they're much deeper than your wood ones, but if like to make them self-watering. Would i be able to use the same set up as you did here or would i need to do 2 layers of pipe at the bottom since it's so much deeper? Any info helps, thank you!
none of the pipes on bottom are connected to each other? just lying there?
Yep! The way this self-irrigation works is that water fills in one piece and overflows out of the holes. It gets absorbed in vermiculite. Vermiculite is like a sponge and can only hold a certain amount of water. Once it is saturated, the rest of the water flows wherever it can find space - the holes in the adjoining pipe. This process continues until it reaches the last piece and overflows.
This is great. What can you do if you don't have a pocket jig ...
Great look! The one thing I would change is get rid of the plastic for wire and layered netting etc. We need to stop all the microplastics.
I feel silly but how does the water get to the other side if they aren't attached?
Beautiful. Well done, Anika. Would you mind sharing the Behr color code for the deck stain you chose? Really looks great.
Hi! This is the one - homedepot.sjv.io/LPGLLZ
How would the water get into and out of the last pipe outlet? As well as the other pipes? Why wouldn't it just fill the first one, not the others.. and why wouldn't it, if when filled just sit in the pipes and smell terrible?? Basically, what would force the water out of the pipes. And what would help the water circulate??
It's relying on wicking as the soil dries through transpiration. Seems a bit hit and miss to me but hydroponics is my thing.
is that woven or non woven liner?
i made one from old pallets & used normal 100mm drain pipe with lots of holes drilled into it and the outlet pipe half way up
Yes, outlet pipe higher up is a better idea 💡
Would you mind sharing the deck stain color for both the feet and the planter?
How much did it cost?
I used some supplies I already had so it's hard to estimate cost on this project, I would recommend you look at the cost of supplies in your area to be most accurate.
Thank you for the video. Question: You have one inlet, PVC pipe attached to a Black flexible tubing and one outlet, a clear plastic tube to the other Black flexible tubing, how do the they work?
See how it works here - www.anikasdiylife.com/diy-self-watering-planter/#h-how-does-this-work
Isn’t it cheaper to buy a pre-made one. With all the tools, the helper and skillset required, I’ll estimate this to cost 200+ on the cheap side.
Reminds me of filling up the bath tub....without putting the plug in. 😕
Maybe I miss something. But you put the in hose in one of the tubes and the out hose in the last two but how does the water go from one tube to another to get to that hose.
Read how it works here - www.anikasdiylife.com/diy-self-watering-planter/#h-how-does-this-work
Tremendous lumber cost
I saw this and thought "that is awesome! But how do i make it so that I use less plastic? 🤔"
Instead of plastic hoses, use 8 pot hooks sideways and rest a sheet of plywood with 1/4 inch gap around. Cut half inch holes for drainage around the top of the first chamber (2 on each wall should be fine). Then use old cotton sweats or shirts as a wick to bring water from the lower chamber to the top soil. As for the PVC, cut an inlet hole right below the plywood of the topsoil big enough for a garden hose. When the water reaches the top of the bottom chamber it will drain out off the drain holes and use the cotton to mive water to the soil. No plastic and no PVC. 😁👍🏻
That’s a great idea but the plywood would start to rot over time from all the water
@@Anikasdiylife You can use redwood or cedar for the floor, and I bet it will last just as long as the pine walls of the box 😊👍🏻.