My Little Bucket Garden - Part 2 - Watering Tubes

          Back in the late 70's,  when co-ops were owned by hippies,  hydroponic and organic were thought to be a fad, and 'growing your own' didn't mean veggies, I had this great garden.  I am not sure why I had such good luck but the conditions were great, the area was perfect and with a little work, we had an abundance of veggies for my family and friends.  My kids were young and were thrilled every time they got to harvest their own.  Truth be known, I felt the same excitement as the kids.

     One of the 'things' that I did and got made fun of for, I am doing again.  Only now, from what I have heard, this concept is being used by many others.  So goes another invention that I should have pursued.  Anyway - I call it my Watering Tubes.  If you think it sounds simple, you are correct.  It will be easiest if I tell you why I use them and then show you how I make them.  

     In the past, I was not doing bucket gardening; I had never heard of it and maybe it wasn't popular.  I did have a few pots on my porches with herbs, strawberries, ornamental peppers and occasionally cherry tomatoes.  I didn't consider this 'bucket gardening', I considered it my expansion.  Anyway - in my regular garden I dug holes, with a post hole digger, about 18 inches deep.   I stuck a 3 foot piece of ridged PVC pipe in the ground and filled in the hole.  I placed these pipes about 3 feet apart.  I then glued a 2 quart plastic soda bottle. with the bottom cut out, onto the top.  The tubes were short enough that it didn't look too odd and blended in with all the plants.  The purpose was to get the water to the deep roots of the plants without having to soak all the ground and waste so much water.  Made since to me and still does.

     I have since expanded on the concept and combined the tubes with the buckets.  And added the task of being a support piece for the plants also.

     Here's how I do this.  Let's start with the assembly of the tube which, obviously need to be done prior to digging the hole and filling it in.  I went to Home Depot and bought 10 foot lengths of a sturdy PVC pipe; they cut it down to 5 foot lengths for me so it was easier to handle.  Make sure you either measure the outer diameter of your bottle or take one with you so as to get a pipe that is the correct size. The full length is fairly reasonable - less that $10 per piece; and you are getting two pieces from each. 

     Next - Take a 2 liter soda bottle and using a razor knife or the equivalent, cut the bottom off.  I cut at an angle so the surface is a bit larger.  This will come in handy and I will explain shortly.  Next, take some water resistant glue (I use a fabric glue that holds up really well, is easy to work with and again, very reasonably priced) and apply a bead of glue to the top edge and just a little towards the inside of your PVC pipe.  I found it easiest to work with the pipe laying on a table at this point.  You will want to screw the bottle in place to ensure that it stays in place.  The glue is more for a sealant then an adhesive. Place your bottle against the glue bead and, while holding it in place, drill a small hole through the pipe and the bottle; stopping when you hit  the center; no need to go all the way through, and screw the pieces together.

  You are pretty close to done.

     If you go back a few post, you will find my story titled "My Little Bucket Garden - Part 1".  In this post you will see how I prepared the buckets and got them into the ground.  I even mention the watering tubes here.  We'll pick up from that point and I will explain.

     Once you have your bucket in the ground and have added just a few inches of earth/potting soil mix for stabilization of the bucket, it will be time to add your watering tube. I place my tube at a little bit of a slant. If you combine the slant of the bottle cut and the slant of the pipe itself, you may be able to position the piece to catch maximum rain water during the rainy season.  Be careful that you do not slant the tube too much or it will not stay in place when the weight of the water is applied.


       It is now time to finish adding your soil and plants.

   Here is how your finished product should look.

     Now is a good time to look at the over all possibilities and full use of the tube.  I water my new plants through the tubes and from the surface for the first couple of weeks.  This gives their roots a chance to grow down to the water level supplied by the tube.  When I start watering strictly through the tube, I watch the plants to make sure that each one is ready for this type of watering.  Some make take another week.  Since we are having some what of a heat wave and I have had a lot of wind, I have been watering every other day.  When the wind isn't quite so bad I have been able to go three days.  And when the monsoon season starts, the watering will drop again.  What has worked for me is to fill the tubes and bottle to the top.  Wait about 10 minutes and then fill or top off again.  That is it.  You are done watering.  Think about it - you are applying about three gallons of water to each plant.  And at a level that it is useful.  Combine that with the fact that the bucket is now holding the water close to the plant roots, it is plenty.

     Water Tube Trouble Shooting -  sounds silly doesn't it?  But there are a few problems that you could have that can be easily fixed.  I just want to save you the frustration of thinking that you did something wrong and giving up.

First - if the water leaks out from around the rim, and it very often does, just add a thick bead to  the outer edge and let it dry for at least 24 hours.  As a back note - you should let the glue dry at least 24 hours before your first filling of the water.
Second - sometimes the water just flows right through and bubbles up to the surface, around the plant.  There is two things to do to fix this problem.  First - twist the pipe gently while pushing down to see if it can be embedded into the harder surface a little better.  If this doesn't work then try this.  Take about a cup of plain surface dirt and pour it into your tube.  The second fill up of water should take at lease 15 minutes to empty from the bottle.  If it is going too much faster than that, you may need to do a little adjusting with the dirt.

      An added bonus - If you place your tube in the proper place, you can use it as a support piece for your plant.

    And just one more thing - if you are a person who adds sunscreen to your plants on those scorching afternoons, these tubes are sturdy enough to support the sunscreen even for the taller plants. 

     My garden may look a little like a child's art project gone awry but it is guaranteed to be convenient, functional and cost effective when it come to the water bill.