Self-Watering Planter Update

The camera is working again, so I thought I would update on all of the self-watering containers (except for the tomatoes which are still in the basement). All of these containers are listed in the sidebar.

I filled the reservoir in each container when I originally planted it. Otherwise, I have not had to do any watering! Each time it rains the reservoir fills up again and so far that has been sufficient. I'm guessing that later in the summer when plants are bigger and days are hotter and rain is more infrequent I'll have to water more, but so far the containers have been incredibly convenient!

Spinach

The spinach in the self-watering planter has caught up to the spinach in my raised bed even though it was planted a couple of weeks later.

You can see some of the damage from the hail storm last week, but the plants are doing well.

We like baby spinach, so I'll start harvesting the outer leaves from each spinach plant this week.




Radish:

These are a heirloom variety called Plum Purple Radish. They're almost 4 weeks old now, but definitely aren't ready for harvest. I'm a bit worried because when I tried these indoors they never produced and enlarged root.




Arugula:

Just a regular variety. I need to plant a lot of more of this because I would like to make and freeze a bunch of arugula pesto and I also want to be able to use it in salads.





Lettuce:

I started these under a grow light and transplanted them into the outdoor container in mid-April.


We'll be eating these in the next week or two and replanting this bucket with basil.




Potato:

This is a fingerling potato. I only filled the planter up half-way with soil so that I can add more as the plant grows. The stem that gets buried will become part of the root system and will produce more potatoes.

I'm not expecting the potato crop to be cost effective -- potatoes are cheap and I don't think I'll get very many. However, I still remember visiting my uncle's farm and helping to dig up potatoes. It's a very satisfying vegetable to harvest.

Carrots, Garlic and Onion:

On the left are a heirloom variety of carrot called Danver Half-Long.

The bucket in middle has garlic and on the right is a bucket of onion.






Swiss Chard:

This variety is called Bright Lights and has multicoloured stalks. I have two planters of this.










Zucchini:

This was transplanted last week from a sprouted seed. It's a heirloom variety called Cocozelle Zucchini.

I have two buckets of this.

No more pictures for now ...

I slipped on the stairs while carrying the camera outside to take some pictures of the garden and now it's broken. So no more pictures until we can replace the VERY VERY EXPENSIVE lens.

I wanted to show some pictures of the hail storm on Saturday morning. The hail was about the size of marbles and it wreaked havoc on my spinach and radish especially (although I think they'll survive).

I also wanted to show pictures comparing how various vegetables are doing in the self-watering planters versus how well they're doing in my conventional raised bed garden. I have spinach, radishes, carrots and onions in both places and every single vegetable is doing better in the self-watering containers.

The Self-Watering Planters

I now have a total of 14 self-watering planters in the back-yard as well as my conventional raised bed. All of the self-watering planters are built the same way. So far everything has sprouted except for the potato and everything is doing really well! On the left you can see my spinach. So far, I have spinach, arugula (rocket), potato, lettuce, garlic, onion, carrot, radish, and swiss chard.

Garden Update -- Bad Blogger, Good Gardener -- Part 2!

Even though I've been taking lots of pictures of the garden, I never seem to find the time to actually sit down at the computer and update my blog. So, now I'm going to update on all my plants in one enormous blog so that I'll be up to date. Hopefully, from now on I can keep it that way!

Here's an update on everything except the status of my recently planted self-watering containers. That will come in the next post.

Critters and the Peas:

So far everthing is growing pretty well. Most of the self-watering planters have sprouted and my perennials are coming up really nicely in my regular garden bed. I've only lost a few plants to the raccoons and wild cats that are becoming such a nuisance in our neighbourhood.

The worst loss was my peas. Out of about 20 plants, only 4 ended up growing thanks to some animal that dug up the bed every night looking for grubs. I've replanted where nothing grew hopefully I'll have better luck this time.

Interestingly, I planted my peas in the same traditional raised garden bed that I always plant in. My brother planted seeds from the same pack (Mammoth Melting Sugar Peas) on the same morning in early April in the self-watering planters that we're both using this summer. He had a 100% success rate with his peas and they popped out of the ground a full 2 weeks earlier then mine. Probably because the first half of this April has been pretty dry and I was not disciplined about watering regularly. Also, even though he's been battling the critters full-force, he's still had way more success. Chalk one up for the self-watering planters!


Strawberries and Horseradish:

A friend has given me a horseradish plant and several strawberry plants. I put most of the strawberries in self-watering planters, but I also put a few in my normal garden bed, so we'll see which grows better.


Fruit Trees:

We have a plum tree and a pear tree in the backyard and an enormous apricot tree in the frontyard. The apricot and plum are in blume and they are gorgeous. Believe me, my photography does not do them justice.






My Perennials:

I got this rhubarb 4 or 5 years ago from my Aunt who lives in the house where she and my mom and their siblings grew up. This rhubarb was originally planted by my grandparents. It seems to like my backyard and I love rhubarb.

To the left of the photo you can kind of see my Sweet Woodruff which has spread out of the back garden plot (which is a real mess) into where the grass is supposed to grow, which is fine with me. It's a really pretty ground cover. I'm planning on transplanting some of this to my front yard garden (which is also a mess) since it likes the shade so much.

My perrenial herbs are coming up nicely. I have oregano, chives, tarragon, lemon balm, and lavendar. I'll add basil, parsley, rosemary and cilantro in the next few weeks.

Here's my tarragon:


and here's the chives:

The Lettuce is Growing ...

Here are my first two homemade self-watering planters (my instructions are here). The one at the front has Mesclun Mix and the one at the back has a Gourmet Heirloom Leaf Lettuce Mix.

Both were planted last Saturday (it's now Wednesday) and both are sprouting nicely.

The planters are working really well! No additional soil has leaked into the reservoir besides the soil that leaked when I first filled the planter. I still haven't had to refill the reservoirs (they're quite large for the size of the planter) so care of these should be really easy.

Self-Watering Planter DIY

It only takes a few minutes and a few supplies. I used a CLEAN empty apple juice bottle, some masking tape and scissors.


Step 1:

Cut the bottle in half. The top half of the bottle will hold the soil and your plant. The bottom half of the bottle will be the water reservoir. Take your scissors and gradually trim both halves until the top half of the bottle fits snugly upside down into the water reservoir. The neck of the bottle needs to firmly touch the bottom of the water reservoir.


Step 2:

Cut a "U" shaped hole in the top of one side of the water reservoir for watering.

Step 3:

Place the planter inside the reservoir. Hold it down firmly so that the neck of the planter is touching the bottom of the reservoir and tape them together with masking tape leaving the "U" shaped hole unobstructed.



Step 4:

Fill the neck of the planter with your potting soil and tamp it down firmly. Make sure the potting soil is slightly damp to start with. This seems to help with it's ability to wick up more water from the reservoir.


Step 5:

Fill the rest of the planter with slightly damp potting soil.



Step 6:

Fill the reservoir with water. A small amount of soil will probably work it's way into the reservoir but nothing problematic.








Step 7:

Plant normally and make sure that the reservoir is never empty!

Let There Be Light!

I mentioned to a friend that I wanted to start my seedlings indoors with a grow light and she happened to have an extra setup that she's lending me (Thanks Jennifer!). This was pretty easy to set up, and I put it quite high on the wall so that the kids wouldn't be able to easily destroy my baby plants.


I got self-watering seedling starter trays from Lee Valley -- they came well recommended and they mean a lot less watering and a lot less risk that the seedlings will get too wet or too dry. I also picked up a nifty package of 4 spray tops that you put on top of a reused pop bottle so that you can use it to gently water your seedlings -- extremely affordable compared to expensive seedling sprayers.

I also created my first 2 self-watering planters from a reused 2L pop bottle and a reused apple juice bottle. It was super simple, I just needed scissors and masking tape. They seem to be working really well. I planted mesclun mix and heirloom leaf lettuce mix in them and the seeds have just started to sprout (after a couple of days). Here's the planter I made out of the apple juice container:


New Materials Purchased:

• 2 Brackets, 3' of chain, small package of "S" hooks to hang the flourescent lights
• 3 self-watering seedling trays
• 4 lids to turn pop bottle into watering can
• 1 bag of soil-less seedling starter
• Seeds
  

Reused Materials:

• Flourescent Lighting setup including bulbs
• 2L pop bottles, apple juice bottle