Keeping container plants sufficiently watered can be a problem especially on hot days or days you are away from home. I found this great video from a permaculture designer. The balcony garden plants water themselves, using 2,000 year old desert technology. The water travels from a rainwater collection tank through tubing to buried unglazed terra cotta wetpots via gravity then is distributed to the soil by osmosis. More detail for this method can be found on This Sustainable House.
This is be an extremely easy to set up, DIY watering system for any container garden including those on balconies, decks or patios. The main consideration is installing the tank a few inches higer than the highest container. The tank does not have to be mounted on a wall either. In fact you could use any larger volume container such as a rain barrel providing it can be raised slight above the soil level or tallest container. This method allows a low cost, low maintenance way to water your plants with collected rainwater. Larger unglazed terra cotta pots can be used in larger garden beds by simply burying them to about 1 - inch below the top rim then filling the pot with water where it will be distributed through the soil by osmosis only. Place a rock over the opening of the pot to prevent evapouration and creating a breeding ground for mosquitos.
Here's the video of the hosed irrigation method being used on a balcony garden.
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
this is great. saving much money. thank you for sharing with us and thanks for the video, it's much more easy to follow the instruction like this.
ReplyDeleteYes, the video helps to set up this easy DIY watering system.
ReplyDeleteWhere can those clay bulbs be purchased?
ReplyDelete