I have this poor house plant that I keep forgetting about in the front living room. I feel so bad for this poor guy. He's hung in there for the last year with little to no growth and has lost most all of his leaves; twice! He deserves so much better. So, I set off on-line to try and find a water minder system to help him (me really) and his watering woes.
I struck upon this: A Sub-Irrigation system!
So brilliant me got this idea with a few house hold items to do the same!
Here is what I accomplished:
Take one old pot (its been painted three times and has no holes in the bottom of it, debated about painting it again but threw my back out and decided it was too much trouble)
Then grabbed a cheap old plant container from last spring (I knew it would come in handy!)
X-acto knife in hand - Holes in el-cheapo pot and bottom taken off
Scrounge up one hard plastic bottom saucer from garage - x-acto knife at play again. I guess I know why I now keep some of this stuff! Cut hole just a bit smaller then el-cheapo nursery pot and wah-la!
Dug through my Aquarium supplies and found this:
More fun with the x-acto knife, scissors, and then a dry run
Then back to the garage to dig up old window screening for lining el-cheap nursery pot holes - to keep the dirt in place.
Over all I am very happy with the results - time will tell if mister plant does any better this year!
The over all premise is to water from beneath. El-Cheapo pot with the holes is lined with window screening and filled with soil-less soil. Water goes down the black tube and the plant takes up the water it needs from the reservoir around el-cheapo pot. I was surprised that the clear saucer and el-cheap pot really created a strong base for the rest of the soil and the plant! Mister Plant is back in his home, hopefully ready for spring and less of my watering neglect!
I found a ton of information on sub-irrigation - apparently its the bomb for healthy plants. Seems as though many people actually garden in 22g el-cheapo Walmart totes - go figure. I don't think I am ready for my yard to be taken over by el-cheapo tubs but what a great idea! All this for free and about 60 minutes of work!
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