THE LEMON MERCHANT

This afternoon I set up another self watering container for a tomato plant I bought about a week ago. I used the same technique to make this container as I did with that smaller pot earlier this month. Instead of using the bottoms of water bottles, I used three 2.5 gallon water jugs for the water reservoir. I cut each one so I could use about two thirds of it in the tomato container. The extra thirds will be used in another container I have yet to make. Once again, I drilled drainage holes into the side of the container near the top level of the reservoir, and filled the space between the water jugs and the container with small pebbles and rocks. This way the water is able to flow through easier, and the holes don't get clogged up with the soil.

After filling the container with organic potting mixes, I planted the tomato and added a cage around it. The cage may or may not work. I couldn't drive it as deep into the container as I would have liked due to the water reservoir at the bottom, but at the moment it seems sturdy enough.
For now I just have the tomato planted in it. I'm probably going to try planting something else in there with it, but I haven't decided what that will be yet.

I made another self watering container almost the same way. This time I only used one water jug, and cut it vertically so the two halves could lay down end to end in the bottom of the container. I transplanted some of my lettuce into it, and I'm going to keep half of it free for planting more lettuce some time in the future. Both containers are up on egg crates. This is for two reasons. One being that the plants will get more sun since they're up closer to the top of the fence. The second being that they're easier to work with if they're elevated. I have one more container to use, and it's size falls between the two containers I already have out. I'll probably put it up on the crates when it's ready, then move the lettuce to the ground. Once filled with soil, plants, and water, these things are very heavy and hard to move.