What first comes to mind when you think of Seattle? Did I hear you say rain? This week’s Science Saturday project is about water and is from Seattle. Anne, a Seattle mother of three, shares her pictorial How to: Self-Watering Seed Starter Pots. Who better to know about water than a Seattlite, right? It’s still a little too early for starting seeds here in northern Minnesota, but I am anxious to give this ingenious method a try. Also with Earth Day around the corner, we’ll add this to our list of ways to reuse plastic soda bottles.
A few weeks ago the girls and I did a project that I’ve been enjoying every day since. We repurposed 2 liter bottles and turned them into self-watering planters for starting our tomatoes and cucumbers indoors. They’ve been sitting on the window sill near my desk and I’ve been watching them grow every day. It’s been the perfect antidote for the bummer weather we’ve been having here in Seattle.
I’ve tried starting seeds indoors several different ways over the years. So far this is my favorite method because the soil is always exactly the right moisture level and it’s very easy to see with the naked eye when it’s time to add water to the planter. There’s no guesswork involved and the plants seem to love it.
Here’s how we made them:
You need 2 liter bottles, potting soil, seeds, thick string or yarn (either cotton or poly seems to work), a Phillips screwdriver, hammer, and a sharp blade to cut the bottle.
Cut the bottle in half.
Use a Phillips screwdriver and a hammer to punch a hole in the center of the bottle cap.
Cut a length of yarn/string about 1′-1.5′ long, double it over and tie a loop on one end.
Thread the yarn/string through the hole in the bottle cap so that the knot is on the inside of the cap. This will act as a wick, drawing water up from the basin below and into the soil. The plant will take only what it needs, so the soil moisture will be perfectly regulated.
Put the cap back on the bottle top and nest the top of the bottle in the base. As the plants grow and use up the water, you can just lift off the top to add more to the base instead of pouring it over the soil. As the soil dries, water will be sucked up through the string into the pot.
Label your bottle so that you remember what you planted. 🙂
Add potting soil and seeds…
Water….
You need to water the soil from the top the first time in order to make sure that it is uniformly wet and that the string also is wet. Otherwise the surface tension of the water will prevent the whole thing from working correctly.
…and wait.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Anne is also a talented soap maker with a fantastic line of artisan soaps at Seattle Sundries.
Here is her latest, and with a currently very dirty Shop Dog Higgins, must say greatest soap. But really, you have to take a look at the packaging, each one is more clever than the other. The list goes round and round, like Bitchn’ Kitchen, Potty Mouth, Gender Neutral to Manly Man. You can even private label soaps for wedding favors, corporate events, etc.
Thanks for all your inspiration Anne!
While I’m still thinking “water” and am inspired – better make it bath time for Higgins.
awesome.. im starting one a few right away.. got some cummin and thyme seeds waiting to be seeded. 🙂
That is really creative and cool! I live in Utah and the weather outside is not that friendly yet for my plants. I appreciate this, thanks!
I’m in Utah as well and there are many cold resistant plants you can put in your garden now (garlic, onions, peas, lettuce, cabbage,etc).
These little wonders look like excellent ways to start tomatoes, peppers, and other warmer weather items.
Great suggestions, thanks 🙂
I recommend covering the soil area with something light colored to prevent “cooking” the roots.
I recommend covering the root area with something, aluminum foil or something light covered to prevent “cooking” the roots.
light colored*
This is awesome!!
[…] on plants to use towards the new planters. So I’m going to start from seeds. And I found this amazing idea for how to begin the process. I’m so taken with this idea that I’ve got all my office mates bringing in 2 litres […]
Awesome ideas…..
What a wonderful idea!!! I will for sure try this at home now! Thank you for posting this!
Great idea – I’m a novice gardner / planter so loving all the wonderful ideas on Pitnerest. After you water the seeds from top the first time – do you then add water to teh bottom half of the plastic bottle or continue watering from the top?
One thing to consider. Make sure the water in the reservoir is always beneath the cap. Otherwise, the soil will stay waterlogged
That’s awesome! I was trying to figure out how to do a self watering system with 5 gallon buckets and start seeds inside. Self watering to start seeds is a great idea and I will be building a couple. My wife says this is way cheaper then what I was thinking. Thanks.
beautifull, good idea
nice to meet you, im from Indonesia
thanks,,
Great idea. Thank you
This is an awesome idea! I’m thrilled to try it! However, I have a novice question: How much water do you add to the top the first time, for this particular system?? Does it depend on the seeds you are growing? Thanks 🙂
The great thing is that they are ready to go, unlike
a full sized cake, which needs to be cut into all the
pieces. Generally, these folks were thought to be a tiny baked cake seems
as being a little serving of your bigger size cake. Top cupcakes with severed body parts, ghoulish
eyeballs, or creepy, crawly spiders.
Ok…what did I do wrong, soil stayed soaking wet, plants rotted…was my cotton yarn too absorbent, did laying it without a knot make a difference, maybe I cut the top to short, mine did not have much on the top only an inch and a half, maybe that I used a beautiful deep green shampoo bottle (cut the edges scalloped, was sooo pretty!) and threaded the string through the flip cap? should I have used small gravel in the bottom for drainage? My water did not touch the cap, was only a couple inches in the bottom of the 6″ reservoir bottom.
Hi there,
I’m a webeditor for the Dutch gardening website http://tuinieren.nl and I would like to blog about this idea, is it ok if I use one of the images?
Of course I’ll include a link back to this blog.
Greetings Marike!
Thank you, i will try it