Ta-da!
One self-watering container finished; one to go. I had to make the growing mix early for some of the materials to work their magic. Plants won’t go in for at least two weeks, if not longer. The soil-less mix is mostly peat moss with vermiculite, perlite and dolomitic lime. I watered it down (with free rain barrel water!) until it was spongy, but not overly wet. The white garbage bag I used is a bit thin so I’m going to replace it with a black heavy duty garbage bag.
A few things you can’t see is that I used landscape fabric on top of the aeration screen to keep the mix out of the water reservoir and there’s a mounded row of fertilizer (Tomato Tone) in the middle of the container.
I filled the water reservoir to see how much it holds when full. Turns out, it has a 7.5 gallon capacity which is a little ridiculous, but I’ll be thankful for that when the temps hit the 90s and I don’t have to water everyday.
The other swc isn’t made yet because I needed a container to hold the mix while it’s settling down. I hope to transplant a few seedlings before the month is over. I figure I don’t have to worry about frost so I can get a head start in taking on Mother Nature.
