5 Gal SWC with Multifunctional PVC Pipes.

[Salsacharley]

I just built my first SWC in a single 5 gal Home Depot bucket and lid.

The unique feature of this SWC is that the PVC pipes serve as a support cage, wicking mechanism, bottom support, and filler tube.

The vertical pipes are ¾” PVC attached to 90 degree elbows in the bottom of the bucket. The elbows in the bottom of the bucket are attached to a cross T so all pipes are securely fastened together, and each pipe is attached to the top of the bucket with a zip tie.

The cross T in the bottom of the bucket is stuffed full of weed block to prevent potting mix from entering the T.

The bottom 12” of 3 of the vertical pipes is each drilled with about 50 holes to provide the wicking and each of those 3 pipes is filled about 1½ ft with tamped down potting mix.

The 4th PVC pipe is the filler tube, with a 90 degree T and a 45 degree fitting to provide the pour opening. The bottom of this pipe has holes to let the water poured into the pipe enter the reservoir.

The outer rim of the bucket lid is cut off in the fashion Raybo does his Earthtainers, only my cutting job is much more primitive. There are 4 holes drilled on the edges of the bucket lid 1 1/8th in. wide to accommodate the vertical PVC pipes. There are also about 50 more holes drilled in the bucket lid to provide drainage and ventilation.

The bucket lid sits on the tops of the elbows in the bottom of the PVC bucket and this provides about 4 ½” of reservoir space. The 1 1/8th in holes in the bucket lid provide a snug fit over the PVC pipe, and are too small to let the bucket lid slip over the elbows they sit on. There is an overflow hole 4” from the bottom of the bucket.

The top of the PVC pipes have 90 degree elbows attached to another cross T just like the bottom of the bucket, except I expanded the top to be wider than the bottom. I didn’t put the top portion on the cage until I had primed the wicks.

I lined the inside of the bucket with weed block.

The only plant I had available to put in this SWC was a poor Celebrity plant from Bonnie that was the last tomato plant I could get. It was pretty beat up, and was already in a 10” pot so I didn’t have much room to work with in the bucket. I put about 3” of potting mix in the bottom of the growing chamber and put the plant with its 10” root ball on top of that. I filled the sides in with potting mix and put a couple of inches of mix on top of the plant’s root ball.

I then filled the 3 PVC wicking tubes full of water until they overflowed their 5 ft. tops, then poured water over the mix and plant root ball. I let all that water settle for about an hour and topped the reservoir through the filler tube until it overflowed.

I used jute twine to string the plant to the top of the PVC cage.

After 3 days the water level in the reservoir has dropped about 1 inch, and the potting mix continues to be moist. It appears to be working as I had hoped.

Charley