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

[rwsacto]

Very ingenious.

Two questions:

How do you get 4 1/2 inches of support from a 3/4 inch elbow on the bottom? I could see it if you added Tees or couplings to the vertical tubes to provide platform support.

How do you get good wick to media contact? The small holes in the PVC may not provide enough water transport area for a tomato plant (1-2 gallons per day). Larger holes would compromise your structure. If this becomes an issue, consider inserting fabric wicks in the upper holes to increase contact with the mix.

If you grow a tall plant, you will need to add an anchor for the wind.

Well done,

Rick

[Salsacharley]

Rick,

I forgot to state that I used connectors at the end of the 5 ft pipe directly to the elbows, and that's where the extra 2" of space come from.

As far as wicking goes, I have about 9 or 10 inches of continuous holes from the elbow into the media in each of the 3 wick pipes. These holes go into the media several inches. There is a lot of surface area in the 3 pipes combined. So far I haven't seen any problem with lack of wicking, although I didn't realize that the plant could wick 1 to 2 gallons per day. Geeze!
I'll keep my eye out.

I will secure the container to my fence if necessary. I also have considered inserting T's in the pipes a couple of feet up and extending "PVC pontoons" out and down to provide stablilty, unless I just make more containers and then I can join them all together with T's at the tops and give them "group strength".

Thanks for your kind words, and sorry I forget to mention the connectors.

Charley

[cythaenopsis]

Very nice design, Charley. I've seen people use the vertical PVC pipes as supports with hanging lines for some in-ground gardens, but this is the first I've seen it set up in a SWC. I like the idea, versus the traditional stake technique. Yours looks very sturdy and would be excellent in windy locations.

I'm using just basic 6 gallon SWC's that I bought at HD, with a little filler/drain gap on the sides. To fill them I use a funnel with a tube attached. Next year I'm definitely going with an Earthbox and I might built an Earthtainer as well, if I manage to work out more growing space.

[Salsacharley]

Here's an update on the 5 Gal SWC with multifunctional PVC.

I set up the container on August 12. It has now been over 5 weeks and the results have been outstanding. The Celebrity plant originally planted has grown exuberantly. It has produced 4 ripe tomatoes, and is now loaded with new tomato sets and even more blossoms. The plant is very healthy and has grown enormously, considering it began its potted life late in the season.

The reservoir has required about a 1 gallon refill daily, sometimes more, sometimes less. The wicking has worked very well.

I have been feeding it Texas Tomato Food at 1 TBS per gal with every feeding through the filler tube into the reservoir. When I refill the reservoir through the filler tube I gently shake the container to mix the Texas Tomato Food (TTF) that has remained in the reservoir while adding the next dose. I have given the plant 2 additional "drench" feedings while I was feeding my other "in ground" plants.

I am delighted with the results, but I feel the cost of the PVC supports doesn't justify using them for growing any large number of plants. I now plan on building a large number of SWC containers joined together at their reservoirs with 1/2" PVC, and all watered with a main reservoir that keeps the water level maintained with a float valve. I will use another support system for the containers like the Florida Weave or some other caging method that doesn't require the labor or cost of materials the PVC requires. I have found a source for 10" plastic discs that I will use for bottoms of the planters, and I will use fiber wicking material to wick from the reservoir through the bottom discs, and 4" pieces of PVC in the reservoir to support the bottom discs.

I am very opened to suggestions regarding whether or not to use weed block in the planters, and also any ideas on how to feed the reservoirs TTF with the automatic self watering system using the float valve. If I can't feed TTF through the SWC float valve system I will have to manually feed with the drench method.

Thanks,

Charley

[Rockporter]

Amazing, do you have an instruction sheet for building this? I have lots of buckets I could do this with.

[Salsacharley]

Rockporter,

My posts above describe how I built this. I want to emphasize that although it works quite well, it is not very cost/labor effecient, especially for multiple containers. If you have a bunch of buckets available for growing, I recommend checking out the Alaska Grow Bucket at http://alaskagrowbuckets.com/ and also, the YouTube video by LDS prepper at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIqssok6iXI. I am currently devising a blend of the SWC/SIP systems that I've seen that minimizes cost and effort and maximizes production.

So far, I have determined (in my mind... ) that the Alaska Grow Bucket is by far the simplest method, but still too pricey for my liking. The LDS prepper method is also simple, but uses 2 buckets per container and the wicking basket is another cost/effort barrier. I like the LDS prepper method for connecting multiple buckets since it doesn't require connectors, only grommets and tubing.
Raybo's Earthtainer is the nicest, but also cost/labor intensive for large production.

I am going to experiment with a system that includes the Alaska Grow Bucket idea of a fabric bag inside a 5 gal bucket with holes drilled. But instead of using an expensive plastic colander I am looking at using 10" plastic clamshell containers for inside support and wicking. I will connect my buckets with the LDS Prepper method of in-line tubing connections. I will use a main reservoir with a float valve like both systems have. I will use a growing media of sphagnum peat and Ultrasorb DE. I will use Urban Farms fertilizers beginning with All Purpose Vegetable Fertilizer followed by Texas Tomato Food. I plan on using a Florida Weave support system that can stabilize the buckets as well as the plants. I'm going to start right away with only a couple of buckets to see if this is viable.

We'll see how it works, but it is the simplest and cheapest method I can come up with at this time.

Thanks,

Charley

[Rockporter]

Sounds like your tests will be long and a great learning experience. I use 5 gallon swc's but I sure like your tubing idea and a single bucket instead of two. I used sobe bottles in my two bucket swc's for wicking and used a crafting hole punch to make holes in the sobe bottle.

[Holmes]

Nice!

[CarolynPhillips]

have you seen the Rain Gutter Grow system yet?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DG3nw1wZsc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qC4JFu-Oyw