Convert a 5-Gallon Plastic Bucket into a Mini-Garden

Make your own homemade self-watering container. It's easy, using a 5 gallon plastic bucket as the base.

A plastic bucket is one of the most useful tools on earth, particularly in poor countries. Thousands of these plastic buckets are buried in landfills or burned each day in the U.S.

However, thrifty gardeners rescue them from local businesses and use the five-gallon plastic bucket to harvest, store and protect crops, carry water and tools, spread compost, and make compost tea. 

And now, University of Maryland researchers have designed a new use for the old plastic bucket: you can turn it into a self-watering container, a mini-garden for vegetables and herbs that recycles water and nutrients and uses only compost as the growing medium.

Materials List:

• 5-gallon plastic bucket and lid (food grade) Bakeries, delis and restaurants will often give them away just to get rid of them
• A 7.5 inch section of 4-inch diameter perforated drain tile
• A 6 inch section of 1/2 inch (inside diameter) plastic tubing
• A 1-1/2 inch wood or decking screw
• Electrical tape
• An empty 1-gallon milk jug

Tool List:

• saber saw
• drill
• 5/16 inch and 3/4 inch drill bits
• utility knife
• hacksaw

Construction Steps: (see illustration below)

1. Using a saber saw or band saw, cut the lid so that it fits inside the bucket. The lid will separate the soil from the water reservoir.
2. Drill 15 holes, 5/16 inch in diameter, in the lid. Plant roots will grow through the soil and pass through these holes into the reservoir.
3. With a hacksaw, cut 3 pieces of 4-inch diameter black perforated drain tile, each 2-1/2 inches long. These are placed in the bottom of the bucket to support the lid-separator.
4. Drill one 3/4 inch hole 2 inches above the bottom of the 5-gallon bucket. This should be just below the lid-separator.
5. Cut a 6 inch piece of 1/2 inch (inside diameter) clear plastic tubing. Wrap one end with electrical tape, being careful not to block the hole. The tape will help to create a snug fit. Now insert it into the hole in the bucket.
6. Inside the bucket, drive the nail or screw through the tubing, 1 inch from the end, to prevent it from slipping out.
7. Now cut an 'X' with a knife or razor into the shoulder of a 1 gallon milk jug. Insert the end of the tubing into the milk jug and then raise the bucket 8 inches by setting it up on a cinder block or bricks.
8. You can decorate your new planter with decoupage or by painting it with spray paint, if desired.