Apr 27 2011

Earth Bucket Design 2

I decided to try a second type of earth bucket.  The first type of earth bucket was a pain to make.  I felt if I just used gravel (river stone) as a storage medium would make the earth buckets much easier to fabricate, although it would not store as much water.

I tested river stone (small stone) or the larger decorative stone.  Much to my surprise the decorative stone held a little more water.  A little over 3/4 of a gal.  Yah!   The river stone can be purchased for about $3.50 per bag and the two bags will make 3 earth buckets.

To make the bucket, a center tube (3″ pvc) is cut about 8″ long.  I put tape across the top to prevent the rock from filling the “wick” tube.  I then filled the bucket with gravel to about 1″ below the wick.  Drill some holes in the side of the bucket at the top of the gravel layer to allow excess water to drain out.

I found it easiest to install the fill tube after filling with gravel .  After inserting the fill tube, I covered the gravel with some weed barrier cloth, cut open the center tube to allow the dirt to fill the wick tube and filled the bucket with water.   I am not sure if you really need to cover the gravel or if you can just put soil directly on the rock.  I am sure the soil would not migrate into the rock area very far.   Put in your plant, and fill the storage area with water and you are done.

The plane is looking good!  Soon I’ll be flying her.

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