Self watering planters for tomatoes: A "how do you do that" story

Everyone loves tomatoes fresh from the vine, and real vine ripened tomatoes taste nothing like the mealy crap sold in supermarkets in the US, and when you do find them, they are very expensive. The trick to the best tomatoes though is for them not to ever be water-stressed, and that is hard to when you cannot plant them in the ground.

The following instructions can be modified to fit what you have available in your area, as long as the results are the same, mainly a hollow space in the bottom where water can stand, but where the soil is not soaking wet.

Basically the design is to have a deep planter that has a reservoir of water in a hollow area in the bottom, but to still keep the roots dry enough that you do not get root rot. This ensures that the roots and soil stay moist, and this keeps the tomato plant from getting shocked by "Wet-dry" cycles, and provides for a better fruit with a thinner skin.

Parts and tools you will need

Tools: A sharp knife, a drill or awl for poking holes and a saw for cutting the plastic pipe

Parts: a 5 gallon or larger bucket. a Colander that fits inside your bucket, and 1" PVC pipe cut to fit.

Here we see the 3 parts.  The way this works is to trim the colander so it fits in the very bottom of the bucket, upside down. Place the colander in there, and at the level that the colander reaches inside the bucket, drill or poke a 1/4" hole. This will be around 8 inches  above the bottom of the bucket. You then take the pipe, cut one end as a wedge between the bucket wall and colandar, and then mark it at the top of the bucket and cut flush. I used pvc electrical conduit as it is cheaper than plumbing pipe.



Here you see the weep hole, about 8" above the bucket floor

The next step is to fill with your potting soil of your choice, the richer the better... My assistant was helping that day.


I built 6 of them as some were used for other plants. The way these are used is that instead of watering the soil itself, you water the plant by putting the water into the top of the pipe, it directly fills the reservoir, and any excess will slowly drain from the weep hole, ensuring that the soil can get air. By not watering the soil itself, it stays nice and loose, which leads to better root growth and a much healthier plant, and more fruit for you.
Total costs with a new bucket and a 99 cent store colander is under $5 US.


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