Self-watering Peppers

Came home from a rough day at work, felt the need to accomplish something, so I figured it was time to plant my peppers. I started these things from seed about the same time I started planting everything else. They are no where near the size I would like them to be and I question their strength, however I didn't want to put it off any more. So before I say too much about my peppers, I thought I would talk about the container itself.

It looks simple enough doesn't it, and it really is. The entire point was to build the container inexpensively, and though I didn't get it at 5 dollars it wasn't more than 7. There is a reservoir in the bottom, I made the top of the reservoir with the lid of the container. I used a set of 6 plastic cups, for supports, the wicking basket and a cap for the water tube. The water tube by the way is a 1 quart plastic milk container. I didn't measure the size of the reservoir itself but,  it took 18 liters of water before the reservoir was filled.

 This is the top of the reservoir, you'd have no idea how long it took to cut the lid to fit the way I wanted to, I used my trusty box cutter, and only cut myself 3 times. I used my drill to provide the air holes. I didn't get a good picture of the wicking chamber (a cup with holes drilled in it) but it is there. The wicking chamber is drilled so water flows through it, and it is filled with soil. I use anti-weed cloth to keep the dirt from falling in. Oh, the holes in the reservoir are there to aerate the soil.

The container is filled with soil.

Then I added the pepper plants. The plants closest to me are Jalapeños, there are 4. The far pepper plants are mixed bells, there are 5. The cup is covering the water tube. Oh that is cup six. Cups 1-4 are used for the corners, cup 5 is the wicking basket, and cup six... well there is cup six.

Happy growing.