I’m seriously considering trying to turn my second whiskey barrel into a self-irrigating planter (SIP). I have all the tools except for a hole saw (if it turns out I need a hole saw) and dad has that. I’ll have a car over the weekend, so I can get stuff! And I have to take the soil out of that planter anyway so I can move it without breaking my back.
I mean, I need another project like I need another hole in the head, but theoretically it’s labor-saving down the line and squash and tomatoes love it.
I just need to figure out what to use for the basin underneath and the support for the soil, since plastic tubs are usually square. One tutorial I saw, for a larger bed, used flexible pond liner, which seems like a neat idea -- it lets use use the maximum available space for water.
Huh. I wonder if I have any 6 mil plastic left over from remodeling...
Really, the only thing that I don’t like about the SIP idea is how much plastic is used. I’d love to get away from so much plastic. But these are all hard-wearing, non-disposable plastic uses (at least theoretically), so that’s alright, I suppose.