SWC (Self-Watering Container) Instructions

I have to recommend these to EVERYONE LOL! They are awesome — especially for growing tomatoes. This is my first year using these to grow tomatoes in and so far, I’ve had excellent results. Once you get the containers made and then get them planted, it’s just a breeze from that point on for whatever you are growing in them. I am using these to grow tomatoes and also I’m trying a SWC out to grow pumpkins (small pie pumpkins). I have also been making them and giving them to family tomatoes to get them interested in gardening. My MIL already has 2 - 4′x8′ raised beds and now she has 2 SWCs to go with her raised beds. This gives her more gardening space. We also built her 2 of Sinfonian’s “Build-As-You-Grow” Potato Bins (link –> http://ft2garden.powweb.com/sinfonian/?page_id=12)

I’ve also given a SWC to each of my two sisters and they are growing tomatoes in them. I gave my Mom & Dad one and set it up for them and planted 2 tomato plants for them. Then my Mom mentioned that she would surely like to grow some cucumbers…. so I brought them another SWC and planted 3 cucumbers (pickling types) for them. Their tomatoes and cucumbers are growing so well! Now Mom & Dad want another SWC for yellow squash and then 1 more for some okra plants LOL.

Let me give you some great points about using the SWC to grow your veggies in. First of all, they are like miniature, self-contained, raised beds. You are growing “intensively” and using a small amount of space. Second, you don’t have to worry about weeding — you start with a giant bag of MiracleGro Potting Mix and it’s weed free and sterile (no viruses). This is very important if you’ve had trouble with wilt when growing your tomatoes in your soil (this is a problem for my front yard raised beds). Fertilizing — if you’re growing veggies, the MiracleGro already contains all the fertilizer you need for your plants. If you’re growing tomatoes, you just supplement the fertilizer and Epsom Salt when you plant your seedlings and then you’re set for the rest of the season. The fertilizer doesn’t wash away with rains or watering — it staying inside the SWC (which is great for the environment!). But let’s get back to weeding — one of my sisters has a yard full of “Johnson Grass”. She’s used RoundUp and everything you can imagine. The Johnson Grass will cut right through landscape fabric too! So it’s just impossible for her to garden even using raised beds (unless they were probably on concrete slabs LOL!) Well, for her, the SWCs are perfect!

My Mom & Dad live in an area that is very water-logged. If you did down a foot into the ground, the hole will fill up with water LOL. So gardening in conditions like that can be very difficult to impossible. But, with the SWC, they don’t have to worry about the amount of water in their soil because the SWC are sitting on top of the ground. You water the SWC through the watering pipe. When the water reservior fills up, water will begin to flow out of the “over flow”. So you know when you have enough water. Also the SWC keeps the soil at an even moisture level — this is so important for tomatoes! You will not have to worry about underwatering (and getting blossom end rot on your tomato fruit) or overwatering (and having tomatoes that crack and split).

Now — on to the instructions!! I’m going to begin by giving you a material list. For one SWC you will need the following:

2 - 18 gallon Rubbermaid storage containers with lids
1 - approx 2′ long 1″, 1 1/4″, or 1 1/2″ PVC pipe (Home Depot sells 2′ sections of PVC pipe!)
1 - Pond basket (you can find these in the pond section at Home Depot or Lowes) It doesn’t matter if the basket is round or square
a 6″ long piece of 1/8″ PVC pipe (Sinfonian used a straw for this and it worked!)
a black garbage bag
some mulch
If you are growing tomatoes — some granulated fertilizer and epsom salt (I’ll show pics later in the instructions)

Now, for a tool list:

You’ll need a utility knife to cut the plastic storage containers with
a drill with assorted drill bit sizes
a hacksaw (if you need to cut your PVC pipe to the correct length)
a black Marks-A-Lot

You’ll only cut 1 of the storage containers…. so take one of the storage containers and the pond basket and use your black marker to trace along the container using the top of the pond basket as a guide. The bottom that you cut off will be now referred to as the “water reservoir” and this is the portion of the container that you will use to make your SWC. Don’t throw away the top part though — I’ll show you how you can use it at the end of these instructions.

The next thing you want to do is turn the water reservoir so that the bottom is facing UP. Now, take your pond basket and place it in the middle of the water reservoir and use your black marker to trace around the outside (see the black line drawn on the water reservoir in the pic) Also, place the PVC pipe in one of the corners and use your marker to trace around it too. Now, use your utility knife to cut “on the INSIDE’ of the line that you traced around the pond basket. Also use your utility knife to cut out the circle that you traced around the PVC pipe. When you have finished this, take your drill bit and drill holes (as in the pic).

Now, you’ll need to cut the corners of the water reservoir (as shown in the pic). Do this on all 4 corners. This will help the water reservoir to fit inside the Rubbermaid bin that you did not cut.

In this pic, you can see how I’ve placed the water reservoir inside the 2nd Rubbermaid storage container. Inside this space is where the water will be stored for the SWC to use.

Now take the basket and place it on the outside of your SWC. Make a mark in the middle using the top your pond basket as a guide. Now, you’ll want to drill a hole just UNDER this mark — drill the hole through the outside of the SWC and into the water resservoir. This will be the “overflow”. This is where you’ll place your 1/8″ PVC pipe. On my pic it looks like the overflow is a little high — this is just because of the angle that I took the pic…

Now place the pond basket and the PVC pipe into the water reservoir as shown in the pic. What’s going to happen is you will fill this top of the SWC with soil (and you will fill the pond basket with soil). The soil in the pond basket is going to act as a wick to absorb the water from the water reservoir. This is going to ensure that you have a constant moisture level in your SWC. You will be filling the water reservoir by using the PVC pipe. You’ll want to drill a couple of holes in the bottom 2 inches of the PVC pipe so that water can exit the PVC and enter the water reservoir.

We’re almost finished! Now, you’ll want to cut your lid. Place your PVC pipe on top of your lid and use it as a guide and take your black marker and trace around the PVC pipe (MAKE SURE that you have the CORRECT CORNER! LOL!!) Now you can use your utility knife to cut out the hole for the PVC to fit in. Also just cut around the inside (use my pic as a guide). You want to use the lid because it helps to stabilize the PVC pipe and it will help to keep your black garbage bag and mulch in place….

Now, if you are planning on growing tomatoes in your SWC, you’ll need 2 things — one is a “granulated” tomato & vegetable fertilizer. This is a pic of the one that I found at WalMart. Don’t buy the water soluble “MiracleGro” type fertilizers — they will not work for this.

You’ll also want to pick up a bag of Epsom Salt if you are planting tomatoes in your SWC. This is a pic of the bag that I got at WalMart. It was in the medicine department.

Now take your SWC back to this step (with the lid off). PLACE YOUR SWC IN THE SPOT THAT YOU ARE GOING TO PUT IT FOR THE SEASON!! IT’S GOING TO BE TOO HEAVY TO MOVE IT LATER!! It’s time to put the soil in!!. Gently fill the SWC with MiracleGro Potting Mix (make sure you didn’t buy MiracleGro “Garden Soil”). Fill the SWC all the way to the very top. Each SWC will take 1 giant bag (I think the size is 2.2 cubic feet) of potting mix. Now, place your black garbage bag on top of the SWC to determine where you need to cut an “X” for the PVC water pipe to fit through. The black plastic will hold the moisture in at the top of the SWC so that the soil doesn’t dry out. Now remove the black plastic.

If you are going to plant tomatoes in your SWC, notice the red line in the pic. This is where you are going to want to dig a trench in the soil with your hand and put in a big handful of granulated fertilizer and a big handful of Epsom Salt — just sprinkle it back and forth in the trench and then cover the trench up. Now plant your tomatoes (notice the green circles on the pic for placement). If you are planting a veggie that is not a tomato, you’ll want to plant it at this time — you just won’t need to add the supplemental fertilizer and Epsom Salt.

The next step is to water (directly on top of the soil) from the top with your water hose. We need to get the top part of the soil moist. So just water like you were watering your plants normally. Then place the black plastic over the top and cut an “X” where each plant is and fit your plastic over your SWC. Now place the lid on and then cover the black plastic with mulch.

The last step is to add water to your SWC through the PVC pipe. Add water until you see water exit the SWC through the “overflow”. WA LA — you’re finished!! Now the only thing you have to do from this point on is maintain the water inside the SWC by adding water through the PVC pipe. You’ll find that your plants use a lot less water growing in the SWC. I have noticed that my tomatoes take alot of water now (I am adding water to the SWC every day now) since they have gotten so large….

If you’d like to visit another site (where I got my instructions from) here’s a link: http://www.josho.com/gardening.htm

OH and I didn’t forget LOL. What in the world can you do with the top part of the Rubbermaid container that is just waste. Well, it works beautifully as a miniature raised bed! YEP! That is what I’m using mine for! I just placed the “waste” on top of some landscape fabric and then filled it with Mel’s Mix and planted it. I placed mulch all around the outside of the little miniature bed to help keep the soil inside. I am using these to grow tomatoes in! Also, I put some mulch on top of the soil in the miniature beds so they wouldn’t dry out too fast.