Watering plants is not rocket science but there are certainly better, easier ways of doing it than with watering can and hose. Look below to see if this is for you:

What do you need?
You will need the following items to build this self watering planter box:
A foam box without holes + the lid (you can get these from your local greengrocer or seafood shop, and they will just give them to you).

A PVC pipe (ready to cut to size)
A saw or cutting implement to cut the PVC pipe
A pair of scissors and a Stanley knife
Waterproof tape
Stick (free from your garden)

How do I make it?
Firstly get your foam box. You can get these foam boxes from any green grocer, supermarket or seafood / poultry shops. Be brave and ask (you don’t get if you don’t ask) and most places will be glad to get them off their hands and give them to you, and no one will want any money for them. If they want money or make it an issue, move on and get them somewhere else. In 1 day i was able to get about 5 from a supermarket down the road, all free.

Foam Box
Get the lid and cut around the inside lid following the groove using a stanley knife. This is the best implement to use when cutting into the foam.
Cutting the lid

Next you want to measure the PVC pipe ready to cut to size against the foam box. This will be used for adding water when needed, and to house the float which will tell you when you need to add water to the box.
Measuring the watering pipe
Once you have measured the pipe, cut it down to size, as shown below. It should be the size of the foam box itself.

Watering Pipe
Next what you want to do is cut 3 pieces of the PVC pipe, 2 as supports to hold the foam divider in place (it’s up to you on the length you want to cut, remembering that water will only go as high as the PVC pipe length you cut. The third piece needs to be slightly taller than the other two as it will be used as the wicking pot. Cover it with netting using anything to secure the netting in place.

A wicking pot acts like a candle but upside down, and with water instead of fire. Confused? Basically a wicking pot is used to draw water up into a garden bed from a water source below. This allows the plants to draw water when they need it provided there is enough water in the reservoir from where the wicking pot is drawing the water from.

For more information on this particle and fascinating project please go to The Handy Gardener. Once there you will learn what to do with your PVC piping, mulch, soil, assemblage, seeds and, of course, how the water functions in your self-watering plant box!

Just because it is something specialized does not mean it has to be expensive — or difficult!