Cheaper System of Doing Earthbox Gardening with 5 Gallon Buckets

Some of you might have already known how Earthbox gardening is very effective to successfully grow vegetables and other types of plants. However, the smart system comes with a cost. Here is a cheaper alternative to do gardening similar to Earthbox system with only 2 gallon buckets.

You will need:

·         2 pieces of 5 gallon buckets

·         Nail and hammer

·         Saw

·         A plastic coffee cup

·         A cheap pipe

·         A garbage plastic bag

·         Good potting soil

·         A bag of fertilizer

·         Seeds

·         Water

Instructions:

1. Leave one bucket intact as it is. The other bucket you need to make one hole in the center of the bottom of the bucket that fits the plastic coffee cup and another hole at one edge of the pail that fits the pipe. Then make little holes to fill the rest of the empty spaces of the pail’s bottom.
2. Cut one straight vertical line on the plastic coffee cup.
3. Put the bucket with the holes on top of the bucket that is intact. This will leave some inches room at the bottom of the intact pail. That’s the water reservoir.
4. Pour enough water just to get into the reservoir.
5. Then place the plastic cup and the pipe into their respective holes.
6. Fill the pail with the potting soil.
7. On top of it, pour fertilizer around the pail; but leave the middle part untouched. This is the only time you fertilize during the whole season.
8. Grab your garbage plastic bag and cover the top of the bucket with it. Fasten it to the pail by tying it with a rope. The garbage bag functions to prevent weed seeds from coming into the soil.
9. Make an X incision in the middle of the plastic bag for the baby plant you get from the nursery (or the seed) to get through.
10. Plant the seed/baby plant.

That’s it. This system works well because your small garden won’t have too much or too little water, thanks to the reservoir. The closed system will also benefit to the weed-free garden for your plant.

Other tip: you don’t want to use your backyard soil. Such soil has already had bacterial weed seeds and other elements that are not favorable for your plants.