DIY irrigation for gardens: the drip bottle method

• 

Watering your plants daily can be difficult, especially if you like to travel and don’t have a neighbor to do it for you. If your plants get full sun for a few hours a day, not being watered regularly can wither them pretty quickly. You can buy devices that will do the watering for you. But if you have a drill (or access to one) you can also make your own DIY irrigation system with just one recyclable item: a 2-liter soda bottle. If you don’t have one, ask a neighbor to save you their next one.

The beauty of a drip irrigation system is that it puts every drop of water exactly where the plants can use it. There’s no overflow, no water sprinkling out onto the grass – no water wasted at all.

Drip Bottle Irrigation

There are two ways to set up your DIY irrigation drip bottle. The first catches rainwater, and is therefore more help on water conservation. The disadvantage with it, however, is that it also collects debris in the water reservoir, which dirties the water so it won’t go through the holes. Also, if you use fertilizer in your water, kids or pets can get into it.

The second version doesn’t catch rainwater, but also doesn’t get clogged with debris, and neither kids nor animals can easily drink out of it. Your choice.

The drilled cap version

1. Put a small bit on your drill.
2. Drill several (an even number) holes in the plastic cap of your soda bottle. Make sure the holes are big enough to avoid getting clogged with dirt and debris.
3. Thread a piece of string through one of the holes. Tie a knot in the middle of it so it can’t be pulled back through that hole. Now thread the other end of the string through another hole. Do this with each pair of holes until you have a bit of string coming out every hole. (The length of the string depends on the area you’re watering – use longer string if the bottle is going to water a little grouping of plants, shorter if it’s all going into one potted plant.)
4. Slice the bottom of the bottle off with a sharp knife.
5. Bury the bottle halfway in a spot near the plant you’re trying to water. Bury it cap downward.
6. Fill the bottle with water. The water will  drip slowly into the soil where plants can easily make use of it.

You’ll need to refill the bottle when it runs out – probably never more than once a day. The bottle will also catch rain. You can also add plant food or fertilizer to the water if you want to.

The bottom drilled version(s)

1. Put a small bit on your drill.
2. Drill several (an even number) holes in the bottom of your soda bottle.
3. Follow Step 3 from above.
4. Bury the bottle halfway in a spot near the plant you’re trying to water. Bury it bottom downward.
5. Fill the bottle with water.

Additional tips

• You can weigh the bottles down with some rocks if you have to set one in an odd position and it tends to fall over.
• Use small water bottles to make this tip work in a container garden. Again, you can use either of the above methods, depending how thirsty the plant is that you’re watering.