If you’ve got old gutters, you don’t have to throw them out! You can make a self-watering rain gutter grow system from a variety of gutter styles. You’ll be able to grow your own vegetables and fruits with little effort and no watering.
Supplies You’ll Need
10-foot gutter or two 5-foot gutters
Two 2×4 wood pieces, 5 feet long
1 drill
1-1/2 inch swivel adapter
1 roll of teflon tape
1 float valve
1 garden hose
1 net cup
Five 5-gallon buckets
For multiple rain gutters:
plastic tees
float valves
Steps to Building the System
Clean out the gutters first. Next, you need two 2×4 pieces of wood that are each five feet long. You will mount them along the leading edge of the wood pieces with stitching screws that are ¾-inch in length with a rubber washer.
Use a drill to attach the gutters supported on the 2×4 wood pieces on both sides. Next you will need a float attached to a ½-inch male adapter with a swivel. The swivel and adapter on to your float make it function like a garden hose.
Screw on a swivel adapter with teflon tape. Mount it as high as you can on the gutter. If you use a lot of gutters, you can use just one garden hose with valves. Whether you have one, two or several gutters at your disposal, you can benefit from this system to grow your garden. They stack up nicely as well.
After you have built the rain gutter systems and leveled them, you now need gallon buckets to grow your plants. You can use a standard gallon bucket available at most hardware stores. Drill a seven-inch hole through the bottom and then put a three-inch net cap through it.
Final Set-Up
For the first set-up of just two 2×4 wood pieces with two rain gutters, fill the first gutter with potting mix and place it on top of another gutter filled with water. Place the gallon buckets with the net caps along the top gutter, eight inches apart. The buckets with potting mix hang down into the water-filled gutter below.
The End Result: Your Own Self-Watering Garden
Create a garden in a simple and efficient way with your new self-watering gutter system, which is also great for hot climates and areas with bad soil. Enjoy a fantastic garden that you have made in your backyard, hanging up on your balcony or porch. When it rains outside, your garden gets watered – or you can connect a hose to a water tank and water your garden even if there is no rain!
