• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
GardenFork - Eclectic DIY
  • May I Email You?
  • Podcast
  • Articles
  • Video
menu icon
go to homepage
  • May I Email You?
  • Podcast
  • Articles
  • Video
  • Follow Me Here:

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • May I Email You?
    • Podcast
    • Articles
    • Video
  • Follow Me Here:

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Articles » Gardening

    Self Watering Pots for Rooftop Garden

    by Eric · This post may contain affiliate links, its one way we pay the bills. · 2 Comments

    A friend made these DIY Self Watering Plant Containers for his green roof, and I wanted to share them with you. He built a small deck on the roof of his building in Gowanus, Brooklyn, NY, and watches GardenFork to learn how to do stuff. neat.

     

    These self watering planters are homemade, he stacked two 5 gallon buckets on top one another, cut a hole in the bottom of the upper bucket, slid a perforated pipe in there, and cut a slot in the side to fill up the water reservoir. I'm going to have to make a GF how-to video on how to make self watering containers.

    Rooftop gardens need constant watering in the summer, the plants dry out in the hot sun quickly. In Brooklyn you add to that the breeze coming off New York Bay, and you get dessicated plant leaves quickly.

    Vegetable plants that work well for rooftop gardens are ones that do well in the summer heat. Peppers are great, lettuce not so great. Squash, especially winter squash, do well, and because their vines sprawl all over a roof, they also create a cooling effect for the roof, shading it with the large squash plant leaves.

    Herbs like basil, sage, rosemary - those from the Mediterranean - are good for rooftops.

    We've done a how-to video on making a drip irrigation system for a rooftop garden here. The drip irrigation system uses soaker hoses, its an inexpensive way to water your rooftop garden. Here is another soaker hose drip irrigation video we made for our vegetable garden.

    How do you water your roof or patio garden? Let us know below:

    « Worm Composter Barrel by Rick : GardenFork Radio
    Lose Weight, Eat Yogurt, Be Better GF Radio »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sandy

      June 29, 2012 at 8:04 pm

      I did something very similar with the 5 gal. buckets, but I used a 2 ft or so piece of pvc pipe down through both buckets. That way I can fill them up from the top. I also found that making a funnel from a water bottle makes it even easier to fill.

    Trackbacks

    1. Well Water Pump Repair! GF TV video - GardenFork.TV says:
      July 20, 2012 at 12:49 pm

      [...] Rooftop Container Garden Watering System Video [...]

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Become a Monthly Supporter of GardenFork. Click Here To Learn More

    Pages

    • About
    • Let's Stay Connected With Each Other
    • Maple Syrup Evaporator Information
    • May I Email You?
    • Pizza Oven Plans & Make Pizza Videos
    • Privacy Policy
    • Radio
    • Terms of Use & Affliate Information
    • The GF Amazon Shop
    • Want More GardenFork? Here You Go:

    My lawyer makes me do this part: Visitors agree to our Terms Of Service and Affliate Information - Use This Information At Your Own Risk

    Produced by GardenFork Media LLC, Brooklyn, NY ©2021 All Rights Reserved