Your plants are going to drown.

Why? What is the purpose? Maybe I am missing something, but it seems like a set up that has no real function. If water fills up the can, your plants may drown. Standing water also is a breeding ground for misquitoes. How would you adjust the "insect screening" as the tomato grows? What happens when the tomato gets top heavy? The whole thing could tip over.

If its just bugs you are concerned about, there are plenty easier measures to combat those.

As mentioned , what is the purpose of the water accumulation in the trash can ? it is out of reach of the plant and as you keep watering(or rains) it will accumulate. And become a haven for mosquito and bacteria etc.

You are better off to drill several holes about few inched from the bottom of the trash can. This way excess water will go out and there will be some air movement in the space, to prevent bad smelling and possibly damaging the roots of the plant.

This post was edited by seysonn on Wed, Jun 19, 13 at 11:46

I wouldn't worry about all the neigh-sayers. It's an interesting idea. It might not (probably not?) work, but what's the harm in trying?

You might consider having a lid or some plastic or something on the top to limit the amount of rainfall that could get in... ?

I woke up in the middle of the night realizing that I'd have to drill holes around the sides.

To lm13, what would be the easier ways to keep bugs off? Say I fill the entire garbage can with dirt in the usual way...

As for the point: I wanted to raise up the tomato up higher because of my arthritis. I purchased enough soil to fill the garbage can, but then I wondered why fill the entire thing? I've got tons of rocks around that I could put in the bottom.

And it was in trying to figure out how to create a cage that I realized if I put a pot inside the garbage can then the cage would be sandwiched between the two and not need additional staking/tying.

Oh well...guess I'll scratch the whole idea.

By the way, I wasn't planning that it would fill up with water as some of you seem to think: I only illustrated that as a possible problem and what to do about it. Since the inner pot and the garbage can fit rather tightly together, it's possible that not much water would make its way into the can.

This post was edited by Bhamster on Wed, Jun 19, 13 at 11:52

You could drill holes in the sides for the access water to flow off. Cover the holes with screen so mosquitos can't get in.

Since the inner pot and the garbage can fit rather tightly together, it's possible that not much water would make its way into the can.
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Bhamster,
Your idea is fine, for the reason you've just said(=convenience). It is the water issue.
It is not just the rain water getting in there. Where will the excess water from watering the plant will end up?

You can fill the empty space with things like straw, hay, shredded news paper etc. no need to make it heavy and waste the soil. That way no mosquito problems.
But in my opinion, the water at the bottom of the can serves no useful purpose.

I was trying to use the principle of the self-watering pots I've seen: If I drilled holes about 4-6 inches up, it wouldn't be enough to drown the plant, but would allow a reservoir of water to be wicked up into the plant--if I could run a wick from the tomato plant through a hole in the bottom of the inner pot and down to the bottom of the garbage can.

OK, that makes more sense then. So your main concerns are raising the pot due to arthritis, self watering and keeping the plant pests to a minimum. I'm from Birmingham as well and really haven't had much of a pest problem with my tomatoes. Fungus and bacteria are more of a problem for me. I use Neem oil to combat both.

What kind of tomatoes do you have? I plant in raised beds and have a few different trellises going. On my Romas I'm really liking the single trellis, weaving the plant through the holes. On a larger variety you can lean two trellises together and let it grow out either side. A bush determinate variety may be easier as it won't get as large.

As to the watering, I'm not too familiar with the self watering pots. I just know how bad misquitoes are at my house so I would definately put drainage holes in that trash can if you are going to give it a try. Good luck!

Hats off for creative problem solving! Innovation is what moved us from being hunter/gatherers to agriculturalists in the first place. :)

I like the idea- not just for arthritis, but there are plenty of people with bad backs to begin with, let alone gardeners!
Keep working on ideas- the worst that can happen is you have to buy your tomatoes instead of growing them.

I do have one question- there are several self-watering pots out there for sale. Why not just use a stand of some sort (perhaps custom made for optimal comfort and convenience) and place a pre-designed pot on top? It might be worth the cost.
Or you could try drip irrigation method with a regular, large pot for the plant (cheap bucket, whatever size you need) on top of the stand. (Anyone who knows more about drip irrigation feel free to chime in- I've never tried it myself)

Second jadie88's comment! :-)

Kudos for thinking creatively in trying to find a solution to your problem. Here is my concern, however -- without drainage holes, the water at the bottom of the container will become stagnant and could smell really bad. Holes 4-6" up the sides would still leave 4-6" of water at the bottom to just sit and grow bacteria. The self watering containers I've seen have a way to tip and drain the pot periodically. Could you do that with such a large can?

I assume you've already done an internet search on "make your own self watering container"? Hopefully that would help you figure out how to use a wick.

As for stand ideas ... perhaps you could put your pot on a table to raise it up? A large inverted pot? A stack of bricks or paving stones? Of course, all of these options, including your trash can idea, would need to be stable enough not to blow or tip over in the wind.

Thanks for the encouraging words--I felt like an idiot this morning over the whole thing. ;-)

However, I ended up returning the plants (Better Boy and Big Boy) and garbage can to Lowe's tonight. But then I still couldn't resist at least trying a couple of container plants: Early Girl Bush and Patio.

Last year I purchased 2 self-watering kits from Gardener's Supply but discovered that they A) didn't work for large pots very well and B) really didn't keep the plants well-watered. The idea seemed good, but I don't know if it's just too hot here and the water evaporated too quickly...and I couldn't see the little bobber-thingy that was supposed to let me know when the plant was dry. You wouldn't see it once the plant gets bushy.

Anyway, so what I'm going to try now is this idea: http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/growing-tomatoes-in-containers.aspx.

We have a hose reel box and I may be able to set the Early Girl pot there. The Patio tomato should be able to go in a smaller pot, and I do have a little plant stand that should work for it.

My goal is modest, I think: just to get a few decent tomatoes and to confound the dratted stink bug!

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Tomatoes in Containers

That looks like a good setup! The best parts of your original idea, less the trashcan. I've tried Patio and Early Girl. They are easy to grow and plants of a manageable size. Best of luck - I'm sure you will get some good tomatoes!

Was browsing Instructables and came across this:
http://www.instructables.com/id/self-watering-planter-from-found-dresser-drawers/
Thought this idea might work- or at least be adaptable/something to think about ;-)

If you ever get around to building something, please post it!

Was browsing Instructables and came across this:
http://www.instructables.com/id/self-watering-planter-from-found-dresser-drawers/
Thought this idea might work- or at least be adaptable/something to think about ;-)

If you ever get around to building something, please post it!