Global Bucket Planting Mission: Complete....finally

A global bucket is comprised of two 5 gallon buckets, about a two foot long piece of thin PVC piping, and a plastic cup. In one bucket, a center hole is made to fit the plastic cup. Another hole is placed near the edge of the bucket to fit the PVC pipe. Smaller holes (using roughly a 3/8 bit) are spread around the remainder of the bucket. I made 16 smaller holes which made for 18 total holes. Then place the 'holed' bucket inside of the untouched one. The PVC pipe is placed in its hole and can be held to the side of the bucket with a zip tie. Cut slits in the plastic cup (about 5-6 slits) and place it in its spot. Holding the bucket up to light, a line between the two buckets will become visible. Drill about four holes right under that line, these will act as flow holes for excess water. Finally wet the soil and pack it into the top ('holed) bucket. Once you have filled it to the top, some kind of weed deterrent can be placed over the top, such as a trash bag. Cut holes in the bag and plant the seeds. Fill the bottom bucket with water via the PVC pipe until water comes from the flow holes.

After 9 hours, 20 global buckets now grace the SVSU greenhouse lawn. Building and planting the buckets took longer than expected, probably because I was not figuring in the time it would take to find tools, ready the soil, and move heavy buckets and bags of dirt. It took 4 hours and 10 minutes to construct all 20 buckets. Construction included drilling the holes, cutting the PVC pipe, and putting all the pieces together. I spent 4 hours and 50 minutes planting all 20 buckets, 10 of which contain basil and 10 more which contain spinach.

I used Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Potting Mix for the soil. Before putting the soil in the buckets, I saturated it with water so it could be packed more tightly, focusing on packing the soil especially tight in the cup on the bottom of the top bucket. Having this area packed tight will help the water wick up into the above bucket.

After filling the buckets with dirt, I placed a trashbag over the top to prevent weeds. I then cut three holes in the buckets intended for basil and two for the spinach buckets. Four basil seeds were place in each hole, totallying twelve seeds in each bucket. I placed two spinach seeds in each of the spinach bucket holes, totallying four seeds in each bucket.

When purchasing the seeds, a man (also buying seed) told me that he has had little luck with seeds this year. He said he had tried various brands, but all lacked satisfactory germination. I purchased Burpee seeds (the same brand as the man), but if the seeds fail to produce, it may be because of poor seeds and not poor planters.

While planting the buckets I also wondered if plants would grow as successfully if I used only a single buckets and monitored the water intake. I think that planting in this way would prove even easier and would definitely be cheaper.