2. Self-watering systems

I started reading about self-watering systems and narrowed down my multitude of options to a few main contenders. One of the main criteria was to use natural or recycled materials to get water to the plants. 

Thanks to neighbours, Ian and Sarah, I got a painters cloth that I cut up into strips and raided Jim's stash of nails to weigh down the strips in our used water bottles.

This one works on the wicking system but this particular system didn't work well. The strips of cloth dried out before they could get the water to the plants. Too much evaporation and wind. I wondered about using a plastic bottle with the strips coming out of a hole in the sides. 

This system is also a wicking system and worked much better. In fact too well on the smaller seedlings that were permanently wet. The bees and wasps also like drinking from this one as they have something to land on. Still a bit of evaporation from the top though.

Another neighbour, John, started researching and found the Olla system. Traditionally it's a large clay vase buried near the plants and filled with water from the top. Thanks to a Google search, I found an improvisation of two terracotta pots glued together and the bottom hole sealed. The principle is the water seeps out of the clay slowly and roots of the plants grow around the buried clay pot. This system works really well. 

But, this being a garden of experiments, I planned to try a few variations of a theme.