Growing food in Hillsborough & Pasco & Pinellas & Polk & Hernando FL with 5 Gallon Buckets

Self-watering or buckets with water reservoir made with 5-gallon buckets like these worked really well for me:

https://www.joeshealthymeals.com/5-gallon-self-watering-planter/

http://www.cheapvegetablegardener.com/make-self-watering-planter-with-5-gallon-bucket/

And , you can use the same concept, but make modifications to meet your needs.

This design allows you to fill the reservoir on the bottom to a set level. The drain holes will let the excess water out while the water in the reservoir lets the plants draw from it as they need. When you water, you fill the reservoir through the PVC tube instead of over the top. I use the cover for the bucket by drilling a hole large enough to allow, say, a fruit tree stem to fit and cut a slit from the hole to the edge of the cover to allow you to split the cover to get the plant to the center of the hole. The cover will keep moisture from evaporating quickly from the surface and to keep weeds off. Or, you can simply mulch over the soil surface with straw and so on. This works if you are planting a group of plants. The plastic cover works for single plant like small fruit trees.

Before you do anything, like buying plants, seeds, or pots and soil, do a sun exposure study at the locations you plan to grow the garden. Preferably over the seasons if you are in a zone where it varies significantly. I'm in southern California, so we are nearly sunny all the time. At the planned garden location(s), you will at the beginning of the day, identify where the shadows or shades would be caused by nearby trees or buildings. Do a check about every 3 hours and mark the changes until sunset. This will tell the story of the location relating to sun exposure. If it never gets and shade, then it is a location considered to be full sun. If it gets shades or indirect light, then it is a location considered to be partial sun. If it gets zero direct sun, then it is a shaded location.

Based on that, you can match the type of plants you intend to grow. Full sun plants get to be installed at a full sun portion of the property. Depending where you are, this sun exposure map may change over the season since during fall and winter, the sun tends to be lower on the horizon versus spring and summer.

You can use this site to locate your growing zone using your ZIP code:

https://morningchores.com/planting-zones/

It also has suggestions on what to grow and when to grow based on your zone.

There are a lot of information, and we can go on and on and on. :-)

Give these a try and let me know how it goes. I like to hear your progress. We can continue the discussion as you go along. This is how we learn from each other. I don't know everything. I learn something in the garden everyday. Nature is a great teacher. LOL

I started to do beekeeping to help pollinate the garden recently. So, that is another learning adventure. I think Bear needs to start his own beekeeping adverture too. :-)

Pineapple growing in 5-gallon self-watering bucket planter. This one is got the flower bud in the center ready to fruit. :-)

Let the pineapple ripen on the plant before harvesting. You'll know when it's ready, because it smells really sweet when you sniff it. You will never want to buy another pineapple from the market again.

Raised bed work really good, all of this is from scrap wood or pallets.