Portable IV Drip Watering System

In this Instructable I will show you how you can utilize some IV tubing to efficiently water your plants. With this system not a drop of water is wasted.

With most hanging potted plants a lot of water is wasted as the water passes through the pot and then falls to the floor below. By using a drip system you can slow the rate of watering, which offers your plants and soil a longer time to absorb the water. With this system you can use less water and keep the ground below your hanging plant dry. With the roller clamp that comes on most IV tubing, you will be able to adjust the rate to whatever you choose.

You will need:

- IV drip tubing with roller clamp

- Plastic Pot (Recycled is best because many have holes in the bottom)

- Plastic Garbage Bag

- 2 balloons

- Glue (Rub cement is best)

- Saucer (To use as lid)

1. You may use any kind of pot as long as you can find a way to "spike" it with your IV tubing. You may choose to use a decorative pot and drill a hole in the side, or you can use a recycled black pot. These black pots are ideal as they already have holes near their base.

2. Place your plastic garbage in your pot and cut it to size so that it fits in the pot without sticking out. You can use a touch of glue to hold it to the inside of the pot.

3. Stretch one of your balloons and spike it with your IV tubing. The balloon should be snug. You can use a touch of glue to secure it in place. You will now spike it through the hole in your pot, puncturing the garbage bag. On the very inside stretch and puncture another balloon to create a water seal. Use glue to secure the balloon to the garbage bag on the inside. The puncture order should be: balloon, pot, garbage bag, balloon.

4. Test the water seal by filling your reservoir up with water.

Decorate your pot however you like. Place your saucer on top to use as a lid. This will keep debris out of the reservoir and keep your tubing from getting clogged. This also offers additional space to add something else if you like. I matched the saucer to the color of my ballon.

This is a gravity system so the water reservoir must be placed above whatever you are watering. Try and keep all of the tubing from being seen. I removed the additional plants from the top of my reservoir because it is too high up to see.

Congratulations you're all done! Enjoy your new low watering system!