You may have heard of the term ‘self-watering’ planter, but do you have any idea how it work? Well kids, self-watering planters are actually two pots, where the outer pot or the one which rests at the bottom, is filled with water and it cradles the inner pot which contains soil, the plant and a piece of string that comes out from the hole in its bottom and goes straight into the outer container with water. This string is submerged in the water. The idea is, the string soaks water and provides the required amount of moisture to the soil.

Today’s craft is ideal for all those people, who forget to water their plants, or plants which need a lot of watering. All you have to do is fill the water in the outer container and the plant will get its drink!

Things you need:

1. Plant (or seeds if you want to start from scratch)

2. Soil

3. A handful of limestone or pebbles

4. One empty bottle (at least litre-sized)

5. Paper cutter or scissors

6. A piece of string (six-inches)

7. Pen or marker

Directions:

1. Make a line in the middle of the empty plastic bottle, as in picture 2.

2. Cut it carefully. Now you have two parts of the bottle, (the upper and the lower), see picture 3. It is recommended that you should always take help from an elder in the cutting step.

3. Make a hole in the middle of the cap of the bottle, picture 4.

4. Insert the string from one side, picture 5.

Note: keep the string inside the upper part shorter and longer in the lower part of the bottle.

1. Put the cap back on the bottle, picture 6.

2. Put some pebbles or limestone inside the upper part which already has a string in it, picture 7.

3. Fill the lower part with water then slowly and carefully place the upper part on it, the neck of the bottle will go upside down, picture 8 and 9.

4. Put soil and plant on the stones and decorate your planter by placing limestone on the surface, picture 10.

So there is no need to worry about plants that need frequent watering, the string will keep the soil always moist with the required amount of water. However, don’t forget to refill the outer bottle with water before it finishes.

Published in Dawn, Young World, October 19th, 2019