These bucket uses are simple, affordable and worth trying!

1. DIY Rain Barrel

With global water supply dwindling year after year, collecting rain water seems like a wonderful way to repay Mother Nature and be environmentally conscientious. This DIY rain barrel idea is easy to follow and requires no more than a few hardware supplies, and a big water bucket or garbage can. The benefits are plenty; you can enjoy a drastic reduction in your water bill, lessen your carbon footprint and make good use of the rainwater. Find out the tutorial here!

2. DIY Crop Protection Device

Infestation by common animal pests like rabbits, rodents, and moles is the nightmare of every gardener. It’s painful to watch these pesky creatures ravage and ransack the fruits of your labor. Well, what you need is a five-gallon bucket to protect your plants during those first fragile months when they are too delicate to ward off potential invaders themselves. This simple DIY idea also shows you how to protect smaller plants from frost, hail and strong winds, and thus provide a conditioned environment that is suitable for their growing needs. Watch the video here!

3. Mushroom Farm in a Bucket

For growing mushrooms in a space-constrained manner, you need a technique that utilizes reusable elements, yields tons of mushrooms and is climate appropriate for your site. This simple DIY idea ticks all the boxes. There are so many types of containers that can be used, like large plastic bags; buckets are most suitable in the sense that they are inexpensive, sturdy and portable. Good for growing Oyster mushrooms, as it is less picky about growing media and less sensitive to growing temperature. Check out this DIY article here for instructions and this one, too.

4. DIY Vegetable Bucket Planter

The lack of a large food plot shouldn’t deter you from growing a productive vegetable garden. A contained growing space in buckets means you can control the quantity of water you provide, as well as limit the risk of weeds and pest infestation. However, do remember that plants grown in buckets or any other container for that matter require a liberal dose of fertilizer as there’s only a limited amount of nutrients in the compost. This DIY planter idea uses a collection of new 5-gallon buckets to act as low-cost containers with enough strength to support most vegetable varieties, especially those that are dwarf or patio type and hybridized specifically for container culture. Click here to learn more!

Also Read: Container Vegetable Garden Design Ideas

5. DIY Bucket Fountain

A fountain is a charming addition to any garden. This easy-to-assemble DIY idea uses a five-gallon bucket and a few other hardware supplies to create a gorgeous garden fountain that is rewarding to build, relaxing to watch and leaves your friends and neighbors utterly curious about how you managed to make something so amazing! Additionally, you can also adorn the finished piece with pretty artificial flowers, terracotta stones, and floating baubles.

6. DIY Bucket Drip Irrigation

This quick and easy DIY idea shows you how to install an in-ground, cost-effective irrigation system in your garden. Just punch a couple of tiny holes in the bottom of plastic buckets and bury them till their rims in your garden soil. Then fill them up with water and you’re good to go. The buckets will automatically supply a steady and gradual delivery of water to the adjacent soil without spilling excess water where it is not needed. This simple measure will also help you economize water use and save your plants from various fungal diseases. Here is an article on it, and also take a look at this one.

7. DIY Potato Bucket

Whether you are an expert gardener or a novice to growing potatoes, it’s remarkably easy to adapt to growing potatoes in buckets. A potato bucket gives you the chance to start your potatoes indoors and then transport them outside depending on the weather. This bucket planter basically acts akin to a raised garden bed, as a result of which the soil retains warmth and the plants stay protected from the late-season frost. Also, since all the potatoes grow within the bucket itself, harvesting is easy and doesn’t require any unnecessary tugging and digging. Check out 10 ways to grow potatoes!

Also Read: How to Grow Potatoes in Containers

8. DIY Flower Bucket

Who knew that those seemingly unimpressive-looking tin buckets could double up as rustic flower pots that not only look good but also support the growth of many plants. Being re-purposed items, metal buckets are easy to salvage and easy on the wallet as well. With a few modifications here and there, these alternative containers can act as durable and aesthetically appealing pots. However, you may not be able to grow large plants, shallow-rooted, low-profile plants, shallow rooted plants are good for such containers. See the tutorial post, here.

9. DIY Rice Planter

The concept of rice growing automatically steers up images of acre-long fields of water-drenched rice crops. This is obviously impossible to recreate at home, right? Wrong! As a matter of fact, it is quite possible to grow this popular staple crop with the same growing environment in your porch, backyard or even on your kitchen sill, AND IT WILL BE FUN! For this purpose, you will need an inexpensive, easily available tool– plastic bucket. This instructable shows you how to create a hospitable environment for growing small quantities of rice that is low-fat, higher in fiber and cheaper than store-bought varieties. Find out the tutorial in this post.

10. DIY Self-Watering Container

A self-watering container is a remarkable way to meet the water-intensive conditions of container gardening. It is an ingenious tool that makes growing plants a breeze and is perfect for apartment gardening. Forgo the expensive, store-bought ones for your own handmade waterer that uses a five-gallon bucket, among other scavenged materials and just about an hour’s time to assemble. See an informative DIY article on this, here. Visit Instructables to learn step by step process!

11. DIY Hanging Bucket Garden

If you’re looking for something challenging, an out of the box idea then try growing vegetables like tomatoes upside down. It is a unique way (not simple though) to grow tomatoes. A five-gallon bucket can help you in this endeavor. Click here and here to learn more!

12. DIY Aquaponic System

This food production technique entails a combination of aquaculture and hydroponics. If you’re new to this concept and wish to start off with a rudimentary aquaponics system, then a good idea would be to raise fish in a bucket. This basic system might not be visually pleasing but it works, and you will want to make mistakes and learn with a system like this before moving on to more advanced and expensive setups. And since these buckets are made of plastic, they are capable of adapting to the basic elements needed for an aquaponic system. To top it all, they hold a considerable amount of fish, as well as the piping needed to allow passage of water. They also offer enough room for plants that are best suited for aquaponics. To learn more, see this post and this one too!

13. DIY Compost Tea Brewer

If there’s anything better than compost, that’s compost tea. Made by merging steeping plain compost in water, this multipurpose elixir can be used to enhance the flavor of vegetables, prevent foliage diseases and even speed up the breakdown of toxins. So if you have been applying compost all this while the traditional way, it’s time to try brewing compost tea. With just a bucket and some leftover compost in a burlap sack, you can brew a nice, nutritious treat for your garden! See more of it here.

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  • carolyn
  • May 20, 2017 At 9:06 pm
  • I love this site but I don’t know anyone to share it with.
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I love this site but I don’t know anyone to share it with.

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