Groasis Waterboxx

It's all about water.  I'm always looking for ways to harvest water.  This led me on an internet search for an earthbox. I thought this would be a good solution for our short growing season. I could start some veggies indoors while it was still to cold to plant or I could have a self-watering herb garden.

But instead of googling "earthbox" I googled "waterbox" and this is what I got:


Waaaaaay cooler than an indoor planter. I especially liked the accordion  lid which promoted  Condensation even better I could buy them on the Groasis web site.

One of my main goals is to help restore local wildlife to the levels they were at 18 years ago when everyone was still using flood irrigation (sprinkler irrigation has really changed the local wildlife *a lot*). One of the ways to do this is to plant things which the locals like to eat.

I bought 10 Groasis Waterboxxes and 20 baby choke cherry trees.

Itsy bitsy chokecherry trees.

 The "bucket" part of the box is like a doughnut with holes for the trees. There is a template to help place the seedlings and nylon wicks for the water to "weep" from the box into the ground.

The top of the box has the accordion shape to promote condensation. 

I took rainwater out of the cistern. I got a little help from BB.

 Next I dug holes for the boxes. The one place where these tend to fail is the wick. If you don't bury it below the roots of the native grasses the grass roots will choke the wick.

 That means at least 18" deep in my dense clay loamy soil.
Then soak the hole with water and stir- to help aerate the soil- and let it soak in for at least an hour- then stir again.

I got help with the "stir" part. There is nothing quite like a muddy Puli.

 Poke holes in the template for the seedlings.

 Poke holes in the mud for the seedlings.

 Snip a little off the roots and the top of the seedlings (helps promote growth).

 Plant 'em. Cover the template with dirt to help make a tight seal between the bucket and the template (0% evaporation is the goal) See where the compass is? Orient the seedlings East/West for the best shade/sun.

Place the wick and put the bucket over the seedlings.

Snap on the lid.

 Place the funnels in the holes.

 Fill the bucket with water. If you overfill there is an overflow hole on the North side.

 Thirsty work says the Duffmeister.

 Fill the hole back up around the bucket. I'll post a picture of the mulch/rocks later but that's what comes next mulch around the box and cover the mulch with rocks to stop grass growing too close to the box.

I planted these Memorial Day weekend and we haven't had more than a wiffle of rain since.  Eight of the boxes are still full of water. I've refilled two of them. One still seems to be losing water and the seedlings aren't doing too well in that one. The other nine are really looking pretty good right now. This is a picture of the healthiest one. 

The water in the box is supposed to last 1-2 years. By that time the trees should be well enough established to keep growing without the boxes.

If this works I will definitely do a happy dance.