I've read where some are putting a cheap plastic colander on the bottom of a five gallon container. The colander is supposed to fit perfectly if you cut off the little part that extends outward of its diameter. They then put a plastic pipe downward from the top to the bottom so its the watering tube. They drill an overflow hole where the colander's height comes. Then they fill up the 5 gallon container and put plastic on top. I've read enough of others extolling this method to think it must work.

Here's my question. To me, the colander is very wide and leaves little room for a reservoir. In fact, the entire colander's contents of mix would be saturated. So, why even do this much? Why not just have a 5 gallon bucket with an overflow hole four or five inches from the bottom. Make the hole large enough that a plastic bottle filled with holes could be screwed into it from the inside. And why use a colander (or platform to separate the mix from the reservoir) at all? Just fill it up with a good peat based mix and fill up the plastic bottle with water. Wait for it to wick upward and fill again.

If that doesn't sound good, then leave out the bottle and fill the bucket full of mix and just water into the excess hole. one bucket. one hole.

Where's the drawback?

Tom in Western MD zone 6b