I saw a garden like this one in the Virgin Islands. I wanted to build one like it. I did not have any space to build on for a long time. I now live in a place where the ground is really bad for a garden. I wanted to have some good vegetables to eat, so I decided now is the time to build the garden. I decided to do a test garden first to make sure I could grow stuff before I really do a permanent one.

This setup is built with 7 pieces of 4" 10 foot PVC drain flashing pipes. I also used two 90's, 1 tee, and three caps. I bought a small water pump from Ace Hardware to pump the water. I also bought a plastic 55 gallon barrel for my nutrient tank. I used 14 building blocks standing on end to raise the pipes off the ground. I don't want to lean over to work on it. It is going to be easier to weed the garden with a weed eater.

I decided where to setup the garden. I needed a level or close to level place in full sun close to the water supply. The first image shows the layout of the garden.

I laid out the pipes so that there are three lines of pipe 20 feet long. On one end I cut the last pipe in half to get two five foot pieces. Cut the bell end off this one. All of these pipes are belled on one end so they slip together. I glued two pieces together for each run. I put the ends without the bells on toward the back. The elbows were glued on. The middle run gets the tee. Put the short pieces between the elbows and the tee. when these lines are glued together be sure they are straight and level so water will run through easily. This makes a fork like layout.

I laid the pipes out where I wanted the garden. I put the blocks along the side so I could level the blocks. I used a long level to set all the blocks to the same height. Then I put the pipes on top of the blocks. I cut the bells off the open end. I put the caps on the pipes without glue so I could clean it out or look in. I put them on with duct tape. I put a fitting in one cap to accept the garden hose in from the pump. That is where I took this photo.

I put some fittings together to make an automatic siphon to drain the garden back to the tank.


You can make layout a different if your space is not the same. You can use 7 or 8 pipes and use a 55 gallon barrel for your tank. The pump I bought was the 1/6 horsepower pump. It is a submersible pump with a garden hose fitting on top. I bought a Walmart timer to turn the pump on and off