tripunkt  
  necessity is the mother of invention.
I needed something to plant things in and, as I have no garden, sub-irrigated planters was the way to go. everything shown here was made by recycling items I already had around the house.		  
 
   
 
  one plastic cat litter container with lid. I have to buy these, but instead of just tossing them in the recycling bin I decided to make further use of them. Notice the screen printed product label. pain in the ass to remove, would take too long to sand/scrape off, so I found a better way to hide it...more on that later.  
 
   
 
  the lid is used as the platform to hold the soil and the soil wick. cut around the edge of the lid so that it will fit inside the container. the outer lid can then still be used to snap on the top (perhaps to fasten down fabric to hide the label, although I have yet to try this). cut out a hole to hold the soil wick container, and a smaller hole for the watering hose.  
 
   
 
  here you can see the containers used fir the soil wick, and two others cut in half to help support the soil platform.  
 
   
 
  the soil wick has holes punched into it to allow water to wick up into the rest of the soil in the container. this is called capillary action.  
 
   
 
  here is the soil wick placed into the hole in the lid. the lid also has some holes punched into it to allow for drainage.  
 
   
 
  the underside of the platform, you can also see the hose I used to water the reservoir. I had an old garden hose sitting around in the garage, works perfectly. I place a small funnel in the top of the hose to water it, thus not getting water everywhere.  
 
   
 
  close-up of the watering hose. I cut some holes in it to allow for water to flow more freely...but I doubt this is necessary.  
 
   
 
  here you can see the containers used to support the weight of the platform. I had also cut holes in those, to allow water to move freely through them as well, but again it is probably not necessary. it is also a good idea, especially if the planter will be used outdoors, to cut a small drain hole opposite the watering hose - you can see that later.  
 
   
 
  the lid fits on top of the containers. depending on your cut, it may or may not fit snugly. you can fill-in gaps around the edges with any polyester batting material. for example, I used some from an old pillow or from the dog toys my cairn terrier eventually destroys. ;)  
 
   
 
  back to getting rid of or covering the product labeling. I figure you could paint over it, use some contact paper, or hide it using fabric like I mentioned above. In my case, I was able to use bamboo slats from an outdoor rug that was no longer being used. score!  
 
   
 
  using some metal shears I cut a template slat to fit the height of the container, and then cut successive pieces using the template. the height varied in spots, so some extra trimming was done as needed.  
 
   
 
  using a hot glue gun, the slats were affixed to the side of the container.  
 
   
 
  here is the drainage hole. to help keep the water from draining directly onto the bamboo slats, I placed a small plastic tube I found covering the tip of a small paintbrush in the hole. hey, whatever works!  
 
   
 
  the water hose was trimmed to a desirable height. and because the hose was naturally bent, I wanted something to help fasten it to the container and stay upright. the answer? a paperclip.  
 
   
 
  I poked two holes into that outer lip of the container and bent the paperclip around the hose, and into those holes and bent the clip to stay in place. voila!  
 
   
 
  as always, there is a plethora of great information elsewhere on the internet by people much smarter than me in terms of growing using sub-irrigated planters. search around, you will find some interesting stuff! I suggest you start simple, and check out GreenScaper's photostream.
Happy Planting! :)