Tired of forgetting to check your Christmas tree’s water twice a day? Set up this automatic watering system to take care of it for you!
How many nights do you go to bed and all the sudden remember you haven’t watered your Christmas tree that day? It happens to all of us, but it doesn’t have to happen again.
It’s very important to keep your Christmas tree watered at all times because once the end becomes dry and the sap hardens, it can’t drink water again.
Check out ways to try to fix your dried out Christmas tree!
The best way to make sure your tree is always watered is to set up a DIY automatic watering system. While that might sound complicated, it’s not!
DIY automatic Christmas tree watering system
An automatic Christmas tree watering system is really as easy as having a pump and a vessel. That’s it. Anyone can do this project and keep their tree watered all season.
This goes great with my DIY slatted wood tree collar around your tree stand!
Materials needed for an automatic tree watering system
Here’s the materials you need to set up your DIY Christmas tree watering system:
- Automatic tree watering pump
- Water vessel (milk jug, bucket, tupperware bin, etc)
Step one: prepare water vessel
So there’s a few different options for holding water, but you want to make sure that it is tall enough and is water tight. This can be a milk jug, bucket, tin or anything that can hold water as high as the height of the top of your tree stand.
The pump works on gravity, so you need the water level to be as high as the stand so that it will fill the stand to that height.
I went with an old popcorn bucket, but to make sure the seams were completely sealed, I added some Flex Seal Paste for an extra layer of protection.
Then I used a 1/4″ drill bit to drill a small hole in the top of the bucket for the pump to go down into. That’s it!
Step two: prepare automatic pump
The automatic watering pump I used is very straightforward. The gauge goes into your tree stand and the pump tube drops down into the hole in the water vessel you are using. Here’s how it looks in two plastic cups:
Once you have those in place, squeeze the pump 6-8 times until the tube is completely filled with water. Now the gauge will pump water from the bucket into the tree until the water levels are at the same height.
This is why it’s important not to fill the bucket higher than the top of your tree stand. I recommend filling your tree stand up all the way and filling the bucket to that same height, but you could also start with an empty tree stand and fill the bucket up twice as high the first time.
The water will continue to pump itself in until the level is equal and then stop. Once it is equal, it will shut itself off. As the tree drinks water, the level in both the stand and the bucket will go down slowly.
Step three: enjoy!
You will need to check on the water level in the bucket every so often, but you shouldn’t have to fill your tree stand twice a day like you used to. You can tuck your water vessel under the tree so it’s not visible. Bonus points for you if you wrap it up like a present!
Easiest way to automatically water your Christmas tree
Setting up a simple gravity pump watering system is the easiest way to automatically water your Christmas tree all year long. It only takes a few minutes to set up and will make your life easier all holiday season!
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Hello, I’m Morgan, half of the creative force behind CharlestonCrafted.com! With a passion for DIY that dates back to 2012, I’ve transformed three homes and now I’m dedicated to helping others craft their dream spaces. Let’s turn your house into a home together!