2009-02-07

Life in the Garden Part 08: Self watering containers

I'm a big fan of self watering containers for my plants.

These pots or window boxes have a reservoir at the bottom that is covered with a porous surface. There is a spout that leads out the side of the pot or straight up to the rim. You fill it with soil and add your plants as normal.

Instead of pouring water on the soil, however, you pour it through the spout and fill the reservoir.

The advantage is that you can add a lot more water at once without soaking your plants. You can go longer between waterings which is great if you travel a lot, are busy, or just don't like to deal with watering. It's also great in dryer, warmer climates when plants may need water more often.

The plants soak up only as much waters at they need. This leads to healthier plants that are less subject to root rot. This is important, because I have probably killed more plants by over watering than under watering.

But they are expensive. I find it tough to pay $25-$50 for an ugly, plastic planter just because it is self watering. A standard plastic planter will be under $10. Of course I can go to Wal*mart and find some smaller one for under $10 but I prefer not to do that.

So maybe this year, I'll try making my own. It doesn't look too tough (famous last words, right). I found this video over on VideoJugg.


Gardening Basics:How To Make A Self-Watering Container


For those looking for a hipper version, check out this YouTube video from SurviveLA.com





Are there any other instruction sets for self watering containers you would recommend?

3 comments:

storybeader said...

great ideas~ thanks!

Anonymous said...

Wow I can't wait to have my own garden one day and be able to find useful ideas like this.

Anonymous said...

I have a few self watering containers for my houseplants, but after last nights fiasco I should get or make more! (good timing on your 1001 post (congrats!)

Last night I was watering my houseplants and talking to my husband. I think I was tired and distracted because I not only over-watered one plant (that needs very little water before it's container overflows) but in total - three! One in the dining room, one in the living room and one in the spare bedroom upstairs! All of the plants were in odd areas that were hard to get to as the water overflowed to catch plate below them and fell to the floor below (yes I did a good job of over-watering!)! What a mess!

So .. yeah, your self made self watering container videos are timely! Thanks! LOL