Sorry, make that, DO want...the convienance of not having to worry about watering at all or correctly...

It would depend on the soil and the type of SW pot most of all. I had a Hoya bella in a SW pot and it didn't get enough water. Now I have it in an AV SW pot, with the clay insert, and bella is doing better. The problem is they don't make the clay insert pots very large.

I have most of my hoyas and many of my jungle cacti in SW pots. they do better than a lot of other plants. I'm sure you could find some with the lipped tray at WM for a lot cheaper than $20. I would like to know what kind of soil less mix they use before telling you it's ok to use for most plants. Citrus & Palms need more water than you'd think in a pot. I had a couple citrus which required water daily in summer.

Hello Mike,

They say if something is too good to be true it probably is. I find that that is the case with the self watering pots. People use them and think that they do not have to maintain their plants. I'm glad to see that they offer a good soilless mixture to go with the pots. That is very important. Even with a good mixture I know of people who have lost plants to root rot.

Mentha is a veteran plant grower and is able to spot any problems with her plants if it is due to the self watering pots. I'm very leery about recommending those kinds of pots to beginners. If you do decide that you want to go that route to, though, I would only start with one plant. See how that goes and then you can decide whether it's something you want to do. At least that's my advice.

I use a self watering system called wick watering. It's a little different than the self watering pots as a wick extends down into a reservoir. I grow my African violets and gesneriads using that method and they do quite well. Personally I don't like using self watering pots, even with my violets. I find that root rot can be a real issue with them. And the expense is way too prohibitive for me.

I hope this helps,

Larry

It sounds like a good idea, but it really does't seem to be.

I only know of one person who does well w/ these, our friend Cena, she lives in Calif & grows mostly OUTSIDE, has lots of her Orchids & Hoyas hanging in her trees, (quite large plants all, pots tending to be 10-12" diameters). She's the only person I know who uses lots of these SW pots & she's far from a beginner.

Personally, I'd heed Larry's advice abt this, I thought he made & explained the case quite well (thanks Larry).

Pls. be reminded that nurseries (like other businesses) are in the business of selling. Their interests are not necessarily what's good for the plants, but rather what will turn over the most product & make them the most profit; which isn't always what's best for the plants.

Gee thanks Larry :) You make me sound like an old lady. I'm only ummm, about 13 years older than when I joined GW as a 22 yo mother needing some adult conversation. (Spike still sent out birthday greetings via email & even replied to questions asked.)

SW pots are for convienience & moisture retention during the summer. I learned long ago, water when the plant needs it, not when you have time to do it, still learning when they need it though. Plants prefer neglect to pampering. Too much pampering can kill a plant. Neglect is more natural for the plant, as they tend to have dry seasons, even in the jungle.

SW pots only work if you let the tray go dry for a couple days before refilling it. I agree Cena would be the person to talk to about SW pots, but she has been busy lately. I should add, I grow most of my plants outside almost year round, & some of the same plants Cena grows in SW pots. Whilst I get hotter than Cena, I also get colder, so some plants have to come inside.

P.S. I get to go see Cena in a few weeks at the SDES show & sale, Yeee-Haaah!

Wow...I would really love to see Cena"s garden. It must be beautiful...

Thankyou PG., lary b, and mentha.

Think I will take up your suggestion larry b.
I will only try this on one plant, and see what happens.
Who's the lucky one? Which one picked the short straw?
It is my "Dwarf Tree Fern" I potted up in this type of container before asking this question, since Logees told me they can never ever dry out, or it will die.
I already lost two prior to this, for, yes, forgetting to water just one time rushing off to work. Me, the one that use to loose most my plants from "overwatering'..lol

If you have ever seen a mature fern as this, you'll now why I went back for a third.:-)
This is a beautiful plant that doesn't need a space in full sun.

This is one plant that you just can't ignore for sure though.
I wonder where they grow in the wild that never lets them dry out....Probably a tropical rain forest? I will have to do a search.

The care instructions says, never to let dry out. Always keep moist. If it dies, due to being in this SW container, I will let you know.
It might have a better shot at living than leaving it sit in a saucer full of water at all times as suggested by Logees...
"Maybe" this plant is one that fits the profile for this type of tainer. We'll see..:-)

Again, thanks for all your suggestions and ideas everyone!

Mentha,

I am so sorry.

You were wondering what kind of soil they supplied?

The actual pot I used supplied a bag of soil ingrediants inside of it already.
I had to mix it, then use it.
Three small bags.
It was peat moss, pumice, and perlite. Very light mix.
Looks like there was more of the latter, and a very small amount of peat. :-)

It doesn't sound like these do well in mostly inorganic mediums. I'm not sure if they're really acid enough from what I've read. I think having a heavier potting medium that doesn't dry out as quickly might actually work better, although I'm not really sure. I have mine in miracle grow orchid mix, which... I doubt is acidic enough for it.

I honestly still haven't found a lot of information on growing them, outside of a few very old posts on the mostly dead fern forum.

Pls, wait a minute Mike,

If you've been given specific instructions by Logees, you'd be smart to follow them. They're well known & very well regarded (I've heard of my local society knowing & using them for at least 10 yrs). While I don't mean this rudely or meanly, they're likely to know FAR more than you about these things. Really, don't ignore their instructions, that's just folly & likely a waste of your time & money.

Yes, Mike, I agree with Pirate Girl. Do what Logees told you to do and I would not make it a candidate for a SW pot.

Larry

Logees advice it is then...

Finally, a place you can buy plants from, that people know their stuff. It would be nice if the other nurseries stopped pushing bad ideas on their customers..Sheesh..

You know,
Come to think of it, Logees is the only nursery that doesn't sell SW containers, nor push other bad ideas...
No wonder they are well regarded..

Thanks for pointing this out to me...:-)

When you repot plants you can make your *own* self-watering pot without paying a lot for a special pot. Get a small terracotta pot. It helps if it's a slim, tall one. Put a cork in the drain hole. Depending on the size of the pot and plant to be watered will depend on how many you may need. I would say you wouldn't need more than one until you get to the larger pots (really small pots obviously don't have room to do this). Place it in the soil near the plant, but not touching/disturbing the roots. Fill it will water. It'll take about two hours to start seeping through to the soil. The soil will only take the water it needs; you can't overwater this way. This method is great so you don't have to find a plant sitter while away too! One of my Hort. professors taught me this method.

Hi, Mike -
Thought I would share my experience with homemade wick waterers and various houseplants. I totally agree with Larry. I started with this method growing African violets. I do not like the expensive ceramic self-watering pots with unglazed ceramic inserts. They are expensive, and I believe they keep plants too wet. Wick watering is another matter. LOTS of houseplants LOVE to be wick watered. Most people who show African violets use this method for their show plants. As others have pointed out, you need a very light soil mix to succeed with wick watering. I use 1-1-1 or 2-1-1 perlite-peat moss-vermiculite. I also add about 1 tablespoon of dolomite lime to to the mix per quart of peat moss. Acid-loving plants might not appreciate the dolomite lime, but I grow lots of things in my basic mix. Some plants that love to be wick watered: African violets, gesneriads, potted roses, tomato plants, ferns, English ivy, polyscias, many begonias, most foliage plants -- pretty much anything that likes being evenly moist. Wicking is good for small windowsill plants. For violets in 4" pots, I use 4" square freezer jars as a wick reservoir. With a hot knife, I melt 2 holes in the lid -- one in the center of the lid for the wick to pass through and one at the corner of the lid to use as a fill hole for the water. Wick watering also works for bigger plants. I have seen some commercially made patio planters with intelligent wick systems and a large reservoir underneath for water. I have grown VERY happy tomato and rose plants by planting in a 12" pot with one leg of an old pair of pantyhose for a wick. I would then sit the plant with its wick inside a larger washtub-sized container. I would sit the inside pot up on bricks. I would then fill the washtub up to the level of the bricks with the tomato pot sitting on top and the wick dangling in the water. This setup would keep a very thirsty tomato plant in full sun watered for several days.

Best of luck,

Barbara

hort lvr 4life,

So, wait. You take a drainageless terracotta pot, fill it with water, and place it down in the soil a bit so water draws out of the terracotta pot and into the soil? sort of like a reverse African Violet pot? Interesting idea.

Big question though: Would this filter the water you're using at all? I have rather hard water, so if it does that'd be quite useful.

Well, I don't think I'd rely on it as a filter. Most filters use carbon chunks or, in the case of the Clear2o, a carbon block.

For hardwater I reccommend the Clear2o. I was raised on well water from the farm. When I came to the city I found myself doing what I used to make fun of people for: buying water. It's like paying for the air we breath. Well, that's what I thought until I tasted the nasty chlorine, iron and yuck! Sinks and bathtubs with rust staining just days after scrubbing them really *stinks.* I've tried everything from Pur, Brita, DuPont, Culligan (okay, but still not for my taste), Rubbermaid and more. The only reason I sprung for another system is b/c it boasts the Good Housekeeping seal. My husband laughed when I had him taste the Clear2o filtered water and told him, "It's water!" I'll never go back and I won't have to haul heavy jugs home anymore.

Now using this little terracotta pot is a great idea. I use it mainly for propagation purposes for even moisture. Also great so you don't have to get a plant sitter for the times away from home. However, I don't know for a fact, but I'm betting if used all the time your plants won't get the proper fertilization. Some of the fertiizers might stick to the inside of the pot like hardwater deposits do. Also, this would not work for leeching.

I'm not sure how well wicking works for fertilization. You might ask around.

What purpose/plant are you wanting to use a "self-watering" pot for? What do you want to acheive by using one? I.e. do you have a tendency to over/underwater?

"What purpose/plant are you wanting to use a "self-watering" pot for? What do you want to acheive by using one? I.e. do you have a tendency to over/underwater?"

I'M not, personally. It's just that little terracotta pots are a lot cheaper than real filters, so I figured I'd ask :)

heyGuys, regarding a self watering pots i bought two pots of this http://www.stefanplast.it/giardino/linea-natural/fioriera-natural-80-cm

but after i put the soil and the plants (mums, jasmine, rose, garonia and nocturnum) i thought why not the roots got rot with these SW technique note that it is very heavy for me to remove the reservoir everday to be emptied so what do u think should i do a great effort and remove the reservoir completely forever or leave it?

SW pots can be very useful, I imagine, provided you are using the right plant, and correct media for your environment, not to mention the correct pot. (I would expect that there are significant differences between the plastic ones and the ceramic pot within a pot types.) Unfortunately, just like the generic plant culture instructions that typically come with plants (if they even have that), the advice or instructions given for use of SW pots & the media also tends to assume that everyone's growing conditions are pretty much the same.

As far as which plant to use as your "guinea pig", Mike? I would suggest a plant that is cheap/easily replaceable (or one of which you have duplicates) and is highly adaptable.

I use one like this: plastic SW pot for a Nepenthes. Plant has done very well for me. My media is sphag, large grade coconut husk chunks, and medium grade pumice & charcoal. Also have a Hoya in one.

Funny how my tastes haven't changed, this is the first post I gravitated to today. It was also funny to see my own posts from 7 years ago. I still would not recommend s/w pots for inexperienced growers. The reason is they need to learn how to water without one first. If you do not know your plant's needs, you can't provide them with the best care. I find s/w pots are great for lazy people who have numerous plants though, however I use the time I'm watering to look my plants over for bugs or other problems I may miss otherwise. Just yesterday almost half of my plants went into the shower because I found mealy bugs and scale on them. Today they all get a systemic treatment. I probably would not have found them had they been in s/w pots.

thank u Paul for ur reply :)) <3

Hi Mentha, i bought those SW pots because i travel a lot in the summer but now i don't use them as SW pot i only water my plants form above but i'm wondering what can make the rest of water lying in the resevoir not to get the roots rot, so i'm confused but decided to wait and see although i become very sad when some plant get damaged :(

I'm not quite understanding the question. Any roots that sit in water are susceptible to rot.

yeah that was my question so i think i should remove the reservoir