On Monday, I wrote about how to DIY self-watering planters. Wednesday, I remembered that, after making several of the planters last year, we tweaked the plans a bit from the Root Simple method. Their method was to use two pots (or buckets in their case) nested, instead of a saucer. We liked the saucer better because it was way cheaper and two nesting pots looked a little funny. Like this:
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Here is the ready made self-watering planter that we purchased from IKEA. The price was good, but the style doesn’t fit in so well on our deck, and they don’t hold as much water or wick the water up as well as the home made planters.
(The strawberry bush that didn’t give me a single strawberry last year is back and blooming! Total surprise. Now I just have to harvest them before the birds do. Unlike my sad attempt at a blueberry bush last year.)
Here is a better looking one that we did, our little herb garden in an urn:
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So there are lots of options. All of them pretty simple and very inexpensive. And they give even the most horrendous plant killer like me a fighting chance.
I need to go get the finishing touches on the Mother’s Day gifts done and get them in the mail, already. Ack, hopefully the mothers will still get them in time.
I’ve never heard of doing this but it’s definitely something that I should look into! I’ve got the BLACKEST thumb. I can kill anything.
It really is easy, you should try it!
I have a very lovely, stamped concrete deck and I don’t want water spurting out onto it and leaving ugly white/rusty water marks. I would love to have some pots tho for some color and interest. Can I use the DIY self watering planters and NOT put a drainage hole in the bottom?
Yes, you should be able to. I used the hole to know how much water I was adding–when it started coming out the hole, it was full. Since you wouldn’t be able to tell, what I would do is measure how much water fits in there before you add your soil. Then you can add the same amount each time and know you’re not adding too much.
Hey question, how do you know how much water you have in the container, do you use a stick of somesort to measure the water level? Or just quess? Usually the store ones come with a “floating stick”
Again this is an excellent idea, I have never thought of this, I was dumb enough to think that I must buy the ugly containers from the stores and I had no other option.
That’s why we drill the drain hole into the side, just below the spot where the saucer sits. You just stop filling the tube when the water starts to spurt out the drain hole. (Forgot to take a pic of that step.) The drain hole also helps with getting oxygen under the soil, which is very good for the plants and keeps mold from growing.
I’m glad to show you the idea! We just stumbled upon it online last year looking for other gardening advice, I believe.