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Self-Watering Pots -

(Click on most of the photos to enlarge them.)



Blue Flax Lily (reeds) and Kidney Weed (groundcover) flowers



Droopy leaves one week, then this (left photo only)
using the tried and true method since the 1980s (below)



Place this assembly inside a decorative basket. It can be lifted out to water, or have a watering tube. Later, you can judge
how much. A reservoir this size for waterwise plants will allow you to go on a holiday for more than a month in the winter!


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Vinegar bottles are great - the moisture condenses on the inside of the top and runs back down into the bottom!
That didn't happen in the self-watering hothouse!  It went out the vents in the lid, which will need moisture traps!
These photos span a couple of weeks, but it took a few weeks to get to the left photo. I'll need a bigger bottle soon!

I transferred my lettuce seedling from the self-watering hothouse to a herbarium in a vinegar bottle. There is a nylon rope going from the pot down into the water to create capillary action. I also put a white paper bag over the bottle to stop the sun from drying the soil out too quickly.

This arrangement has been placed on the seat, next to the gate near the water tank for everyone to look at. I have been continually using this technique, which I created about 1983 - long before self-watering pots took off in a big way commercially!

I was more interested in getting Africa to use whatever they could find to collect and maintain water - even in plastic bags, if necessary!  A short time later, someone discovered how elephants find it - dig down about half a metre!

The bottle has been split halfway down, which allows air in, but was intended for easy access. Note the adjustable air flow cap at the top.

Please read the Disclaimer if my ideas are built by you, or by people you employ!                    (Updated 15 May, 2017)