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Just got this beauty! I’ve never owned one before but it’s in a self… | Anything about plants | Planta community

NewlyGardenObsessed

Just got this beauty! I’ve never owned one before but it’s in a self watering pot, which I’ve also never owned. How do they work? When I brought her home, I kind of turned the plant over to get a peek inside. I thought it was a pot inside a pot, but the soil sits on top of a “shelf” in the pot, that has holes, so when you water it my guess is the water collects at the bottom under the shelf, and then waters from underneath for a while. Anyone have experience with this kind of pot? Is there a setting in Planta for it? What kind of watering routine should I follow? I noticed there’s a little window underneath that you can see the water level through.

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7 comments

  1. Rach

    If you haven't experienced it already, planta tends to over water with its schedule. Just keep that in mind! Ive never had a self watering pot, but I know some have a little rope between the water and soil that sucks moisture upwards. I don't know if they're all like that!

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  2. Jessica

    A lot of mine are self watering, you got to be careful what type of soil you use if you're going to use self watering pots depending on the plant. Because the plant might stay too wet. With well draining substrate the plant will be less wet. I find that I'm letting my reservoirs and plants dry up (a little) between waterings either way so I might as well have a regular pot. I guess it would be good for vacations.

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  3. kally

    what variety is that?🫶🏽

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  4. Jennrox

    Calatheas are very picky about how wet their soil stays so watch it with the self watering pot. I usually just take them out of those and into my mix of soil and then put it back if I don’t have another pot to use. Moist but not soggy and usually don’t like tap water. Hope this helps!

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  5. Phil

    What happens if you add too much water? How do you get it back out? Is there a wick in the bottom? This looks like a Costa planter but have never seen such a system in their pots. Sounds to me to be the same as having your plant sit in a saucer of water all the time. I would definitely repot.

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    • NewlyGardenObsessed

      I ended up pulling it out and there was another pot inside the self watering pot and a wick. I ended up reporting it

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    • Phil

      Thanks for answering. That sounds like most systems. Makes more sense now.

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