Self watering pots have a lot of downsides, but I find myself with several decorative plastic ones that I want to find a use for. What sort of plants thrive in these pots? What have you had luck with?
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I only use self watering pots for plants that don’t like to dry out. In fact, the only way I have been able to get ferns to survive is to have them in self watering pots. Currently, I have a maidenhair fern and an alocasia polly plant in self watering pots and they are doing great. Make sure you get self watering pots that have a reservoir and wick; I find that these keep the soil more consistently moist. Absolutely do not put succulents or cactus in self-watering pots.
I don’t understand the issues surrounding bottom watering pots with a wick.
I have a number of succulents in them, and of course the usual unkillable Pothos. I partially/fully fill the bottom part (Depending on it’s carrying capacity) once every 2+ weeks and for the succulents they’re good to go. Saves me A LOT of effort doing the usual bottom watering process of putting the pots in a large container of water until the water saturates the soil.
Can someone go into detail on the downsides of such pots?
I think they’re convenient for hanging plants, but with most of my plants I’m more concerned about overwatering than underwatering so they’re not ideal.
My calathea is the only plant I’d say truly thrives in a self-watering pot. I have a few others in self-watering pots- philodendrons, alocasias, aglaonemas- that are varying levels of ambivalent about their pots. I need to be careful not to leave them too wet and will likely be repotting them into normal draining pots.
How often do you have to water your calathea in the self-watering pot vs a regular one?
About every other week with the self-watering pot, whereas it’d be weekly in a normal pot!
