Quote:
Originally Posted by cincinnana
Not a fan of self watering containers for large plants but I know they are popular.
A large plant will require more daily water than the resevoir will hold.
It will work for small plants and veggies and herbs because the water draw is minimal.
I do have and use Earth Box type self waterers for other grows and I find the plants will be underwatered much of the time.
And again many folks love the self watering pots because it suites their needs.
Instead I have found large saucers under the containers work the best for my situation.
My larger containers that are in the 10-24 gal range sit in saucers.
When the plant is actively growing in the summer they will use every drop of water in the saucer.
Go ahead and give your self waterers a go for the season and see if you like them.
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How many gallons of water do your saucers hold for your 10-24 gal pots? I can't imaging them holding more than 2-3 gal or so, and it's pretty easy to make a self watering wicking tub from half a 55 gal plastic barrel cut in half with more than a 5 gal reservoir .Its just as easy to pour water down a tube as it is to pour it in a saucer, so there's really not much difference between a saucer or internal water reservoir besides water capacity, and a saucer will waste alot more water due to all the exposed surface area to air compared to a sealed water reservoir. Also, the water reservoir tube hole can be plugged with a piece of foam so Mosquitoes can't get in to lay eggs, and a saucer is a constant open water source for Mosquitoes unless you let it completely dry out every few days.