Self watering pots for succulents: Are they good? To answer the question yes, certainly they are good for succulents. Self-watering pots usually come with an outer pot. Further, they may also come up with a reservoir in the bottom which would store excess water.
Self watering pots for succulents
Usually what happens is, it would obtain water from the reservoir and apply the plant’s roots. Generally, the material which is used to make these containers are plastic.
However , there are so many other materials which you can use. There are tons of commercially made elegant self-watering pots.
These self-watering pots can conserve water for a longer period. If you are a forgetful gardener, self-watering pots are ideal for you. self-watering pots also called sub irrigation containers.
There are so many benefits of using the self-watering pots as it would save quite a lot of time for you. Not only that, it would allow you to water the plants quite easily.
Having said that , you need to use self-watering pots with so much caution as it would lead to over watering especially when you make use of them for succulent watering.
However, if you apply it precisely, it would be beneficial for you as well as for the plants. In other words, it would create a healthy environment for your plants and help them to have a robust growth.
Not only that but also, it would be convenient and quite efficient as well. If you are a keen succulents grower, self-watering pots would be a fancy and quite useful item to have.
So, let’s commence learning on using the self-watering pots on your beloved succulents and cactus.
How Self-Watering Pots Work
Self-watering pots use the wicking action to pour water to the plants from their water reservoir. You simply have to fill the water in the water reservoirs to do this task.
You do not need to check on the moisture level of the soil mix when watering when you practice this method. Additionally, you don’t have to bother on the specific water requirements of the plants as well.
As aforesaid, using self-watering pots is one of the most practical, convenient and an efficient way of watering the plants.
The wicking action which is used in the self-watering pots to circulate the water. Literally it would make the succulent soil and the water in contact. In addition to the wicking mechanism, they may also use the capillary mechanism also.
However, if I further elaborate on the wicking mechanism, it is what functions the entire operation in this item.
Literally there will be a sponge which would absorb the liquid from the surface. Just like a paintbrush has hairs to pick up paint and candles wick to pick up wax, the sponge will absorb water from the surface.
The wicking mechanism is also called capillary action. So, what happens here is, the absorption of the water would take place from the sponge which is placed here.
Scientifically speaking, this is the same condition they use when absorbing water right from the bottom to the top part of the plants. They do this while surpassing gravity.
If I further illustrate this, the intermolecular attraction in liquid is what paves the way for the capillary action.
Furthermore, the links between the liquid and solid objects would also contribute to this occurrence. Literally if there is a stronger adhesive force between liquid and solid, the water would tend to fall on those areas.
However, the adhesive force should be stronger than the cohesive force for this to take place. However, to make this happen, the space between the solid materials walls should be somewhat narrow.
Needless to say, when you are using this method, make sure that you soak the soil from the top. Further ensure that it is thoroughly soaked.
Once the water evaporation takes place in the plants, capillary action will come into play and the plants roots would absorb more water.
Further once the water is moved out from the pots, the capillary mechanism within the pot will again refill the water.
The water they get from the capillary action will fall on the plant’s soil right at the bottom. However, it would assure that soil will not stay wet. Instead, it would stay moistened on a regular basis.
Best Self-Watering Pots for succulents on Amazon
Plant Pots Self-Watering Succulent Pots
There would be a 3.5 inch self-watering succulent plant pot. You can successfully make use of them for watering for 10 days without any interruption.
Besides it would come up with a water level indicator and a coco fiber pellet in white also.
Plant Pots Self-Watering Succulent Pots
Plant Pots Self-Watering Succulent Pots come up with 11 inched plant pots self-watering succulents pots.
You could make use of them to water the plants for 10 days without any disruption. Plant Pots Self-Watering Succulent Pots come up with a water level indicator and coco coir pellet.
The pellet would be gray in color.
Elongated Self-Watering Planter Pots Window Box
Elongated Self-Watering Planter Pots window box would be about 5.5 x 16 inch in size.
Further they would consist of coconut coir soil too. It would ideally suit indoor home gardening as it would be decorative and so elegant.
Are self-watering pots effective?
Self-watering pots are certainly effective to water the succulents. All you have to assure is that you use them properly.
If you come across a container which has a label on it saying self-watering, it would not fulfill your task.
Ideally you need to select the right Self-watering pots which have a watering reservoir which would do the task for you.
Once the requirement comes for water, it would simply draw water from the reservoir and pour on the plant’s roots. It would be a great way of watering the succulents particularly if you are a forgetful gardener.
Do self-watering planters cause root rot?
Yes, there is a potential for root rot to take place when you use Self-watering pots on the succulents.
This is quite common when you specially use a planter which doesn’t have an overflowing opening.
So, the water which gets poured from the planter will inundate the plant and it would result in root rot at the end.
Having said that, if you are using the right Self-watering pot and if you do it with caution, it is very unlikely that you will have to deal with these situations.
Do you put rocks in the bottom of a self-watering planter?
I don’t recommend placing rocks in the bottom of the Self-watering pots. If you place rocks in the Self-watering pots, it would get involved with the function of the Self-watering pots also.
So, never place the gravel items such as rocks in the Self-watering pots. On the other hand, if you have other containers which don’t come up with draining holes, you may consider placing gravel items such as rocks so that it would create a wicking mechanism in those pots.
How often do you fill self-watering pots?
If you are using self-watering pots to water the succulents, you could just do it once every three weeks.
If you are using self-watering pots to water the succulents, you need to ensure that you refill the water reservoir whenever they are running low in water.
The number of times you need to refill the water would vary depending on the succulents species, the sunlight exposure and on the season as well.
Benefits of Self Watering Pots
As explained in the beginning of the article, there are numerous benefits of using self-watering pots to water the succulents.
To start off, you may water these plants quite effectively especially when they are actively growing.
Secondly it would help to keep a consistent moisture in the root system. Next, it would avoid any probability of the plants going through stress due to drastic changes in soil moisture.
Furthermore, you can stay relieved as you do not have to water the plants on a daily basis.
Moreover, it would avoid plants getting subjected to diseases as well. Additionally, it would avoid the expenses you need to bear for the maintenance too.
It would save your precious time and energy as well. Literally you can help the plants thrive with minimum effort from you.
More importantly it is cost effective as well. Finally, it would result in vigorous and strong growth of the plants too.
So self-watering pots would make things easier for you and they could be economically beneficial as well.
Cons of Self Watering Pots
Some may not recommend using self-watering pots on the succulents as they would tend to stay dry all the time.
Having said that, if you do it with caution, using self-watering pots to water the succulents would be quite handy.
That said, there is a high potential for an occurrence of over watering and that is the major concern when using them on the succulents.
Conclusion
Self watering pots for succulents: Are they good? Now you know the answer.
If you find it difficult to water the plants on a daily basis and if you want to have more control on the plants, it would be quite handy to use self-watering pots to water the succulents.
Not only that, if you are a busy person who doesn’t want to spend much time on watering, self-watering pots could be quite advantageous.
However before you use them, ensure that you are well aware of how to use it and on how it functions as well. So, now it is all up to you to try this.
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