Automated Self-Watering Systems for Houseplants

With our hectic pace it can be difficult to remember when to water the houseplants. Going on vacation is a chore, either you have to rely on someone else to remember or you risk letting the plants wilt and die while you are away.

Plant Placement and Humidity

Extend time between watering plants or refilling watering devices by making sure your houseplants are in the right place in your house. Some plants need more sunlight and prefer drier conditions while others prefer cooler or more humid conditions. Further, dry house conditions affect more than just your skin and woodwork, make sure your central heat and air unit has a working humidifier built in or attached to it. Add a humidifier to rooms with plants that like more humidity.

Extend Time

Try these tricks for increasing time between watering:

1. Every month or so soak the entire pot in a bucket, sink, or bathtub of water overnight. Watering from the top down only fills the saucer below, thoroughly soaking the pot ensures that the roots receive water for longer periods. It also helps leach the pot of excess salts and lime from alkaline water, thus improving the soil quality and plant health.
2. Create a reservoir by filling the first third of the pot with gravel and sand when repotting the plant. This creates an environment where the roots, water, and air can mix. Proper oxygenation is important for healthy roots and efficient water uptake.
3. Add a bit of peat moss or sphagnum moss to the soil next time you repot the plant. These absorb water and slowly release it back to the plant, thus extending the watering time.
4. Soil additives such as crystal soil, which is a plastic water absorbing polymer, absorb up to 100 times their mass in water and slowly release it back to the plant. They work well with soaking the pot overnight.
5. Also try automated self-watering pots. Either combine these with the sub irrigation idea above and/or with other self-watering methods mentioned. These sub irrigation pots contain special saucers that act as extra deep water wells. The saucer isn't just extra deep, it is specially designed so that plants do not sit in the water, but have little wells that soak water up.

Self-Watering Devices

To further extend the time between watering or extended liquid fertilizer feedings, try soda-pop bottles, aquaglobes, or automatic watering systems. Remember that some of the plants will use up water faster than others, typically if they are near warm sunny windows or when indoor air gets too dry. Check the bottles or aquaglobes often to make sure they are working correctly; not emptying out too quickly or not stopped up.

Take a small water or soda-pop bottle for small plants and a large soda-pop or water bottle for bigger plants. Fill it with water and screw the cap on tightly. Then drill a hole or two as close to the cap as possible. Insert the bottle neck-down into the soil of the pot. Makes sure the bottle is out of direct sunlight so the water doesn't accidentally overheat. If it drains too quickly, pack soil around the neck to form a seal. This method can also be used on outdoor plants in the garden.

Aquaglobes

Make sure the soil in the pot is not compacted and the potted plant has been fully soaked the first time you use it or anytime it dries out for a long period of time. Then, make sure the soil closes up around the stem of the aquaglobe. If the soil doesn't go up the stem a bit or pack around the end of the stem, the globe will simply empty out. Do not place the plant or the globe in direct sunlight, this will create a fire hazard. Use a metal skewer to carefully clean the stem out so you can refill it.

Try the Oasis Indoor Automatic, Drip Watering System and theSamrtHome.com Automatic Deluxe Plant Watering System. These are capable of watering your plants for 2 to 4 weeks at a time on time. They come with varying lengths of hose, but expect to receive anywhere from 10 to 65 feet of hose. They come with set-up instructions so follow these to the letter. Presoak plant pots before set-up for best results.

Using a combination of properly placed pots, soil amending, sub irrigation, humidifiers, and self-watering systems you can make sure your house plants are appropriately watered while you are at home or on extended vacations!