Discussion Board

does anyone have these???

http://www.agardenpatch.com/pages.php?pageid=68

they are supposed to hold 4 gallons of water and next month I can start planting here in Arizona...I have herbs going right now in Walmart copies...

Just wondering if anyone have used these since they look interesting to save me from watering 3 times a day...

ncyg46, I don't have this brand but I have used self-watering containers of various sizes and they are GREAT. In fact, if you want to go to the trouble you can make something similar at fairly low cost. I have the link somewhere to instructions.

The plants really like the continuous supply of water, they don't suffer from stress and do better than plants in the ground, especially in a dry climate.

i also saw some info on making them...but it seemed a bit complicated. I will look and see if I can find it again....

I found the link I was thinking of--it's called "Homemade Self-contained Gardening Systems"
http://www.josho.com/gardening.htm

If you're going for the ready-made type though, you might want to check out Gardener's Supply Company for cost & features comparison. They have a lot of different options in self-watering planters:
http://www.gardeners.com/Self-Watering-Planters/PotsPlanters_SelfWateringPlanters,default,sc.html

--Anna

thanks Anna...

I will check them out today....the walmart ones just don't hold enough water in arizona heat!

We have something similar - Earthboxes. The guy who developed it lives in Florida. They are very well made - we've had them for several years. Our problem is a cooler climate and it's the only way to get any tomatoes to grow here (unless you had a greenhouse).

Just to be thorough, I'm including the link to the EarthBox website:
http://www.earthbox.com/
There is a lot of information on that website.

Up above I linked to some planter boxes made by Gardener's Supply, and in her first message ncyg46 linked to a similar product (Garden Patch Grow Box). All of these work by the same principle--a water reservoir inside the box keeps the plant evenly moist. A special soil mix is required to make this work right, which can be purchased or mixed yourself if you have the ingredients.

A good book on the topic of self-watering container gardening is by Edward C. Smith, "Incredible Vegetables from Self-Watering Containers."

I have tried some homemade versions of this type of container and found that they work GREAT. In Nebraska's windy summer heat I was never able to keep things alive in containers--with the self-watering containers they do beautifully. I've grown flowers, eggplant, strawberries, and this year a pepper plant in containers.

I think a number of people on this board grow things in containers, so perhaps there are more people with experience to share about these?

i ordered some things from amazon and got the earthbox flyer along with it in the advertising so I will check those out,,,they look similar but a little pricier than the garden patch ones..will look later!