Subirrigation With Indoor House Plants - Self Watering Planter Systems a Watering Method to Consider
Self watering planters can help in one of the biggest areas we see people having problems in plant care - watering… Usually too much.
Let’s look at a method called SUBIRRIGATION, which can help take the guesswork out of watering houseplants.
Many interior plant professionals (plantscapers) use subirrigation with self watering planters, pots or containers as their preferred method of watering. Many find watering houseplants from the bottom easier and quicker than top watering. The result usually comes in improved plant quality and plant health with time being spent on plant care - the physical maintenance, such as grooming, cleaning leaves, etc. instead of watering the plant.
Typically when watering plants from the top down the root ball undergoes quite a bit of stress. The wetting and drying breaks down the soil media. Using subirrigation can help stop these intermittent drought and/or flood conditions. The root ball is kept constantly moist (MOIST not WET). The roots remain healthy as the pores in the soil still hold oxygen.
Some, plantscapers choose subirrigation systems and self watering planters and containers for many reasons such as:
- Quicker training of new employees on plant watering
- Less time spent watering plants
- More time spent on grooming plants
- More time for “scouting” for pests
- Longer intervals between plant watering (usually)
- Less plant stress
- Easier to water plants with hard to reach access
- Seasonal plants often hold blooms longer
- Less opportunity for spills on carpet and furniture
- Measured amount of water.
There are quite a few self watering pots on the market. Pots for planter beds and freestanding containers.
How Sub Irrigaton and Self Watering Containers Work
Water is added to a reservoir; the plant pulls moisture upward through the entire root ball through capillary action, like a sponge. The amount and evenness of the water movement from the subirrigation reservoir to the growing medium depends on the growing medium mix and its degree of compaction and/or breakdown.
Monitoring Your Water
Remember - Subirrigation Systems can Fail
You must monitor the moisture level of the growing medium. Make sure you check at least 2 inches below the soil line. It isn’t uncommon for the top 1 inch of medium to feel dry and below that it is moist. It can be easy to assume the plant needs more water, when it doesn’t.
There are many self watering / subirrigation systems on the market, each one has their pluses and minuses. If you convert over to subirrigation it will take some time for your plants to acclimate to this system, but it is worth it.
It can give you more time to enjoy your house plants and less time carrying water
Related Articles
- Automatic Watering For Plants Plant Watering Even When You’re on Vacation - Question: I’m looking for some advice on ways to automatically water my plants. I enjoy my houseplants very much and they look great thanks to many of your tips. However, my family is finally taking a vacation and I hate the thought of all my plants suffering while we’re gone for 2 weeks. How
- Plant Watering - Thorough is Good! - TOO MUCH WATER is a common cry for Ficus benjamina, Dracaenas, Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily), Philodendrons and many other houseplants. Over-watering is probably one of the top 3 or 4 reasons plants fail to survive indoors. Over-watering may cause the death of house plants but there is another side of the coin… that is not watering
[...] If you must leave your plants often and feel that asking your neighbor to water them is imposing, you can re-pot your plants into wick-fed pots. These containers have a reservoir at the bottom which is filled with water. A wick is run from the pot into the water. With the reservoir full, the plants will need no water for a week or more. I prefer to use sub-irrigation and grow year round indoors in LECA. [...]
[...] Overwatering is one reason many people do not have success with plants indoors. Although it’s best to not have your Peace lily dry out, they can be very helpful in teaching us how much time can go by between waterings. [...]
[...] I’m playing with some marginata canes and converting them to hydroculture ( growing in expanded clay rock) more on that as the project moves forward. The goal is to [...]
[...] Creating drainage for your plants is easy though. The best way is to be sure your plants are in a container which has holes in the bottom. These holes allow extra water to seep out onto a drainage plate. If you don’t have holes in the bottom of your planters though, then you’ll need to put several inches of rocks into the bottom of the pot instead. These rocks will act as a drainage area for the excess water, so the plants roots are not becoming soggy each time you water it. [...]
[...] is allowed to continue. Excess water should be poured out of the larger container periodically - sub-irrigation is a different [...]