Self-Watering Evaporation Planter

Speaking of capillary action and science education. It's bad enough that sub-irrigation planters using capillary action are called 'self-watering.' Now we have capillary action referred to as evaporation.

You might get some humidity in the air through evaporation, but it's not going to water the plant.

How does it work?

At the bottom of the planter, there is a 1-gallon reservoir. Through evaporation, the water in the reservoir moisten(s) the soil above it. The reservoir is refill(ed) through a filling tube.

Via: GadgetGrid
Source: Gardener’s Supply

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Recycled 3-Liter Bottle Planters

Click to enlarge. The photo shows the size comparison between 2 and 3-liter recycled bottle sub-irrigation planters.

The 3-liter bottles contained Shasta Twist Lime-Lemon Soda. These planters will hold any 6” size potted plant. You could also use them to start vegetable plants such as tomatoes and peppers.

I would buy this soda just for the bottle planters; they are that good. This is not plastic that will end up in the dump or the recycle bin. These are sustainable planters for maintaining sustainable indoor plants.

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Recycled Bottles Herb Garden

Click to enlarge. If you want to grow herbs indoors, my first recommendation would be to buy an AeroGarden if you can afford one. Based on all the reviews I’ve read it appears to be a foolproof way to grow herbs even if you don’t have natural light from a window. Using an AeroGarden you can grow herbs in a dark apartment or even a closet.

My next recommendation would to use these recycled bottle planters. The herbs you see here were planted in recycled bottle planters on August 17. The growth rate is impressive. Roots have already spread down into the necks of the bottles. They’re located in a west window.

You can clearly see everything that is happening with the plants. The status of soil moisture and root growth are in plain sight. The biggest mistake made with sub-irrigation (aka self-watering) planters is adding water to the reservoir without checking the soil moisture. Over watering is the usual result.

It is most important to never add so much water that it rises by capillary action all the way to the soil surface. The top layer (approx. ¾”) should always be dry.

My belief is that if your natural light level is in doubt, auxiliary light from one or two CFL desk lamps would accomplish successful herb production. I have not tested artificial light herb growing but plan to in the future.

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Does This Look Familiar?

Click to enlarge. The Eva Solo planter may look familiar because I've posted about it before and it has been posted on a number of blogs. The design may be more sophisticated but doesn't it look somewhat similar to a recycled bottle planter? The big difference is that you can see the soil and root system when using a bottle planter.

The planter also appears on the website of a trendy plant store in an urban location. This is the description (bold type added by me).

The Eva Solo flowerpot has been made to extend and improve the life of your house plants and indoor herbs.

Just glance at the water level in the vase, and you will know immediately if the plant is thirsty.

The vase reservoir can hold enough water for the plant to only need watering once a week, and possibly less frequently, depending on the circumstances.

There are 3 reasons why purchasers of this planter will most likely experience plant failure...as in death.

1. The statement "Just glance at the water level and you will know if the plant is thirsty" is perhaps the most egregious misrepresentation. It comes directly from the manufacturer.

Filling the reservoir when it is empty instead of checking the soil moisture is perhaps the primary reason for misuse and failure of "self-watering" (sub-irrigation) planters. Frequent refilling of the reservoir without checking the soil moisture will almost certainly lead to over watering, root rot and plant death.

I see similar terminology all over the web. The sellers of these products are either ignorant of capillary sub-irrigation or they're being disingenuous. Neither is excusable.

2. The name self-watering is a misnomer. Anyone who understands plant physiology knows that a plant does not have intelligence to turn water on and off. If they did there would be no such thing as over watering and we know that isn't true. So, who is the 'self' in self-watering?

The term self-watering also immediately identifies the user as someone who doesn't really understand capillary action. If they did, they wouldn't use the term.

3. The flowering mini-rose in the planter has appeal particularly to women who love flowers. Unfortunately, it is a spider mite magnet and has a very high risk of dying when grown indoors. If you have lots of time and some money to waste give them a try.

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Real World Watering Advice from the Pros

You may not know the name Ambius. It is the new name of the world’s largest maintainer of indoor plants. Its parent is a U.K. company and its revenue would rank in the Fortune 500 if in the U.S.

Over the course of 2007, Rentokil Tropical Plants and Initial Tropical Plants will be changing their name to Ambius. The rebrand is taking place in stages, beginning with the UK and Ireland in March 2007.

Our new name comes from the word ‘ambience’. We feel it better reflects the wide range of products and services we offer to create harmonious environments.

Ambius is not a consumer company but it’s worthwhile knowing about them. You will not likely find better information about watering indoor plants than on their parent company Research & Development website. Most interior plantscaping companies treat this information as "trade secrets" and will not publish it.

Here is the page devoted to Watering advice. Excerpts from this page follow with comments.

Watering is often blamed for indoor plant death, when the real killer is inadequate light. When in doubt use a digital foot candle (or lux) light meter. They are now very affordable. Since you only need it occasionally, share it with others.

Environment

The principal environmental factors affecting water usage are light, humidity and temperature. Generally speaking, plants in bright light will require more water than those in poor light because they are more physiologically active. Similarly a low relative humidity increases the rate of transpiration and plant water absorption. However the biggest environmental cause of water loss is temperature; evaporation from moist compost is similar to that from an expanse of open water and increases rapidly with temperature.

The soil moisture probe they mention is not one of those error-prone “moisture meters”. They’re talking about a soil probe like this.

Soil moisture levels

If there is some doubt about the soil moisture level it is sometimes helpful to adopt a more "scientific" approach and use a soil moisture probe.

Horticulturists using greenhouse growing as the basis for their advice write most of the information you read on Extension Program websites. A greenhouse is also where horticulture students learn about indoor plants.

They do not have labs like the Greenscaper Consumer Lab that replicate a typical consumer environment. That is why I started the lab 9 years ago. That is also why I'm now going to donate all of it to further public education.

Most published data on the water requirements of different species relate to glasshouse culture, where the plants are actively growing under uniform, ideal conditions.

This is of little relevance to the interior landscape and, in any event, takes no account of a plant’s ability to adapt to drought. Many plant species, if gradually "acclimatised" will survive on soil moisture levels that most growers would consider totally inadequate.

Read this about water quality very carefully. They are referring to the most overblown and misleading propaganda you will find about plants in buildings.

When you read soluble salts fear mongering, know that it is coming from ignorance or disinformation from those with hidden agendas.

It is the sole justification for that drainage hole in your planter. There is no other reason for drench and drain watering.

Yes, soluble salts should be mentioned but in context as they do here.

Water quality

Tap water may contain a variety of trace chemicals ranging from naturally occurring minerals (editor note: i.e. soluble salts) to the chlorine and fluoride added during purification.

In most cases their concentration is too small to have any damaging effect on plants, but if very hard water is used continuously salts may build up in the growing medium.

The resulting increase in pH and salinity can suppress water and nutrient absorption by the roots and lead to leaf damage, abscission, wilting and even root death. An unsightly crust of salts may also appear on the surface of the growing medium.

Sub-irrigation is clearly a superior method of watering container plants in buildings. It’s demonstrable and provable, assuming you have an open mind. All of these plants are watered by simple sub-irrigation methods.

Your green thumb friends are likely to say that top or bottom watering is a personal preference. “It works for me” is a favorite expression on houseplant forums such as GardenWeb.

They will never tell you how long it took to learn “poke, pour and pray” watering and how many plants they killed (and are currently killing) in the process.

Sub-irrigation Water is added to a buried reservoir through a pipe opening to the upper surface of the container and transfers to the growing medium via some form of wick. Small pores in the growing medium then lift the water by capillarity until the force of gravity matches capillary lift and equilibrium is reached.

The larger pores remain free of water and draw in air when the reservoir is empty, thereby keeping the roots well oxygenated. Although there are many different systems on the market all follow the same basic principles, and vary only in the way the reservoir is formed and the type of wick employed.

A sub-irrigation system should hold enough water to last several weeks. It reduces the risk of soil compaction and, provided it is allowed to empty completely before refilling, will improve soil aeration.

It may be “quick and simple” but it’s a dumb idea if you value your plants, your time and your money. You should know that your tax dollars have helped subsidize the “tail wagging the dog” propaganda that has resulted in the stagnation of the indoor plant (aka houseplant) market in the U.S.

With so much recent favorable publicity about technology like the AeroGarden and EarthBox, I believe this too shall pass. It will be none too soon.

Top watering (aka drench and drain)

Top watering continues to be popular because it is quick and simple. However, it is generally less satisfactory than sub-irrigation because it encourages soil compaction and is more likely to lead to overwatering.

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Delicious Design

Carly Stephenson of Northumbria University (U.K.) designed this cool looking self-watering (sub-irrigation) grow box system called the Ugro. No, she isn’t a horticulture student. She designed it as a student in the Northumbria Design for Industry course.

The final year Design for Industry student added: “This idea is aimed at people who are probably already into organic produce and would love to grow their own but simply don’t have the time. I set myself the challenge to redesign the allotment experience and build a brand to celebrate gardening and make it accessible again.’’

Highly flexible, the range comes with a variety of accessories that can transform the product into a vertical garden for a wall or a stackable tower - making this the ideal addition for any urban garden, courtyard or even a balcony. With a funky modern design, ‘Ugro’ comes in lime green, red and bright blue to create a vibrant explosion of colour that will brighten up anyone’s outdoor space.

It’s a welcome relief to see modern design incorporated in a gardening product. All too often gardening products have a utilitarian look when they don’t need to.

No offense to the EarthBox and other sub-irrigation planters, but in my opinion Carly’s design would be significantly more compatible with a wide range of residential home and deck design. To my eyes it looks like a go-anywhere planter box.

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EarthBox Flickr Photo Set

Look at this Flickr photo set. They are photos of EarthBoxes arranged on a deck by a gardener with in-the-ground gardening experience. Read the photo captions and you’ll understand this gardener’s newly found enthusiasm for the EarthBox and sub-irrigation.

The basic principles of sub-irrigation and capillary action in the EarthBox are no different from what you see here in this Flickr photo set. Unfortunately there is a disconnect between the misleading and inaccurate term self-watering in the consumer market and the more scientifically appropriate word sub-irrigation (or subirrigation).

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News Alert! - Martha Endorses Melamine

There will be something other than cake mix in a set of these bowls er, planters from the new Martha Stewart Collection very soon. When there are plants in them, I’ll post photos here and on Flickr. Melamine is one of the best planter materials I’ve worked with.

No, you do not need a drain hole, even if your mother (or Martha) said you need one. Many of the plants in the Greenscaper Consumer Lab are thriving in melamine planters without drainage.

You don’t need to take my word for it. Just read from the Inside Plants Live archives (here and here ) and try them yourself. If you still have a question, don’t hesitate to ask. Just email me and I’ll be glad to help.

An elegant necessity to match your modern kitchen, this stunning set of six mixing bowls planters is styled in a gorgeous taupe gradation (and colors too). Not only impressive for their convenience, these bowls are also exceptionally durable. Limited lifetime warranty.

Via: A Martha fan

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EarthBox Needing a Trellis

From the San Jose Mercury News

In my traditional planter, the Sun Gold cherry tomatoes are doing well, and the stems and leaves are healthier since they are in a cage. But they aren't nearly producing as well as the plants in the EarthBox. I've got a few clusters but it might need some help with a bit of fertilizer.

In the meanwhile, It's time to wrestle those tomatoes back into shape. I'll look back to some of your wise suggestions.

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The Real Earthbox

My tomato grow box is one of many do-it-yourself sub-irrigation planters of its kind shown on the Internet. I will link to some of them in a future post. Only one of them is a commercial product with the brand name EarthBox. This is a video about the EarthBox and another brand called Google.

Food production using sub-irrigated planters is an enormous subject far beyond the scope of just one post. There will be many more.

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Sub-irrigation Planter Boxes

Click photos to enlarge.

These may not be as jazzy as an AeroGarden but you can grow some healthy vegetables on your deck, balcony, or apartment roof in planters like these. All you need is enough sunlight.

I made these sub-irrigation planters a couple of years ago but didn't post about them. You can see tomatoes in the left box. I never got around to planting anything in the green box.

They are easy to make. All you need is a power drill. The tomato grow box was made from two inexpensive storage containers, one sleeved inside the other. incidentally, these boxes were obviously not made for prolonged outdoor use. They broke apart after one season. You can find stronger storage boxes made from stronger, opaque plastic in many DIY stores.

For sub-irrigation, you need some type of wicking mechanism and a fill tube. There are a number of ways to do this. This is just one of them.

Using a 2” hole cutter I cut a series of holes in the bottom of the inner box. Using clear Goop, I glued a plastic party cup under each hole. Each cup has a series of small holes drilled (or hot instrument poked) around the bottom of the cup. This creates a wicking cone. You can see the wicking cones in the green box.

The fill tube is clear plastic tubing I happened to have. You could use a section of PVC pipe. Use whatever type of tubing or pipe that’s most available to you. Even ¾” flexible tubing would work. Insert a bamboo stake or a dowel to keep it straight before adding soil, which will then keep it reasonably straight.

Feel free to email a question about how to use or make these planters. I'll be glad to help.

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Volksplanters

Click photos to enlarge.

I have a house full of plastic containers collected over the past 9 years of making sub-irrigation planters. It’s turning out that of all of them the recycled plastic bottle planters may be the best yet. They certainly are from a learning standpoint. Only time will tell, but they have definitely made a very positive first impression.

It’s all right there before your eyes, ABC simple. Add a measured amount of water to the reservoir. Watch it move up by capillary action over time. Observe the soil moisture and root system growth through the crystal clear plastic.

Look at the roots formation in the bottle on the left. I’ve been amazed at how quickly they grew. It's only been a few weeks since I started making these planters.

One thing to look out for is algae. If the planter is in low light, the algae will be slow to grow. If the planter is in high light, you will probably need a decorative planter or opaque cover of some type. It appears so far that blue and green plastic bottles inhibit algae growth.

I’m very curious about the rapid root formation and if there’s any connection to the humidity chamber created by the lower (reservoir) section. It will probably be necessary to do some root pruning not too far down the road. It will be no big deal to remove the plant, prune the lower 'neck' and replace with fresh potting mix. I'll post about whatever happens.

Because they cost nothing and are so easy to make, I’m calling them ‘volksplanters.’ Have you tried them yet?

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Cactus in IKEA Cups

Click to enlarge.

These are small cactus ($1 each on sale at Wal-Mart) sub-irrigated in sleeved 9 oz clear party cups inside IKEA pencil holders (under $2).

Ignore all the misinformation you read about sub-irrigation (aka self-watering) being for moisture loving plants only. People who either have no experience with sub-irrigation or simply don’t understand it write this stuff.

You can also read in houseplant books and on websites that you need to grow cactus in special cactus and succulent soil mixes. This is also misinformation!

Special cactus and succulent soil mixes are fast draining mixes used to correct the inherent problems with drench and drain top watering. It's a band-aid solution to fix the symptom rather than the problem.

These desert cactus plants (except for 2) are growing happily in Supersoil the same as I use for moisture loving Spathiphyllum (Peace Lilies). Two of them are growing in expanded clay pebbles (aka hydroculture). Can you tell which two?

If you doubt this, try it yourself. You'll soon discover it's true.

When I can see through the clear plastic that the soil has dried, I add 3 oz of water to the outer clear cup (the one without holes). Reinstall the cactus in the inner clear cup (it has holes poked in the bottom) into the outer clear cup. The water will flow up into the cactus cup by capillary action. You do not need a wick with this simple setup.

It takes longer to write this than actually doing it.

Never add so much water that it rises to the soil surface. If you see moist soil at the surface, know that you over watered the plant.

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Recycled Bottle Art

A long time ago, I collected antique bottles by digging in abandoned trash mounds in the woods around Princeton, NJ. I also bought them at farm auctions. It was a lot of fun. These recycled bottles are reminders of those days. They're really cool art pieces. Nice work!

Note the two (top left) with inverted necks. Look familiar? These could work for sub-irrigation by lowering the height of the bottom sections.

When I was a kid, I cut bottles by tying a kerosene soaked string around the bottle, lighting it, and then plunging the bottle into cold water. That was a long time ago but I do remember that it worked. That was in my Popular Science Magazine days before basketball and girls.

Via: Inhabitat

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Kitchen Herb Garden

I can’t tell for sure but the “self-watering” (sub-irrigation) planters in the photo look like Eva Solo planters. They have a nice look, but it isn’t necessary to pay so much for sub-irrigation herb planters. Use recycled plastic bottle planters. They cost nothing and will work as well or better. You could put them inside decorative containers if you like.

You may not have this much room for growing herbs in your kitchen so work with what you have. You can tuck an array of plastic bottle planters in small spaces as long as there’s enough light. Or, experiment with a CFL desk lamp as primary or supplemental light.

Via: LivingEtc

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Recycled Plastic Bottle Planters

Click to enlarge. Here is a great way to teach yourself, kids, grandkids, nieces, or nephews about growing plants using modern sub-irrigation methods. You can probably tell that these plants are living in recycled soda bottles. So, the cost is zero and you’ll be demonstrating recycling along with how to grow a plant inside a building.

There’s no finger poking and guessing involved. You can see what’s happening—leaves, stems and roots. What you’ll also see is that your plants are as happy as clams at high tide.

These sub-irrigation planters will work using either potting soil mix or expanded clay pebbles.

Linda at Topper’s Place has an excellent tutorial on how to make them. That’s how I got started after finding her from a web search. I've used her basic instructions to make bottle planters that look good enough to use inside your home.

The first thing I do is remove the label and adhesive residue. Fill the bottle with hot water. In most cases, the label will then peal off easily and it's a lot easier to remove the label adhesive residue when it's full of water. Save the water for your plants.

You can remove the adhesive residue with peanut butter believe it or not. It works on most bottles. If that doesn’t work, I use Goo Gone. I’ve also used Goof Off which is stronger, but it clouds the surface of some clear plastics, so test it out first.

You can vary the height of the planter dependent on where you cut the bottle. To start I used a 14 oz soup can to mark a cutting line with a Sharpie marker.

Working on a flat surface, lay the marker pen across the top of the can. Holding the pen with one hand move the bottle in contact with the tip and rotate the bottle. Using this method, you will mark a perfectly straight line to follow when you cut the bottle. You can vary the location of the cut by using spacers from items typically found in kitchens such as lids, caps, etc.

I start the cut using a box cutter heated on my gas stove. This makes it easy to create a starter slit precisely on the marked line. Then I use a pair of flat scissors to cut the bottle carefully following the line. You’ll get the hang of it after you do one or two bottles.

You may have to do some trimming after you cut the bottle so that the neck of the bottle (with the cap on) touches the bottom of the lower (reservoir) half. Doing this will create a perfect wicking mechanism.

Poke a series of holes around the neck of the bottle. I use a heated skewer. Any pointed steel instrument will work. Also, poke holes in the bottle cap or use a power drill.

Install the plant in either soil mix or expanded clay pebbles. Add a measured amount of water and watch it move up by capillary action into the root system. This will likely take a few days.

Very important! Never add so much water that it rises all the way to the soil surface. Doing so will most likely lead to over watering and the propagation of fungus gnats.

This is as good a way as I know to learn and demonstrate how capillary action (sub-irrigation) works to produce healthy indoor plants .

I'll post photos of more recycled plastic planters in the near future so check back.

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Dracaena Janet Craig Compacta in Soil

Click to enlarge.

This is a potting soil version of a Janet Craig Compacta similar to this one previously posted. It’s made up of three 4” pot size plants purchased in April 2006. They are planted in a clear plastic party ware bowl with expanded clay pebbles underneath to facilitate the capillary wicking action. The ceramic bowl was also a $6 clearance item. The total material cost for this plant is under $15.

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Hydrotip.de

Clearly the best website I’ve found so far on the subject of hydroculture is the German website Hydrotip.de. I have only scratched the surface of the knowledge base on this site. I am in awe and humbled by what I read. It’s that good. Incidentally, you will also find interior horticulture information beyond the subject of hydroculture.

Like Inside Plants Live, it is a non-profit website and free to publish critical comments and reviews. Note that neither site even carries Google ads.

Couple Hydrotip.de with Plants-in-Buildings.com and some hands-on experimentation and you can teach yourself to be a very well informed practitioner of interior plant installation and care. In my opinion, you’ll learn more about modern methods on these sites than you will by attending any ornamental horticulture (or floriculture) program here in the U.S. I’m quite familiar with what they teach. Sadly, most of it is long out of date.

Unfortunately, Hydrotip.de is in German with no English version as an option. With that said it is well worth your time to explore this site using Babel Fish as outlined here. Use either Babel Fish or a German-English dictionary to help clarify some of the quite rough translation. Let’s hope that Google is allocating a lot of their resources to language translation.

After you have translated from German to English in Babel Fish, click on “The bases” (i.e. the basics). There are 63 data records (11 pages). All of them are worth reading but I suggest starting on page 4 and then click on “I would like to begin with the hydraulic culture. What do I need?” Be sure to read about “changing over “(soil to clay pebbles).

You can also click on “Sitemap” and find the same information and much more.

If you’re keenly interested in the subject of hydroculture as applied to plants in buildings, you will spend a lot of time on Hydrotip.de. Bon voyage…but do come back. Please tell a friend, or two or more what you have found here. It’s my only compensation and much appreciated. Thanks!

Meet Lechuza

Meet Lechuza sub-irrigation planters in English, French, German or Spanish. Whatever language you pick you'll find some of the most contemporary, well-designed planters on the web. Their website is also a visual treat.

Note the linear or columnar form of these CUBICO series planters. Well-designed tall planters like these are widely used in Europe. They present the same display advantages as pedestals and plant stands.

Although I do not have hands-on experience with Lechuza planters, I know enough about the basic principles of sub-irrigation to feel comfortable that they work well. My opinion is further reinforced by the number of times I encounter them on professional websites in my Google travels, particularly in Europe. You'll see much more of them in the future on our travels around the world.

Here is a diagram and explanation of Lechuza sub-irrigation. Many refer to this as “semi-hydroculture” using expanded clay pebble media. We’ll see more of this sub-irrigation method in future posts. Lechuza calls their inert media LECHUZA-PON and refers to it as a "mineral based substrate."

Incidentally, they do have distribution in the U.S. but limited to the interior plantscaping trade.

Not Your Mother's Flower Pots

Click the photo to enlarge. These are all from the kitchen and dinnerware departments of IKEA. No, they do not have drain holes. Contrary to widespread "houseplant" advice, you do not need drain holes when you use ebb and flow sub-irrigation. You can grow your indoor plants in potting soil (see archives) or better yet expanded clay pebbles hydroculture (see archives).

Give yourself a pat on the back when you prove it to yourself and remember all those people who thought the Earth was flat.

It’s much easier to maintain indoor plants this way. Everyone can have a green thumb while saving time. Sub-irrigation without messy saucers and wet soil is a more hygienic method of indoor plant care. It's good for your plants and good for your indoor environment.

Update - Monday, February 19, 2007 - These plant containers will be planted using the hydroculture – direct planting method. - with pipette tubes.

Big Meanie Wal-Mart in the News Again

I recently bought a couple of yards of Pellon Thermolam Plus ($2.97/yard) for sub-irrigation wicking at Wal-Mart. This 100% polyester washable fleece is clearly the best fabric I’ve used for this purpose.

It’s great! It wicks well. is super-tough and is easy to clean with a little bleach solution. Use it instead of more expensive capillary matting. It’s a lot easier to find a fabric store than a horticultural supply house. I've been calling it AquaPad.

The cloth, of course, is supplied in bolts. Someone has to cut it. After waiting my turn, I got into conversation with the woman who was cutting the cloth. I said to her, you mean Wal-Mart hasn’t found a way to automate this department. She agreed that it was a tedious job. There were several people in line and some Wal-Mart bashing ensued.

Someone must have been listening. Big meanie Wal-Mart is now in the news again. They’re planning to close the fabric department in new and remodeled stores. This has created an uproar in many parts of the country.

For example, “Readers set a record for The Baxter Bulletin Online Poll with the number of votes on the latest question and the widest margin of any poll since it started.” Read more…

I'll bet there were some fabric store owners cheering this news.

Happy Holidays!

Click to enlarge. The Treeson cousins and I are wishing you peace whatever you’re celebrating wherever you are in the world.

They say they would be much happier if you would plant a tree in your workspace like this or somewhere outside. Urban Treeson in particular needs your help since he lives in the city where the air isn’t so good. Both indoor and outdoor trees help him and his neighbors a lot.

Using modern plant care methods, he has learned to use his black thumb in a green way. Would you please help him to spread the word this holiday season and in the coming year as well. Both of them thank you. Those you help maintain trees will thank you as well.

Mug a Palm

Click to enlarge. Feeling stressed or even hostile? Boss, spouse, or a friend got to you? Mug a palm and you’ll likely feel a lot better. Better yet, mug two palms. Keep one and give one to the “mugger.” Help heal Black Thumb Syndrome (BTS)…and muggers.

Even I have been impressed with the healthy growth rate of these Parlor Palms (Chamaedorea elegans). They live in clear plastic party cups concealed inside the coffee mugs. No!—there is no need for a drain hole with this method. Just be sure to measure the water you add.

The two in the left row (brown and green striped) were just installed. I planted the other three in February 2006. They have just about doubled in size—without repotting! This is yet another testimonial to the benefits of sub-irrigation coupled with adequate light.

No messy saucers…no fungus gnats…just happy little palms and hopefully you will be as well.

Read more about how to do it here...and here.

My How You've Grown

Click to enlarge. This little Parlor Palm pal has been living happily in a set of 10 ounce party cups inside this coffee cup for the past nine months.

Click to enlarge. This is how it looked nine months ago in February 2006. Oh my how it has grown. Quite a change isn't it?

Note the empty cup in the middle. Once a week I add about 5 ounces of water to it. Note also that it is a clear cup so you can see the status of the entire soil and root system at a glance. Make sense doesn’t it.

I then insert the palm, which has been growing in a cup of the same size. The water rises by capillary action through holes in the bottom. Incidentally, the measured amount of water never rises to the top, which eliminates any possibility of annoying fungus gnats. The soil surface is always dry!

The even distribution of water through the soil is close to perfection. There are no dry pockets. The soil mass is analogous to a perfectly baked cake. Further, the soil does not compact due to the gravitational pressure of water flowing from the top. Capillary action is gentler than a spring shower.

The party cup palm lives inside the ceramic coffee mug. It sure looks a lot better than those utilitarian plastic grower pots that come with the plant. It blows me away that so many gardeners keep these rather homely looking plants inside their homes.

I think you would agree that you do not need a so-called “green thumb” to care for this little guy using this very simple sub-irrigation method. You don’t need to be a “gardener.” You can just be one of the estimated 250 million ordinary Americans who are not gardeners or gifted green thumbs.

If you think you have a black thumb, think again. Then try what you read here and tell a friend. Help end Black Thumb Syndrome (BTS) forever.

Read more about Simple Sub-irrigation 101.

Sub-irrigated Desert Garden

Click to enlarge and read more details. Okay, you got me. I don’t know the names of all these plants. I do know, however, they’re happy in their sub-irrigated soil based media inside a microwave food cover. Witness the cute red flower and the healthy look of all the plants.

No, these are not growing in special cactus and succulent soil mix. They’re growing in the same potting soil mix as all the other plants in the Greenscaper Consumer Lab. This includes the moisture loving Spathiphyllum (Peace Lilies). It is the commonly available Supersoil (13 Western US states).

I can hear the chorus of horticulturists and gardeners and the cry of “you can’t do that!” Oh yes you can and as always you do not need to take my word for it. It’s easy enough to prove it to yourself.

They’re also going to tell you that sub-irrigation which they erroneously call “self-watering” is only for moisture loving plants. They conclude this only because they foolishly maintain water at too high a level in the reservoirs of these planters.

Using measured sub-irrigation, you can easily feed a small amount of water to desert type plants with pipette like precision. This cactus and succulent bowl consumes just 1 ½ ounces of water per day, just about all of it going to the plants. It isn’t wasted down a drain hole or in moistening the upper soil level where there are little or no roots.

Just know that all of the “special” soil mixes you read about on so-called “houseplant” forums are necessary only because of drench and drain top watering. These mixes are used to counteract the weaknesses of drench and drain watering that is difficult to control, compacts the soil and leads to a lot of over watering.

Using measured sub-irrigation, the soil media is merely to support the plant and facilitate capillary action. There is very little soil compaction and the water is evenly distributed much like a perfectly baked cake. Try it. You and your plants will like it!

Wet Soil - Allergies and Mold

This is an article about indoor allergens. Those who think their top-watered “house plants” are virtuous should think again. Their green plants may not be as environmentally green as they think.

Contrary to popular belief, Fawcett said, bringing flowering plants inside will not aggravate allergy symptoms. However, she said, indoor trees could.

"I think the biggest issue in indoor plants is the amt of soil you pot those plants in because then you tend to over-water, and they grow mold spores," she said.

If you think this is a quack opinion read the rest of the 646,000 Google search hits on the subject.

Drench and drain watering of indoor plants is simply a bad idea. It's for outdoor gardening and not good for your indoor environment.

Remember that the soil surface is always dry when you provide water to your plants by measured sub-irrigation. If there's no moist soil, there's no environment for the propagation of mold. There's also no environment for the propagation of annoying fungus gnats.

How About Bunny Ears?

Click to enlarge. The Sansevieria on the right grows in a ceramic cookie jar. It would be cool for a little kid’s room. So why don’t we call these “Bunny Ears” instead of Snake Plant or Mother-in-law’s tongue.

It’s neat that Sansevieria has had a comeback of sorts. It’s a very versatile plant and there are a few more species now available at retail. There should be many more. Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Laurentii’ used to be the sole choice and it rather overstayed its welcome.

I split the middle and left plants from a 6” pot size plant in May 2005. It was a big box store plant from June 2004.

The plant on the left may look like it’s installed in a typical clay pot but it isn’t really. It’s a no-hole terracotta planter from IKEA. The plant is growing in expanded clay pebbles (hydroculture) inside a recycled yogurt container.

The middle plant presents an excellent learning experience. You can actually see the root system and water consumption. That’s a clear glass bowl from IKEA. There has been no algae growth because this succulent uses very little water. To control algae, I add hydrogen peroxide periodically to other plants growing in clear glass containers.

The cookie jar plant is growing in sub-irrigated soil based media. There is no need for drainage holes if you use either soil based or expanded clay pebble sub-irrigation (aka hydroculture) methods.

Although Sansevieria is a succulent, you will not need a special cactus and succulent soil mix either. The need for special soil mixes is a necessity only when you top water. People do all kinds of unusual things to compensate for the inherent faults of drench and drain watering.

Sub-irrigation (using either soil based or expanded clay pebble media) allows you to feed very small amounts (2 ounces for example) of water directly to the plant root system with pipette-like precision. It is impossible to do that with drench and drain watering.

If you’re skeptical, try it yourself. It isn’t rocket science.

Ficus Surgery Required

This 6” pot size Ficus benjamina from a big box store was planted in a 7” diameter x 6” tall clear plastic food container on September 2, 1998. I decided to replant it into a microwave food cover and melamine bowl.

Click to enlarge. Number 17 is one of the original plants in the lab. After almost 8 years, it required a bit of root system surgery to get it to fit into the microwave food cover.

Click to enlarge. Although I don’t recommend that an inexperienced person do this, it didn’t’ really require highly specialized skills. What it does require is the confidence that this somewhat radical root pruning will not harm the plant.

Click to enlarge. The tree in the microwave food cover is now installed in a melamine bowl. A polyester AquaPad under the cover facilitates capillary action and sub-irrigation.

Ficus benjamina trees are far more durable then their reputation and this demonstrates it. I root pruned it yesterday and today there are no yellow leaves. The tree has not dropped a leaf.

The important factors are sufficient light and the right amount of water using sub-irrigation. I’ll post progress pictures at a later date.

Ficus in a Microwave Food Cover

Click to enlarge. This is a five-year-old Ficus Benjamina transferred into a microwave food cover planter. It started out as just an ordinary 6” pot size plant from a big box store.

Microwave Food Cover Planter

Click to enlarge.The three components shown here will make as good a sub-irrigation planter (inappropriately called “self-watering”) as there is on the market. The bowl is a 12” melamine bowl from Rite-Aid for $4. I have also purchased the exact same shape and size bowl from Ralphs supermarket. A Chinese import, I suspect they’re available in supermarkets and other retail stores around the country from time to time. Look out for them.

Clear plastic microwave food covers are widely available in discount stores and supermarkets from $2 to $4. Those with flat bottoms are easier to fit into shallow bowls. The AquaPad is polyester backing material cut a little larger than the diameter of the microwave food cover bottom. The material is widely available in fabric stores

The only fabrication required is cutting the polyester AquaPad to shape and drilling a series of holes (approx. 1/8”) around the bottom of the microwave cover. There are holes (slots) pre-formed in the cover but they’re too high to make contact with the AquaPad for capillary action to take place. They're probably good for aeration though. Who knows? For sure they don't hurt anything.

The microwave cover inner planter also fits several other melamine bowls I’ve found at retail. Several of them came from Party City.

Pour a measured amount of water in the bottom of the bowl. It will soak the AquaPad. In contact with the microwave food cover, the water will then rise by capillary action up through the bottom holes into the soil and root system.

You should never add so much water that it rises all the way to the soil surface. You don’t want fungus gnat larvae to find a home in moist surface soil and of course, you don’t want to overwater the plant. Incidently, you can now see the soil moisture level through the walls of the microwave cover. Save your finger and fingernails for better uses.

Unlike drench and drain top watering you can now control the soil moisture with pipette-like precision...and eliminate any exposure to fungus gnats.

It works beautifully. Here is a Schefflera arboricola installed the same way except in expanded clay pebble media (hydroculture). If, for some reason you’re stuck on the “poke, pour, and pray” method, I sincerely hope you get over it. If you do, your plants will love you for doing it.

Incidentally, I just happened to display an African Violet bowl here. Women have been sub-irrigating AV’s for decades only to avoid water damage to the satin-like leaves. There is nothing physiologically different about African Violets to make them any more suitable for sub-irrigation than any other plants.

Sub-irrigation works for all terrestrial plants including cacti and succulents. If you find this hard to believe, just make yourself a cacti and succulent bowl using this same method.

Keep the soil moisture drier simply by adding a smaller amount of water. Unlike drench and drain watering, you never soak the soil which is much more suitable for desert and dry climate plants. You'll be able to see the soil moisture level and status of the root system through the plastic microwave food cover.

In the Beginning

Click to enlarge. This was the first planter in the GreenScaper Lab. It was over eight years ago in the spring of 1998 when I had a light bulb idea. Why shouldn’t the container for “houseplants” be clear plastic instead of opaque? This is likely the most important new concept I’ve proven over the past years in the lab. I already knew that subirrigation worked.

With opaque grow pots you can’t see the soil moisture or the condition of the root system. That seemed kind of dumb and now having used clear containers for all these years it's a proven fact. Opaque grow pots are a dumb idea for indoor plant maintenance. Do your plants and yourself a favor and try some clear containers inside cachepots.

Back then, I asked myself why grow pots are opaque and realized the only benefit was for the greenhouse grower rather than the end user. They prevent algae growth in the production greenhouse or shadehouse.

Why couldn’t consumers merely transfer the plant into a clear plastic container and install it inside a decorative cachepot. After all the plastic grow pot was never meant to be a decorative household item.

So, I looked for a clear plastic container to use as a grow pot. I found one at Bed, Bath & Beyond. It was a polycarbonate (Lexan or football helmet plastic) trash basket liner.

The one on the left is unaltered. The one on the right is the first clear plastic sub-irrigation planter I made. I shortened it and installed a platform assembly made from a plastic picnic plate and clear party cup for a wick.

I soon discovered the world of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) food plastics. This material is perfect for plant grow pots. It remains crystal clear without yellowing and is unbelievably tough, but easy to fabricate. Incidentally, I’ve dropped a few plants from a height of over six feet with no damage. Most of these clear plastic grow pots are made of PET.

The Aglaonema Amelia installed in this prototype planter lasted until early this year when I cut it back. The plant was still healthy but the stems became too tall and ungainly. It was never repotted due to root growth.

You can see it on my desk in this photo. The stems were rooted in candle-glass propagators and recycled into a new plant.

In or Out of the Money?

Click to enlarge. Is your Money Tree (Pachira aquatica) going to be a good luck charm and bring you money or is it going to die and be a waste of money?

The other not-so-good possibility is that it may look like this after a while.

These plants are a companion to the over-hyped Lucky Bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana) plants from Asia flooding the “houseplant” market. I finally succumbed and bought a couple of small (4” pot-size) plants.

As you can see the plant on the left is growing in a 9-ounce clear plastic party cup (3 ½” diameter x 3” tall). Can you believe how small a container in proportion to the plant size? It is sub-irrigated using the sleeved cup method. I’ve been adding only 5 ounces of water once a week. That's about 7 tenths of an ounce per day and even I am amazed.

Note that it is called “aquatica” which I’m sure has led many buyers to over water them with disastrous results.

Having no prior experience this will be yet another learning opportunity to see if I can keep it looking healthy and in proportion. You can see a couple of stem clippings in the photo. I don’t plan to try to continue the braiding. I’ll attempt to prune it as I do desktop Ficus benjamina and Dwarf Schefflera plants.

I’ve done some web searching on “Pachira aquatica care” with some interesting results. The plant care advice is all over the lot. As is so common, people give advice about “houseplants” with nothing but limited anecdotal experience. Once again, caveat emptor.

It won't happen to these plants but take a look at this Pachira tree in bloom on Flickr.

This is an excerpt from one of the first hits on a Google search.

But instead of let (sic) them grow very tall. We found that its trunk (sic) are flexible enough to be braided together using special technique (sic). Using five young Pachira manually braided together. Put them in the pot and watering (sic) them appropriately. After approx 10 months you get what you see in the picture below. An exotic pot plant.

Here’s the “picture below.” Note that it’s a picture of the trunk and not the plant. I found that to be a rather significant evasion of reality. Of course, there’s never any misrepresentation of “houseplants” on the web. Giggle, giggle...and double caveat emptor!

Checking Misco Planter Water Level

Click to enlarge. There have been many search engine queries to this blog looking for information on the Misco “self-watering” planters available at Wal-Mart. I’ve previously posted my less than positive opinions here and here.

The photo shows a partial solution to the human factors problems with this planter. Since it is so difficult to see the water level, use a pipette (1/4” clear plastic tube) to check it. You could also use a clear drinking straw.

Simple Sub-irrigation 101

Click to enlarge. Here is a simple way to prove to yourself how easy it is to water an indoor plant with pipette-like precision and you don’t need a wick. This sub-irrigation method is good for the plants and good for your interior environment including your furniture.

When you use sub-irrigation, you eliminate the possibility of fungus gnats and mold that can trigger asthma for some people. You will also learn about the all important light/water relationship so critical for the survival of plants in buildings.

This is a great way to teach kids, young people, and newcomers. Perhaps you can use this to introduce someone to the world of environmentally sound greenscaping.

4” Pot-size plants

Buy a few 4” pot size plants. I would recommend Chamaedorea elegans (Parlor Palm) and, Dracaena Janet Craig Compacta. Also consider Dracaena Marginata, Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily) and Chlorophytum comosum (Spider Plant) but know that these require higher light levels. I picked these plants because they are widely available and tolerant of indoor environments.

Clear Plastic Party Cups

Buy a package of 9 oz squat clear party cups and a package of 10 oz tall clear party cups.

This example shown is a Parlor Palm in a 10 oz tall cup. Drill or hot poker a series of drainage holes around the bottom of a cup that will be used to house the plant. I used a metal skewer from my kitchen junk drawer.

Now carefully remove the palm from the opaque plastic grow-pot and install it in the clear cup with holes. You shou