Arboricola Bush
(Umbrella Plant)
One of our local grocery stores was selling gorgeous floor plants in 10" pots for $9.99 so I bought a few. Plants breath life into a room but at the same time help clean the air so they should be included in every room of the house. Floor plants are wonderful for adding that extra touch without spending a lot of money. Pictured is the Arboricola bush I bought then repotted in and EEZY-GRO self-watering planter.
We are away from home for extended periods of time when we are at our vacation home. Our last house was in a rural location with no access other than secondary roads that are not plowed out as fast as the main roads. Rather than ask family and friends to come out to water my houseplants I turned to using automatic watering globes. The local dollar store sells the smaller ones 2/$1.25 and the larger ones at $2 each. I've been using them over a year now as an inexpensive yet effective alternative for keeping houseplants watered. There are three downsides to the watering globes. First they are made of glass so breakage is always a concern. The second downside is potential overheating if used outdoors and the final downside is at best a filled water globe will provide water between 5 and 8 days, or at least that has been my experience. I am moving towards self-watering planters for all of my houseplants and will be using them for various container plants in the garden and on the decks.
I was at Wal-Mart a couple of weeks ago checking out their houseplant selection. I decided to try an EEZY-GRO self-watering planter. These planters are made by Apollo Plastics Ltd.in Mississauga, Ontario. There is a water reservoir on the base of the planter and a wick on the bottom of the planter. Once the plant is potted, you water the top as you would normally. Then you fill the water reservoir through the opening. There is a small float device just inside the opening. The plant roots draw water up through the roots using capillary action as needed. The planter is designed in such a manner that the roots are not constantly standing in water making this an ideal planter for patio plants. This planter is designed to water the plant for 2 to 4 weeks depending on the conditions.
The EEZY-GRO self-watering planters are available in limited range of colours but should meet most gardening needs. There are versions available for hanging plants as well. I paid $7.49 for the 14 - inch diameter pots and $6.49 for the 7 - inch diameter pot. In perspective, if these pots keep my houseplants happy and healthy while reducing the number of times I have to water as well as eliminate the danger of potted plants drying out, it will be money well spent!
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2012
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