Right, we’re all busy people, so here are my top self watering plant pots upfront.
I just want to be honest – most self-watering pots are pretty similar.
There’s wick ones vs LECA ones but that’s about it. Past that, it’s more about personal preference (which is code for aesthetics and cost).
These are the ones I use and recommend:
Right, if you’re a skimmer — this is for you — here’s every pot in one place. Tested by me (kinda), ranked by how much I’d actually recommend them. Affiliate links are marked clearly — I only link to products I’ve used or thought I had.
Right, we’ve got rid of the busy people now. Let’s have chat about self watering pots.
I used to be very much a terracotta girl.
I like that they’re suuuper cheap, and it’s easy to get pots that match.
Saucers are also easy to find.
There are a tonne of shapes and sizes available.
You can get them in pretty much every garden centre (do not buy them online. They break).
They have drainage holes.
Terracotta is porous, so the roots get plenty of air.
YAY
…But I’m an underwaterer. My plants dried out waaaaaay too quickly.
Enter self-watering plant pots.
They’re not nearly as cheap, there’s hundreds of styles, and not all garden centres have them.
I’m really not selling them, am I?
Trust me, they’re great!
The best self-watering posts – reviewed.
Best overall – Elho Insert
- Pretty cheap
- Sturdy
- Easy to assemble (and I am NOT a natural assembler)
- Elho are a pretty cool company
- A tonne of sizes
- You can opt to buy a pot with it or not
- Suitable for any substrate – soil or semi -hydro
I don’t think I have any cons.
Oh, they only really do the one shape, so if you have a crawler, go for the Lechuza.
There are cheaper options which are fine but this is a super solid choice.
Best for beginners
I really like the Lechuza ones, but they are a bit pricier. They come with pretty clear instructions and a variety of shapes and sizes. I like this cube one because you can just plonk the plant in the pot, nursery pot and all, add water, and you’re done.
One great benefit for fellow lazy people is that they include pon, which as well as acting as a barrier between the water and the soil, has fertiliser added to it, which I believe they say lasts about six months. Nice.
My enormous Philodendron Golden Dragon is in one (he’s not ill, he just has a…whimsical growth pattern):
We’ve decided it’s charming.
You can also get long lechuza pots for crawling Philodendrons (though I use mine for my peace lily).
Best budget pick
I really like these.
They’re simple to use – you fill-up the reservoir and a cord wicks the water up into the soil or leca.
One of the issues I have with lechuza is that there’s no inner pot, making it difficult to flush without getting leca everywhere.
It would be nice to have larger pots BUT you’d also need to also have a longer cord so you could move it higher into the substrate. Otherwise I don’t think the water would reach the roots easily.
These are perfect for small-medium sized plants – I’m pretty sure I have the largest size and it’s only 15cm in diameter.
I really like these – they’re cheap and look…fine. I believe there are actually a few different designs, so you can hunt for one you like.
The DIY Option
Please excuse the dirt, I just grabbed this off the windowsill so I could show you.
These Ikea plant pots are awesome to use as DIY self-watering pots. You see the little ridge/shelf at the bottom? You can sit a nursery pot on there (I can’t put measurements since there’s a few sizes, but if you’re in Ikea just grab a plant and try it until you find the right size and measure the pot).
Thread a cord or string through the holes of the nursery pot so it dangles into the bottom of the outer pot. Add some leca or pon. Add your soil. Add your plant. Done.
If you’re using 100% leca or pon you don’t even need to use the string, just raise your reservoir. But then, if you’re using leca you don’t need a pot with a little shelf – any pot will do.
I just wanted to point out that those Ikea pots are ace for the string-wicking method.
I have a video about DIY self-watering pots here.
So, that’s a roundup of the best self-watering pots. If you have any faves you’d like to recommend to the class plz leave a comment below. Or if you want to defend a pot I’ve besmirched.
AVOID
I *think* they’ve redesigned them, but the T4U Lechuza knockoffs are a big fail
Here are my grievances:
- No inner pot (no good for leca)
- A hole in the bottom (no good for leca)
- The hole in the bottom is raised up on a little plinth (no good for soil)
- No way to get the water into the reservoir without soaking the substrate (no good for soil)
Like…what was the plan here, guys?
DISCLAIMER: there’s a very real chance I’m totally missing something very obvious that would make these work, but I have four of them (they come in a 4-pack, I’m not a masochist) and use only as cachepots, which they are crap at because they’re the wrong shape for most nursery pots.
They’d be fine if you didn’t have to use the base plate, but you need to due to the weird plinth with the hole in it.
Do not like.
HAVING SAID THAT.
I do use them for plants that I can trust. I don’t know what that means either except that I can trust these guys:
- Pilea peperomioides
- Peace lily
- Schefflera
So, as you can see from the table at the start of this article, T4u now have a self watering pot with an inner pot that I should really try. I’ll get back to you on that.
Please remember though, however a crap a self watering pot is, it can still be used as a regular pot, so all is not lost.
Which self-watering pot is right for you?
Best for small plants: the T4U string
- Promise, you really can’t go wrong with these
Best for large, statement plants: Lechuza
- Yes, they have the designer price tag, but they’re pretty sturdy and work really well.
Best for on a budget: DIY it with an Ikea pot, a nursery pot, and some string.
- A bit of string and two plant pots works like a freaking dream.
FAQs
How do self-watering pots actually work?
Like this:
Any questions?
I’m sure it’s crystal clear now.
Basically, you put water in the bottom, and the water is delivered to the roots incredibly slowly over time, by being sucked up by either string, LECA, or some other porous medium.
Alas, self-watering pots do not get up, go to the sink and ACTUALLY water themselves. It was a sad day when I realised that.
Do self-watering pots cause root rot?
If you are an overwaterer, yes.
But if you’re a good little student that always checks that the soil is dry before watering then no. Capillary action is sloooow.
Don’t go for self watering pots until you’re pretty sure you know what you’re doing with normal pots.
Or go with something like a Peace lily that doesn’t mind staying consistently damp.
Does self-watering wick code actually work?
I have a few pots that use self-watering wick cords, and I like them a lot.
There are definitely better self-watering pot mechanisms out there, but if budget is a concern, self-watering pots that utilise wicks tend to be on the cheaper end of the scale (especially compared to, say, lechuza.
How wick cord works
The cord is made out of an absorbent material – cotton is a common choice. In a self-watering pot, the ends of the cord are dipped in the water reservoir, but the majority of the cord is threaded through holes in the pot and therefore sitting in the substrate.
Scroll back up to look at my AWESOME diagram if you like.
What makes self-wicking cord so great is also kind it’s biggest issue.
You’d think that by continually wicking up the water, you’d end up overwatering the substrate BUT the wicking power just…isn’t that strong.
Many people successfully use self-watering pots with wicks for plants in leca, but personally, I don’t think it’s effective enough (you can still use the pots, just have the reservoir touch the bottom of the leca).
Can you make all plant pots self-watering with a wick?
Yeah! Just cut a couple of holes in a pot and you’re good to go! Nursery pots are a solid choice because they already have holes in them – you can make them bigger with a box cutter if required.
EXCEPT
Here I go again, ruining everything for everyone.
The bigger the pot, the less efficient the wick will be. I actually don’t buy self-watering wicking pots over about 10cm for this reason – they don’t work well enough. I may as well just water them as normal.
The problems with self-watering wick cord
So, they’re a pretty quick and dirty DIY self watering plant pot and the main issues are that they’re just not that powerful. If you have small pots and go away a lot though, they’ll probably work super well.
If you have small plants, the only real issue is that they get pretty manky pretty quickly (as we all would, in that situation).
As in, they get all slimy and covered in algae and generally grim.
This isn’t really a problem in that it doesn’t do any damage to the plants, but it’s the kind of thing that REALLY bothers some people.
I’m not one of them – I’m very ‘out of sight, out of mind’ – so my self-watering pots are usually a lovely forest green on the inside. I like it! It’s nature!
Obviously you can replace them if you wish, but that seems like a lot of hassle – self-watering pots are meant to make your life easier, not harder.
What’s the best rope for wicking water?
I like to use cotton ones because it’s pretty efficient.
Cotton is usually conceded as the best material, BUT a lot of people then say that the downside is that it rots away quickly.
This isn’t really a concern. Sure, it won’t last forever but it will last for several years. You’re gonna be repotting your plants somewhere in that time so just swap it out for a new one once yours starts looking a bit… disintegrate-y.
Do you need to seal the ends of the self-watering wick rope?
This, along with leaving cuttings to callus, is something that people either do religiously or have literally never heard of.
I like setting fire to things as much as the next person, but I don’t think that sealing the ends of a rope with a lighter will dramatically benefit how much water it can absorb.
The argument here is that sealing the ends will reduce the chance of pests/bacteria getting the rope, but…I just don’t see how it would make a difference. If you were sealing the whole thing, fine, but just the ends? Nah.
The 4 inch rule
Science claims four inches is the limit for wicking cord shifting water, so you need there to be less than four inches between the reservoir and the substrate.
However, you should still be able to add multiple strings at different levels if you need a wicking system for a big pot, because the wick will be able to absorb water from the soil.
There just can’t be more than a four-inch gap between a source of moisture and wherever the string is meant to be watering.
(this multiple-string method is fine in theory, but I just feel that it won’t really work in practice, but also can’t really be bothered to try it out myself. One day perhaps!)
I once read an article about how you can fill the sink with water and run strings into all your plant pots so they stay watered whilst you’re away. The four-inch rule confirms that this is rubbish, and will not work.
Are self-watering pots good for monstera?
Yes! Sometimes.
Monstera will thrive in self-watering plant pots, however, there are a few things we need to take into consideration.
A Monstera kept in low light in a self-watering pot is at increased risk of rot
Monstera are frequently touted as being plants that like living in low light conditions, but the reality is that Monstera will take as much light as you can throw at them, short of hurling them directly into the sun.
Yes they will burn. No, they don’t care.
ANYWAY
You can keep Monstera in low light, but it’s more work for less reward. A Monstera kept in a self-watering pot in bright light will do really well, because it’ll be using up that watering pretty quickly doing its growing.
The more constant access to water will help it grow faster and healthier, BUT remember that root rot can still occur. You’ll still need to let the plant dry out a bit before adding more water.
A Monstera living in low light won’t use very much water, because it doesn’t need to – Monstera won’t grow quickly (or develop large leaves) in low light because there’s no point.
The soil will also stay wetter for longer because there’s less evaporation caused by light and warmth (low light areas tend to be colder).
You can definitely still use a self-watering pot for a Monstera living in low light, but you need to be extra careful to make sure the soil is pretty dry before adding more water to the reservoir.
I also recommend getting one that has a little chute that you can pour the water into, rather than filling the reservoir by watering through the soil. That way, the top of the soil will rarely get wet and you’ll reduce the chance of getting fungus gnats (which aren’t harmful to Monstera, but are annoying).
Lechuza is your best option here, because the sizes go up pretty big.
You’ll need to keep a close eye on Monstera in self-watering pots over winter
Again, over winter the soil won’t have a chance to dry out because it’s colder and there’s less light. The soil can stay damp for months – especially if you keep your Monstera in low light – and that can cause root rot.
Monstera deliciosa aren’t particularly prone to root rot (except for Thai Constellation, which I moved to water because it’s the only way I can maintain a root system) but self-watering pots can increase the chances of it happening if you’re not letting the soil dry out.
Also, plants tend to be weaker in winter and if not totally dormant then definitely pretty sleepy, so are less able to defend themselves against bacterial infections like root rot.
You need to make sure the soil is chunky and well aerated
This is less important if you’re keeping your Monstera in bright light, because Monstera aren’t particularly picky about their soil. Soil is one of those things that should be determined as much by your plant care as by your plant.
However, a Monstera kept in a self-watering pot in dense soil will be entirely at the mercy of the conditions it’s living in.
That could be totally fine if you’re keeping it outside because the light and wind will dry the soil out quickly – dense soil and a self-watering pot might be the ONLY way you could give it enough moisture if you live somewhere windy.
Buuuut if you’re keeping it in low light things are gonna go south quickly.
High humidity could lead to rot if you don’t monitor it
High humidity is LIFE CHANGING when it comes to growing big, mature plants BUT it can lead to problems unless you balance out the other elements of care.
For example, high humidity and low temperatures are a great way to introduce new and exciting fungal infections, such as powdery mildew, into your collection.
If you have low light and a fairly cold room, you might be best off dehumidifying the room. Sure, growth will slow, but your plant will likely be happier.
Self-watering pots can exacerbate problems like this, because the soil staying wet for extended periods of time can increase humidity.
If this is an issue for you in winter, just water your Monstera sparingly, rather than filling the reservoir
Best plants for self-watering pots
Honestly, any plant can live in a self-watering pot BUT you need to be able to tailor the soil so it doesn’t stay too wet.
For that reason, I wouldn’t necessarily suggest them for beginners UNLESS they’re a chronic underwaterer like moi.
If you want to give it a go, these plants seem to care the least in my experience:
- Peace lily – they love moisture
- Calathea – they hate everything, but drying out most of all
- Monstera – incredibly chill after decades of being bred for just that
- Aspidistra – just hardy AF (see also dracaena, Pothos, Schefflera)
Pros & cons of self-watering pots
To be perfectly honest these are not a silver bullet designed to escape consistent plant care (trust me, I would know). Self watering pots give you a bit more grace if you typically underwater, but that’s about it.
Pros
- You have to water less often
I know that’s only one, but it’s a biggie.
Cons
- They don’t actually self-water. Tis a lie. A damn lie.
Honestly, this is just a preference thing. And also a lifestyle thing. If you travel a lot self watering pots can be suuuuper helpful.
One they do do which is entirely neutral but is…a thing, is that they encourage roots to grow down, towards the reservoir, because roots naturally seek moisture.
All this means is that the roots will pop out of the bottom of the pot more quickly than they typically would. You don’t have do anything about it, it just…happens.
In conclusion
So what I could really do with is Lechuza producing pots with and inner pot. Rumour has it that some of them do now. I’ll report back when…I have something to report.
But alas, I currently don’t so I have to trawl Amazon endlessly looking for the holy grail.
Got a self-watering pot I haven’t tried? I would love to here about it.
Now here’s a call to action (I have to do this, the blog people insist I do).
So here goes:
Please read these articles:
Thank you for this article! What do you think of those self watering planters where instead of a cachepot, it is a cache bottom. Instead of inner net pot and outer cache pot, it is just one pot that sits on top of the reservoir, and usually there is a watering entrance you can water directly to the bottom.
One major problem is that you can’t do the 1/3 submerged Leca method as the reservoir simply doesn’t go up that high. But I’m fine with that, and prefer using a cut up cloth to wick anyway. I’m honestly not sure why that cloth method isn’t more popular. You can control how moist it is by simply having a longer wick that goes up higher into the substrate. But I digress.
Other than Lechuza, I can’t find any cheap pots that are larger than 6-7″ other than this type of design. Most of the ones on Amazon that use this design seem to have too shallow of a reservoir, plus it is opaque. I like it transparent since I can’t be bothered to check water level manually. Even if I have to clean the algae once in awhile, it’s worth it, IMO.
I did fine one on Aliexpress and have one on order. It is 23.5cm wide, 18cm deep (not including reservoir) so should be a perfect size for almost all of my larger plants (save for some really big ones where I have to use a 5 gallon bucket). Plus, it has a much deeper reservoir than the ones on Amazon. Might be a few weeks before I get it, but I will report back to let you know if this is a worthy large planter for self watering needs. And if this is good, I am going to be buying a lot more right away, for fear of having the same issue that happened to you (loving something from Aliexpress and then not being able to find it).
I like them, but mainly because I think you can get really nice looking pots cheaply, and you don’t need to worry about a saucer. I have used them for Leca but only plants that are EXTREMELY chill about watering, like pothos.
I’m keeping my eye out for larger alternatives to Lechuza pots, but so far there’s nothing. I keep the post updated though!
Cool, thanks for the reply, and glad you like them. This Aliexpress one I am waiting on will be my first of that style. I always think I’ll spill water trying to go directly into the bottom reservoir with that lip. But if this works, it’ll probably be the best 8/9-inch plus self watering pot I can find these days!
The Aliexpress 9″ pot was legit. Unfortunately, it cracked during shipping so I won’t be able to use it. Luckily, I got refunded. But I just found the same thing on Temu.com and ordered it (actually comes in a set of 4 different sizes, with the 9″ one being the largest). Hopefully I have better luck next time.
Not bad for a 9″ pot under $20? This picture shows the size next to a Lechuza Classico LS 21. This cheap one would be a nice pot to use for when the LS 21 is too small.
https://imgur.com/Hbo28fl
I’ve had really good luck with the WicR self watering insert inside my clay pots. Works well and is inexpensive on Amazon.
+1 for WicR. I did an experiment with 2 identical pothos, one with the insert and one without. The one with WicR is twice the size after 6 months. Starting to use one every time I repot a plant. There are only 2 sizes but they have worked in most of my pots.
Oh thanks, good to know – I’ll have to give them a go. They’ve popped up on my Instagram but with awful AI posts so I just scrolled on by.