Comments on: What is the best Self-watering Planter?

By: Jill

Jill — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 18:06:48 +0000

I’ve had really good luck with the WicR self watering insert inside my clay pots. Works well and is inexpensive on Amazon.

By: Yudy

Yudy — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 20:43:45 +0000

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

By: Yudy

Yudy — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 00:37:55 +0000

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!

By: Caroline

Caroline — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 18:04:42 +0000

In reply to Yudy. 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!

By: Yudy

Yudy — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 17:43:52 +0000

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).