My usual M.O. when growing houseplants is as follows:
1. Get sucked into buying something green when everything is gray outside
2. Forget about watering it, or give it too much watering love
3. Voraciously google how to save the withering plant
4. Watch it die
5. Repeat process
 |
| Diagnosis: Three days to live |
The story of all my houseplants have followed this unfortunate path.
Until...
One of our friends from church kept telling me about these miracle pots he grew houseplants in. We went to visit them at their home several months ago, and oh. my. mercy. I thought I had walked into a plant museum. His plants were so beautiful they looked like they were fake!
He grows them in Lechuza pots. The plant grows in a soil-less mix and it is self watered with a wick underneath. There is a little meter that tells you when you need to refill the pot with water, and exactly how much water to use. He says he hasn't lost one plant due to over/under watering.
(And FYI, to my great chagrin, I am in no way affiliated with Lechuza....maybe someday!)
They are a little pricey, but so is a continual cycle of purchasing and killing new plants! I suppressed purchasing one for a good six weeks or so, then broke down. I've had it for probably 5 months now, and I love love love it. (And I know I'm going overboard on the italics and bold print - just read this post in a tone of great excitement and you'll get my gist!)
Here's a close up of the little watering meter. The red line at the top is the maximum fill line. When the little red meter drops down to the lower line, just fill her up to the top. No guesswork on "am I dehydrating my plant? Am I drowning my plant?"
Lechuza is the perfect pot for an Anti-Container-Gardener...
and believe me, I would know. :)
He grows them in Lechuza pots. The plant grows in a soil-less mix and it is self watered with a wick underneath. There is a little meter that tells you when you need to refill the pot with water, and exactly how much water to use. He says he hasn't lost one plant due to over/under watering.
(And FYI, to my great chagrin, I am in no way affiliated with Lechuza....maybe someday!)
They are a little pricey, but so is a continual cycle of purchasing and killing new plants! I suppressed purchasing one for a good six weeks or so, then broke down. I've had it for probably 5 months now, and I love love love it. (And I know I'm going overboard on the italics and bold print - just read this post in a tone of great excitement and you'll get my gist!)
Here's a close up of the little watering meter. The red line at the top is the maximum fill line. When the little red meter drops down to the lower line, just fill her up to the top. No guesswork on "am I dehydrating my plant? Am I drowning my plant?"
Lechuza is the perfect pot for an Anti-Container-Gardener...
and believe me, I would know. :)
Wow, that sounds fantastic! And it's such a pretty pot too.
ReplyDeleteI have given up on houseplants for the time being between our little kids and the cats, sadly. Maybe someday!
Hanni I have a self-watering outdoor pot but had not thought about it for indoors...will have to check these out....thx
ReplyDeleteI had given up all hope of keeping houseplants alive! Will have to try this pot, thanks for the tips...there's hope!! Looking forward to catching up on your blog, I'm back blogging after a 3mth hiatus, gosh how I've missed my garden blogging friends! Cheers Julia =)
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of this! I have my african violets in one of those self-watering pots (though you do need to add water occasionally!). My big mistake is to pot the indoor plants up in outdoor containers - then when I water them, the water runs all over the floor, and they never get enough to drink!
ReplyDeleteI have a much cheaper solution - cede watering, and indeed of all plant care - of indoor plants to your FIL. Its miraculous. Doesn't work for the herbs on the windowsill though as he regards them as my domain. So the herbs die. Very frequently. So maybe I should find out if they are available here...
ReplyDelete