Self-Watering Plant Containers

My houseplants were green and healthy but lately they’ve been looking like they had stopped growing. I knew the potting soil I originally used was been reused already and I was also still having problems with over and under watering each only. So I decided to try repotting them in self-watering containers with some eggshells mixed into the potting soil.

Potting Mixture

Since I don’t consider potting mix an essential, I didn’t want to go to a store’s garden center during this pandemic. I checked around online and decided to purchase some directly from Miracle Gro. It arrived in 8 days.

I also collected eggshells for a few weeks and after they had dried in the sun I crumbled them up to add calcium to the mix. Though nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are most vital for healthy growth, calcium is also essential for building healthy cell walls of a plant.

Self-Watering Containers

I found this pack of 6 plastic self-watering containers on Amazon. They had other styles and colors but I decided to go with the basic white since I’m not sure where in the house I want them to stay. I also have a plan to eventually cover them, but that’s a future post.

This self-watering planter has a unique design that allows excess water to be stored in the bottom and be wicked up to the plants. Also, it can keep insects away from your water and prevents them from getting inside.

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These came with no instructions. So I decided to soak the rope for a few minutes in a cup of water before threading it threw the 2 holes located on the bottom of the black pot. I also pulled it up threw the potting mixture a little bit, but checked to make sure it would still hang into the water in the white pot. I added my houseplant and more potting mix around the sides.

I then moved on to my other houseplants and seedlings.

Seedlings

A few weeks ago I had started saving seeds and plants from my groceries. I had some tomato plants I started from seeds that I wanted to transplant but when I removed one from it’s Dixie Cup I noticed it only had a few roots. So I carefully lifted each plant and its current dirt out of each cup and added some of the fresh potting mixture to the bottom, then replaced the plant.

Previously I had created a mini greenhouse with different seeds on a wet paper towel in a closed container. I loved how easy it was to get seeds started this way, but the roots grew bent and crooked. My problem wasn’t removing them from the paper towel, but getting the roots to stay buried in the mix.

After punching a hole in the bottom of 8 Dixie Cups with a pair of scissors, I transplanted 4 seedlings in each of 4 cups. I then dropped some extra seeds in the other cups and covered them up with soil just to see what they will do without the pre-germination.

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These 3 also got repotted with some fresh potting soil and eggshell mixture.

Over the past few weeks I’ve cut and saved the bottoms of onions I’ve used, and floated them in water until roots grew. I had 3 purple onions, (growing about 2 weeks apart each) along with a white onion and scallions that I also transplanted.

There was only one apple seed that sprouted in the plastic container and I’m okay with that, considering I have no idea what I will do with one apple tree years from now. It was transplanted also.

Watering

I gave everything a good watering from the top when I finished repotting. After an hour I checked the water level by lifting the black pot out. The black pots lay flat on the white pots and although I think it’s aesthetically pleasing to look at, it makes it difficult to lift it out using one hand. But I had no problem removing them with both hands.

I added more water where necessary until they all looked like they had about 1 inch of water in the bottom of the white pot. I left them alone for 24 hours.

The next day when I lifted the black pots again, it was easy to see which plants need watering and which ones were doing fine.

Final Thoughts

Since tomato and pepper plants love calcium, I’ll add more egg shells as I collect them.

Overall I’m really happy with them! Hopefully this will be a good start for the indoor garden I plan to create over the summer. I’ll post more pics as it grows.

Do you replant seeds and plants from your groceries to? I would love to see the photos if you do! Just leave them in the comments.