Self-watering container...or not?
Firstly, apologies if this is in the incorrect area of the forum.
Basically in our office we decided to get some plants a couple of years ago to spruce the place up a bit. We decided on Kentia palms as we'd heard they were relatively easy to care for and tended to cope okay in indoor conditions. We initially also decided to get all 3 in separate self-watering containers to minimise time needed to care for them even further.
Earlier this year however, all 3 of them had died. After some research I think it actually eventually came down to over-watering as opposed to under. Once a week I'd topped up the built in tank so that the water meter was roughly in the middle. I later learned that this was probably a bit too much and that Kentia palms tend to prefer drying out a little in between waterings?
In any case, we've decided to get some more plants, but I'm now undecided if I should go down the self-watering option again or not? Part of me thinks it might be easier to truly keep track of how moist the soil is with a regular plant pot/tray so that I can see any water that's seeping out of the bottom. Or alternatively, are self-watering containers really the way forward and I should just aim to top up the water levels a lot less frequently? Perhaps once a month as opposed to once a week or something.
Many thanks!
Posts
Hi Bixer and welcome
It's really good to have plants in the office; it's a shame the Kentia palms didn't make it, but we live and we learn.
I've never yet come across a self-watering system that really works - different plants need different conditions. It will probably be easier to learn to judge when they need the water.
I would try Kentia palms again - they don't need a lot of water - try sticking your finger into the compost up to the first joint - if the soil is dry at that level then water them, but if the soil is moist then leave them. If the heating is off at the weekends then don't water them on a Friday - cold and wet is far more harmful to the roots than just cold on it's own. Most palms can cope with a degree or two of dry cold for a few days.
A few drops of Baby Bio or similar in the water from March through to the end of July will be good, but don't feed when the plants aren't in active growth.
Repot with fresh compost in late Feb/early March.
And try not to let too many people take it upon themselves to water the plants. So often people try to be helpful and end up killing them with kindness.
I used to work in a Social Services office - I took over responsibility for all the plants - social workers are well known for their ability to kill plants - I always said that if a social worker can't keep a plant alive why should they be responsible for a child - that didn't always go down well
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
http://m.ebay.ie/itm/20x-Self-Watering-Plant-Automatic-Drip-Irrigation-System-Spike-by-Gravity-/282527554836?hash=item41c7f45d14:g:XY8AAOSw3YJZQtNU&_trkparms=pageci%3A3f7e12bd-58f8-11e7-92ba-74dbd180c1bc%7Cparentrq%3Adae267d715c0a88a8dd3b722fffdc676%7Ciid%3A7
soil moisture should be 80~82%, soil moisture sensor are incredible cheap .gogole or ebay for plant sensor, for android, about 10 to 20 dolars