Self Watering Bucket Garden (Set of 2) 5 gal Bucket Water Wicking Plates

I bought these to use in 5 gallon bucket planters for my patio. They worked great. We live in a very dry climate so container gardening is a challenge but I can go three days if necessary without watering and my vegetables are thriving. I use a short length of PVC piping to refill the reservoir at the bottom of the container and it works great. Will buy again.

This is Zucchini Astia after a month grown from seed. I have three wicks vertical and I water from both bottom and top. Good soil helps tho👍 Inserts are worth it!

These things probably work, just as they are. But I can't help myself when it comes to tweaking something to make it even better, IMHO.Garden-wise, where I live is too far from heaven and too close to Hell. Some sort of water and time-saving is necessary during our dry summers to keep from having to water all my many plants every day. There are several ways to to make wicking buckets, you can use two buckets, or trim, drill and mash a bucket lid in to separate the soil from the water, and so on. Look on the web for many variations and details on how to make them. But these plates make it all much easier and neater.First, I drill a 3/8" hole 3" from the bottom of the bucket ON THE SIDE for draining. Then I cut two new holes in the wicking plate; one for the wick (I use a longer wick that the ones they include, which you must cut in half), another for the 1" pvc fill pipe (see pictures) with the end cut at an angle. Hand fold the flaps surrounding the wicking plate so they will more easily fit into the bucket. You can set the plate in, then use another bucket to push it down. Insert the wicking rope and fill pipe, then, and importantly, fill the bucket with some good potting mix with plenty of coir, peat moss, vermiculite, perlite, etc. to help wick and hold the moisture in the soil. Again, there are many other details you can find on the web. It's not rocket science, and it works. It provides moisture while preventing over-watering. I feed mine with 1/4" irrigation tube (stuck in the fill pipe) connected to my sprinkler system. Every week the water reservoirs in the buckets are filled, and keep the plant sufficiently watered. If you want, you could simply get a garden faucet to 1/4" irrigation tube fitting (available on amazon) and just turn it on whenever needed to keep the bottom of the buckets filled. The system works well enough that I've bought more than a dozen, so I guess you can consider this a strong recommendation.

I wish I had known to use these plates for my resin planters much earlier .. It's a challenge to keep plants (other than cacti) alive in southern Arizona and these have been working great!!

I'm very satisfied with this product. I had a couple questions and called the company. I was so impressed with how responsive they were. Then, once I place the order, I received a confirmation it was shipped within about 2 hours. My package arrive faster than expected. It was easy to set up the self watering bucket. I didn't have any problems drilling the whole in the bucket. The plants are thriving. I live in a hot, dry climate. This will be perfect to make sure the roots don't dry out and they have consistent access to water. It also allows me to have tomato plants when I have limited space in my yard. My son also got a set and his tomatoe is doing well too. I'm very pleased with this product and look forward to eating tomatoes this season.

Why not make the disk so a 1” pvc pipe can be inserted in it long enough to come several inches above the bucket and water through it as not to flush any fertilizer out of the soil

The media could not be loaded. I've had fabric growing bags and they dry out pretty fast. I heard about self watering containers/pots and it can't be overwatered or doesn't dry out easily so I watched a few youtube and tried this bucket plates with my 5 gal buckets. The instruction from the seller was pretty clear and easy. Mark the bucket, drill a hole, push the disk in ( once it's in, it's hard to pull it out, maybe Never, LOL) cut the wick and insert, pour dirt, and Plant! Easy Peasy. I added an old 1" PVC pipe to the bucket so I can water directly into the bottom without washing out when fertilizer is applied. I have plenty of 5G buckets so I didn't have to buy. You can get them for free from some big grocery stores or restaurants. If not, Get it from hardware stores. Happy Gardening. :-)

worked great