Best Self-Watering Garden Container
Self-watering garden containers – I have been sent dozens of them to try by various manufacturers and have covered a few of their stories on my website. And while they have extended the time between waterings in the garden, they still require some type of consistent weekly maintenance. There is a new system in town from Crescent Garden that is supposed to extend the watering times. Crescent approached me about their new Trudrop Self-Watering Container System which is food safe for your vegetable and herb plantings and asked me to conduct a garden experiment test that answers this question – “How long can you go between waterings?”
How I Planted and Fertilized –
I planted up a mixed ornamental edible container in Organic Mechanics Potting Soil, then used Dave Thompson’s Organic Healthy Grow All-Purpose fertilizer as a supplement. Using natural products to plant keeps your garden healthier – the fertilizer I used is organic and made from chicken manure. One of the great things about this natural fertilizer is that it maintains beneficial microbial activity, is higher nitrogen, low odor (does not smell like chicken poop), adds organic matter to the soil, and adds calcium.
Plants in this self-watering garden container include Swiss chard, rosemary, mint, and celosia from Jung Seed.
How I Watered –
Following the Crescent Trudrop gardening container directions, I initially placed the water in the special fill-up hole, then soaked the soil well. Then I put the garden far away from my other watering areas. I planted the container on 6/12. IT IS NOW 8/15 AND I HAVE NOT WATERED IT ONCE. Not once. Granted, we have had a couple of rains in the last two months, but it has not been a wet season for the Chicagoland area. Typical temperatures have been in the 80’s and 90’s throughout summer.
Just look at the container below – it’s marvelous without dead bits and I have not touched it in two whole months. I have never experienced a watering system like this and want to conduct more experiments next season to see if I plant in April, can I have a no water situation for the entire season? I have embedded the Trudrop video so you can see how to fill up the water. It is very easy to see if it needs to be watered again – just look at the blue droplet marks next to the fill hole and it will guide you. I am truly blown away with its performance and fill this is a fantastic self-watering garden containers solution for planting in regular or drought conditions. Using water-retentive organic soil and fertilizer also contributes to the success of the system.
