The Best Self-Watering Planters for Your Vertical Garden

flower in the pot

Busy gardeners often rely on self-watering planters to ensure a healthy, happy vertical garden.

If you enjoy a thriving career, sometimes you may not be up to watering your plants at the end of a long day. Perhaps you travel a lot and don’t want to have to find a plant sitter every time you hit the road.

Self-watering planters can solve many problems for gardeners. Especially if you have vertical gardens, the top rows of your garden may seem hard to reach. A planter with an automatic watering system means you don’t have to drag around step-stools and ladders. If your vertical garden is indoors, attending to those top rows with a watering can often result in spills, too. Self-watering planters don’t just save you time when watering; they also save you a lot of cleaning up.

Self-watering planters are also great for thirsty outdoor plants, particularly vegetables. Tomatoes, for example, grow well in pots, but they need a lot of water. Many vegetable container gardeners find that they need to water tomatoes two or three times a day to keep up with their growth and fruit production. A self-watering planter will ensure consistently moist soil without having to spend all your free time with the garden hose.

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​What are Self-Watering Planters?

Self-watering planters are clever containers that feature a water reservoir that provides a supply of water for your plants to access as needed. An inner pot holds the soil and plant, while the outer container is large enough to hold an extra supply of water. Often, a wick provides a channel for the water to become absorbed by the soil and roots. In wickless versions, the pots make it so your plant’s roots can reach the reservoir more easily. Depending on how big your container is and the size of its reservoir, most self-watering planter can hold several day’s worth of water.

How We Chose the Best Self-Watering Planters

By necessity, most self-watering planters for vertical gardens will be on the small size. The added weight of the reservoir can make it impossible to secure any container to a wall or shelving system confidently. Some of these may be more spacious than others or feature irrigation systems that reduce the weight rather than reservoir systems, which are heavy. However, after careful research, these were the best and most functional ones we could find, listed in no particular order.

MyEasyGro urban garden self-watering planters

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This attractive set of six wall-mounted, self-watering planters from MyEasyGro provides room for 24 of your favorite flowers or veggies. You can mount the six planters in any configuration that suits your space, vertically or horizontally across a wall.

Each planter measures 22.5 by 7 by 7 inches and has four individual pots measuring 6 inches deep and 4 inches square. Each planter has a water level indicator, so you know when you need to add water to the reservoir. Unlike felt hanger pockets, these planters are sleek and modern looking and add real flair to your garden or interior spaces.

Amazon buyers rated the MyEasyGro self-watering planters 4.4 out of 5 stars, and you can purchase their self-watering planters in packs of one, three, or six planters. They cost between $60 and $300, depending on how many you buy. You can also choose from black, green, or white planters.

Bloem 482121-1001 hanging garden planter system

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Each package provides three large self-watering planters in terra cotta color. Made from 100 percent UV stabilized polypropylene, these hanging planters will look fabulous when hung outdoors for many years. Add to any wall, fence, or deck rail in any layout you choose. Each planter is 11 by 12 inches, with a 1-gallon capacity, and comes with a sturdy stainless steel bracket to ensure it won’t sag or fall in any weather. Each includes a self-watering grid to create a reservoir for healthier plants.

Vencer self-watering hanging flower pots

Vencer self-watering hanging flower pots
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This adorable set of six planters from Vencer attach right to the wall, so you can hang them in any configuration you like. The modern outer plastic container is sleek and includes a hanger so you can attach it to any wall or to windows with the included translucent suction cup hangers.a

Available in white, light blue, or light green, these self-watering planters are 5.1 inches deep and 5.5 inches tall. They’re just the right size for herbs, succulents, or small houseplants and annual flowers. Each reservoir holds enough water for up to four weeks.

Lazy Flower pots

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Like the Vencer self-watering planters these cute Lazy Flower pots can go anywhere on a wall, fence, or wire grid. They come with S-hooks to insert into the outer container. But these pots feature a little window so you can easily check the water level. Each planter is about 4.24 diameter and about 3 inches deep, making them suitable for small flowering annuals and herbs. They come in dark green, bright green, white, and light blue.

Wallygro recycled plastic living wall planters

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These substantial self-watering planters from Wallygro will allow you to grow vertical vegetable gardens with sizable plants. Each holds up to 30 pounds. Made in the US from 100 percent recycled plastic, you’ll receive four planters measuring 10 by 12 inches wide. The 1-liter reservoir waters your plants for up to two weeks. And the perforated sides provide ventilation to aerate the roots for fast, vigorous growth.

Tabor Tools TB703A hanging planter

Tabor Tools TB703A hanging planter
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If you need more room for your hanging plants, these self-watering planters from Sorbus are extra large at 13 inches in diameter. The wicker-look outer container is a natural looking espresso brown made of weatherproof polypropylene resin. The interior pot is 8.75 diameter by 6 inches deep.

The reservoir features an easy-to-fill port and an indicator, so you know when to add more water. Use indoors or outdoors, as it comes with a durable chain. The plug also provides better drainage for your plants during outdoor use.

Worth self-watering vertical wall hangers with pots

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This vertical wall system from Worth has everything you need to grow 36 different plants and add a wall of greenery to your patio or living room. Mount the pockets on your wall and then plant your flowers or veggies in the enclosed pots. Place the pots in the wall pockets and voila – a living wall. This self-watering vertical garden uses a drip-irrigation system to distribute water for easy plant care.

You’ll get 12 modular wall pockets, with each on holding 3 pockets. Each pocket is about 5 inches in diameter making them the right size for herbs, lettuces, and flowering annuals. Best of all, if you need to, you can remove the inner pot from the pockets to change plants or rearrange them easily. You can use this vertical garden system both indoor and out, as they’re a durable propene polymer. This also makes them lightweight, so you’ll find them easy to hang, and they won’t sag or fall.

The drip irrigation system hooks up to a standard faucet tap and features a 9-foot hose. Install into the top pockets, and the irrigation drip will water down to the pockets and plants below. Worth garden products also come with a 3-year guarantee.

Home-X tomato plant tower

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Remember those thirsty tomatoes? The Home-X tomato tower will give you beautiful, healthy tomatoes with a built-in support and self-watering reservoir. The base provides a constant supply of water that your vegetables can access.

And tomatoes are only the start. Grow peppers, runner beans, cucumbers, zucchini, and any other vining vegetable plants. Save space in your garden without giving up your favorite vegetables by growing up instead of out. Each platter supports plants up to 5 feet high.

Watex mobile green wall

Watex mobile green wall
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This portable green wall from Watex lets you place your vertical garden anywhere for more sun or more shade as needed. Wheel it indoors during chilly nights or back outside to catch a rain shower. Not that you’ll need to do that if you don’t want to because this vertical garden includes an irrigation system for self-watering. Just hook up the system to any water faucet.

You’ll get the metal double frame plant stand and 12 herb and flower pots measuring 5 by 6.5 by 5 inches. You’ll also get four medium vegetable and fruit pots measuring 7 by 7.5 by 8 inches and two large pots measuring 15.74 by 7.67 by 8.07 inches. For cold weather, you can also get a greenhouse cover by Watex to protect your plants from winter freezes, but you’ll need to buy it separately.

Save Time with Self-Watering Planters

If you’re busy or even forgetful, your plants can suffer from neglect. Using self-watering planters means that at least they won’t go thirsty. For vertical gardening, you may need to consider smaller pots. After all, the water reservoirs add a lot of extra weight to each planter. And while you’ll find a wide selection of self-watering planters for use on floors, shelves, or plant stands, vertical gardeners are limited by how much weight their brackets can hold.

Consider sturdy plant shelves for larger self-watering planters. These should hold up just fine when you want to add layers of plants to a limited footprint. You’ll find hundreds of models available online and at your local home improvement center. However, we hope this list has given you some ideas for cutting back on the time you spend caring for your vertical garden. Self-watering planters allow you to do less work without neglecting your garden.

Last update on 2022-01-27 at 20:02 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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