My neighbor's tomato plant gossip taught me a lesson about self-watering pots

I was out watering my peppers last Tuesday when I heard my upstairs neighbor on the phone saying her cherry tomatoes went from green to crispy in 3 days. She blamed the $25 self-watering pot she got online. I peeked at her setup later and the reservoir had slime buildup blocking the wick. Checked my own self-watering bucket from 2021 and sure enough, same issue after 2 years of use. Now I flush my reservoirs with diluted vinegar every 6 weeks and my basil has never looked better. Anyone else deal with gunk in their self-watering systems?

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john6481d ago

Gotta disagree with the vinegar flush solution. I've been using self-watering pots for years and never had slime issues cause my wicks are just straight up cotton rope from the hardware store. Replace the wick for 50 cents instead of messing with vinegar every 6 weeks. Also sounds like your neighbor's pot might have been a cheap knockoff with bad airflow, not a problem with the concept itself. A good self-watering system should breathe through the sides, not just the top. Slime happens when water sits still too long with no oxygen moving around.