Oh, I will be out of town for a few days! Who is gonna take care of my plants? Let's make self-watering device green!

There are a lot of commercial self-watering devices available online. I provided a few that I found:

Water globes

http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/watering-globe-and-plant-nanny-stake

http://www.orchidlight.com/l108.html

http://www.gardeners.com/Glass-Watering-Bulb/36-191,default,pd.html

Self-watering planters

http://www.gardeners.com/Self-Watering-Planters/PotsPlanters_SelfWateringPlanters,default,sc.html?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_term=self_watering&utm_campaign=[Adl][Non-Brand][Google][Search][US]-potsplanters-%28Broad%29&SC=XNET8019&kwid=b5f49426786246c99e101135cf6ca15c


However, these devices do not seem to meet my demands, apart from the fact that they are not cheap neither.  My plants require more water than these devices can offer. Considering that I will be away for almost one week, I will need something that can store more water, which can be drip at a rate that will supply enough but not too water daily so that my plants won't get dehydrated a few days.

Out of desperation, I started looking for ways I can make my own self-watering gadgets.
In the end, I came out with many that gave me a peace of mind while I was out of town.

 

Let me demonstrate how mine were made:

Things you need: plastic bottles of different sizes that suit your need, candle, needle, and a clamp

Using the clamp to hold needle while it is being heated

While the needle is hot, gently pierce it through the cap of the bottle. Repeat this process to get a few holes.

Make more self-watering bottles with different numbers of holes. This will allow water to drip at different rates and last for more days while you are traveling.