Watering · PlantScraper

Self-watering wick

Polyester cord that carries water from the reservoir to the substrate by capillary action.

Self-watering wick

This is the one-euro part without which a self-watering pot waters nothing. The fibre sits in the reservoir and lifts water to the substrate at the rate the plant uses it: no pumps, no timers, no standing water.

It is polyester, not cotton or a natural fibre, and the whole difference is durability: a natural fibre sitting in water for months rots and stops wicking, polyester does not.

It also works in moss poles, where it brings moisture up from below instead of down from above.

The diameter sets the flow: 4 mm for pots up to 15 cm, 6 mm from 18 up.

Sizes and prices

Specifications

Material
Polyester
Ø 4 mm
Pots up to 15 cm
Ø 6 mm
Pots from 18 cm up
Use
Self-watering pots and moss poles
Life
Does not rot: replace it when repotting
Cutting
Shorten it with scissors

How to use it

Thread it through the drainage hole leaving a few centimetres in the reservoir, and fray the end that sits in the substrate: more surface, more capillary action. Water from above the first time to prime it.

Used with

Part of

All equipment · The plant catalogue