Lechuza Classico Color 28 Self-Watering Garden Planter, Nutmeg Matte, 11" x 11" x 10"

I own six of these. I live in a high rise apartment with no outdoor space. Keeping potted plants alive in my apartment is a balancing act between drying out and molding -- the windows are large and south facing, and the ventilation is crap. Plus every herb plant I've bought from the farmer's market ALWAYS comes complete with a fungus gnat infestation to fight. Fun times.I tried using the "plant nanny" type terra cotta stakes plus large water bottles for a while but sometimes the plants dried out anyway if I went away for the weekend (or got busy for a few days with work), and the top watering with that system usually resulted in mold/mildew issues along the soil surface. Bottom watering for the win.I layer my potting soil in these like a giant parfait with 1-2 tbsp cinnamon and diatomaceous earth every 3" of soil, ending with a heavy sprinkling of cinnamon and DE on the surface. If gnats: cover surface with 1/4" layer of DE. If mold: cover surface with 1/4" layer of cinnamon. Or both. These work well for my ornamental plants (a fern and a croton) as well as edible plants (rosemary, thyme, sage, basil, red robin patio cherry tomato). Last year I planted rosemary, it stayed alive through the winter, and I started repotting everything in my home in these pots. I've tried other self-watering pot types that were less successful. The ones with the little fold-out beak and the bottom window for the water level have reservoirs that are too small (have to fill too often) and the fill-spout is actually too fussy to fill without spilling on my windowsill which wrecks the paint. The ones with no indicator window have the same problem, but it's even harder to figure out when you're going to flood your windowsill. The indicator and top-opening fill tube on the lechuza is just a superior engineering solution. The indicator bobber is also a big help if you need to instruct others to water your plants while you're gone -- "fill through the tube until the bobber goes to the red fill line on Wednesday and Sunday" is an easier instruction for my spouse who is not a plant enthusiast than anything I could say about watering a terra cotta pot. The shape of the pot and the matte finish is actually really stylish in a modern setting -- it blends in with the matte white my apartment is painted. It doesn't draw attention from the plant and it doesn't look cheap. I'm kind of aghast at the price of the larger lechuza planters, but the classico 21 price point is a pretty great value proposition so far.If I lived in the 'burbs I'd make a similar setup (as seen on youtube) from a gallon bucket, pvc pipe, expandable exhaust tubing, a straw, and a piece of styrofoam, but this one looks so much classier and if you're a tiny-apartment dweller you're less enthused about the prospect of storing 10 feet of pvc pipe...somewhere in your 400-600 sq feet of house. Plus the cost of your time, if you're a well-paid professional makes a DIY solution pretty dumb. Seriously guys, this model is the best one.Note for the pictures: in the shot with the watering can, the tall, leafy plant on the left in the shot is in a lechuza. The middle plant is in an ikea, ceramic pot with a bowl under it, and the dead fern is in an OCA Living self-watering pot (not its fault -- I potted the half dead maidenhair fern in there to in an attempt to regrow fronds). In the second shot, both the basil and the sage/thyme combo are in lechuza classico 21 planters.

You might say I gave my planter the extreme test. I had just purchased this planter and then had to leave for a month. I thought, "no problem" the planter reservoir is full. However, one slight problem... I live in a pretty dry climate. Long story short, within two weeks of my departure our summer temperatures shot to 100 and the water didn't last, almost everything died. Upon my return I replanted and then watched my water levels everyday over the next two weeks and learned how the planter responds in my climate. Now that I understand what it needs in my environment the planter works great. Yes, these planters are a bigger investment than your standard planters, but since I can wind up traveling two days to a week frequently (and sometimes longer) this meets my lifestyle. If I'll be away for longer than ten days I have someone come and fill the reservoirs or I can even take the planters to a friend to "babysit". The best thing is that I can keep my flowers and herbs happy and still be away. I have two planters now and will eventually get a third. The planters are of good quality and have a nice finished look. I just suggest you give yourself at least a week or two to learn how much water your planter requires in your climate.

I could not have a houseplant without these pots! They save a lot of time and effort. My ferns appreciate a slow and steady tank to sip water from. All I do is fill each reservoir with water (can be tasky if you have a lot of them like I do) and it lasts between 1.5-3 weeks depending on the humidity and temp. I would recommend keeping the soil around the filler an inch or so lower than the rest to avoid debris from falling in when you fill it. These pots come in a lot of sizes and some cool designs. I never thought I would like a plastic pot. I prefer clay or something more natural. But these blow those pots away in ease and the plants love them. I need a Lechuza 60 or 70 but they stopped making them! I have a huge philodendron that needs a new pot. It is on a rolling stand in a giant clay pot. It is over 40 years old. I have the square basket weave pattern pot as well as several 21, 28 and 35s. I also have a couple small ones but I haven't used them yet. They all perform well. They can take a light fertilizer water. I would caution using too much. Salts could build up over time. A few of these pots are two-piece, and cleaning the reservoir is possible. You could also vacuum out the reservoirs on these bigger pots with a wet/dry vac if you ever suspected dirt or debris being in them.

It was a little confusing to put it together but if you follow the directions you should be OK. The design is OK but I think I like the Aquaphoric Self Watering Planter better because there is a pot within a pot and I can take the bottom part out and clean it from time to time. With this you set up, add the dirt and water and that's it. It does have a drain plug on the bottom of the pot but that's a pain to have to unscrew it to get the old water out. Other than that the pot should work fine and looks good.

I never write reviews unless something is really good or really bad.I bought this for a fiddle leaf fig plant that I almost killed a month ago because I was gone for three weeks. It suffered because the watering system I set up didn’t work, mainly I guess because I hadn’t set up well enough. But I bought this because of the reviews and because I needed a large pot. I set this up as instructed and left for three and a half weeks. After I left I saw a YouTube video that said that the roots need about five or six months to grow down to reach the reservoir . I thought, “okay, it will croak after three and a half weeks”. Today after the three and a half weeks, I arrived here to find out it was well and thriving! The townhouse which is in SoCal and the plant on the upper level, was very warm, but it looked great! Yes, pricey but so worth it!