The Story of Our
Self-Watering Planter

A hidden reservoir helps maintain consistent moisture levels in the Self-Watering Planter.

More than a decade ago, we heard about a man selling nearly-mature tomato plants by mail. He sold large plants in 5-gallon buckets. The plants weren't the interesting part. In fact, his company didn't do very well and he went out of business.

What was interesting to us was how he kept these container-bound plants watered during transit. He had created a crude system using a water reservoir and t-shirt material to make the container self-watering.

We realized that we a self-contained water reservoir would make it much easier to grow plants in containers.

Our design process involved a lot of trial and error. We tried 5-gallon buckets, but they tipped over too easily. We tried shorter buckets, but they didn’t hold enough soil. Eventually, we realized that the growing chamber needed to be a completely different shape and this lead to the first version of our self-watering planter.

Our own in-the-garden testing of this revolutionary planter produced outstanding results. When it was launched in our catalog, customers were quick to see the benefits and it was an immediate success. We ultimately earned a patent on the unique reservoir system.

Over the years, we've modified the planter and several of its key features, but the original concept is largely unchanged. We offer a range of self-watering planters, including many that are designed for ornamental plantings. It remains one of the easiest and most efficient ways, we've found, to grow tomatoes, other vegetables and flowers.