That self-watering pot I bought flooded my balcony floor

I spent $45 on one of those fancy self-watering pots from a garden supply site. Thought it would save me time with my herbs. After three weeks the bottom reservoir cracked and water poured all over my floor tiles. My downstairs neighbor actually texted me asking if I was washing my balcony. The pot itself was cheap plastic that felt sturdy but clearly wasn't. I had to move all my plants to old nursery pots while I scrubbed the mildew off the tiles. Anyone else had bad luck with these things or did I just pick a dud brand?

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1 Comment

maxpalmer1mo ago

Hold up, is leaking really that big of a deal? A cracked reservoir on a cheap pot sounds annoying for sure, but you're talking about it like your whole balcony got flooded by a river. You scrubbed mildew off tiles after one puddle of water? That seems a little over the top, don't you think? In my experience, most of those self-watering pots are just basic plastic with a tube, so a crack after three weeks is bad but not exactly a disaster. I'd just seal the crack with some silicone or swap the inner pot out for a different one and move on. Your downstairs neighbor texting about it makes this sound way more dramatic than it probably was.