I saw these Newbury brand self irrigating planters at Home Depot today. Has anyone tried these for figs.  The plastic seems a bit flimsy, but they are fairly inexpensive.  You can not see tf from the photos but there is a opening at the top of the bottom tray part to add water.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Dynamic-Design-Newbury-16-in-x-16-in-Light-Terra-Self-Watering-Poly-Planter-NS1606LT/203629994#customer_reviews


   

Wal-Mart has a similar product, the large size is about 15" tall 17" in diameter $8.95

I have my six trees in smaller sizes of same pot They are nice pots  .

I am up potting them all to the 15"x17" soon.

  I might paint them first so they last longer . 

I will pickup a couple and give them a shot.

James,

Thanks for the idea of painting them to make them last longer.  The plastic feels a little flimsy on the ones at HD.  Is that how the ones at Walmart feel too?

This type works well:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Self-Watering-Planter-Set-of-3-Ivory/12511406

I can't recall where I got mine but it wasn't Walmart.

my problem with all these commercial SIPs are that the reservoir are TINY. I rather make my own out of 5gallon buckets for a FRACTION of the price.

Shawn, 

I bought the same ones from Home Depot (but in black, which was a mistake as they get to hot - the color you chose is better).  

They work well for me so far, but I had to make some modifications as they retain too much water.   I had to remove the bottom lid/cover completely,  then drill extra holes in the bottom, as well as on sides where it touches the bottom edges.  

Before making the holes I had them in these pots for a few weeks.  Although they "appeared" to drain well when I watered them, I had a feeling they weren't, so I drilled the extra holes and sure enough more water came out and it smelled foul, as if it had been standing for too long.    

Otherwise, trees are growing well.  It has been wet and humid here in NJ, and I don't know your climate and am no expert on this (this is my first year with figs,) but the extra drain holes seem to be working so far.

Good Luck!

 

The plastic seems a tad flimsy . I bought some tan latex paint fro the oops mixed te wrong color shelf .

I have some like the ones rewton posted but they switched to a different brand here that are not so tall .

I will be trying the   larger size is about 15" tall 17" in diameter $8.95

I got tired of that kind of plastic cracking after being out in the weather for a year or two. Interesting thought about painting them -- but won't that just bring the cost back up?

HEY EGGHEAD

I got a 1/2 gal of super duper hi quality tan paint in THE "oops mixed the wrong color"  section of  Lowes for $5 . saved about $12 on the cost of the paint .

 So .......the six  larger size 15" tall 17" in diameter SIP pots  are now about $10 apiece with cost of paint added to each one .

I   am  hoping they will last a long time .

I will paint the outside and about 2" of inside lip .

I will let you know in 5 or ten years ha

Good idea, Austin. I may have to try that!

I wonder how many gallons of soil  one of those 15"x17" Wally World SIP pots hold, once you subtract the water reservoir area ?

here I will try and post a photo of the wal-mart. version I measure it 17.2"x1 5.4"  $8.86 +tax 

They are made in USA by SUNCAST.

The plastic/ polystyrene seems a tad sturdier than the HOME Despot version . just a guess .







 

QUESTION figlegacy ................When you said you drilled holes did you mean in the bottom of the upper pot ? or the snap on water reservoir ?

Since we really need a SIP for ALL of our trees and buying al these things gets pretty pricey quickly try this for those of us who are fans of thrift. I get at least 3-4 five gallons food grade buckets (used to hold pickles) that the manager of my local BK saves for me. They've been doing it for about a year now and I have buckets for all my projects that need them. Hope this helps someone.

So with these SIPs, how often do you water?  You are watering from the bottom so how do you gauge when to add more water?  When the soil is dry a couple inches from the top?  When the tree starts to wilt slightly?  I don't want to water log them by adding water too frequently.  Does anyone have a good way to tell when they need more water?

Thanks
Paul

[QUOTE]So with these SIPs, how often do you water?  You are watering from the bottom so how do you gauge when to add more water?  When the soil is dry a couple inches from the top?  When the tree starts to wilt slightly?  I don't want to water log them by adding water too frequently.  Does anyone have a good way to tell when they need more water?[/QUOTE]

There are two different designs of these pots at Home Depot and they look nearly identical.  The one is basically just a normal pot with a built in saucer and you have to water it from the top.  The other design has a small (1"x2"?) hole towards the bottom where you can add water.  My thinking last year was that if I only ever added water at the bottom, as long as it hadn't rained recently, it would be hard for the soil to draw up enough moisture to get water-logged.  I also would occasionally just dip a finger in to make sure there was water in the reservoir.  The only problem I had was the one time I started filling it with water and a small frog leaped out!  I'm not sure which of us was more startled.

[QUOTE=dahlt]The only problem I had was the one time I started filling it with water and a small frog leaped out!  I'm not sure which of us was more startled.[/QUOTE]

This is such a cute story. I wish I lived in a climate for froggy friends

Paul, the whole point of SIPs is that you keep water in the reservoir at all times.  If it is set up with the appropriate type of soil the plant will not suffer from being too wet.  You typically do not water from the top at all although mine are open to the elements so I do get rain water coming in from the top.

Thank you dahlt. 

So basically you seem to be saying that you keep water in the reservoir at all times and there is no risk of overwatering.  Correct?

Ok, thank you Rewton.  That answered my question.  I appreciate it.  That was my concern:  that the plant could be overwatered. 

Thanks again,
Paul

One more quick question? How do you fertilize? Can you mix miracle grow with the water you are putting in the bottom? Do you need to periodically water from the top to flush the salts out of the soil?

When it rains all the salts will flush out. Make sure you have a good wicking soil or you will be sorry.

Thank you snaglpus. I was thinking of just using bagged potting soil like miracle gro or something along those lines. Would that have enough wicking?

I started growing my collection with these. Great first year. Next year and all the time thereafter they are nightmare. They crack everywhere and the slightest move after one year and they will bust. I would recommend that you make your own using 5 gallon buckets, they'll last forever and much cheaper and have handles to aid in carrying around when needed.

Frank, I am starting to use buckets for everything. In fact I just bought som 2.5 gallon buckets that i will use to make hanging pots for my tomatos. I am also using the blk buckets, drilling holes for air exchange and then putting another bucket underneath for the water reservoir. $4 for a sturdy bucket is a good price for me. And, they cone with a handle. I found blk on line at Home Depot.