Water-Minder

Hanging Baskets & Bowls house a unique, yet elaborate water-minder feature that prevents root rot and provides a water reservoir. The small holes on the inside floor of the planter allow the water to collect in a reservoir in the bottom of the planter and return as needed.

The reservoir holds about a half gallon of water per linear foot of planter, so a three foot Hanging Baskets & Bowls will hold up to a gallon and a half of water in its tank. The small holes in the bottom of the two saturation ribs running the length of the inside of the planter are not drainage holes and are not for external drainage. They allow the water to flow back and forth between the reservoir and the saturation ribs to help stabilize the moisture in the planter. The soil or medium in the saturation ribs becomes saturated with water from the reservoir and transfers that moisture throughout the planter by capillary action.

Drainage: There are no drainage holes in your Hanging Baskets & Bowls in case you wish to use it indoors where any leakage would be highly undesirable. Most people will be using their Hanging Baskets & Bowls outdoors where watering from a rainstorm is uncontrollable. In this situation, you need to drill drainage holes in the bottom of the planter. Turn the planter upside down and drill the holes from the bottom into the rib that runs up the center of the flower box planter. Holes should be about 3/8 inch in diameter and about six inches apart, all the way through both the inner and outer skins of the planter. Do not drill drainage holes anywhere else in the bottom of the planter other than in the depression down the centerline of the planter. Doing so will defeat the benefits of the water reservoir by draining it.

Suggestions:

• Choose a medium weight potting soil that won’t pack down in a driving rain or bake like clay in the sun.
• Routine use of plant food, according to manufacturers’ directions, will dramatically increase the health, beauty and fullness of the plants in your Ella planter.