I noticed a lot of discussion on the Aerogarden forum about small self-watering raised garden boxes which piqued my interest. The most-mentioned brands are the Earthbox and City Pickers. I believe Earthbox was the original and has been around for years, even though I had never heard of them. They are made of sturdy plastic construction and have wheels on the bottom so they can be moved on a smooth surface. Many Aerogardeners use them to transplant AG seedlings to a soil medium. I decided to shop around and pick one up to try. The Earthbox is pretty pricey in my opinion but people say they last for years; the 29"x 13" grow box is $72 at Amazon. After checking out a different brand (City Picker), I decided to go with one of those. They come in several colors and are on sale right now at Amazon and Home Depot for $25.48, which is 55% off the 20"x 24" box. I ordered two of them from Home Depot last night and they were delivered this morning! This is what the City Picker Grow Box looks like, and a cut-away diagram of how the "wicking" water system works. I'm wondering if anyone has experience with these self-watering grow boxes and what has your experience been? I don't plan to plant anything in them until the fall; it's just too hot right now for any new planting but I'm excited to try them.
I haven't seen them, but I know you can take 2 five-gallon buckets and make a self-watering planter. You put a hole in the top one and run a wick (Cloth) through the hole. Put an overflow hole in the bottom one. Fill it with water up to the overflow hole. Put the other one into the watering bucket. Fill it with dirt. Plant your plant. Then all you have to do is keep water in the bottom bucket. But it always seemed like less trouble to me to just pour water in the plant bucket once a day.
That's an interesting design with the aeration pocket. I can tell you from years of indoor plant experience that I've never found a viable self-watering solution, but I've not seen one with that air barrier at the bottom. That being said, I've got a long history of preferring gadgets that cost me more time and money than they save. I figure I'm buying a big ol' dose of counter-productive avoidance, which is always satisfying.
I was watching the setup video where they stressed several times to use "peat based growing media" to fill the container and not "potting soil." I think the wrong kind of soil in them will produce a giant mud pie, or a mini-swamp if you will.
I don't think it is. There is an elasticized cover thing that goes over the soil. You can see it in the first picture above. You cut slits in it to plant the seedlings.
You can make your own pretty easily, either with 2 plastic bins or 2 buckets as described by @Shirley Martin . The only problem I have had with them is that sometime the fill tubes will harbor tiny flies--white flies or gnats or thrips that can cause trouble. If you cover the tube or put fine screen over it, it works fine. Make sure you watch the overflow.
I only paid $25 apiece for them so I probably couldn't build my own for much less... plus I'm not really handy at that kind of stuff. (I'm no @Faye Fox !!) I have read that some people have a problem with mosquitoes breeding in them so I'll make sure to put cheesecloth or something over the open tube.