BlumatClassic Plant Watering Stakes - Self-Watering Insert for Indoor and Outdoor Plants - Automatic Slow Release Irrigation System for Potted Plants - Houseplant Care Device (5 Pack)

I was so happy to open my door to happy and healthy plants after a three week trip away from home. These stakes work great, and I'm a bit embarrassed to say that they do a better job than I do at keeping my plants consistently watered. Many of my plants looked happier than ever. These are really the best and only solution (other than hiring a service) to take care of your houseplants for extended periods of time. My outside plants didn't fair as well even though a neighbor was tending to them. As long as you leave a water source large enough you can leave home with confidence for long periods of time.NOTE: after reading some of the unhappy reviews I wanted to point out that there seems to be quite a bit of misunderstanding and user error. This system is a simple suction system that waters your plants based on the placement of the plant in relation to placement of the water source. If your plant likes to be damp then your water source should be placed even with the plant pot, if your plant likes to be more dry you will place your water source below the level of your plant pot, and if your plant wants to be very moist then your water source should be above your plant pot. I do advise that you experiment to make sure your plants will be happy with the positional relationship of plant to water source before you leave them alone or some may be over or under watered. There are instructions but they aren't in English, but there are pictures that help you understand. There is a formula to compute how much water you should provide given the duration of the watering period and the watering needs of your plant. That may sound complicated so I'll admit that I didn't use the formula and I just winged it. I got lucky, because some plants had lots of water left over, and others were on the last half inch of water. Another consideration is evaporation. If you leave your water source uncovered then the water will naturally evaporate, and also provide an environment for insects. I used cling wrap that worked very well for covering my water source while allowing the hose to work properly. Your hose must be able to reach the bottom of your water source in order to use all the water. I used pitchers, bowls, sand buckets, gallon jugs, and empty planters to be my water sources. I used any container that could hold enough water for the plant's needs, and that could be positioned properly in relation to the planter, and that allowed the hose to hit bottom. I used books, foot stools, and plant stands to help create the proper positional relationships between water source and planter. Please use the pictures in the instructions for more guidance. Good luck!

These don't quit. They are easy to use(I just use a 4 gallon used milk jug for the source) and have lasted forever.

I bought these to help water plants during the summer when we are gone on vacation. While I wish there was a way for these to cover more area per stake, they are what they are and do what they advertise. One of the biggest struggles for me was finding water reservoirs that I could use to feed these. If you plan on buying these, I would recommend saving up some large jugs of some sort, jugs large enough to water for your need. I only had a 5-gallon bucket and some large bowls, but plastic milk jugs or iced tea jugs would've been better. Why? Because you only have so much lead on the tubes and these would work best if you had smaller containers that you can put close for each tube (rather than try to share ONE five gallon bucket like I did). The system also uses a vacuum-type of feed so you need the bottom of the tube to go as low into your water container as possible. When I used my five gallon bucket, I came home after 5 days to find the water below the ends of the tubes. My plants were all fine and I'm thankful my lack of proper planning didn't kill them.Why I love these:- They are easy to set up. You soak them, you fill them with water, and then you stick them in the soil.- They do what they say they do! They water your plants, but never overwater them. Every time I come home, my plants are never wilted, they look like they never missed me.- They require no commitment. You don't have to worry about an automatic timer, leaving a house turned on, or trying to adjust them some day when you re-configure your plants (like you would with irrigation). You just pull them out, and move them. Or I pull them out, let them dry, and store them until I need to use them again.Bottom line: I definitely would recommend these, I would buy more of these without hesitation when I need more.

I just got these and now realize the probes' water lines can't be connected to one another in order to access one water source for multiple plants. If you don't want to use a separate water container for each plant you need some kind of connector option to join them together! I'm now trying to figure out if Blumat sells such an item. (The product descriptions are really NOT CLEAR about any of this.) They do sell a package with distribution drippers and water line, but it says it's for "Tropf-Blumat" or "Maxi" which is not what I have, so have no idea if this will work for me.Also, these things are rather pricey, and now I have to buy something else to make it work? Ugh.

I have a lot of plants and it saves me a lot of work to keep them watered. Some plants do better with this method of watering. I always use rainwater because tap water with minerals will clog the pores. I use gallon distilled water jugs as my reservoirs. Empty milk jugs will stink.

Love this product. I no longer have to worry about watering my plants on a regular basis. I just need to check the water reservoir once in a while. My plants are grateful too as I tended to forget to water them at times. There was a very helpful review on here that explained how high or low to place the water reservoir depending on the moisture needs of any particular plant...some love moisture, some don’t. Got a great price on them too.

These are one of the best purchases I have ever made on Amazon! I have them all in my front planters - they have been there for about 10 days so I can test them out before we head on vacation. I have the hoses in 4 litre jugs and have not watered my plants once during this time and they are gorgeous. One stake waters a 12 x 12 square planter easily. Make sure to prime them as described and you are good to go!

These helped keep my peppers and begonias healthy for one full hot week in August. Actually, the begonias were in much better shape than they had been with my daily watering (for weeks before my trip).

Dollar store brand not whats pictured!

These work great if you follow the instructions. I plan on getting more down the road when I have a bigger garden setup.