Spent $65 on a self watering balcony planter kit and my basil still died, so is drip worth it or do I just hand water like a chump?

Jake Hall · 2026-09-16T11:45:05.2656+00:00

So back in March I grabbed one of those self watering planter kits for my balcony off Craigslist for $65, the kind with a little reservoir in the bottom and a wick that pulls moisture up to the soil. I set it up with two basil starts and a pepper plant, filled the tank, and figured I was done watering for like two weeks. Nope. The wick clogged with soil after about 10 days, the reservoir went stagnant, and I ended up with fungus gnats and root rot on $18 worth of starts. Meanwhile my neighbor Dana, who literally waters her tomatoes with a plastic cup every morning before work, has a jungle out there. So now I'm stuck arguing with myself, one side says just hand water daily and stop being lazy, the other side says a proper drip line with a timer off Amazon for like $40 would actually save my weekends. I'm in Phoenix so mid summer my pots dry out in a day if I miss a morning. Has anyone here actually made one of these reservoir things work, or is drip on a balcony just asking for a leak onto the downstairs neighbor? Tell me what you run because I'm about to throw this planter off the rail.

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Spent $65 on a self watering balcony planter kit and my basil still died, so is drip worth it or do I just hand water like a chump? | Balcony Veggie Gardens - Hub Chatter