Gardening with children is such a great activity to get them to learn the lifecycle of plants. This month, we have received this Lechuza Balconera 50 self-watering planter for our planting with kids project. Today, we are going to build our own herb mini garden! Hopefully, we can harvest the fruits of labour soon.
I love this self-watering planter concept from Lechuza; it helps you to look after your plant for up to 12 weeks, ensuring that they receive the right amount of water and nutrients they need for optimum growth.
This beautiful Caribbean blue planter is call the Balconera 50. It is suitable for balconies or on an outside wall as you can get balcony brackets to hang it. It measures 50 cm x 19 cm x 19 cm for the outer pot and measures 49 cm x 18 cm x 18 cm for the inner pot. In my video, I will show you the unboxing and how I installed the system.
Inside this kit, it comes with LECHUZA-PON granulate, water level indicator and cap. If you would prefer to place it on your balcony, you would need to get the brackets. Watch this video to show you how the brackets works for this planter.
I love this planter as it is very well made and the gloss colour is beautiful. This can be used indoors or outdoors. I currently have it indoors so I didn’t removed the red plug (found at the bottom of the planter) which allows excess rain water to drain away. To remove the plug, you will need a coin or a flat blade screwdriver to remove it.
Installing the water level indicator is very straightforward and it is well made. Once the indicator is fixed, place the separator into the bucket and cover it with the LECHUZA-PON granulate. This granulate is to help regulate the level of salt. Then you can either top it up with good quality soil or use additional LECHUZA-PON granulate (purchased separately). Place your plant in the planter and water it.
The next 12 weeks (depending on your plant) are very important before the self-watering system will work because small seedlings won’t be able to reach. This is where my children come in handy! You have to continue watering the plant as you normally would, pouring water onto the plant substrate from above.
To use the water level indicator, simply lift up the cover and pour the water straight into it. Take care not to exceed the maximum level. In the instructions, it does mention that if the level is below the minimum, you could wait for another 2 to 10 days before topping it up with water. Additionally, every third watering, be sure to pour water over the plant substrate from above instead of using the supply shaft. This helps regulate the level of salt. To find out more, visit the Lechuza website for more details or to buy in various colours and sizes. We have also reviewed the CUBICO 22 which is a tall planter.
Overall I am very pleased with the planter and would definitely recommend. They are very beautifully made and a great solution for people like me who either over waters or forgets to water their plants! You can get it from Amazon.
Disclosure: We received the sample for the purposes of writing this review however all thoughts and opinions remain our own. We have included an Amazon affiliate link to the product. If you click on this and buy, we may earn a small commission.