I love self-watering planters. No other method I've tried has consistently grown more great-tasting fruits and vegetables. The Earthbox is my container of choice.
Self-watering containers provide an 'endless' reservoir of water and nutrients to your plants, so they never want for anything if you put them in a sunny spot. I have had amazing results with tomatoes, corn, strawberries, peppers and marijuana in them.
Last spring I planted these tomatoes in Southern California. The two tomato plants in my self-watering containers outproduced three in the ground by 15-20 lbs of fruit. At the height of their growth, I was re-filling the water reservoir under the Earthbox every day. That is a lot of water!
The San Marzano plant is still growing and putting off a few tomatoes. I am loathe to kill it, but I think a new one will do much better this season.
I plan to have 5 EarthBoxes going as part of my home garden this year. Blueberries, Strawberries, Tomatoes, and Corn are high on my list. I may be adding more as I learn how much useable space my yards offer.
I am also doing all my fruit trees in containers, as I think the soil here sucks and I do not need roots going after my pipes. A "meyer lemon" tree I potted last May already has several near ripe lemons on it — more power to it!
You may easily make your own self-watering containers. I used Rubbermaid kit, but it didn't last many seasons. The EarthBox's plastic resists the sun.
