To buy: $27; amazon.com. The rate of water discharge is approximately 2.5 ounces per day, and as your plant’s soil dries, the ceramic cone will deliver the water slowly but steadily and stop once the soil becomes sufficiently moist. To adjust the flow of water, you can place your bowl farther away from your plant and the cone; the lower your water source is, the slower it will dispense and avoid over-watering. The reverse applies for preventing under-watering: Simply raise your water reservoir above your plant to make water flow faster into the soil. Make sure you’ve got the watering rate adjusted correctly before you head out, to avoid coming home and finding out that your plant, although hydrated, needed more or less water than what the Blumat system provided. For frequent travelers, or even the lazy plant parent who doesn’t want to have to worry about leaving their plants out to dry (and potentially dying), Blumat’s self-watering stakes are the no-frills, easy-to-use system that could make your life just a little bit easier.
