Automatic Plant Watering Spikes

These Watering Spikes from Velleora Home Decor take a standard drinks bottle and release water into the soil slowly, so a pot is watered gradually over days rather than flooded and then left dry.

Slow release is closer to how plants actually take up water. A heavy watering runs straight through a dry pot and out of the drainage holes, while a spike keeps the root zone consistently moist - which is why plants often do better under one than under a weekly soaking.

Two pack sizes are offered. The obvious use is a fortnight's holiday, but the more valuable one is everyday consistency for plants that resent drying out - ferns, tomatoes, anything in a small terracotta pot. Fill from any recycled bottle rather than buying reservoirs. Test the flow rate a few days before going away, since it varies with soil type, and push the spike in gently to avoid snapping it or damaging roots.

• Takes a standard drinks bottle
• Slow release keeps roots evenly moist
• Covers a holiday or everyday consistency
• Reuses bottles rather than buying reservoirs
• Two pack size options
• Test the flow rate before relying on it