Customer Reviews

6453 Add-A-Bottle Plant Nanny Stakes -- Three 4-packs

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I have use the wine bottle version and it works great. Wanted to try to
extend the length of time between bottle changes and bought the "add a bottle" version.

At first I thought I would have to send these back as the water drained out too quickly as
the bottle sides bent inward allowing the water to "keep coming out".

Here's what worked for me.

1. Let stake soak in water for a while before first use. This helped to
prevent overwatering of plant when unit first installed.

2. Don't buy the cheapest soda bottles, as I first did, find a heavier plastic like a
Pepsi. This prevents pressure from collapsing bottle allowing water to overflow sides of stake.

3. Hold finger over hole when inverting. (per instructions wrapped around stakes.)

4. When you refill empty bottle hold stake in ground with one hand remove bottle with other.
(Sometimes stake will stick to green threaded insert/bottle and you could pull stake out.)

5. Pour some water in the stake and let it sit a bit before refilling bottle and replacing bottle.
(Again this will help prevent overwatering of plant during refill process.)

This has worked for me. (Whew.)

(added May 2010) 1 year later and they still work great. I have not lost any plants.
Even larger plants can survive a 6 week absence.

I now need to buy new soda bottles as the sun has caused some to severely warp
over the past year.

Tinted bottles, for various reasons, seem to work better than clear bottles.
(7-UP, green tint, for example).

I tried everything to get this product to work because I desperately needed vacation watering. The adaptors do not fit and there is nothing to stop the water. The adaptors just float on top and the water pours out. You can slow it down some, by tilting it, but again there is nothing to stop the water, within 15 minutes the water is all over the place. The picture does not show the adaptor so you dont' know what you are getting. I finally just took the adapter out, ugh. Now the plant doesn't get any water. The product went back. Save your money. Fill a bottle and hold it over your plant yourself.

These particular plant nannies work well in larger pots and also can utilize large bottles.

I travel a lot for work, sometimes for a couple of weeks at a time.
So I needed a way to keep the plants watered while I'm gone.

These work very well, are simple to use, and they accept a variety of sizes of bottles.

You can use one or two in a pot (one will do unless you're gone a long time). With a liter bottle attached, I get about 8 or 9 days for a fairly large house plant (the size of a basketball). With 2 used, it will last 2 weeks. I have used half-liter bottles also. Never tried it with a 2-liter.

All you do is stick the terra cotta piece in the soil, attach the plastic tip to any plastic bottle with a screw top, fill it with water (which you can do with the plastic tip on), then cover the hole with your thumb, invert the full bottle, and then stick the plastic tip into the terra cotta.

This is very simple, and seems to be almost completely foolproof. I saw a reviewer that said it does not work and gets water all over the place. That seems impossible - they must be an unhappy former employee!

I bought a box of these, and then went back and have bought four more sets since because they are simple to use and work great.

It takes some adjustment but if you use stiff water bottles, the plant nannies work very well. Each water bottle last up to a week outside depending on the size of the pot, size of the bottle, and whether the plant is in the sun or shade.

Given the glowing reviews we thought we would try Plant Nanny for those times when we are out of town. We've tried over 10 types of bottles from a range of manufacturers and in every case there isn't a tight seal and the bottle immediately drains. Very frustrating!

The manufacturer posted on their website many months ago, and I quote: "We are working on a washer for the adaptors that will come with these stakes in the future, believing that will eliminate this problem -- but for the time being the only solution is to find a bottle that creates a tight seal with the adaptor." It seems this research should of been done before putting Plant Nanny on the market. Having these washers available for "stakes in the future" will do you no good if you buy the current stakes. Unless they are willing to provide washers for free, including shipping and handling to existing customers, I can't express strong enough not to buy this product!

I would stay away from this product until they get this issue fixed lest you end up like us with boxes of useless Plant Nanny Stakes.

I too had problems with the plant nannies until Luanne , plant expert at Armstrong, told me to make sure the bottle is straight in the plant. I had put it in slanted and all the water would drain out. Now its straight up and works well. I have them on all my potted plants - 30.

This season, I've been test driving two types of watering spike systems along with an assortment of large homemade self-watering planters. Most are being used to grow tomato plants, so this is the time when things can get demanding, and the Plant Nanny really does do the trick.

The hardest part about using these, as with the other type of bottle-watering systems, is taking the bottles out and refilling each one by hand. In super-hot summer weather, you may have to refill the bottles every single day - of course, you should choose the biggest bottle available to increase time between waterings!

However, let's be honest: watering with a hose is EASY; filling up a bottle and reattaching it to the Plant Nanny takes much longer. If you can spare some time a couple of days a week to refill the bottles, though, your plants will have a much easier time of it and much less drought stress in between waterings.

It's hard to see in the photos, but the add-a-bottle size of Plant Nanny consists of two parts: a plastic collar that screws onto the bottle and a ceramic spike. The plastic collar slips into the spike, which is then slid into the soil.

To refill the bottle, I pull the whole thing (including the ceramic bit) out of the ground and unscrew the bottle from the collar. I don't like trying to point the hose into the small opening with the collar on, though I suspect some people do it this way just fine.

When setting the spike up for the first time or replacing the bottle, you must make sure the collar is screwed on tightly. The manufacturer doesn't mention this, but not all soda (pop) bottles are alike! Some brands and types of plastic work better with these than others do. As other reviewers have commented, it's best to try a sturdy bottle and make sure it screws in securely.

(the thread is NOT standard on all soda bottles, so some will NOT fit no matter how much you try)

It can also help to presoak the ceramic part, though I didn't.

I keep the ceramic spike end pointing UP until it's time to stick the thing into the soil. Then I shove it carefully into the existing hole (or, if it's the first time, shove it somewhere near the plant's roots) and back off. If I've done it right, and the collar is screwed on properly, the water level will stay steady in the bottle. That happens maybe 95% of the time.

The other 5% of the time, I have messed up in screwing the collar on. If you see the water running out, or bubbles "blubbing" to the top, you need to retighten the bottle to the collar and try again. If water still runs out too quickly, try a different bottle.

So there is a bit of a learning curve, but not much.

However, I have only given these three stars since they are rather expensive for what you get, and not as simple to use and understand as the one-piece plastic spikes I bought elsewhere. However, they are definitely a cool idea, and I believe the ceramic material does have the potential to deliver a steadier flow of water in the hottest weather.

Only time and the tomato harvest will tell.

6453 Add-A-Bottle Plant Nanny Stakes -- Three 4-packsWhat a useful product! After reading a few of the reviews I wondered if I'd have issues with attaching and inserting the bottles...but am happy to report that not only were the packaging instructions clear, I've had NO problems and have had very good results with both indoor and outdoor plants.
Another reviewer mentioned a couple tips which were helpful, such as using a weeding tool or something similar to make the hole for inserting the cone as well as soaking and filling the cones with water before inserting the water-filled bottles which slows the rate the water seeps out after insertion.

As for bottles, it would seem that some pop bottles do work better than others as far as remaining rigid. A few of my bottles lost their shape somewhat as a vacuum seems to be created once the water-filled bottles are turned upside down, however, this does NOT seem to affect the product's performance either with plants receiving needed water nor with bottles tipping over (since friends supply me with the bottles--I just swap them out as I get new bottles which is easy enough to do and is another product bonus!) . I like this product well enough and have plants enough that my next purchase will be for the companion product that uses wine bottles rather than pop bottles.

good product, keeps moisture in the soil even and less labor to water the plants