Your pot has landed

Set up in about ten minutes.

Five steps, no tools and nothing to download. Work through them in order and your plant will be drinking on its own by the end of the page.

Start step one
About 10 minutes No tools needed 2 AA batteries required
A Thirsty Pot unpacked on a table with its stand and sensor beside it

What is in the box

Missing something? Email hello@thirstypot.com and we will post it out.

Outer planter
Holds the water. The part you show off.
Inner pot
Where your plant and its soil actually live.
Stand or legs
Iron stand on the Egg, wooden legs on the other two.
Water level sensor
Already fitted into the base. Look underneath, not in the packaging.
Cotton wick
Draws water up so your plant sips as it needs.
The outer planter, stand and sensor laid out on a table

Lay out the parts

Unbox everything onto a table and check off the five parts above. The sensor is already fitted into the base of the outer planter, so look underneath rather than in the packaging.

Keep the box until your plant is settled. Returns are open for 30 days.
A hand lifting the inner pot clear of the planter, the cotton wick threaded through its base

Thread the cotton wick

Push the wick through the hole in the base of the inner pot so a few centimetres sit inside where the soil will go and the rest hangs down into the reservoir.

This is the whole watering mechanism. If the wick cannot reach the water, nothing else works.
The sensor twisted out of the base of the planter

Fit two AA batteries

Twist the sensor out of the base, drop in two AA batteries and click it back into place. They run the red light only, never the watering, and last an estimated 6 to 12 months.

Batteries are not included, so this is the one thing to have ready before you start.
A plant potted in a Thirsty Pot

Pot your plant

Add a layer of potting mix, sit the root ball on top of the wick so it runs up into the soil, then backfill and firm gently. Drop the inner pot into the planter and seat it on the stand or legs.

Not sure what to plant? Our plant guide has six pairings we would buy ourselves.
See which plants suit it best
Water going into the fill port on the rim

Fill the reservoir

Slide open the cover on the rim and pour. It is moulded from the same tough ABS as the pot, so there is nothing to unscrew and nothing to lose. The plant stays where it is.

How you know it is full
One long red flash
The tank has reached capacity. Stop pouring.
Or use the fill line
Lift the inner pot out and pour to the marked fill line inside.
Day to day

From here on, you are just watching for red.

The wick keeps working whether or not the batteries are in. The light is the only thing asking anything of you.

Red on the floor means refill
Top it up whenever you see it. There is no penalty for filling early.
Going away? Fill to the line
A full tank holds 2.0 to 3.5 L depending on your pot, which covers most trips.
Feed through the water
Mix diluted liquid plant food into the reservoir and the wick carries it to the roots.
Flush the mix now and then
Every few months, water from the top with plain water to clear any salt build up.
A Thirsty Pot casting its red refill light onto the floor at night
First two weeks

Normal things that worry new owners

The soil looks dry on top
That is how it should look. Water arrives from below, so the surface stays drier than hand watering while the root zone is damp.
The tank barely dropped
A new plant drinks slowly while its roots find the wick. Give it two or three reservoir cycles before you judge the pace.
No light at all
Check the batteries are the right way round and the sensor is clicked fully home. Watering carries on regardless while you sort it.

One plant sorted. Which is next?

Now that you know the system, a second pot takes about three minutes. From US$75, and up to US$20 off. Free shipping worldwide.

Shop the range
The Egg The EggSmall plants · 2.0 L (2.1 qt) US$75 US$90 The Hexagon Most popular The HexagonMost popularMedium plants · 3.0 L (3.2 qt) US$85 US$102 The Classic The ClassicLarge plants · 3.5 L (3.7 qt) US$100 US$120

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