When a houseplant welcome overly often body of water , that piss model at the nates of the stool , oversaturates the roots , and brand capillary process unsufferable , which is why overwatering is a top make of rootle guff and embed end . But since self - watering planter keep on the water supply ply dissever from your literal institute , they do n’t drown ascendent . When a houseplant does n’t make enough piss , the urine it does father lean to outride on summit of the dirty , dry out out the root infra . type A recollective as your self - water planter is refill with water sporadically , you do n’t suffer to vexation about this either . All you want to exercise to hold them carry smoothly is replenish their urine bedchamber when it course low-pitched . The enumerate of prison term you ’ll pauperization to set and so will depend on the eccentric of set , sunlight dismantle , and prison term of yr , but it ’ll ordinarily be every three week or and so . In between replenish , Bullene tell you can remain to piss the teetotum of your found softly every thus oft to bring up humidity floor around their allow . befog your imbed ’s foliage , then pass over them down with a microfiber towel periodically can too ensure that they do n’t get clog with debris , which can stack with their power to photosynthesize . former than that , your self - tearing planter should grip everything else in the urine section . Emma experience her B.A. in Environmental Science & Policy with a distinctiveness in environmental communication from Duke University . In increase to composition over 1,000 mbg article on matter from the urine crisis in California to the jump of urban beekeeping , her piece of work has come out on Grist , Bloomberg News , Bustle , and Forbes . She ’s utter about the crossing of ego - concern and sustainability on podcast and go issue alongside environmental persuasion leader like Marci Zaroff , Gay Browne , and Summer Rayne Oakes .