"You sure don't look like one of our kind big fella! And, would you please move out of the way? You're blocking the light for our closeup!"
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The real back story. This is one of the coffee plants in this post. As the plants grew it turns out that the "big fella" is a pepper plant. The immature leaves look very similar to a coffee plant. Someone in the greenhouse pulled the wrong plant for the coffee pot.
Notice that it is flowering. It better be self-pollinating because I don't see any pollinators flying around in my apartment.
Notice the white roots, including those growing in the sub-irrigated planter (SIP) reservoir. What you see here is very simple hydroponics. That is what passive sub-irrigation is in reality.
It sure isn't "self-watering" the stupid term used most widely in the U.S. It is one of the significant indicators of our dumbed down horticultural education. Even extension program educators with PhD's use it. All they seem to know is old fashioned "drench and drain" watering that is slowly disappearing in most commercial greenhouses.
Unfortunately consumers aren't on the memo distribution list with the news about 21st century irrigation methods.
When using SIPs indoors it is essential to understand that you should not add water to a planter that still has some water in it from the last refill.
To avoid over-watering and root rot, wait until the reservoir is empty and the top 1/2" or so of the soil mix has dried down.
The term "self-watering" that encourages constant filling is the cause of most of the negativity about s-w planters that "over water" and are only to be used with "water loving" planters.
What crap...but much of the gardening industry is happy because they do not want you understanding and successfully growing plants in SIPs. SIPs mean sustainability, a dirty word to many commercial growers and garden centers.
When using SIPs (with overflow drains) to grow edible plants outdoors you can get away with "constant fill" only because of the much higher light under the sun. It is likely to be 100x the light inside your home. Photosynthesis is in full throttle and the plants are using all the water they can get.
This shows the two part polyester fabric wick I use in these SIPs made from recycled orange juice bottles. There is a round piece of material inside the planter that covers a hole at the bottom where the threaded part of the neck was cut off.
The 2nd piece of wicking is simply laid in the bottom of the reservoir in contact with the inner wick. As you can see, roots soon grow through the fabric and "stitch" the two wicks together.
The reason for the wick strip at the bottom of the reservoir is because the bottom of the o.j. bottle is not flat. The 2nd wick ensures that all of the water rises by capillary action and completely empties the reservoir.