apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

i love mine. it may not be chic, but it makes me smile. it's a pink elephant. the water comes out it's trunk & when you tilt it, the eyes move. it's goofy. i got it at urbn.com years ago.

How about the techie route?
http://tinyurl.com/s8c4t

Is there a backpack style of watering can? I have to refill and carry up to the roof my watering can like 4 times a day, would love to find a better solution (short of getting a plumber to install a water source on the roof).

These sure are alot fancier than the beer bottle I use. I do spill alot of water.

I have a Twist & Shout watering can. Just like the ones pictured above, you just screw it on a plastic bottle.

http://www.perpetualkid.com/browseproducts/TWIST---SPOUT.html

i don't have many plants, and they are a pretty small, lightweight, and hardy bunch, so i just put em under a low-running sink till the soil is wet..

it's very low maintenance, and it motivates me to keep dirty dishes to a minimum in my kitchen. though i guess it wouldn't work if i got a ficus tree.

AT readers are a clever bunch. The techie machine is amazing.

As for that backpack watering can - follow the link on my name to an eBay listing. You can always find sprayers there. You will look like the Rocket Boy going up to your roof to water your plants.

Also there is a great coil hose that you can get at Home Depot. It is very light and stretches faaaaaaaar. I prefer it to any other hose. It's not heavy, compact, and no need to wind it back up. I throw mine in a bucket when I take it indoors.

Watering in the sink is great and I do that for mine, too, if they fit. Gives me a chance to check the plant over for problems, too.

Twist and Spout - nice! I wonder if they sell them in stores...that is really a great design

I was looking at that coil hose last night when looking for something shorter than 50'. For some reason I decided to go for the 15' hose but I think I may get that coiled one after your endorsement.

I have a Haws too (the old fashioned kind - all metal), and I didn't think twice about the price. It's beautiful.
Possibly I am a garden freak for thinking a watering can is beautiful...

caitlin, surely the standards for freak are not so low? mine is the prettiest of all, old-fashioned and copper with a nice cylinder body and a long elegant spout, which sits on a stand in my bathroom to be admired when it is not in use. however i have been a total failure at find metal pots.

oooh. I HATE my Ikea watering can.

It is horribly designed--tippy, spill-y, blech. The handle is hollow, and the curve from the water-well to the handle allows water to spill over and run out of the handle unless you balance the f***er perfectly. (I'm crabby cuz I just watered yesterday and spilt water all over a beloved handmade wood bench.)

Who ever perfectly balances a tippy, heavy container of water? Argh.

and now I really want one of those copper ones. so pretty...

although not a pretty as a copper watering can here is a link to a portable sprayer
http://www.gardeners.com/Easy-Pest-Control-Garden-Sprayer/default/StandardCatalog.Watering_WateringCans.35-632.cpd

Amazing how many watering cans don't water! Dripping is THE WORST.
I finally bought one at Bo Concept that I love. Took it into the ladies room first to test it out!

I bought one of those bright yellow Dramm and Haws at Gracious Home several years ago. It is GREAT -- no drips, easy to aim, and the shower is the perfect intensity to clean the leaves without damaging them. Who knew a plastic watering can could be such a joy? (And, it doubles as a pail to fill the toilet tank when the water is running too slowly).

My Home Depot didn't know what I was talking about when I asked for a coiled hose you could use indoors. So I ordered one from Lee Valley Hardware: http://snipurl.com/s7tp I've had it about two months.

The coil is very tight (like a telephone receiver coil, presuming I'm not the only one who remembers those)...the 25' would not have been long enough for me, IMHO. Even the 50' has to be carefully "arranged" around the apartment as you move, lest it knock things over in it's wake!

I do love the convenience, though. I have MANY indoor plants (which you can see by clicking on my name), and watering takes about a quarter of the time it used to. I stopped trying to do a balcony garden b/c of the watering difficulties, but I am going to try again next year.

(Um, I should have said that those prices at the Lee Valley link are CAD.)

Matt - I got my Twist & Spout @ a gift store in Austin, Texas. If all else fails, you could always order online. :)

I just saw Twist and Shout at The Container Store today. I was wondering if it worked well. It was in the kitchen section was being marketed as an easy way to serve liter drinks.

That's "Twist and Spout," not "Shout." My error.