I grow Fukushu kumquats and Meiwa kumquats.I would stay away from any kind of self watering pot setup. You might consider an automatic water drip irrigation for when you vacation for more than 3 days. Kumquats are grafted to rootstock and any rootstock you will find will have root rot issues with a self watering pot. I have my trees in a heavy mix that can go a week with out water in the heat of summer. I use pure compost. When I was younger I use 50% dirt from my yard mix with 50% compost. This was by far the best mix. In the winter I kept the plant warm with 16 hours of "CFL daylight" bulbs,

New Zealand lemonade on US897 rootstock. · More Info

6b Steve

If you use a mix like 5-1-1 for it, you would not have to worry about overwatering as much. Mine are out and get rained on for days at a time sometimes and have no issues because the mix drains very well. I agree with Steve that I would avoid self-watering pots. Just buy a nice plastic container and put large holes in the bottom - many of them.

I third that . in the initial years the one of most common issues I faced was root rot esp during winter when inside I used to put a dripping plate.

Citrus needs a well draining mix and no standing water.

Yes but I thought the self-watering insert was made exactly for the purposes of NOT causing root rot.
Namely, you only water through the tube and not from top down, that way the soil stays dry but the plant drinks from evaporation from the water chamber underneath.
Making it impossible for you to overwater, which you have a danger of doing the other way. That's the trouble I'm having figuring out :/

I would not be possible to evaporate enough water prom a reservoir to feed anything. Not even a cactus could survive.
6b Steve

Because I am a curious sort I say try it out and let us know how it goes. It certainly goes against what is often recommenced here but if it makes sense to you and your willing to take a risk why not try it out. You could find that it does work and share the knowledge or confirm first hand it doesn't. Just order a smaller/less expensive tree so your not heartbroken if it doesn't live. I killed my first Meyer lemon by over watering and while it certainly sucked to lose it, it was a learning experience.

Some people say you learn from your own mistakes. I make a point of learning from someone else's mistakes. if you proceed keep us posted. I willlearn.

6b Steve

Haha, well I suppose I could have done that anyway without even trying to research and ask people.
The trees are quite expensive, so I'm going to have to keep checking around to see if anyone else has tried this before proceeding. Obviously I don't want to make the situation worse by trying an untested approach on my first go.
Still, the logic made sense. As far as them not working, Home Depot is selling them nationwide, I can only assume the company manufacturing them would go belly-up if everyone buying them were killing their plants.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Southern-Patio-6-3-5-in-x-4-in-Plastic-Self-Watering-Insert-SWI-038801/300492193?cm_mmc=Shopping

Here's this from U.S. patent office:

http://www.google.com/patents/US20120240466

"....Self-watering plant container includes a container used to hold a living
plant and soil and a container to hold a pool of water or nutrient
solution underneath the plant/soil container where the water may be
absorbed by the living plant through a permeable bottom in the
plant/soil container.
Self-watering plant container includes an airspace
layer located between the bottom of the plant/soil container and the
top of the water or nutrient solution pool in order to prevent excessive
moisture or water from being absorbed into the plant/soil container,
thereby preventing root rot.
Self-watering plant container achieves this
partly by special funnel shaped root-pruning aeration apertures in the
bottom of its plant/soil container that allow very small roots and root
hairs to grow through the bottom of plant/soil container and into the
water reservoir below, while forcing larger roots back into the
plant/soil container, and also allowing for aeration of the plant/soil
container...."

Experiment with a tomato plant or egg plant. you will be glad you did. That will give you enough time to get a couple of seed grown tangerine trees growing to experiment with.

6b Steve

I only say try it out because you seem determined despite others warning you off. (not a bad thing since theoretically it says it should work) I personally wouldn't because it goes against what has successfully worked for me and some others here. But since no one here (that has commented) has tried this method you may have to bite the bullet and be the first one. Or keep it in the back of your mind and look out for research that supports it. I know many people who use self watering containers for other plants I think people in the fig forum do. check this post that asked the same question a few months ago or search "self watering pots citrus" on GW and look at peoples posts (if you haven't already) I only skimmed but I couldn't find anyone with success. I know how hard it is to find info on what does and doesn't work properly, when I got hard core into this last year I researched for months before doing anything and even then it was a lot of contradictory advice. You kind of have to see what works for you in your zone, which is frustrating when your gambling with a $25-$65 tree + equipment. The 5-1-1 seems to work for me in my 8a zone and eventually I want to try the gritty mix, I am currently experimenting with root pouches and 70/30 potting soil to perlite on two of my trees just to see if it can work for me. try to find people who are growing in your zone and see what works for them and jump off from there. Good Luck!

Jeff, Home Depot also sells bonsai trees with rocks glued on to the top layer, which is a death sentence for any tree. Despite their almost certain death rate, they still sell them. Additionally, citrus (in containers) are not the same as many other plants because of their increased susceptibility to root rot. If it were my tree, I would not use such a container despite the scientific explanation given above by the patent office. However, you are free to decide for yourself what you feel is best. I wish you luck with it and if you do use it, please check in to let us know how it's going.

I decided not to try a self watering system. My concern is that such systems require soils, usually heavily peat based, that do not drain well and may thus lead to root rot.