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8 Watering Cans for Giving Your Greenery Some TLC
Hydrate those hydrangeas.
Whether you've recently added some greenery to your windowsill or cultivated a personal nursery out back, keeping your plants watered is crucial. And while some invest in planters that can water themselves, there's a small serenity that comes with taking the time to ensure your plants are properly watered. It allows a little time away from work, chores, or whatever else is weighing on you to simply help those seeds you planted grow with a small sprinkle or stream.
From indoor plants to sprawling backyards, there's a watering can for every tillage task, but a mix of practicality and personal preference can help you determine which kind of can is perfect for your plants.
The Best Watering Cans
- Best Outdoor Can: Cado Watering Can
- Best Indoor Can: Qilebi Watering Can
- Best Adjustable Can: Bloem Easy Pour Watering Can
- Best Metal Can: Behrens Steel Watering Can
- Best Decorative Can: Kibaga Decorative Copper Watering Can
- Best Precision Can: Nerseki Long Spout Watering Can
- Best Kids Can: Cado Elephant Watering Can
- Best Mister: Offidix Transparent Glass Watering Spray Bottle
What to Consider
The most obvious thing to consider when selecting a watering can is what you're planning to water. Watering a few small plants around the apartment requires a much more lightweight can than, say, maintaining a robust backyard garden. But whether you're looking for something for indoors or outdoors — or whether or not you're favoring style over function — Clive Harris, founder of DIY Garden, offered us some great tips on what to keep an eye out for when selecting your next watering can.
Weight
“It’s tempting to buy the biggest watering can available to get the watering done faster, but a can that suits your strength is a better buy,” he says. “Leaning over containers or lifting up to hanging baskets is tough work when it’s done repetitively, and you can strain yourself with a too-heavy watering can.”
Good Quality Rows
“Rows are the sprinkler pieces that fit on a watering can’s spout,” says Davis. “Check if the rows fit well, because it’s damaging to seeds and young plants if one falls off during a watering session. It creates a tsunami that washes away seeds and disrupts soil integrity.”
Frost Proof
“If you plan to leave the watering can outside all year round, ensure that it’s frostproof,” adds Davis. “Some plastics split if they’re subjected to harsh temperatures.”
Keeping all that in mind, here are the 10 best watering cans for your blooms.
Cado Watering Can
Key Features
- Material: Plastic
- Capacity: 2 gallons
It may seem a bit hard to believe that with all our modern innovations in so many fields, one of the top watering cans out there looks nearly identical to the kind that was sitting in your grandma's garage back in 1992.
But as much as you may have been expecting perhaps some Alexa-enabled smart can that checks your pulse and plays your favorite podcasts while you water, it turns out this sturdy and reliable 2-gallon can with the sprinkler spout can still deliver everything the at-home agriculturalist could ever need for their outdoor plants (provided, of course, that carrying 2 gallons wouldn't be too strenuous).
Key Features
- Material: Plastic
- Capacity: 1.8 liters
Able to hold roughly half a gallon of water, this sleek and compact watering can has a number of qualities that make it ideal for indoor settings. Its long, thin, 14-inch spout makes it easy to get the water directly to the soil, and it features an easily attachable sprinkler piece (or as Clive noted, a row) that snugly stays on the spout as you pour.
Bloem Easy Pour Watering Can
Key Features
- Material: Plastic
- Capacity: 1.6 gallons
The adjustable head makes this 1.6-gallon watering can a standout. Just twist the angled spout to adjust the flow of water from a precise stream to a shower over your blooms for maximum coverage.
Key Features
- Material: Stainless steel
- Capacity: 2.5 gallons
Whether you prefer a metal watering can for durability or just that vintage feel, you can't get better than Behrens. Not only is this 2.5-gallon can made from stainless steel, but it's also weather-resistant, so there's no need to worry about it rusting, as some other metal cans do.
Kibaga Decorative Copper Watering Can
Kibaga Decorative Copper Watering Can
Key Features
- Material: Stainless steel
- Capacity: 1.2 liters
This decorative watering can has a streamlined silhouette, outfitted in a retro copper finish. Featuring a looped handle and an S-shaped spout on its small frame, it's best suited for indoor watering, and makes a striking conversation piece when not in use.
Nerseki Long Spout Watering Can
Nerseki Long Spout Watering Can
Key Features
- Material: Plastic
- Capacity: 1 liter
For those who are meticulous about their plant maintenance, this watering can is absolutely the way to go. Not only does its slender, 9.5-inch spout allow you to target exactly where you want the water to go, but the can itself features milliliter demarcation lines along the side of its clear body. This allows you to monitor precisely how much water you're providing your plant with each pour.
Cado Elephant Watering Can
Cado Elephant Watering Can
Key Features:
- Material: Plastic
- Capacity: 0.5 gallons
There are a myriad of kids’ watering cans on the market, but we settled on this simple Cado can for a few reasons. First, obviously, this little baby elephant is adorable.
But perhaps more crucially, since a lot of kid-oriented cans aren’t constructed terribly well, more than a few feature loose-fitting sprinklers at the end of the spout ... which can then fall off and cause an unexpected spill. This solid single piece means there’s no risk of anything falling apart, and therefore reduces the risk of drowned plants — or worse yet, wet floors.
Plus, if somehow your little one does find a way to break this can, its under-$10 price tag makes it very easy to replace.
Offidix Transparent Glass Watering Spray Bottle
Offidix Transparent Glass Watering Spray Bottle
Key Features
- Material: Glass and brass
- Capacity: 200 milliliters
If your greens are limited to terrarium displays for now, get the right watering tool for the job: This glass plant mister lets you spritz your air plants and cacti without over-saturating them. Plus, we love its dainty coupling of glass and brass.
Melanie Yates is the senior service editor of Best Products, where she writes and reports pieces pertaining to the etiquette, dilemmas, and how-tos of gift-giving for different occasions. Previously, she was the site's senior home editor, covering all things decor- and bedding-related since 2015. Her digital byline can also be found on Bustle, House Beautiful, and Elle Decor. A longtime classical-music enthusiast, Melanie spends her off-hours enjoying performances big and small across New York City.
Michael Natale is the news editor for Best Products, covering a wide range of topics like gifting, lifestyle, pop culture, and more. He has covered pop culture and commerce professionally for over a decade. His past journalistic writing can be found on sites such as Yahoo! and Comic Book Resources, his podcast appearances can be found wherever you get your podcasts, and his fiction can’t be found anywhere, because it’s not particularly good.
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