It's definitely one of the neatest things, I swear by them, if you do what the directions tell you to, you can't mess it up! They're watered from the bottom, you use planting soil, I use that Miracle Grow soil, you put the fertilizer on top of the soil but underneath the plastic cover, it sweats into the soil, slowly, time released. Whatever you plant will grow like a rocket! You water them every other day in the beginning, 3 tomato plants in one box during the mid summer into August and September those 3 plants will during 3 gallons a day, that's how fast they grow, that's a bunch of water, but the payback is amazing!