Just found your amazing channel 🥰 One thing I wanted to mention is about top watering and overwatering. Overwatering happens with frequency and not the amount of water. I've only had my African Violet for two years, but I water it and all my plants (succulents too) thoroughly until water runs through the drainage holes. The only difference is the time between waterings. If you give it a try and water one thoroughly you'll be able to wait longer than 2-3 days to water again. I don't water mine until the top inch is dry. I've also seen people fill up a large tub of water and bottom water many plants at once. It would certainly save time, but I haven't tried it myself. Some of my plants go outside for the summer and I may have missed things lurking in the pots that I don't want to spread. I'm probably just paranoid about that though 🙂
Thanks so much for your video. I recently moved many of my violets off of wicks as well. When temperatures fell in the fall, my growing room temperature dropped considerably. Humidity went up outside and in my grow room. As a result, my violets were using considerably less water than in the warm, dry spring and summer. As a way of handling excess water, the plants dumped water into the outer leaves, causing them to develop dark, soft spots. The next step would have been root damage. I emptied the reservoirs and used a bit of electrical tape to fasten the end of the wick up onto the side of the pot. Doing this kept the plants on empty reservoirs which kept them at the same height they were accustomed to under the lights. When I have to leave home for more than a couple of days, I will add water back to the reservoir and untape the wick. I have not changed to a different potting mix…wicking mix is still in use. My go-to algae solution is Physan 20, 1/4 tsp per gallon. Love it!!!!! Please look into it! You will love it, too!!!!!!!
Great idea keeping the wicks and taping them onto the side of the pot! I will start including wicks when repotting my top watered plants and use this method when I travel. Thank you so much for the tip, and for the algae solution!
Great info as usual! I also felt like some of mine on wicks were staying too wet so i decided to lift the wick outside pots and leave them until they dry some and then put wick back in. I also aereate with a bamboo skewer about once a month. I also dont use fertilizer all the time. That is working in my environment for now. As you say its constant monitoring and experimenting. Looking forward to your light video. 😊 I am getting ready to add another shelf. Are you changing to a different kind of light from your Barrina or just configuration etc?
Appreciate your feedback! I tried the same approach and found that if I let the wick and the potting mix dry between refills, some of them lost the capillary action and I wound up losing a few plants. So I try to make sure to always refill before they completely dry out. Trying different light by the same brand this time, both are Barrina, just a different product, with different size and color. Light video coming next - ordered some zip ties to fasten to glass shelves, once they arrive, I can film! Stay tuned!
I’ve got many of my violets on wick just because that is how I received them, and the reminder are top watered. After watching your video I think the ones on wick will also be top watered when repotted. Not much experience with comparing wicked to top watered, but I think top watering is a safer method and will also inform just how many more violets to order come spring.😮 Have you tried perhaps to control the moisture a little by using a finer wick and also making a mix of more perlite, as I read a grower did by cutting the soil mix to 1/2 perlite and 1/2 soil? All the best. Thank you for your informative videos.
Appreciate your feedback and helpful tips! I split the 4-ply yarn for miniature and semiminiature wicks, and use the 4-ply for standard and large varieties. The wick-watered minis and semis are doing mostly well, the standards and the large ones show signs of root problems, especially in the hot and cold weather, even with 50-60% perlite in potting mix. Repotting them every 6 months is the only thing that seems to help. Will see if I can do it once a year with the top watered plants. Looks like I will be spending less time repotting, but more time watering here - they surely keep me busy, might be time to start thinking of reducing my collection :)
Have you considered growing some of your standards in a communal pot? It can be done. It would save time and space. Around 3 weeks ago I got tired of watering my micro minis which were in unwicked doll house-sized pots so I replanted all 9 in a shallow 7.5 x 3” pot and so far they are loving it. I used some perlite on the bottom for drainage. My First Love is blooming again and this one was the most difficult to bloom for me. One thing noticed is I’ll need to cut down on fertilizer for them. I have mostly minis and semi minis and am considering trying communal potting on these also. Some thing to think about. I do realize that one has to be careful that no diseased/insect ridden plants are to be included. They do look very attractive growing together. As an alternative you could just place some in their pots in a larger container and this would save some time watering but wouldn’t do much for saving space.
Have you tried a capillary mat when traveling? It’s a great short term solution to place your pots on the capillary mat so they don’t dry out. I also do it with all my seedlings. It works!
That's a great idea! How long can the capillary mat last? I remember trying using diy mat watering a while back, will need to look into getting some professional grower capillary mats to try them out, thank you!
I am growing most on capillary mats. The humidity here is very low but every little bit helps. I first started using those micro fibre cleaning cloths and also face cloths which did help a lot and then graduated to trays that held water to feed moisture to the included humidity fabric. I still have small dishes underneath each and every plant mainly because I don’t want the fertilizer to accumulate in the plants and also it helps to keep the fabric clean. I find the unsealed clay dishes to be most valuable as they trap moisture. I’m vigilant about not letting the plants stay in any standing water.
I travel by putting my African violet plants into bags. There are two gallon zip top plastic bags that work great. I seal them up with the damp soil and they will be good for a month
Wow, this is a big shock! When I found your channel a few weeks ago, I thought the wicking pots were amazing and would be great! Your plants were all growing so pretty too! I thought it was a great way to solve watering problems, especially overwatering. I have not been able to find any African violets unless I mail order them yet. I have been busy with other plants too. So, I haven't worried too much about it. They are in my plans very soon though. (I was not successful years ago with them.) I would like to know what things you tried to solve your wick watering problems? I was thinking I could also use a water level indicator tube from Amazon on them and the water reservoir could be opaque. With in place, it would prevent the algae. I think the water would be cleaner too and that would prevent rot. How often were you changing the water? On most plants in water, at least once a week has been recommended. Did you try to adjust your lighting, spacing, flushing them as required, repotting sooner or using larger pots? I can't imagine watering them every 2 days! I would surely lose plants with that requirement. Then Leca Queen has done some African Violets in Leca. Have you ever tried that or Pon? I think that there has to be a way for the wicking to work. You are certainly way more experienced than I am. I wonder what suggestions other wick watering or self-watering African violets plant parents may have about this. Good luck. I am not going to give up on this. I do want nice shaped plants. Did you rotate the wick watered plants at all? Very interesting. I have some research to do now! I loved my violets when I had them before and I want some nice ones now. I even have been finishing a new shelf to put them on.
Using opaque containers does help solving the algae problem, good idea! The issue there for me is that I cannot see the water level through the opaque container unless I get water level indicator for each of them, otherwise works great! Yes, my wick-watered plants need repotting every 6 months, so basically repotting is all I do in spare time. Trying top watering so I can repot less frequently, hopefully once a year. I haven't tried growing them in Leca or Pon, I've seen results with different success rate from other growers though, so just using my own potting mixes here. I grow all of them under lights now, where they don't need rotating. Check out my African Violet Care playlist for my light setup videos. Happy growing!
@@grayturtleviolets Thank you so much. I had/have a lot of questions! LOL I will be checking out your lights and also looking to see what you use for potting soil. I really wouldn't mind repotting every 6 months if they grow nicely and without the overwatering problems or underwatering ones I had in the past. I plant to put the water indicators in the pots and see how it goes. I do like how you set them up with the jars for wick watering. I could cover them with something and leave a vertical strip open so I could see the water level, but knowing me, the water level indicators would be the best. I looked at several hydroponic and semi-hydroponic videos using water, pon, or leca. I am not convinced that is the way to go. The plants were blooming nice, but were not symmetrical at all (except for the Leca Queen) I didn't find much with pon. Yours in the wicking pots had looked so very nice when I saw them. I know algae, etc. was a problem for you - some growers say it just indicates a healthy growing environment and is not a problem for other plants. I did see what you meant about the roots in your video. I will watch your videos some more and see what I can come up with. So far, I found your African Violet videos the best on You Tube. Have a great holiday and Merry Christmas! P.S. I have found that Perlite in a prop box is amazing for starting my seedlings for other plants and I saw someone use it African Violets. I have a leaf my friend gave me that I am propagating in water. I am going to move it to the perlite and see what happens. Maybe Pon would work for them. I will just have to experiment when I get some plants. I may just have to order some as I have not seen any in the stores here in California for quite while now. I just want to have my plan and supplies in place before I order them.
I wonder do you get better or more blossoms with the top water of wick watering. I have always watered from the bottom and then once a month water from the top. I will be changing that and will do wick watering as an experiment. Hoping to get more blossoms. We shall see.
Watering method is one of many factors involved in blooming performance. Light source, temperature, air humidity, potting mix quality, fertilizer ratio, etc.- are equally important. E.g., I use less perlite in top watered mix. Overall, I’ve seen great improvement in my standard varieties growth and blooming habits, after having transitioned them from wick watering to top watering. I am not planning on reverting them to wick watering given the results. All of my minis, semis, and trailers are still wick watered, and continue to do well. Happy growing!
Perfect timing for me - I am seeing changes in some of my violets that they are not responding to wick watering so have taken them out of wicking method but…wondering the same as you - if I go away now what? I know some people put them on a tray with small rocks and water but will do some more checking to see if I can get more information for you.
Thank you, I appreciate it! I like the tip posted on here to include wicks during repotting and keep them taped to outside of the pot while they are top-watered, and engage for wick watering during time away, might be just the solution I was looking for! Happy growing!
Thanks so much for this video! I've been wick watering, using only one strand of yarn, even for a 3" pot but I think they are too wet and I'm having trouble with root rot fairly often. I used to water my plants from the top all the time, so I might go back to that but I didn't have so many plants back then. Isn't it difficult to determine how much water to give each plant with top watering?
Same here! Top watering has been working better for my standards in particular. Minis and semis are doing well wick watered. With top watering, I water gently, not to overwater, maybe 3-4 tablespoons at a time, for standards growing in 4-6 inch pots. So far so good!
I top water my plants and have had them for 5 years now. Once a year we take a two week trip. I put my plants in a couple inches of water to soak up water they need. I have someone come check on my plants that need watered and refill the water in the container if needed.
Thank you for this informative video.
Thank you for watching!🌸
Very helpful video. I have my violets in wick watering and for the moment they all do great. I could not find the time to water them from top.
Just found your amazing channel 🥰
One thing I wanted to mention is about top watering and overwatering. Overwatering happens with frequency and not the amount of water. I've only had my African Violet for two years, but I water it and all my plants (succulents too) thoroughly until water runs through the drainage holes. The only difference is the time between waterings. If you give it a try and water one thoroughly you'll be able to wait longer than 2-3 days to water again. I don't water mine until the top inch is dry.
I've also seen people fill up a large tub of water and bottom water many plants at once. It would certainly save time, but I haven't tried it myself. Some of my plants go outside for the summer and I may have missed things lurking in the pots that I don't want to spread. I'm probably just paranoid about that though 🙂
Thanks so much for your video. I recently moved many of my violets off of wicks as well. When temperatures fell in the fall, my growing room temperature dropped considerably. Humidity went up outside and in my grow room. As a result, my violets were using considerably less water than in the warm, dry spring and summer. As a way of handling excess water, the plants dumped water into the outer leaves, causing them to develop dark, soft spots. The next step would have been root damage.
I emptied the reservoirs and used a bit of electrical tape to fasten the end of the wick up onto the side of the pot. Doing this kept the plants on empty reservoirs which kept them at the same height they were accustomed to under the lights. When I have to leave home for more than a couple of days, I will add water back to the reservoir and untape the wick. I have not changed to a different potting mix…wicking mix is still in use.
My go-to algae solution is Physan 20, 1/4 tsp per gallon. Love it!!!!! Please look into it! You will love it, too!!!!!!!
Great idea keeping the wicks and taping them onto the side of the pot! I will start including wicks when repotting my top watered plants and use this method when I travel. Thank you so much for the tip, and for the algae solution!
@@grayturtleviolets 👍💕
Great info as usual! I also felt like some of mine on wicks were staying too wet so i decided to lift the wick outside pots and leave them until they dry some and then put wick back in. I also aereate with a bamboo skewer about once a month. I also dont use fertilizer all the time. That is working in my environment for now. As you say its constant monitoring and experimenting. Looking forward to your light video. 😊 I am getting ready to add another shelf. Are you changing to a different kind of light from your Barrina or just configuration etc?
Appreciate your feedback! I tried the same approach and found that if I let the wick and the potting mix dry between refills, some of them lost the capillary action and I wound up losing a few plants. So I try to make sure to always refill before they completely dry out. Trying different light by the same brand this time, both are Barrina, just a different product, with different size and color. Light video coming next - ordered some zip ties to fasten to glass shelves, once they arrive, I can film! Stay tuned!
@@grayturtleviolets will be watching. Thanks.
I’ve got many of my violets on wick just because that is how I received them, and the reminder are top watered. After watching your video I think the ones on wick will also be top watered when repotted. Not much experience with comparing wicked to top watered, but I think top watering is a safer method and will also inform just how many more violets to order come spring.😮
Have you tried perhaps to control the moisture a little by using a finer wick and also making a mix of more perlite, as I read a grower did by cutting the soil mix to 1/2 perlite and 1/2 soil?
All the best. Thank you for your informative videos.
Appreciate your feedback and helpful tips! I split the 4-ply yarn for miniature and semiminiature wicks, and use the 4-ply for standard and large varieties. The wick-watered minis and semis are doing mostly well, the standards and the large ones show signs of root problems, especially in the hot and cold weather, even with 50-60% perlite in potting mix. Repotting them every 6 months is the only thing that seems to help. Will see if I can do it once a year with the top watered plants. Looks like I will be spending less time repotting, but more time watering here - they surely keep me busy, might be time to start thinking of reducing my collection :)
Have you considered growing some of your standards in a communal pot? It can be done. It would save time and space.
Around 3 weeks ago I got tired of watering my micro minis which were in unwicked doll house-sized pots so I replanted all 9 in a shallow 7.5 x 3” pot and so far they are loving it. I used some perlite on the bottom for drainage. My First Love is blooming again and this one was the most difficult to bloom for me. One thing noticed is I’ll need to cut down on fertilizer for them. I have mostly minis and semi minis and am considering trying communal potting on these also. Some thing to think about. I do realize that one has to be careful that no diseased/insect ridden plants are to be included. They do look very attractive growing together.
As an alternative you could just place some in their pots in a larger container and this would save some time watering but wouldn’t do much for saving space.
@@hannab.120 Thank you, all very helpful tips!
Have you tried a capillary mat when traveling? It’s a great short term solution to place your pots on the capillary mat so they don’t dry out. I also do it with all my seedlings. It works!
That's a great idea! How long can the capillary mat last? I remember trying using diy mat watering a while back, will need to look into getting some professional grower capillary mats to try them out, thank you!
I am growing most on capillary mats. The humidity here is very low but every little bit helps. I first started using those micro fibre cleaning cloths and also face cloths which did help a lot and then graduated to trays that held water to feed moisture to the included humidity fabric. I still have small dishes underneath each and every plant mainly because I don’t want the fertilizer to accumulate in the plants and also it helps to keep the fabric clean. I find the unsealed clay dishes to be most valuable as they trap moisture. I’m vigilant about not letting the plants stay in any standing water.
I travel by putting my African violet plants into bags. There are two gallon zip top plastic bags that work great. I seal them up with the damp soil and they will be good for a month
Thank you, this is very helpful!
Thanks!
Appreciate your support!🌸
All such good info!
Thank you!🌸
Wow, this is a big shock! When I found your channel a few weeks ago, I thought the wicking pots were amazing and would be great! Your plants were all growing so pretty too! I thought it was a great way to solve watering problems, especially overwatering. I have not been able to find any African violets unless I mail order them yet. I have been busy with other plants too. So, I haven't worried too much about it. They are in my plans very soon though. (I was not successful years ago with them.) I would like to know what things you tried to solve your wick watering problems? I was thinking I could also use a water level indicator tube from Amazon on them and the water reservoir could be opaque. With in place, it would prevent the algae. I think the water would be cleaner too and that would prevent rot. How often were you changing the water? On most plants in water, at least once a week has been recommended. Did you try to adjust your lighting, spacing, flushing them as required, repotting sooner or using larger pots? I can't imagine watering them every 2 days! I would surely lose plants with that requirement. Then Leca Queen has done some African Violets in Leca. Have you ever tried that or Pon? I think that there has to be a way for the wicking to work. You are certainly way more experienced than I am. I wonder what suggestions other wick watering or self-watering African violets plant parents may have about this. Good luck. I am not going to give up on this. I do want nice shaped plants. Did you rotate the wick watered plants at all? Very interesting. I have some research to do now! I loved my violets when I had them before and I want some nice ones now. I even have been finishing a new shelf to put them on.
Using opaque containers does help solving the algae problem, good idea! The issue there for me is that I cannot see the water level through the opaque container unless I get water level indicator for each of them, otherwise works great! Yes, my wick-watered plants need repotting every 6 months, so basically repotting is all I do in spare time. Trying top watering so I can repot less frequently, hopefully once a year. I haven't tried growing them in Leca or Pon, I've seen results with different success rate from other growers though, so just using my own potting mixes here. I grow all of them under lights now, where they don't need rotating. Check out my African Violet Care playlist for my light setup videos. Happy growing!
@@grayturtleviolets Thank you so much. I had/have a lot of questions! LOL I will be checking out your lights and also looking to see what you use for potting soil. I really wouldn't mind repotting every 6 months if they grow nicely and without the overwatering problems or underwatering ones I had in the past. I plant to put the water indicators in the pots and see how it goes. I do like how you set them up with the jars for wick watering. I could cover them with something and leave a vertical strip open so I could see the water level, but knowing me, the water level indicators would be the best. I looked at several hydroponic and semi-hydroponic videos using water, pon, or leca. I am not convinced that is the way to go. The plants were blooming nice, but were not symmetrical at all (except for the Leca Queen) I didn't find much with pon. Yours in the wicking pots had looked so very nice when I saw them. I know algae, etc. was a problem for you - some growers say it just indicates a healthy growing environment and is not a problem for other plants. I did see what you meant about the roots in your video. I will watch your videos some more and see what I can come up with. So far, I found your African Violet videos the best on You Tube. Have a great holiday and Merry Christmas! P.S. I have found that Perlite in a prop box is amazing for starting my seedlings for other plants and I saw someone use it African Violets. I have a leaf my friend gave me that I am propagating in water. I am going to move it to the perlite and see what happens. Maybe Pon would work for them. I will just have to experiment when I get some plants. I may just have to order some as I have not seen any in the stores here in California for quite while now. I just want to have my plan and supplies in place before I order them.
I wonder do you get better or more blossoms with the top water of wick watering. I have always watered from the bottom and then once a month water from the top. I will be changing that and will do wick watering as an experiment. Hoping to get more blossoms. We shall see.
Watering method is one of many factors involved in blooming performance. Light source, temperature, air humidity, potting mix quality, fertilizer ratio, etc.- are equally important. E.g., I use less perlite in top watered mix. Overall, I’ve seen great improvement in my standard varieties growth and blooming habits, after having transitioned them from wick watering to top watering. I am not planning on reverting them to wick watering given the results. All of my minis, semis, and trailers are still wick watered, and continue to do well. Happy growing!
What is the name of that white leaf violet in your video?
@@Jerr-e5e Milk's Ten Cats (10759) 05/31/2015 (S. Fu) - a girl leaf chimera
Perfect timing for me - I am seeing changes in some of my violets that they are not responding to wick watering so have taken them out of wicking method but…wondering the same as you - if I go away now what? I know some people put them on a tray with small rocks and water but will do some more checking to see if I can get more information for you.
Thank you, I appreciate it! I like the tip posted on here to include wicks during repotting and keep them taped to outside of the pot while they are top-watered, and engage for wick watering during time away, might be just the solution I was looking for! Happy growing!
Thanks so much for this video! I've been wick watering, using only one strand of yarn, even for a 3" pot but I think they are too wet and I'm having trouble with root rot fairly often. I used to water my plants from the top all the time, so I might go back to that but I didn't have so many plants back then. Isn't it difficult to determine how much water to give each plant with top watering?
Same here! Top watering has been working better for my standards in particular. Minis and semis are doing well wick watered. With top watering, I water gently, not to overwater, maybe 3-4 tablespoons at a time, for standards growing in 4-6 inch pots. So far so good!
I top water my plants and have had them for 5 years now. Once a year we take a two week trip. I put my plants in a couple inches of water to soak up water they need. I have someone come check on my plants that need watered and refill the water in the container if needed.
Great idea, thank you!
Go back to Wick Watering.
I did! Just for the summertime :)