from around the house for bottom watering of violets? Cotton or synthetic? An old shoe string maybe? Hubby just drilled the bottom of some partially unglazed inner pots. I never had any luck having enough water work through the outer pot to water well.
What's a good wick material
Don't use cotton. It will rot. I use poly knitting yarn. One hank will last almost forever. I have a med green color, but any color will do. I've used mason twine in the past but had trouble with them stop wicking. I think the twist of the material is too tight. I've had no trouble with the yarn.
I have used Mason twine and yarn.Before using soak water with mild dish detergent.As Eileen said...no cotton.
Lynn
Thanks ladies. I wet a length of yarn and let the end hang down over the outside of it's container of water to test it and after several minutes it continued to drip water!
Do you just end the wick in the bottom of the pot or bring it clear up the side to near the soil surface?
When I draw the wick up thru the bottom of pot, I bring it almost to top. I add my soil mix to just come over top of wick. If the wick sticks out, it may dry too fast. Some times if I'm in a rush, I add wick than add some soil mix and bring the wick across the soil and then add a little more soil. Then add plant. Make sure your wick is wet, and soil moist. Otherwise it will not wick up water.
I'm starting over after a case of leaf mealies and haven't tried wick watering yet. OK for a four inch pot I will need three wicks? Said the width of the pot minus one. Can all three wicks come through the same hole in the bottom of the pot or should they each have seperate holes?
I brought home a couple of violets (without names) and am ready to try again. .
When using wicks, how often do you water your AVs?
Vossner, the pots sit on top of a water reservoir and wick the water up to the pot/plant. You just need to keep the water in that reservoir from getting lower than the wick, causing the wick to stop drawing water up. If that happens, you will have to restart the process over by sitting the pot in a small amount of water drawing it back up.
Jamlover, Eileen and my Sister Lynn gave you great advice with using yarn. I kind of do my own thing and cut small strips of pantyhose to wick mine. You will only use one piece of yarn per pot. You don't need one for every hole. Also, this wasn't mentioned and thought it might help if you've never wicked before: Test an empty pot first! Run a piece of yarn up from the bottom, place you medium in the pot, set it on your water reservoir and check it for the next day or two. If it feels wet, you need more perlite added to your mix. You want it moist but NOT wet. You will need to lighten your planting medium with perlite if you plan to wick.
Connie
This message was edited Aug 31, 2014 4:03 AM
Will set it up and try using yarn. First I need to locate some vermiculite.
Sister Connie has been very successful with panty hose wicks and I have seen the results.
Lynn
You just need to keep an eye on it. If the soil stays too wet, you will need to repot with less soil and more perlite. I only use one piece of yarn for mine. I know other people only use one piece. I think 3 wicks will keep the soil too wet? anyone else use more than one?
tish
I have,but only on huge Sinningias and Episcias.You need an extremely light mix.