Dustin -

the dandy pots are really cute (in my opinion). You just need
to add even more perlite to your wicking soil. They are not that cheap - but since it would be just several for your wife's work... Look for dandy pots in a violet showcase store.

The other idea - just use the regular coffee mug - get one that holds the pot or put an empty smaller pot on the bottom for support - so the wick sits in water and the pot with soil is not.

Good luck

i.

Here is a link that might be useful: violet showcase

Hi Dustin,
You can always find a ceramic pot large enough to hold the reservoir and put it in then keep the plant on top.
Fred in NJ

Colorful ceramic pots are almost over-abundant on Ebay and cost about $8.00 plus shipping or you could find them at your local nursery.

When using self watering conttainers, remember to lighten the soil by adding an amount of perlight for good drainage.

Nancy

Here's one of my violet displays with ceremic pot as reservoir.

Xuân

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:360299}}

After looking at the violet showcase I too really liked the dandy pots, cute but pricey. After looking at wicking section she talked about the nylon wicking that she had and I imagine her wicking is very thin. I have been using a heavier nylon wicking and it seems to me my plants should be dead by now , when I have some really beautifull flowers and I know they are getting too much water. I would also like to find some of the 2and 1/2 pots here local. Needless to say enjoyed the site.

I love the Oyama pots from http://avplanters.com/products.html The 4inch one's are just about perfect for my standards. They are pretty cheap too and you don't have to spend much for shipping.

Yes they are nice . Even though I dont want to buy any from the site , it gave me some good ideas on how to stabilize some 2inch cups for some of my minis. It comes down to a matter of neccessity I guess, hope you get my meaning.

Poverty being the mother of invention? I'm familiar with that. You can use anything for a cache pot; I'm currently using a pair of baby shoes to display Rob's Love Bite and Sinn. Amazade.

The nice thing about the Dandy Pots is the scalloped edge acts as a leaf support, keeping them from sagging. Also, they're quite sturdy, so you only need to buy them once. If you or your wife are feeling creative, you can take a standard green plastic squat pot and paint it or decorate it with stickers, etc.

Steve, your wick can't be too big (within reason) if your soil is light and it's *not packed in*. That's vital. The mix can be saturated as long as there are sufficient air spaces. You can have a wick that's *too thin*; it doesn't carry enough water, and your plant can expire from thirst. Fortunately I gave mine a bigger wick before it died. > Korina

'Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.' ~Groucho Marx

Korina, I know what you are saying. But I have switched all my plants from the nylon wicking to the acrylic which everyone says is best. One thing for sure I cant adjust the nylon to less threads, it has to stay the size it is and it is woven. So I have to experiment now with this and so how my plants do and I am paying close attention to make sure they are getting mosist all the way to the top although the roots are the only thing that matter. Im using clear pots or cups so I see how the moisture is rising. The only thing I can really say about the nylon wicking is when repotting is that the soil just falls off the plant its so saturated. I will just have to keep a close watch on this new wicking and may even be forced to go back to the nylon, who knows.

I use Price Chopper Brand yogurt containers with a clear plastic lid on them. I cut a hole in the plastic cover to hold the potted plant and dangle the wick into container.

They look ugly plain but I give them a coat of green paint made for coating plastic. They look great when painted. The yogurt is good and I recycle the container in my own way.

I'm disappointed - the local grocery store no longer carries yogurt with lids! It's very strange - I understand that on some level, they're probably doing it to conserve plastic, but at the same time, the same exact brand can be found with lids in other stores in the area! Very weird to me. (I used to use yogurt cups for lots of things - keeping ingredients cool while I cook, keeping small bits of leftovers, mixing up small batches of nasty chemicals that need to be sealed for a while but eventually thrown out, yadda yadda.

In any case, I like the idea of using that plastic-bond spray paint on food containers.

I found that the dixie cups my minis are in are just a bit smaller than the mouth of some pesto jars I have. They're like... mason jars, but smaller - maybe a pint? I took sculpy clay and covered the jar with a layer of it. You could do so many different things with clay - just use plain, then paint, or press stamps into it before baking, oodles of things.

I didn't want to see the dixie cup over top of the jar, so I cut a piece of styrofoam plate to a circle just bigger than the mouth, with a "starburst" of rays in the middle to push the pot through - I got this idea from a homemade "leaf support" someone mentioned.

Thanks for all the links and ideas.
Xuan thanks for the pic and ideas they are great.
Bubbledragon can you post some pics of your clayed over pots? They sound great. My kids would get a kick out of it too. Good family project. I love getting the kids involved any time I can. It could be a good MotherÂs day gift if I pull it together in time. Can you provide links or info on how to do it? If I forgot to mention it pics would be nice too. :) What kind of paint do you put on plastic, anything special?
Can some of you post some pics of your home made leaf supports?
Thanks for reminding me about lightening up the soil. I just repotted a semi non trailer that has had the edge of the leaves turning brown and I found the soil soggy. It is a wander it did not rot the roots. Sometimes it is better to be lucky. Thanks again you all.

Dustin