3 pieces should work OK. I use it all the time. The only thing - this mason twine gets salted fast- especially if you let them run out of water occasionaly - so keep an eye - if the pots are dry even if you have water in your reservoir - it is time to replace a wick. Crochet hook works OK for this purpose - just stick it in from the top and pull a new length of twine through.

I.

Hi,
I use 4 ply acryllic yarn for my standards and split it into two plies for my semis and miniatures. I make sure I scour the yarn before I use it to get out any sizing that might be in the yarn.
Fred in NJ

Hi,
I have questions regarding the use of 4 ply acryllic yarn for wicking. Would a solo cup with a standard plantlet take 4 ply or 2 ply ? Is the 4 ply for a standard in a larger pot? I also have some mini and semi mini plants in recycled Keurig coffee containers. They are smaller than solo cups , so would they still be OK with 2 plys or should I decrease to 1 ply? I love reading this forum and have learned so much from your postings.

T-

I would better error on the dry side. 2 ply for solo cup, 1 on 1 oz pill cup or about. The standard baby is still a smaller plant.

I.

Irina, Thank you for answering my question. I have cut some electric plastic grate covering for my trays and wanted to give wicking a try. The air in house gets dry in winter and I fiqured this way I could increase humidity in the air about plants also. I also noticed that the smaller containers dried so quickly and I needed to water frequently so I hope wicking will solve that also.

T

Hi, I have another question. How far above the water in tray should the plastic grate covering material be? I currently have it placed about 1" up from bottom with a 1/2 inch of water below. Is this to low? I'm using cut solo cups as a support to hold the tray above the water and don't plan on more than 1/2 " of water as I'm using the black plastic plant trays . Will this work OK? Should the plants be placed higher? Thank You for your help.
T

Hi,
I don't use trays with my wicked plants. I use pint deli containers which I fill to the brim. It lasts for 7-10 days depending on the size of the plant and the heat in the room before I have to fill them.
Fred in NJ

Hi,
The use of deli containers sounds like a good idea. Currently my plants are on shelves in a west window that has baseboard heat running along the wall near the floor. The plants on the two lowest shelves dry out quickly when the heat is on.They also have lights. The upper shelves have light from window. Would the use of deli containers provide enough humidity? Last winter I attached plastic around the bottom two shelves between the stand and heat source.It helped a bit, but I did not like the way it looked. The stand is in my living room where I can enjoy the beauty of the plants.

T

Hi tlovesflowers,

You will get a lot more humidity by using a wicking tray with a grate over it then you will with deli containers. Obviously you will have to fill them up a lot more often. As far as how much distance there needs to be under the grate. The distance can be very minimal. The only thing you have to worry about is that the pots themselves do not sit in water. So the distance between the grate and the water surface can be as little as 1/16 inch for that matter. A note though. Make sure the wicks are long enough so that when there is some evaporation that they are still in the water when the water level goes down.

I hope this helps.

Larry

Hi,
Larry, your info is helpful. I was worried about the distance between the tray and water. I did set up one tray of semi's and mini's today and will see how they go. I set the grate on shortened solo cups inside the tray. The pots are not touching water and the wicks are laying in bottom of tray. These are on bottom shelf and I hope to add humidity to area as well as making it easier to water this lower shelf that dried quickly when heat was on.
Thank You
T