I do some on capillary matting, but I bought the mat for another reasons years ago and haven't a clue what it is, lol. I did see that Cape Cod Violetry had at least two different kinds and was wondering why you'd pick one over another.

Hi,
I have used capillary mating years ago and bought a few yards of the white matting from Cape Cod. It works well but what also works well is an old acryllic blanket. I have since discontinued the matting and have switched to wick watering simply because when you have a group of plants on a mat you run the risk of infecting the remainder of the plants if any one of them has a disease.
Fred in NJ

I was noticing the capillary matting conversation and just wanted to let the group know that we have released a new capillary mat called the WaterbedÂ. You can find it at www.yuppiegardener.com It is reasonably priced and ships to the lower 48 states for free. It would work perfect for your AV's and comes in a 4' x 2' tray.

Here is a link that might be useful: Yuppie Gardener

jtyler83, I would need about 30 of them and at over $50.00 each I wouldn't call them reasonably priced even if they do ship free. It may be a great product but It's not for many of us here. One more point, you are not allowed to self promote here.

Vic58, I was using acrylic blankets from the Goodwill store, I would but 2 layers in the bottom of a flat. I was always concerned with detergents and would run our washer through a wash cycle with hot water before running them through a couple of times with plain hot water. I never had any problems but after a few months they looked like crap. I recently switched to industrial furnace filter material. It comes in rolls, and is kind of like an acrylic quilt batting (which you could also probably use). It is about 1 inch thick until it is compressed by the weight of the pots. It is bonded with the top layer being blue. The nice part is it is inexpensive, clean and you don't have to worry about where it's been and what it may have in it. It is easy to trim with a pair of sissors or a razor knife.

I buy felt by the yard at JoAnn's Fabrics. It's approx $5 a yard. So far it works rather well. My violets are wicked with mason twine. They sit on the matting in a tray. It takes about 2 1/2 cups of water to wet the felt and I let it go almost dry before adding more water. The trays are on a plant stand under lights for 12 hours a day.
Hope this helps.

Thank you all for your help. I can't wait to try capillary matting with a few of my violets. If it works well for me I may switch over.
vic

HI again,
IF you intend to use felt just make sure that it is made of synthetic fibers. Most felts are made from wool and it would eventually deteoriate just like a wool or cotton yarn would do if it were used for wicking.
Fred in NJ

Hear, hear -

if it has natural fibers - it will stink of mold from being wet very soon.

Throws from Walgreens on sale are cheap - and you can make 6-8 mats out of each. I am stuck with using them because of our very low humidity. I tried keeping plants on individual containers - and they do not look as well as on mats. But - it is still a tray that keeps 3-4 standards - so provided they are not crowded - you have the chance to stop an infestation on these 3-4.

About them looking like you know what in half a year - I soak them in Clorax and wash every so often. And I add Physan-20 to water to reduce algae. So they last OK - until I decide to use another color scheme ;-)).

Irina

Just out of curiosity - cause I've seen a grower's capilary matting production...

- what are you placing between the matting and the tray?
- does the Physan 20 not help to prevent the crud?
- how often do you remove them and clean them in the wash?

Dora

Dora -

I use eggcrate grids, buy them in HD in a fluorescent fixtures isle and cut to the size. Now they make them flimsier and flimsier - so I put condiment cups on a bottom of Permanest or black trays to support the eggcrate grid.

Physan 20 slows the development of algae and bottom slime, not eradicates them. So the mats got green eventually. Plus since I add fertilized water - water evaporates, the fabric gets salted, the salts from water start accumulateing o n the sides of the tray etc.

Woud I keep my collection under control - I would be leaching every pot once a month and washing trays and mats at the same time. But since I am not - I will try to work through them at least every 3 months unless something makes them really dirty.

irina