Welcome to the forum!

Well, I use two of the pots in your pictures. How long have they been growing in there? Did you buy them in bloom and this is the bloom they came with (from home depot/lowes maybe?) I found Isabelle there this year and last year Annabelle from Opt. site but neither has bloomed again for me. I have them on a light stand now and if nothing much happens, I'm going to give them away, maybe someone else would have better luck with them. I'm tired of the bloomless violets. Some seem to bloom alot more ofen. ANYWAY, back to the pots! The first self-watering pot is tricky. If you don't add enough perlite in your soil, the roots will go bad quickly. I also put a layer of perlite on the bottom before I plant the violet and I keep a low water level in the bottom bowl and let it go dry from time to time. Some of my violets have done just fine and others not so well. The second plant, I have some of those, mostly the old McCoy ones (love old planters and pots) and I top water which most people will tell you is a no, no. But carefully and keep the water off the crown of the plant. If you bought those plants and they were growing in the peat, you might want to get as much of that off the roots as possible when you repot...it keeps them too wet usually (in the mean time if they have that peat, just don't water too much...don't look at the top of the soil, check down near the roots, peat really holds in moisture)

I have been using some Dandy pots and oyma pots purchased on ebay. They are self watering and work quite well...again more perlite in the soil mix is key. Also I use decorative pots and put a water reserve in the bottom (deli container filled with water and a hole cut in the lid) I set the potted plant on top of that with the yarn down into the water...and it's called "wicking". Then there is the fruit cup that fits into a yoguart container for smaller plants. I plant in the fruit cup (put in a yarn wick) and it sets right down in the top of the yoguart cup where I put a couple inches of water (which I paint to look better, or it can all sit down into a decorative flower pot). Also for small solo cups and small plastic pots, the cone shaped youplait yoguart works great and don't tip over, which is nice too. I have a lot of plants, so I just use a little of everything. If you read back past posts, there are a lot of good stuff about growing violets.

tish

Hi rubyfruit

That is the prettiest self-watering pot I've ever seen. Really like black pots for plants.

I grow my violets in 4" plastic pots, never tried any other type. I order them from different violet vendors.

Your plants look beautiful, happy growing.

cyberdancer

cyberdancer - thanks!
The black planter is available through
http://www.africanvioletpots.net/
and
http://www.clcvioletpots.com/

Hi, Tish!
Thanks for the advice!

The plant in the black self-watering pot... I got that plant about 2 weeks ago , and yes it came in bloom. (I bought it online from a greenhouse). I put it in that black pot just a few days ago.
The plant in the blue pot - the plant AND the pot came from Lowe's yes. The pot is just a regular flower pot - it drains into the saucer that is attached. That plant came in bloom as well.

The blue pot, I have been top watering, but it drains, and I don't water too often.

I'm new to this all, and I've been using the soil they came with! When re-potting, I just added a little "Miracle Gro African Violet mix" soil to top it off. I haven't mixed anything into it.

Two of my plants are wicked.

I am concerned with the appearance of the planters... I keep them on windowsills in my kitchen/sunroom and I like a "finished" look.

Do you like the Oyama planters? They come in several colors, right? Different sizes too?

The pink striped flower plant (in the blue pot) came in a massive plastic pot from Lowe's - it must have been 6 or 7 inches. I removed a lot of the soil to fit it into this 4 or 5 inch blue pot.

Thank you!

Nice plants, Ruby. If you look on the forum's main page, there's a FAQ that'll give you some hints. Also, Rachel's Reflections is a wonderful site with tons of cultural information.

The plant in the black pot looks like it was potted a little high, and the blue pot a little low. You want your soil to be level with the bottom of the outermost leaves. This way your crown isn't buried or your roots exposed. Also, for self-watering pots your soil mix should be at least half perlite so the roots get adequate air and not drown.

Also, the plant in the blue pot is a wonderful example of what AVs do when they don't get enough light; they s-t-r-e-t-c-h upwards. It should eventually lay flat with a good amount of light.

Korina

ÂThey can shoot me dead, but the moral high ground is *mine*. ~the Doctor

Here is a link that might be useful: Rachel's Reflections

Korina - thanks!

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by potted too high and too low. Do you mean how deep the plant is and how buried?

I haven't used Perlite... I guess I better get some!

The one stretching... I got it at Lowe's where they keep the plants indoors without special lights... its in my sunroom now, hopefully it'll fix itself!

RubyFruit in NY

Ruby - do not worry so much.

Yes - they need soil with more perlite. Yes - they need more light. Lowe's doesn't grow them - they sell them, so it doesn't matter for them if there is not enough light - they will be sold out in several days, and what's left - in 2 weeks will look like junk and will be written off and thrown out.

Even if your conditions are not perfect right now - they can wait until you read some literature and websites, may go see people in the AV club - there tons of AV clubs in NY area - check on avsa.org site.

The soil they have right now - I presume is too heavy - so water them carefully, do not let them get too soggy, do not let them sit in water - and they will be OK. If you start repotting them every 3 days - they will die from it. They need to recuperate after repotting.

Good luck

irina

Hi, Irina. Thanks for the advice!

I expected the two plants from Lowe's to need some tlc.

I've done lots of reading online... maybe even TOO Much (obsessing)... I think once I get the soil thing down, proper planters, I'll be OK!

I'm using the soil they came in... plus a little African Violet soil by Miracle Gro. I won't overwater! I don't plan on repotting again and again! But with no perlite in the self-waterer, will it die that way?

Ruby -

treat your self waterer as a usual pot - water from the top and do not fill the reservoir.

Thing about them - they are expensive, heavy and need a special approach to succeed. Some of the members of our chat like them, most - go for the cheap plastic. I understand your desire to have a "finished" look. I think eventually you will have your collection of 100 some plants and a shelving unit (I recognize the beginning of the addiction) -
and you will always be able to select the plants in their blooming prime, slip them into the cachepot and put at the dining table or any other strategically good location, keep them for a week or 2 - and than replace with another one sending the old one back to the shelf.

Good luck

Irina

Irina

OK, I'll water the black pot from the top since I have no perlite in there.

I definately see my collection expanding over time... but shelves & lights I think are too much for me! I live in a little house (its basically a beach cottage) with only 6 rooms! But not until I make sure I don't kill these! Maybe when I see my first baby get a bloom I'll get a new one!
(btw - do you know how long it takes for babies to start blooming on average?)

Thanks!

Ruby -

I am sure your beach side cottage is the best and most inviting house and everything is very warm and pretty. And you have a good size yard too.

I am not saying that you need to get yourself a shelving unit right now - but we all started with one plant ;-))

WIth good conditions the babies sometimes can bloom in 4 months - from the moment they pop up from mother leaf.

I.

Ruby -

Your black container is just gorgeous, but I echo the advice above. It is hard to grow violets in these pots. For growing, I use homemade wick pots. Volkmann pots are a commercial version of these that work very well but don't look very fancy. My homemade ones are plastic pots with wicks made from old nylon tights. The wicks dangle into reservoirs made from plastic storage containers with 2 holes melted in the lids (one for the wick, one for refilling with water). The pots sit on top of the reservoirs. You need a very light soil mix for wicking - about 1-1-1 perlite, vermiculite, peat moss with some dolomite lime. For display, it may be possible to find a container to hide the whole pot and reservoir setup (tall basket or window box?). If not, I have had friends who turned a saucer upside down inside an oversize cachepot. The wicked pot goes in the cachepot sitting on the "riser" and the cachepot is filled with water to the level of the bottom of the pot. Attractive wicked pots could also be set in a tray with capillary matting (I use blanket material for the mat). I don't know why they don't make ceramic pots with reservoirs for wicking instead of the porous-pot insert type. Any potters out there want to take orders? Coming up with an attractive shape for that type of pot would be a bit more difficult, but I think a simple cylinder shape would work with a pot insert sitting above the water area rather than in the water. Better yet would be a pretty cachepot designed for wicking a violet that is already growing in a standard plastic azalea pot. The cachepot would have an insert that would hold the pot above the water line. Hopefully, the reservoir would hold at least eight ounces of water - the more the better.

QC

I'm also new to the whole Perfect Pot question. I'll try to post some photos but here's what I've found works for me: I use 9-cent plastic pots from any Big Box Store to plant the violets. These are 4" diameter and about 3" tall. I then set these into china soup cups which I buy from open stock in various Kitchen Etc shops. They are 3"-3.5" tall and about 4" in diameter. One of my minis is at the moment in a cut-down yogurt plastic cup set inside a coffee cup from my semi-formal dinner set :-) I don't wick them; just pour water into the cup when necessary and pour out the unused water after about an hour.
They all look great in this neutral color scheme and have ready made handles for easy lifting. I rotate them as center pieces on my dinner table. They're small, cute and don't get in the way. I expect I'll switch to a more professional look if I ever raise something worth showing, but for now this seems just right for me. Please see my separate post coming to your neighborhood soon.
Krys

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I've changed my mind about making a separate post. It leads to confusion, as we have seen in other cases.
Here's "Marocco" in a 4"x3" soup cup. I was trying to upload three shots but Image Shack will only do one at a time. Somebody needs to teach me how to post multiples. Anyway, this is a decorated cup. My others are all white. I'll be back with another one. Y'all hang in there.
Krys

Well, I'm clearly doing something wrong. I'll have to think about this. But trust me, I have some nice shots somewhere in there. LOL
Krys

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If there's a picture here, it's "Marocco" as described above.
Krys

I quit.
No idea what's wrong. I did everything I've always done.
Sorry.
Krys

/Users/alberthanser/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified/2007/Roll 199/P1010007.JPG

This one I've just pasted in from my file. Let's see. Krys

Aw nuts! I'm going to make some dinner now.
Krys

[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/9152/p1010006uk9.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
By [URL=http://profile.imageshack.us/user/krys1937]krys1937[/URL]
What have we here? Maybe "King's Ransom" in a coffee cup.
This is absolutely my last try. I think the problem may have been that I wasn't Signed In when I did the uploading. I wish the preview box would show the actual picture to save this sort of trouble.
Krys

Sorry, Krys
I can't see the photos!

Krys - you're using the BB code for forums, but this forum reads HTML. Look for something that starts with a

Violetta,
That's my problem -- I get used to doing things one way and when there's a sudden change I don't know what happened. I'm digitally illiterate. I'll check the html etc but I just about hate to keep extending this thread to no avail.
Still, I'm getting obsessed now.
I'll give it another try.
Krys

{{gwi:375997}}
Thank you Violetta!!!
I don't know why I forgot that.
So, here's my "King's Ransom" in a teacup. I bought it from Deb here on the Forum. That's my husband's hand to show the relative size.
I'll keep going now on the next two posts to show what I tried to do hours ago.
I'm on a roll now LOLOLOl
Krys

{{gwi:375998}}

OK, so here's "Marocco" in a soup cup with a design.
By the way, I just tried to do "multipload" but even though it said it was uploading two pics only one showed in the preview.
Still mystified, Krys

{{gwi:376000}}
This is a lovely Noid that's probably a sport, according to Fred Hill but I love it and it looks great in the white soup cup.
And now I'm definitely done. I hope you enjoyed my squirreling around here. My Apple computer and I have these conflicts quite often.
Goodnight Everybody.
Krys ;-))

Krystyna- i love the soup/tea cups!
Adorable!
What are they in INSIDE those?

And... beautiful plants!

Ruby,
The av's are planted in nursery plastic pots. They are those plain green things 3" tall with a 4" diameter that you can find at Home Depot et al. I paid 9 cents apiece. They fit the soup cups with about 1/4" gap around the border. The teacup is 2.5" tall with a 3" diameter. The av in that is planted in a cut-down yogurt cup with holes punched in the bottom.
The soup cups can be found in many household stores. I got my plain white ones (they also come in bright colors and I have a blue one holding a pink av) at Kitchen & Company for about $4 each. The one with the design was a Christmas gift (there are two) from a friend.
I'm glad you like my flowers. And my apologies again for my initial incompetence in uploading the pictures.
Krys

No worries Krys! It was well worth it to see those cuties. I love using random things as planters, it's always so unexpected and adorable! Most of the things I used to use were picked up at drugstores on clearance.

(I'm still wishing I hadn't left all my planters with my mother in MA when I moved, but at the time it felt ridiculous to try to bring them all with me... ah well. Recollecting is just as fun, I suppose.)

Chiming in a bit late, but most of my AVs are in oyama planters. They work really, really well, but given how much less other options cost I doubt I'd keep buying more if my collection expanded - which, given how many leaves I have down right now, it's going to do very quickly!