What Terri said... :-)

My experience is that terra cotta doesn't work well for me. It might be because it's so dry here (Colorado). I've never tried to use ceramic (Glazed inside) pots before, probably as they're so expensive. Maybe a good test of soil moisture would be to try and make a ball of it with a fist-if it maintains it's shape when your hand is open, without seeping through your fingers (too wet then), it will probably be OK. Though a lot of folk use vermiculite, I don't either. However, it will hold moisture-much more so than perlite. Perlite is awesome for lightening the soil. My mix is pretty similar to Terri's except I'm not wicking right now-using capillary mats. The action is similar though. My plants get a good layer of perlite on the bottom (over a screen on the bottom of the pot), and it wicks the water up nicely from the mats.

Probably wouldn't hurt to have the "Dampness" factor calibrated by someone. Let us know how it goes-I may experiment myself tomorrow.

Best,

Judy

Because you are just getting started why not also try some high quality plastic pots in the correct size? That was what I did when deciding among self watering, terra cotta, and plastic. I replaced the thin plastic pots that O's come in for nursery pots. They cost very little and are easy to clean and light weight. At first, I used to keep them inside terra cotta pots as cache pots for weight. But no longer bother with the cache pots. I have known so many new growers who insisted on using self watering pots, but that is not always what works best. Also, I found self watering much harder to control the amount of moisture. They are heavy and take up extra space on shelves. I am glad, Terri, that you shared that you use these pots.

Thanks

My project/my story on AV--

my mom & I discovered the ceramic pots years ago (we only purchased for $8 at Lowes) & these pots helped us keep our violets alive. i recently posted an inquiry about my multiple crowned AV that my grandmother gave to me & it lived in it for 15 years- repotted it a few times & has done great despite my neglect. I have split it & have 5 crowns & planted several leaves in hopes to have one to survive . I am trying a few leaves from our other AVs & a crown that broke off another that trying to recover it . Before I did all this, I ordered 2 semi-min & 1 mini & they just arrived -- so I have lots of projects for a newbie to take on !!

All of the ceramic pots we have seem not to be working as well, so I'm soaking them in vinegar to see if will save a few pots, but will prob get rid of a lot of them. We also used miracle grow av soil mix. I have read so much & still know so little but am on my way to have better AVs.

Thanks for all your insight! I will try the ball test with what I've made & will try some mixes with spaghnum peat moss & perlite & omit the vermiculite.

~Betina

I am up for trying more than one method for pots. I have my crowns & leaves in mini solo cups & hopefully will have many babies to experiment with. Taking all suggestions!

Betina, I have all of my violets on wicks. From micro mini to standard. Here is what I do.

I use only plastic pots (or plastic Kcups, or small plastic solo cups. As long as it is plastic) I thread my wick thru a hole in the bottom of the pot and then put a layer of paper towel or napkin over the holes just so the dirt won't fall out. The wick is then put across the bottom and up the side of the pot for a couple inches. I then plant into the pot. I give it a good drink and let it sit in and inch of water to make sure I get the wick good and wet. Then I set it on it's base and make sure the wick is dangling correctly.

My mix is equal parts of Miracle Gro and perlite. That's it. It seems to work pretty well! Good luck! Rosie

Thanks Rosie. what size of wick? Does it matter for size of pot?

My testing results so far:

for the oyama pots, 75/25 mix seemed to meet the moistness test as Judy described -- I can make a fist & it stays formed but I don't squeeze any water out. After 24 hours, the moistness seems to be the same after sitting in the water from the oyama pot. And if I think it will stay too wet, I guess I will dump out the water to let it dry up a bit. 60/40 was too soggy for my oyama pots. I will try a violet when ready in the 75/25 & see how it likes it. It is humid here in Illinois, but once winter comes, the heat will dry the air out a bit so the 75/25 will hopefully be perfect. :)

Oops sorry,,,,forgot. I use a nylon type string that is about the size of a #2 pencil lead. Just about the size of normal string. Even for a 4" pot (a mature plant) one strand sucks up and works well. I have also used it for a 6 inch pot and the plant stays nice and moist. Good luck! Rosie

Miracle Grow African Violet in a 50% perlite mix, what brand of perlite do you use. The Miracle Grow perlite I've gotten the last 2 years or so has a lot of dust and fine particles. Is there a better brand? How often do you repot your Violets, every year?

Fred

I don't have much of a choice. I buy either the one from Lowe's or Walmart. No personal preference. Just depends on what store I am in when I need it. I can't remember the brand name. Have to groc shop today and as luck would have it,,,,,I need perlite! I will let you know what brand it is later. Rosie

Hi Fred! Bought my bag of perlite from Lowe's last night. It is Miracle Gro brand. She said that is the only one they carry. The only reason I asked is because the bag looked a little different. She said they changed the packaging! THAT will throw me off considerably. But it is Miracle Gro. Rosie

Thanks Rosie. The only reason I bring it up is I find that lately MG perlite has a lot of dust and fine particles and I'm looking for more chunkier perlite for better drainage. Do you repot every year?

No, I don't repot every year. I repot when things NEED it, not on a time frame.

I don't have too much of a problem with smaller particles. I only use perlite to add to soil, so it gets mixed into soil anyway.

I know there are different sizes of perlite but I don't know where to get it. Maybe others in the forum can comment on this. Maybe try a hydroponic (is that correct???) store. They may have larger.

We actually have 2 of those type places here in Monroe. I have never gone in but I intend to, just 'cause I am curious about what they have! Rosie

If you do a search for "coarse perlite" you will get lots of hits. I bought my last bags on Ebay from the Violet Showcase and there are several offers for it right now from various vendors. You're looking for a #3 or #4 grade. I don't mix this with my potting mix; I use it in the bottom of my pots for modified Texas-style watering. There is still some dust/small particles in the bags because the stuff just naturally sheds, but mostly you will get pieces that are about 1/2" in size. I still use the small perlite (available at most big box stores) to add to my soil mix, but the larger grade is what I need for drainage in the bottoms of the pots because I use capillary mats to water my AV's. Be careful if you use the Miracle Gro brand perlite; last time I checked it they are now adding fertilizer to it...so, if you have fertilizer in your potting soil (which it is hard to find any without these days,) fertilizer in your perlite and then you add more fertilizer when you water - it could spell trouble for your violets. Trust me, you do not want to find out about over-fertilization (micro-nutrient toxicity) first hand. If using these charged products, I would withhold any additional fertilizer for the first 2 or 3 months after re-potting.

And I re-pot my violets at least once (aiming for twice) a year. I will admit that the larger my collection grows (now well over 100 - yikes!) the less I get to that second time for the entire group. But it is worth making the effort because it is simply amazing how they respond to fresh soil and take off with new growth and bloom. Alternately, if you can't re-pot that often, even adding a bit of fresh soil to the top of the pot (thereby burying any neck) can also perk them up, I've found. IME, after a year most AV's are getting a neck on them anyway, and lowering them in the pot is much easier if you catch it before you are left with no other solution than to re-start the crown because the stem has gotten so long that even cutting off the bottom of the root ball won't make them short enough to sit down inside the pot as they should.

Guess I should clarify. About potting when they need it,,,,Anne is correct, they do need something done about once a year. Yeah it IS usually that necky thing!

So I do as she does, I cut off the bottom of the root ball, which lowers the neck into the pot, add more soil on top and wa la! Done! And sometimes while burying the neck I take off the outer row of leaves which means I get to put in even more fresh soil so it is a win/win !!! In fact I have two now that really could use that treatment but I will wait a little while. These two survived the furnace freeze last winter so small neck or not,,,,,I don't want to rock the boat because I still don't think the new leaves are the size they should be. I will wait just a bit longer. But I won't wait to the point that I have to literally re-start the neck drastically. I really hate doing that. Rosie