I think before you move your ailing violets to a whole new system of watering, you need to do some research and learning - AND you need to find out what is wrong with your 5 plants before you do anything else. Can you post any photos of them here? Photo's are invaluable when trying to diagnose a problem. Tell us about how you are caring for them currently, such as what kind of light do they get and how much? I think I caught on another post that you had your plants outdoors - were they in direct sun? How do you water them right now? What are they growing in? There are so many things that could be easily fixed if we know what you are doing currently...and THEN you can learn about wick watering and decide if it is for you and your plants. But if you really want to know about how to wick right now, if you do a search in this forum for "wick watering" you'll come up with lots of discussions about it. If you Google that term, I believe there are even You-Tube videos that show you how. But seriously, I do not recommend your making this change willy-nilly until you understand what is wrong with your plants that makes you call them "sick violets."

Exactly the advice I would give also. This forum has a lot of info about wick watering. Usually if you try something drastic (converting from soil care to wick watering for one) you will just hasten the death of the plants.

There are a lot of things to consider within wicking and you have to decide on how YOU are going to do it.

So first do some reading of past posts (there is no quick way to do this) and see what suits you for your violets!

Let us know how you are doing and oh yeah,,,,,pix. Rosie

And...(btw I'm the antithesis of wick-watering) unless the problem you have is under watering, wick-watering probably wouldn't be a panacea for you. It also isn't a sure fire recipe, you have to try different soil mixes, wicks, and ventilation conditions to get it right for each and every installation.

Obviously therefore you would want to start wicking with healthy plants.

And once you get it right, it saves in labor. That's about it.

Saves labor yes, but more importantly for me, it saves mess. Top watering a large number of plants in an indoor environment was a disaster for me. If wicking didn't work for me, I wouldn't have indoor plants.

But, as mentioned above, you really have to deal with your ailing plants before you decide how you might water them in the future.

I am catching up after a week of being busy - reading through all posts - and if I am not mistaken - the problem with the plants is that the grower tried to grow them outside and they probably are suffering from a heat and sun exposure.

And I would recommend a slow recovery inside, removing wilted leaves... and letting them fully heal before moving forward.

Any serious changes create stress - and these plants do not need stress. Meanwhile Deborah can do her research, look at the videos on youtube - I am sure there are plenty on wicking violets. You cannot just pull a wick through an existing soil - the pot will be too wet. you need to repot your plants into a significantly lighter soil...there is some info here - and everywhere on internet these days.

Good Luck

I.