A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Self Watering African Violets pots?

I planted the two Self Watering pots with the largest of my AV's.





They seem to like their new home. I got mine for just under $5 each at WM.

Can anyone help me find an AV pot? We're in small-town SD and don't have many stores around, so a website would be great. I'm looking for the kind that looks kind of like a two-spouted teapot.

firsttimer the pots above is all I have ever seen. I got four like Triss has cannot find anymore here in DFW area. But still looking. Don't know of an online place to get them. Someone should come along can help you.Welcome to the forum.

Firsttimer, I could check Wal Mart or Home Depot's website. I got mine from WalMart so assume they would be online. Have not seen whet you are describing though.

We have lots here Jimmy, are there any colors you are looking for specifically?

handmade av pots

more handmade pots

this one has the style you want

yet another

one more

edit:

i got mine at home depot, lowes, sears hardware and franks nursery (which has since gone out of business). the above sites have some REALLY nice pots...most offer much nicer products than any i bought in the stores (some are very similar to what i've got, too).

No Triss no special colors I could only get four at the time and now they say they wont get anymore in until maybe next springs. I hust havent had time to check the other million WM they have in the area with gas being so high and all. But thanks anyway. I may also check their website.

Will look for ya next time I head out there Jimmy!

Thank you so much Joclyn! That's exactly what I was looking for!

you're welcome!!!

you can keep other plants in these pots too...anything that is really sensitive to water levels and needs to be kept evenly moist do really well in them!

What kinds of other plants? I love the one I bought for my African Violet.

i've got my minature roses (aka serissa) in them. when i was searching for info on these mini's (for bonsai) i learned that they tend to drop leaves if the soil drys out...so i put them in the really small av pots that i had stored away. overnight i saw a differnce in the 3 plants!!

i'm planning on getting another polka dot plant - they're sensitive to the moisture level - as i found out the hard way. so are anthurium.

Joclyn
Do you keep your mini roses in the house or outside?

Does anyone have a problem with the water not passing through the porous part easily? My AV soil is bone dry Any suggestions?

I just started mine but so far so good on the soil being moist. How long have you had yours?

rose, they're inside - right now, they're only a couple of inches tall. i went to the philly flower show this year specifically to get something for bonsai and didn't want to do the usual plants... i'll have to find out if i CAN put them outside - the natural light might be good for them. not sure about high temps tho...

snap, you've got to fill the resevoir up enough so that the unglazed inner pot sits at least 1/2 way in the water. i usually add enough water so it's almost touching the part at the top that is glazed...i fill, then put the inner pot back in & let it sit a moment and then pull it up so i can check the water line on it. the more water you put in when you refill, the less often you need to check the level

i've had this set (i've got 4) since 2002. they were given to me - all of them cramped into one large pot - just a regular 6 inch green plastic thing. after about a year they weren't growing too much - or flowering, so, i transplanted them out to seperate av pots and they've all doubled in size and now they flower constantly.

I've got one of the ceramic type and I love it. Helps take the guess work out of watering and you don't have to worry so much about root rot.

Mandy

yup!

I have mine in ceramic two piece pots that I made at ceramics class.The plant loves it-Water goes in the bottom piece and the plant soaks it up thru the unglazed top piece that fits inside the bottom.The edges are fluted and quite attractive.If you know a place that sells finished ceramics product it would be a good investment or a friend that does ceramics maybe could do one for you.All the girls in cermaics use them and also make as gifts.

mine is ceramic and I keep plenty of water in the base, but I think that the roots are too short to pull it through. The pot is a little over a year old and I didn't notice problems with it until a few months ago. I tried refreshing the soil, but the bottom leaves are dying while the crown is so tight it won't allow buds to reach the sun and bloom.

snap, the self-watering pots were designed to take into consideration the fact that av's like to have a constant supply of water (altho they don't like to actually sit in sopping wet soil) as well as the fact that they don't like their roots to have to go too far to find it.

altho av's also like to be a bit root-bound they don't like it when their roots have absolutely no breathing room. could it be possible that your av just needs a slightly larger pot?

also, what to you do in the way of maintenance? by that, i mean do you do any pruning? is so, what, exactly, are you doing?

does it matter how much water I put in the bottom of my pot? When a flower or leaf dies, should I cut it off or let it fall away?
Thanks

you want to put enough water in the bottom so that the insert is sitting in it deeply enough that the plant is getting the amount of moisture it needs to thrive - at least 1/2 way covered. i always fill them up so that the water level is pretty high...then i only have to check them every 3 weeks or so to refill as needed. that works out well if you hit a busy period and don't have time to check the water levels every week

it's usually best to take the flower stalks off as soon as the flowers have dried up - you'll get new stalks and blooms sooner.

i try to get the leaves when they are in the process of starting to turn brown and wither. sometimes i find small leaves underneath the main bunch that are dried up and it doesn't seem to hurt the growth any.

so, no I'm fairly sure it doesn't need a larger pot.... it's dying underneath (I just plucked out 5 leaves that were brown and dry)the root is minimal to say the least (about an inch and a half total tap root). So now I'm really thinking it's not getting any water at all (soil still bone dry).... so anyone know anything about increasing root growth in AVs?

snap, av's grow from the center of the plant and the leaves that are the oldest (and first to die) will be 'underneath'. that's the normal growth pattern it's also a constant thing - at least in my experience. when i see new growth at the center, i know i'll be seeing some of the older/larger leaves dieing off.

if you have dead leaves, you should have new growth too. sometimes they slow down with the growth and sometimes they take a break from flowering - all totally normal.

do you have enough water in the pot so that the insert is immersed in it? is the insert unglazed? on the inside as well as the outside? a bit of glazing around the top rim (of the insert) is okay.

the soil isn't going to look wet, it will feel slightly moist tho. if you've missed a refill and the soil goes totally dry, you'll need to refill and let the soil become remoistened. or, maybe there's a crack in the base and the water is leaching out instead staying in there for the plant to drink?

also, when you redid the soil, did you use av potting mix? it should be lightly tamped down not packed solid...the roots need breathing room.

could you post a pic of it? side view as well as from above.

oh, another thing: did you move it to a new location right before you started having problems?

That's what I was concerned about. I have quite a few leaves that are dying off and my av has stopped flowering- however I have quite a few new leaves in the center. So do you think my plant is doing okay???