My neighbor gave me some AV self-watering pots. They are the kind with the holes in the bottom that you use a wick with. I've never used these before....have my AV in regular pots. Anyway, I'd like to use these with my water loving hoyas. I have some lacunosa cuttings rooted and ready to pot (thank you Mel!).
I'm thinking I'll just use a piece of synthetic yarn as the wick and loop that around inside the pot and use my usual fast draining mix (cacus mix with extra perlite and orchid bark). Does that sound okay? Any suggestions from those of you who have used this method before?
Question about self-watering pots
Just found this post, Sharon....sorry it has gone unanswered so long.... :(
I think they should work just fine....you self watering pots. Let us know! With your mix it will never get soppy and hoyas like H. multiflora should thrive in a constantly 'damp' pot!!! In fact, they all should.
Good thinking Number 9.
Carol
Carol, thanks for your comments. I decided to play it safe (that tends to be my nature, lol!) and just potted them up the usual way. After they grow out enough, then I'll take cuttings and try the AV pot. If it doesn't work for some reason, I'll still have the mother plant.
I don't know how I missed this question, but I do grow several hoyas in those type of pots. However, mine are not African Violet ones as they are BIG ones. They just have a separate space in the bottom that holds water and I use some yarn as a wick that takes it up into the soil of the plant. I grow a big H.compacta in one of those, and also a H. multifloria. I did have a H. bella in one, but for some reason it didn't do well in there & kept loosing leaves, so I went back to my other method for that one. I also have a H. australis in one. I think most hoyas would do well in those pots. Some may want to go dry in the bottom before you fill it up again. Mine sometimes goes dry if I forget to water on time. Ha. When you get duplicates you can experiment like I do. That way, if you loose a plant, at least you have another.
Marcy
Like Marcy I also use pots that have a water reservoir on the bottom and an integrated wick that draws the water up. The pots I can get here are the perfect size with approx 5" diameter for the smallest and 90% of my Hoyas grow in them. One recommendation of mine when using these pots is not to use a very loose soil mix in them as a "to loose" soil mix may ihibit the water getting from the reservoir to the top.
What about placing your already potted 4" pots inside of the pots to receive humidity, and using a wick to put in the top. How does this sound. I have justed started putting some of my hoyas in these as decoration. The black plastic just doesn't go with my hoya room, did I just say that? I meant my DINING room, colors. Lol!
Heather
Marcy, thanks for sharing your experience! I will definitely give these a try when I want to pot up some extra cuttings. Knowing others have had success gives me confidence to test it.
PC, you're lucky to be able to find the smaller pots. All I've been able to find here are the small AV pots, then the much larger self-watering pots which would be too big for my hoyas....not much in between. Thanks for the tip of not using a soil that is 'too loose'.
Heather, sorry but I'm not sure I'm understanding you. Are you saying to sit the pot inside the top part of the AV pot and run a wick down into the bowl with water that it sits in? Or, are you talking about the pots for other plants that has a water reservoir in the bottom?
Humm, I'm talking about the pots with the resevoir in the bottom. Where you water them from the bottom. I have put my square 4" pots on the top part of the self watering ones. Would this provide humidity?
HTH
Heather
Thanks for the clarification Heather. I may give that a try since I prefer to keep my plants in the cheap plastic pots (easier to unpot when necessary) but like you, I prefer the looks of the nicer pots. I would think that it would provide additional humidity.