How To Wick It
MAKE IT EASY ON YOURSELF
Once you decide to grow a lot of violets, you are going to have to automate how you care for them at some point. I'm switching most of mine over to wick watering. This is my happy place, my favorite window.
You can successfully bottom water violets and many people do it for years with great results. I don't wick my babies because they are going to other people who may not wick water so I use a general (not wick) mix for my starter plants. I don't community wick any plants either so I don't have to worry about spreading pathogens. And I use tray watering for my plantlets and it works great that way.
But unless you want to spend a lot of your time individually watering each plant you have a couple of times a week, you will need a better system with your collection after you get several. And with several dozen (or a few hundred), that can get old pretty quick.
You actually need to pick them up and look them over real good from time to time anyway but you may also have a life and want to get away from them occasionally too. Putting them on a reservoir system can really free you up for those times, especially if you need to be away from them for several days.
I've been growing violets for a long time but it took a lot for me to switch most of mine over to wicking. I was not convinced that it's good for them to be constantly wet so I'm still watching them closely. I've had to pull the wick out of the water for a day or two for some that I thought were too wet.
You can use the hydroponic trays and plastic lighting grills or individual containers. I prefer the individual containers because pathogens can be spread in community trays. I also have a lot of plants on window shelves in four windows where trays just won't work. I also use Pond Care Algae Destroyer in my water to keep the algae down.
I also prefer to keep my stock plants in window light and grow my babies and plantlets on lighting shelves, separate from each other.
THE WICK
I use acrylic yarn and separate it to one ply for my wick but you could use any synthetic string, not cotton (I've even read that some people use cut up pantyhose). I use Caron acrylic yarn. I don't wash or soak the wicks first. Washing and wetting them is an option but it's not something you have to do. Mine pulls water up just fine inserted dry at 1 ply. They will draw water up as soon as you put one end into the water either way. To keep the ends from fraying, hold them over a flame for a second before getting them wet. I run the wick about half way up the inside of the pot before I add wick mix. If your soilless mix is dry, dampen it before potting and give it a little drink to get the wicking started afterwards. That's all you have to do.
THE RESERVOIRS
Keep an eye on your containers to make sure they are going down a little each day and feel the top of your soil. It should be wet. But what may be too wet for regular soil is not too wet for wicking soil. They should stay wet all the time. Don't worry, if your mix is right and has enough perlite in it, the roots will have the aeration they need to keep them from rotting. That constant dampness with air pockets will improve your violets. They love it.
I use containers from the dollar store in two different sizes for my plants. I cut a hole (or burn one with a soldering iron) in the lid for the wick to go through and make it big enough to stick my watering can spout in when I water. I also cut my constant feeding plant food in fourths. I use Optimara's 14-12-14 for my standards and their 7-9-5 for my minis right in the water.
THE WICK MIX
I mix my own wicking mix. I go with a lighter mix, closer to 40/60 peat and perlite. I cut the vermiculite way down because it holds too much water. Here's my wick mix recipe. Use it as a starting point to make your own, adjusting it to your own liking for your unique growing conditions.
I've only lost two violets so far during the transition until I got my mix right and they absolutely did not like the mix at 50/50 (which was the recommended starting point) and they rotted before I noticed what was happening.
It is possible that I didn't thoroughly remove all the old mix with vermiculite off the roots of the two that bit the dust when I repotted them for wicking, so I re-adjusted my mix by adding in more perlite and continued on. I went slow and only did a few at a time and gave them a couple of days to see if they did alright. I did not pot up all my violets until I was sure the mix was light enough.
THE TRANSITION
I started out wicking a few plants and when I was satisfied they were doing well, I did more and more of them. It is a big mistake to try and put all of your violets on wicking all at once. You can lose your whole collection if your mix gets too wet and they all rot.
I still prefer to water my older ones with gravel trays from the bottom but when I repot them into a lighter mix, I may put them on wicks too.
And if I need to change my mind later for whatever reason, I can just remove the reservoirs and put them back on a gravel tray, leaving the wick in. So when I pot all of them up, I wick them now.
THE REWARD
Although I still check them every day to make sure they don't have any problems, what I've learned is that wicking can help make it easier to care for them. I knew I had it right when my test plants puffed up and started putting out more blooms. I could actually see them getting fatter and thicker within a week's time.
And a little side note - they grow bigger and faster and bloom more after wicking them! Give it a try and put some of your violets on auto pilot. They will thank you for it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
July 21, 2018 - My wicked plants have all adjusted to wick watering in my new mix and they love it! They got bigger and are still blooming better than they ever have before. I will never go back to regular mix for them all! I know how they grow monsters for show now. These are turning into blooming monsters, really they are. I'm surprised and delighted - and just a little afraid they might eat me in my sleep if I don't feed them. :)
Once you decide to grow a lot of violets, you are going to have to automate how you care for them at some point. I'm switching most of mine over to wick watering. This is my happy place, my favorite window.
You can successfully bottom water violets and many people do it for years with great results. I don't wick my babies because they are going to other people who may not wick water so I use a general (not wick) mix for my starter plants. I don't community wick any plants either so I don't have to worry about spreading pathogens. And I use tray watering for my plantlets and it works great that way.
But unless you want to spend a lot of your time individually watering each plant you have a couple of times a week, you will need a better system with your collection after you get several. And with several dozen (or a few hundred), that can get old pretty quick.
You actually need to pick them up and look them over real good from time to time anyway but you may also have a life and want to get away from them occasionally too. Putting them on a reservoir system can really free you up for those times, especially if you need to be away from them for several days.
I've been growing violets for a long time but it took a lot for me to switch most of mine over to wicking. I was not convinced that it's good for them to be constantly wet so I'm still watching them closely. I've had to pull the wick out of the water for a day or two for some that I thought were too wet.
You can use the hydroponic trays and plastic lighting grills or individual containers. I prefer the individual containers because pathogens can be spread in community trays. I also have a lot of plants on window shelves in four windows where trays just won't work. I also use Pond Care Algae Destroyer in my water to keep the algae down.
I also prefer to keep my stock plants in window light and grow my babies and plantlets on lighting shelves, separate from each other.
THE WICK
I use acrylic yarn and separate it to one ply for my wick but you could use any synthetic string, not cotton (I've even read that some people use cut up pantyhose). I use Caron acrylic yarn. I don't wash or soak the wicks first. Washing and wetting them is an option but it's not something you have to do. Mine pulls water up just fine inserted dry at 1 ply. They will draw water up as soon as you put one end into the water either way. To keep the ends from fraying, hold them over a flame for a second before getting them wet. I run the wick about half way up the inside of the pot before I add wick mix. If your soilless mix is dry, dampen it before potting and give it a little drink to get the wicking started afterwards. That's all you have to do.
THE RESERVOIRS
Keep an eye on your containers to make sure they are going down a little each day and feel the top of your soil. It should be wet. But what may be too wet for regular soil is not too wet for wicking soil. They should stay wet all the time. Don't worry, if your mix is right and has enough perlite in it, the roots will have the aeration they need to keep them from rotting. That constant dampness with air pockets will improve your violets. They love it.
I use containers from the dollar store in two different sizes for my plants. I cut a hole (or burn one with a soldering iron) in the lid for the wick to go through and make it big enough to stick my watering can spout in when I water. I also cut my constant feeding plant food in fourths. I use Optimara's 14-12-14 for my standards and their 7-9-5 for my minis right in the water.
THE WICK MIX
I mix my own wicking mix. I go with a lighter mix, closer to 40/60 peat and perlite. I cut the vermiculite way down because it holds too much water. Here's my wick mix recipe. Use it as a starting point to make your own, adjusting it to your own liking for your unique growing conditions.
I've only lost two violets so far during the transition until I got my mix right and they absolutely did not like the mix at 50/50 (which was the recommended starting point) and they rotted before I noticed what was happening.
It is possible that I didn't thoroughly remove all the old mix with vermiculite off the roots of the two that bit the dust when I repotted them for wicking, so I re-adjusted my mix by adding in more perlite and continued on. I went slow and only did a few at a time and gave them a couple of days to see if they did alright. I did not pot up all my violets until I was sure the mix was light enough.
THE TRANSITION
I started out wicking a few plants and when I was satisfied they were doing well, I did more and more of them. It is a big mistake to try and put all of your violets on wicking all at once. You can lose your whole collection if your mix gets too wet and they all rot.
I still prefer to water my older ones with gravel trays from the bottom but when I repot them into a lighter mix, I may put them on wicks too.
And if I need to change my mind later for whatever reason, I can just remove the reservoirs and put them back on a gravel tray, leaving the wick in. So when I pot all of them up, I wick them now.
THE REWARD
Although I still check them every day to make sure they don't have any problems, what I've learned is that wicking can help make it easier to care for them. I knew I had it right when my test plants puffed up and started putting out more blooms. I could actually see them getting fatter and thicker within a week's time.
And a little side note - they grow bigger and faster and bloom more after wicking them! Give it a try and put some of your violets on auto pilot. They will thank you for it!
NOTES
July 21, 2018 - My wicked plants have all adjusted to wick watering in my new mix and they love it! They got bigger and are still blooming better than they ever have before. I will never go back to regular mix for them all! I know how they grow monsters for show now. These are turning into blooming monsters, really they are. I'm surprised and delighted - and just a little afraid they might eat me in my sleep if I don't feed them. :)
Thank you for your experience with wicking. I can't wait to try your method. I have lost a few of my violets to root rot. Mainly because I over watered. Do you use mat watering as well?
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