Self watering pots

I have a bit of an addiction to African Violets. I'm sure everyone knows what they are, you see a gazillion of them in places like Walmart and Home Depot, and I think everyone's grandmother had at least one (mine sure did!). It's easy to write them off. But I adore them. And I come by it naturally. My Nana had Afican Violets, and my mom has quite an enviable collection herself. And sure enough, I'm following in their footsteps. I get swept away by their sparkle. Its Mother Nature's very own glitter. And there are so many different types, different foliage, different colours. I'd love to have one of each!

But one tricky thing about these (and maybe why people claim not to have any luck with them) is they are a tad picky about water. You don't want to get water on the leaves. And you don't want to over or under water, they like constantly moist soil. So you can get actual African Violet pots that are self watering. My mom has lovingly potted my African Violets, and the system is perfect.





The water seeps from the outer pot through the inner pot keeping the plant perfectly moist.

But these pots are a little pricey. And sometimes you just need a temporary setup. I have two baby mini African Violets I bought at the Home and Garden Show last month, and I have a cilantro that I bought a few days ago that I can't plant outside yet (still too chilly here!). So after a round of googling (my favorite activity it seems) I decided to try out a few temporary solutions. They could be more permanent, but they aren't the prettiest. And I prefer to showcase my special treasures.

So the first one is the pop bottle trick. Easy and free (as long as you drink the pop first!). Take a pop bottle. Cut it in half. Take a scrap piece of fabric (100% cotton). I knotted it several times to make a ball, then tied another piece around the ball to make a tail. Invert the top half of the bottle, the tail of the cotton hangs out the hole, plant your plant. Fill the bottom half of the bottle with water, place the top half of the bottle into the bottom half with the tail of fabric hanging in the water. The water will wick up into the soil keeping your plant happily watered. I've done a horrible job explaining this, hopefully a picture (or two) is worth a thousand words. This seems to be working great, and actually doesn't look as bad as the others, but I still would only use this in a pinch.




My next solution is super simple. Take a little disposable plastic container with lid. Poke a hole in the lid. Take a scrap piece of fabric and poke it into one of the drainage holes of the plant pot (I used a chopstick) and poke the bottom of the fabric through the hole in the lid. Fill the container with water, put the lid on and the plant sits on top. Definitely not pretty, but again, seems to be working great.




And my last solution is not for an African Violet, but for my house bound cilantro. I have had to keep on top of watering it every day, so hopefully this will keep it happier until I can plant it out in a few weeks. I used an extra measuring cup, but any container would work. I took a plastic lid (peanut butter in this case), poke a hole in the top. Took my scrap fabric, poked it up into the plant pot and poked it through the hold in the lid. Set the lid in the container, and filled the container to just under the top of the lid. Remember, you want the water to wick up slowly, you don't want your roots sitting in water.




So all these are perfectly functional, and totally free. But as I'm sure you'll all agree, not pretty. However, I just can't bring myself to buy the special pots, and I'm pretty sure I've come up with a much better permanent solution, so will be posting that soon! And in the meantime, my plants can drink as much as they need :)