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By Dusk272
Posts:  5
Joined:  Fri Apr 23, 2021 2:39 am
#379007
So with my work I have a tendency to be gone for many days and can't water my plants as much as they need.
Has anyone tried using self watering african violet pots?
I put my first plant in one and it loved it for 3 weeks and now is looking depressed. Has anyone else dealt with this?
I just added moss to try and help it hold water.
By Dusk272
Posts:  5
Joined:  Fri Apr 23, 2021 2:39 am
#379009
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Dusk272 wrote: Fri Apr 23, 2021 2:47 am So with my work I have a tendency to be gone for many days and can't water my plants as much as they need.
Has anyone tried using self watering african violet pots?
I put my first plant in one and it loved it for 3 weeks and now is looking depressed. Has anyone else dealt with this?
I just added moss to try and help it hold water.
By Dusk272
Posts:  5
Joined:  Fri Apr 23, 2021 2:39 am
#379014
well they are made from clay and one is glazed and the other not so the water goes through the material. Then I was scrolling through the debate about the material of the pots and how it can kill them etc. etc.
So far it keeps the soil moist to the touch but the ones i have sitting in pretty much a bog (its a small pot with a hole in the bottom and is filled with at least 2" of water) are doing so much better but that one is so ugly and the water evaporates fairly quickly and has a smell. BUT THEY LOVE IT XD
I am looking for something that looks nice that can my Drosera really really sticky like the ones in the bog. But that look nice so i can move it into the open.
But you can google "African violet pots" (i don't know if that's their real name) but it will pop up with what i have. I just want my little plants to be happy and grow big.
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By optique
Location: 
Posts:  1893
Joined:  Fri May 24, 2019 11:15 pm
#379015
Just my opinion, plastic pots are they way to go and the more media the more time you have before it drys. If i was planning a build for being out of town a lot i would just use water treys. to really extend you could use a vented dome.
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By CPhunter101
Location: 
Posts:  593
Joined:  Thu Feb 11, 2021 9:30 pm
#379017
Dusk272 wrote:well they are made from clay and one is glazed and the other not so the water goes through the material. Then I was scrolling through the debate about the material of the pots and how it can kill them etc. etc.
You might be onto something... Clay has been a debatable material for carnivorous plant pots; most people say it leaches salts and nutrients into the soil. This is generally bad for most CPs. To check for a nutrient overload, flush the inner pot with distilled water and let it drain into the outer pot. Then, grab a tds meter (6 bucks on ebay) and measure the minerals in the water. If there is more than 50 ppm, the clay pot is to blame.
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By Do_Gon
Posts:  236
Joined:  Tue May 07, 2019 5:29 pm
#379025
I would ditch the clay stuff if I were in your position. There are plastic self-watering pots that work much better. The ones I use are from a company called Mkono. The water is wicked up to the soil from below. I usually have to fill em about once a week or so. Easy to rinse out too.
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By DragonsEye
Posts:  1326
Joined:  Sat Oct 01, 2016 1:22 pm
#379052
Years ago I grew Darlingtonia and vfts in terra cotta pots with no issue, so I am not opposed to clay pots in general. I know the type of African violet pots you are refering to. I have never tried them but I would expect them to be even less of an issue than terra cotta. Then there are the plastic versions like the Oyama pots you could try out.
By Dusk272
Posts:  5
Joined:  Fri Apr 23, 2021 2:39 am
#379445
So it's been a week since the decline in my plants health. it looks dead or at least sick. its not dry but it is a ugly color. I took it out of the clay pot because i am sure that is poisoning it. i moved to some fresh soil and washed the roots well and now is sitting in ICU of a Pyrex glass bowl. let's see if it pulls through.
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By Apollyon
Location: 
Posts:  1663
Joined:  Tue May 05, 2020 2:49 am
#379450
Hope it does. I'd also aim for plastic rather than clay with Drosera. If I were to guess, I would wager the toxicity of the water came from either the clay itself (though inner glaze *should* prevent that kind of transfer, provided the glaze itself isn't toxic to the plants). What I think may have happened though as it is something I have to watch out for is progressive toxicity of the water. Since you are using a self-watering system (similar to trays), the water itself will gradually get more toxic to the plant as it evaporates. The minerals stay behind and it gets diluted when watered again, though it progressively increases the ppm of the water itself. It's very easy to get over 100ppm if you're not flushing out the pots regularly. I didn't realize I had a problem until one day (almost overnight) the plants begin to decline.

It could be either one of those honestly. I think with CPs and the investment that goes into them, I don't mess with risking the plants with clay pots. I'm sure several can survive if they're always maintained (like pinguicula) but I'm like you and don't have as much time to baby them like I used to.
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