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My African violets are much happier now that I threaded a piece of yarn from the hole in the bottom of the pot and extended it to a container of water. The 3 plants sit on the kitchen counter and the water source sits in the sink. (When I placed the water container on the counter or higher, the plants got flooded.)

The leaves and blooms instantly became more vibrant and alive. The difference in temperature between day and night seemed to be too much before. And it's so easy now!

Hey, that is a cool idea, thanks.

I have my African violets on my to-do list today.

They have bloomed all winter, and frankly, are pot bound and overgrown. I need to repot and take some cuttings... Just need more places to put plants, including baby African Violets!

Now is an excellent time to add some yarn, and mine are also in the kitchen window... running out of room there, though.

They sure are cheery when doing kitchen chores aren't they?

Ozark Lady wrote:Hey, that is a cool idea, thanks.

I have my African violets on my to-do list today.

They have bloomed all winter, and frankly, are pot bound and overgrown. I need to repot and take some cuttings... Just need more places to put plants, including baby African Violets!

Now is an excellent time to add some yarn, and mine are also in the kitchen window... running out of room there, though.

They sure are cheery when doing kitchen chores aren't they?

Indeed they are!

I've tried the wick system with some vegetables but it didn't work too well. I have used it on some other plants with great success.

I can remember old pumps, you had to keep a gallon or two of water to prime them, then you could pump up water.

I think the wick system is like that.. If it is primed well, then it will work, if it isn't primed, then it just won't start on its own.

It could also be the soil... some soil would simply wick up better than others.

You also have to take into consideration that some plants just can not tolerate wet feet. A wicking system will give them wet feet so it would not work very well.

I have never had wick watering systems work well for me ... at all ... ever. It was a very discouraging experiment on my part.

Ozark Lady wrote:I can remember old pumps, you had to keep a gallon or two of water to prime them, then you could pump up water.

I think the wick system is like that.. If it is primed well, then it will work, if it isn't primed, then it just won't start on its own.

It could also be the soil... some soil would simply wick up better than others.

Maybe I accidently primed the 3 flowerpots when I had the container holding the water too high. The pots were flooded so I sat the water container below the counter in the sink.