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self watering garden too wet

9 years ago

So, First year trying self-watering containers. One city pickers, other is DIY repurposed igloo cooler. My problem is that despite following available soil mix recipes, I found that my soil stayed so moist that root rot ensued and my garden suffered as a result. I want to amend my soils and try for a winter crop. What is best way to get my growth mix to be drier? I am thinking more vermiculite??

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Comments (5)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years ago
i am thinking.. i need to know what you are trying to grow ...

and what the current media mix is ...

and why you think they are self watering pots ... i would not really include an igloo cooler within that definition ...

and i would wonder why you think this is a bug or disease issue.. rather than a soil forum or container forum issue???

we are more than willing to help.. but you havent really told us much of anything...

ken
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
9 years ago
Root rots are considered a disease issue.

Zolly, vermiculite is one of last amendments to use if your goals are improved porosity, increased oxygen content, and decreased moisture retention. Vermiculite, when moistened, collapses.....turns to mush.

Try perlite instead. It should do the trick, depending upon the medium you're starting out with. I will mention that if your mix contains ingredients like compost, garden soil, vermicompost, or manure it will be very hard to 'fix' with perlite or anything else.
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Luv, I've been using that kind of pot for several years and it works just fine for me. Like Ardy says, *definitely* check to see if there is a crack of any kind in the inner pot! If that isn't the problem, it is almost surely that the soil is too heavy. I had the same problem the first time I used one. The directions that came with it said to lighten the soil with perlite. However, lightening the commercial AV soil with *a little* perlite was not enough; I ended up mixing the commercial AV soil with about 1/2 perlite to get it light enough. Now that I know about the 1/3perlite-1/3vermiculite-1/3coir (or peat or AV soil)-see the FAQ 'Basic Care of African Violets'-, I take the 1/3-1/3-1/3 mix and add *extra* perlite to it for my self-watering containers. African Violets seem to need as much air around their roots as water. As an aside, the other thing I learned was that the pots I had were *way* too big for the violets I had in them. I lucked out and the plants I had bloomed anyway, but the top dimension of the inner pot should not be more than 1/3 (again with that pesky 1/3) the diameter of the plant's crown. If this is new information for you, check out the same FAQ as above for more explanation. If it is not new, sorry about the regurgitation!~smile~ Happy Growing, Feegle ~who had to put other kinds of plants in the 4.5inch self-watering pots.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years ago
come on rhiz.. work with me.. it isnt going to matter what disease or how its solved..

IF WE DONT ADDRESS.. HOW A BEER COOLER IS USED AS A SELF DESCRIBED ... 'SELF WATERING' FLOWER POT ..

it either has drainage or it doesnt ...

if it drains.. then its not self watering.. and she is flooding it ....

if it doesnt drain .. then she should plant bog plants .. in bog media ... [not to mention ... i think V floats ... and that isnt going to work in a bog] ....

because its not going to matter what the media is ... as there wont be any oxygen.. as you well know.. and V is not going to add any .... i wouldnt be surprised if anaerobic soils cause more root rots.. than randomly occurring diseases ...

then.. on top of it.. you dont even bother to address what her base media is... and whether it can handle copious amounts of flooded water ...

the suggestion of vermiculite.. as a soil amendment... is akin to wrapping a band aid .. on my arm... which is laying out in the driveway ... and declaring the problem solved .... rather than addressing the base issue of .. and i will yell ... MY ARM ISNT ATTACHED TO MY TORSO ...

it simply doesnt matter what the media is.. if she doesnt explain her pot ... and its drainage ... and how and why it might be 'self watering' ...

zolly.. do understand.. rhiz and i consider ourselves great GW friends ... we are showing our passion for the garden ... not really screeching at each other ... [well.. at least i still do.. lol .. right dorie??]

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
9 years ago
KEN...PEOPLE RETOOL COOLERS EASILY TO USE AS PLANTERS, ESPECIALLY FOR SELF-WATERING CONTAINER GARDENS. Self-watering container gardening does not entail flooding with copious amounts of water. And they don't 'drain' in the way that's required for conventional containers.

Zolly, did your City Pickers kit come with its own mix or did you make your own for that container, too? Did both of the container setups perform poorly?

There are sooo many different potting mix recipes, it would be helpful for me to know more about yours. In the meantime, perlite can be used for the reason I suggested, even if it becomes the predominant ingredient in your medium.
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tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
9 years ago
If your set-up is based on the design at the link, then you use the vermiculite as the reservoir with a drain hole above that, is that correct? If so, then you need a media that doesn't wick as fast as what you have now. That is where more perlite comes in, but it would help us to know what your "soil" was made up of and if, indeed, this is the same design. As for me, any media that sits atop a water reserve would need to be basically a cactus mix to avoid water logged soil.

tj

Here is a link that might be useful: See the How it works

This post was edited by tsugajunkie on Tue, Nov 18, 14 at 19:35
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