I would give it a try with a couple, to see how you like it. They grow differently when wicked, it seems. At least mine do. The leaves tend to stick up more, and the new growth tighter. But, it grows at a more consistent rate, and I don't get the setbacks that not being able to water soon enough causes. So, the plants get to just keep on growing, rather than growing, stress out from lack of water, lose some leaves, and then recover. That whole cycle also delays flowering, for my plants. I got tired of it. But it's nice to test out wicking for yourself before converting them all. For instance, it shows you you've got your potting mix in the right proportion.

Cheap solution - get yourself a pair of latex or any household gloves to protect your hands. Dip a piece of paper towel into rubbing alcohol and try to wipe the stain. Second option - 1:3 bleach to water solution. If it is some kind of mold - you will kill it, if it is a salt accumulation - you will be able to remove at least some of it. I agree with you - if it looks yucky - you do not want to display your beautiful blooming violet in it. What you can do - just repot it to a plastic pot with wick with the size that will fit your ceramic one. Soak the ceramic pot - top and bottom in a strong bleach solution until all the stain is gone. You can drill a bottom hole in an upper part of a ceramic pot and use the bottom part as a water/weak fertilizer solution reservoir for the plant. I promise you - if you use the light soil Barbara mentioned - you would be amazed how well it works plus you can always disassemble the contraption - and clean your ceramics squeaky clean. Physan 20 is a good preventative for powdery mildew and a mild fungicide for orchids. It has a couple more brand names with the similar active ingredients - I think Consan is one of them. I.

If you were asking about the variegation on Champagne Pink (very pretty indeed!), that is called crown variegation, occasionally called Champion Crown variegation because Ethel Champion had many plants with it. Champagne Pink (7945) 10/08/1993 (S. Sorano) Double light pink pansy. Crown variegated green, white and pink, plain, ovate. Semiminiature trailer Mosaic variegation is different does not just appear in the crown area. Ethel Champion had some nice mosaics too. It's not a Champion, but Witch Doctor is an excellent and common example of a plant with mosaic variegation. Pacific Pearl is listed as longifolia. I had it at one time but don't remember anything about it. Maybe there was something wrong with it; I did get some bad things around that time. It's also a miniature. My search in FC2 for a trailer with mosaic foliage only found 2 and I've never heard of either of them. I was curious because I couldn't think of any. (Lisa Logan and Queensland Blue) Diana

I tried a few different types of fertilizers in the containers, but I also gave them a weakly-weekly dose of Foliage Pro (and some Pro TekT) in the reservoirs, and I think that had a great impact. I wasn't focusing too much on fertilizer, this year was more about mix, varieties, and wick configuration. I still have to look at my records to figure out what worked best as far as wick and mix configurations with the 18 gallon SWCs, but we had an abnormally hot and dry season so it'll be tough to sort out what works best in a more average year. My prototype SWCs with valves worked fine, but it was so hot I've yet to shut off the reservoirs. It may well be that a proper mix and wick setup negates any benefit to reservoir shutoff, but I need more cool temps to draw a final conclusion. I had some really good results with my bucket SWCs using rayon mop wicks. I think the design is a real winner for peppers, eggplant, and smaller sized tomatoes (cherry and saladette size. I'm working on a detailed set of instructions. My cucurbits didn't do well at all this year, either in ground or in SWCs (most locals I talked to had a bad cucurbit year). I grew some Cukes in SWC buckets and found that once established, they needed at least twice as many wicks as the tomatoes. I lost most plants to wilt from cucumber beetles. My current thinking is that they may do better in straight potting mix, and I'll also need to test a few different wick setups. One practice I think makes a big difference in SWC gardening is to top water until the plants are well established, then add the fertilizer and mulch cover before adding water to the reservoir. Here's some of my bucket SWCs from the end of July: One thing I'm certain of; No matter what the setup is, 40 tomato plants is way too many (for me). Next year, far fewer tomatoes and a lot more other stuff.