I've got a couple trays like this going now.

sw-gardener, Welcome aboard. I'm in the central part of South Carolina, and seem to have been following your path around on the internet. I was on the original Gardenweb site for a while a number of years ago, and just lost interest after it was acquired by the Houzz group and stopped being a friendly chatty group of just folks. I found it again a bit over a month ago, but have not been able to figure out how to navigate the thing, and have just been lurking around lately myself. I hang out under the handle of Billsc. My primary interests are in orchids and A. violets, but we have downsized and moved into a retirement community, which severely restricts my growing room, so the growing hobby is much smaller than in the past.

Where in Canada are you located? The wife and I have done the "cross Canada on the train twice. east to west in the summer, then a couple of years later west to east in the winter. We love the country, but don't think us two southerners could handle the cold full time at our ages.

Anyway, welcome back, and give me a yell when you see me poking around here from time to time. Would love to chat with you.

Bill

Welcome to the both of you billsc and swgardener! I wasn't happy with the HOUZZ platform but since it is here to stay so are a lot of us old timers. And a few newcomers! WELCOME!!!! Rosie in SE Michigan

Great to have you both here. Sw_gardener, have you attempted to plant the trimmed top portion of your Violet leaves? You may be surprised by how many plantlets will grow! Especially can be useful for rare and tricky varieties.

I hear that is a pretty popular way to propagate Streptocarpus Thought I would try it one day. My reduced growing space has caused me to search for more compact ways to do my growing. I built what I call a "Wicking Tower" a few years ago, and can grow 8 miniatures or small standards in an 8X8 inch piece of bench space that is 18 inches high. I use 8 half pint canning jars to hold the water, so I can always see the level of the water. I think it sure beats trying to tell how much water you have in a ceramic wicking pot. I built one with 12 "pots" once upon a time, but it was so top heavy I could only hang it from the ceiling. I'll have to dig up a photo and post it. Gotta run, see y'all later.

Bill

Thank you Rosie for your kind welcome. I used to frequent the old gardenweb too. There was so much information.

Alabamaav, thank you as well for the welcome! It's funny you mentioned planting the tops of the leaves.... Because I was wondering if it would work. So I planted the top half of a rupicola leaf. Good to know it will work!

Hi folks, Hope everyone is doing well today. The nights are beginning to feel a bit coolish around here, and I have been thinking about how I am going to keep all the plants warm this winter. For the past three years I have been enclosing half the back porch in two layers of plastic sheeting. I use 2X4's to build a frame, so I don't have to staple or nail into the porch, and put a layer of plastic on each side of the frame. Gives me almost 4 inches of dead air for insulation, and works well.....for one year. The UV destroys the plastic in one winter. Each year I have increased the thickness of the plastic, but still can't get but one season out of it.

This year I thought about purchasing one of the "toy" polycarbonate covered houses, but now am thinking more in line of covering the existing structure with the polycarbonate roofing panels. From the looks of the specs, I may just be able to get by with one layer, although that will mean more plants in the same size space. Oh, the problems of downsizing.

The violets normally live inside the house during winter, but this year the orchids may get to live inside also. I'm planning to make at least two more of my "towers" and stack the violets on them, especially now that more of them will be mini's. Here is one of the better detailed photos to show how my little toy is put together. The materials list is: 1. 8" square of flooring. 1. section of bamboo (about 18" long to make room for the jars) 8 half pint canning jars with rings. 8 "Dart" plastic cold cups (No. 3.5N25) washed cotton string for wicks, and enough wire coat hangers to make the wire holders. I think it looks really nice when all the jars are full of blooming plants. Gotta run, got other chores to do.

Bill

What if you bought sheets of plexiglass plastic cut to fit? Just wondering. Rosie

Actually Rosie, I'm much cheaper than that.....I had several scraps of the flooring left over from some work we had done to the old house years ago. You can use most anything that is strong enough to glue the bamboo to. I used a good quality 2 part epoxy. I suggest cutting the bamboo so that the bottom joint is closed off, so you can grind it flat to get more surface for the glue to stick to, and be sure the bamboo is 90 degrees vertical. Then cut the top of the bamboo so that the tube is open, because if you don't get the holes across the tube exactly straight, it can become really helpful to be able to fish a loop of wire down the tube to align the wire into the hole in the side of the tube. Start installing the wires that hold the pots from the bottom and work up. A good bright flashlight is helpful there also. I just glued a piece of stiff paper over the top opening when I was finished. Its a fun little project for a rainy or cold weekend.

Bill

Hello all! I stumbled onto the AV forum a while back, but there sure isn’t much action here. lol!

AVs have been my thing since I was 8 years old, thanks to my piano teacher. I grow lots of them and a little of everything else. I’m only about a 1.5 hour drive from Lyndon Lyon’s greenhouses, so my collection started from there. :)

sw_gardener, nice starter tray!

Billsc, have you looked into UV protection sprays to apply to your plastic?

Good for you Bill !!!! You remind me of my dad,,,,,he was always figuring a better and cheaper way to do things ! Guess that is what a child of the depression does ! Rosie

Party_Music, Was not aware of UV protection sprays, but will look into them now. Unfortunately the plastic that is up there now has been up a full year and is past saving at this point. This is a retirement community where I just rent, so there is a limit to what I can do to the house. Within their limitations, I'm looking for the easiest and least expensive way to keep a greenhouse on site for as long as I can manage to stay on site, if you know what I mean....

Thanks, Bill

Rosie1949, I'm a good deal younger than the depression bunch (1941) so I can't blame my frugality on that...I just like to tinker with things. Lots of time my projects force me not to think about the value of my time, otherwise I would probably have to declare bankruptcy over some of them...I just call them projects that keep me off the streets and out of trouble.

Some of them don't even do that...

Bill

Billsc, I absolutely LOVE that tower! I've just started transitioning plants to wick watering and put some of the small pots in canning jars. Now that I've seen how easy it is to use less space, I'm off to the basement to see what I can raid from hubby's stash.

We drink a lot of apple juice, so I save the plastic bottles, cut off the top where it starts to narrow. The remaining lower part is the reservoir. I punch a hole in the cap, thread in a wick, flip the top part upside down, fill with soil, add the plant. Or I just use the bottom part and set a pot with wick on top. It lasts as long as a month!

Good idea for the tower Bill! I'm a fan of DIY setups and making use of what's on hand. Some of my violets have wicks but I don't have them on reservoirs yet. I'm starting to think the minis prefer to be wicked.

My first order from Bloomlovers shipped out today so I'm quite excited it includes S. pendula and Baby Brian among others.

Hi flyingflower good to meet you. Yes, I agree mating the flower pot with the "tank" is the tricky part of the whole operation. I was lucky, I had some small plastic cups around the house and found they exactly fit the inside of the half pint canning jar lids, and since my ultimate goal was to shift from standard AV's to miniatures, the whole thing came together the first time. You don't have to use bamboo, I made several out of oak saplings that I found growing wild near the house. One advantage there is you can screw the post onto the base instead of gluing.

Rosie, I think I misread one of your posts a ways back. I thought you were talking about the base of the "tower" in the photograph...

What if you bought sheets of plexiglass plastic cut to fit? Just wondering. Rosie

But on re reading it, I think you may have been referring to the "greenhouse" I was considering. Getting in too big a hurry, my bad....

I gave up on the greenhouse idea for a couple of reasons. one is getting power across the yard and porch, knowing I have house power for the two houses next door running 90 degrees across the path of what I would have to run, and also, I am experienced enough with greenhouse construction to know that those little things are really just toys, and would be a constant battle to keep warm, and impossible to keep cool in the summer, and fiberglass would only last about two seasons before it turned yellow and started to disintegrate. Closing the porch is just better and less expensive.

Bill

Bill, I would avoid using cotton, wool or any other natural fiber for wick-watering. The material will degrade rather quickly. Acrylic, nylon and other synthetic fibers will work much better in an environment which is constantly wet. I use acrylic yarn from W-Mart. Good luck!

Great advice about the wicks. Natural fibers actually rot. Synthetic will work very well. Acrylic yarn is tops! You may not need all four plys of it,,,,just untwist and for small pots one strand will do nicely. 3-4 inch pots maybe two strands and larger pots you may want 3 strands. And so many containers can be repurposed to hold the pots. So many options!!!! YAY!!!

Bill you are right about the dynamic of a greenhouse. Lots of work, many issues, none really resolved. I will leave the greenhouse growing to the big guys!

SW-gardener would that be Sinningia pendula you ordered from Bloomlovers? Rosie

Thanks to all of you concerning the acrylic yarn. When I built the first tower, I was using it to start standard size plants that I had started from leaves. It did not take a great deal of time for them to outgrow the condiment cups, so I never really had to face the problem of the cotton string deteriorating. Now we know another real plus about these forums...all the collective experience out there prevents the rest of us (me) from making these mistakes that shows everyone just how smart some of us (me) really aren't. :-( Seriously, I think that is one of the big reasons I can't break the plant growing habit. I have to keep thinking really hard and fast to keep ahead of these really smart things we call plants, and it is sooooo much fun.

Hey Bill could not have said it better myself!!!!!!!!!! Rosie

I use acrylic yarn for wicking some pots along with Promix HP (high porosity) and so far the AV really seem to like it. Getting some good healthy looking growth .

Rosie, it's actually Saintpaulia pendula. I think I got the last one as it wasn't on her list the last time I checked.

I'm loving the blue trailing types, I've got pendula, Darling Blue Trail, Tiny Wood Trail, Baby Brian and next week am getting Blue Pixie.

My most advanced trailer is Rob's Sailor Bill, I'm training using the Japanese method. Today I noticed one of the stems is starting to root where I pinned it to the soil.

Oh yeah....yarn is awesome for wicking !!! What is the Japanese method? Rosie

The Japanese method is using a wide shallow pot and pinning the stems down as they grow so they root in place. Thats how I understand it anyways and it seems to be going well 😂

Oh my goodness,,,,so that is what it is called? Heck I have been doing that for years with all kinds of plants not just violets! It is a good method and can even be done with roses and a lot of outdoor plants! If the stem bends to soil level ,,,,,,,,well put a rock on it or pin it down til it roots! Good luck! Rosie

Then after it roots it forms a nice little mat of blooms. I bought a thing of honey at the supermarket and it came in wide and shallow plastic tub. Perfect for growing trailing AVs!

Here's my first Russian LE Legkaya Grust. It started off in a little solo cup so I'm proud of it. It's not quite so deep green in person. On the right is Tiny Wood Trail, recently arrived from Bloomlovers, top is Sinningia 'party dress' and left is Rob's Sailor Bill....but I really hacked it up yesterday so it's needs to fill in before anyone can see it haha

Nice!!!! Rosie

Spotted my first set of bunny ears this morning on Trail Along. Can't believe it is finally happening.

Trail along has beautiful pink flowers and is fun to grow. Good luck!

Thank you! I haven't grown AVs from leaves in a long time. I know when growing babies from Strep leaves it's recommended to repot them frequently as the disturbance makes them grow faster... Is it the same with AVs?

For minis and semis, the plantlets should have at least four dime sized leaves before separating from the mother leaf. For standards, nickel-sized leaves.

Thanks again! You've saved the plants from my over enthusiasm 😂.

I'm going to attempt my first wicking setup. All my minis are doing well so far with bottom watering except for Rob's Scooter. Anything less than perfect watering and the older leaves start drying up. So I'm going to stick a few leaves as backup and set the main plant with a wick.