Plate Training and Wicking
Here is a view of random African Violets on top of the gridded flats. Each flat holds about 1 gallon of water. I pull, wash, and bleach the flats and grids once a month in my bath tub. it is important to check for signs of root mealies and other pests in the water every week and top up the reservoirs with fresh water. You can see these were in need of grooming, repotting, and plate training.
Medium and large African violets get thicker wicks according to their needs. If a plant stops wicking repeatedly, you know it's time to put in a thicker wick! I also like to try to repot once every 3 or 4 months to keep soil refreshed and plants in bloom. I also remove outer leaves regularly to keep my plants from getting too large in limited space.
African Violet 'Rob's Macho Devil' is a semi-miniature shown here in a 2 inch pot. You can see it is wicked with a single strand of acrylic yarn which is dropped through the egg crate grid to allow the plant to self water. Use the thinnest wick that works and I cut my soilless mix with 50% perlite to keep it light and well drained.
Droopy or twisted leaves? Plate train! This African Violet is 'collared' under the leaves. You may buy collars premade, or you can make your own from paper, plastic, or foam disposable plates or lids. Here a thick paper plate with an X cut had a smaller hole cut out of the center. Slipped over the pot from the bottom, it allows me to arrange this 'Yukako's unruly leaves. Chilled plants droop leaves and this fixes them within a week or two.
An example of plate training - this is a Primulina 'Naine Argent' whose leaves had drooped down around the pot after getting chilled over winter. Here I cut the plate with a big X, cut a smaller circle around the center and slipped it up from the bottom and over the pot lip. Now I can /gently/ tug the leaves straight and if need be, add toothpicks through the plate to hold leaves in place for the week or two for them to adjust to their new positions. Simple!
Some of my steel shelving racks in my art studio. The rack on the left houses streptocarpus under T5 lights with African Violets and other gesneriads on the right under T8 lights. All are either domed, or are wicked on gridded flats.
Q