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My anthurium is in a pot that is meant for a violet; it’s a self… | Anything about plants | Planta community

Lynda

My anthurium is in a pot that is meant for a violet; it’s a self watering terracotta pot. I put my plant in this pot, because even though she’s tiny, she has a tendency to have the tips of her leaves dry out; I’m hoping this pot will prevent that. However, since I see water inside the bottom of the pot most of the time, which I did not put there, (the water leaks through the terra-cotta pot), I am worried this plant may stay too wet, and eventually might suffer from root rot. Will this pot be dangerous to my plant’s overall health? TIA!

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8 comments

  1. fuey

    Do you top water or put water in the reservoir?

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    • Lynda

      I’ve just recently started putting water into the reservoir, and I’m waiting to see how wet the dirt stays. I’m a little uncomfortable with any soil, staying wet for a long while. Do you know at what percentage a plant can stay wet, and still not suffer root rot? TIA!

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    • fuey

      i’m not sure any exact %, but the plant should not suffer root rot because the terracotta will absorb the moisture very slowly, giving the plant time to use it up and get more from it. I’ll say I do prefer the “self watering pots” that are plastic inserts. such as the Gardenix one or the recently popular Naked Root planters

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  2. KJM

    These pots are intended for bottom watering. You should not top water in them. When your anthurium needs watering I would fill the bottom container half full and let the water seep into the soil until it's moist, then dump the water out of the bottom pot. I think a better approach to your problem would be a humidifier or a pebble tray. The brown leaf tips are often caused by low humidity not a problem with soil moisture.

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    • Lynda

      Why is this type of pot, terra-cotta, that is, work well with African violets? I’m not doing top watering, but I’m still amazed at how much water seeps through the terra-cotta. What would be the first signs of root rot I might see, if it should happen to my plant? Any other comments about this pot would be happily received… TIA! PS. I already use a humidifier, and the room stays anywhere between 50 to 60% humidity. So, why do the leaf tips on some of my plants keep turning a bit brown if humidity is appropriate?

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    • fuey

      do you use distilled water, rain water, tap water, or something else to water them? it can be caused by excess chlorine or fluoride in tap water

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    • Lynda

      Our entire house is on a filtered water system, so it removes all chlorine and other chemicals in our water. It’s really nice not to worry about contaminated water.

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  3. KJM

    I'm not a big fan of the African violet pots. I'm sure they have their place but my experience was that my plant stayed too wet. Maybe I kept too much water in the bottom, I'm not sure but the soil always seemed too wet to me.

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