Growing African Violets on Capillary Matting

Capillary matting is a system designed to provide consistent, constant moisture to plants such as African violets which do best with consistent moisture. Why is this a great system? It sure beats watering several hundred to a thousand plants by hand. I can water up to 30 plants at a time just by pouring water into the tray.

Ok, you say. What are the particulars? First, you need an un-drained tray and the matting. One can  purchase commercial capillary matting made for this purpose, though it is expensive. I'm cheap so I looked into other types of material. As long as the material is synthetic, polyester or acrylic, somewhat porous in its weave, it is suitable. Avoid natural materials such as cotton. They eventually rot from all the moisture. I started by using synthetic blankets. I have since moved on to outgrown synthetic fleece sweatshirts and now have discovered polyester quilt bats. All have proven to be good matting.

Cut the matting to fit the tray. Take the piece of cloth and wet it completely, wring it out, and put it in the bottom of the tray. The violets need to be in pots which allow their drainage holes to be in firm contact with the matting. The soil mix should be 10 parts perlite to 1 part regular potting soil. The mix must be open enough to provide air pockets even if the media seems saturated. Regular potting soil is NOT suitable for this method. Here's the trickest part of the whole system. How much water to add?  The first few times are a learning experience. Take your watering can or whatever you are pouring the water from, and add water while counting. Stop counting when you can see visible water on the surface of the matting. Let things stand until the surface of the pots are moist. If there is a lot of extra water, say after a 1/2 hour, pour it out, if you can. If just a little extra water, leave it. If it was too much water, the next time the material feels just damp and it's time to add water, count to a few less than you did before. If the soil in the pots didn't become moist, count while pouring more water in. In my set up, counting to 17 while using a small watering can is the best. Since I've just started using polyester quilt bats, I find they need a different count and they tend to dry out quicker.  Why do I have so many mats? Well, after a while, salts build up in the matting from fertilizing and I like to be able to swap out the matting for clean ones when algae growth builds up. This might be every few weeks and not all of them at once. The used matting can be washed in the washing machine to remove algae and salts and used again.

The pros:

• Watering many plants at one time..invaluable when there are a lot of them.

• They don't dry out for a few days, but should be checked daily and water added when needed.

• No messing about with wicks and ways to keep the plants out of water, but the wicks in it.

• The components of the system, undrained trays and polyester or acrylic materials are quite inexpensive.

• The matting can be cut to fit any undrained tray, including ones that will fit on a window sill. 

• Is an excellent method for watering plants growing under lights. 

• Increases humidity around the plants. Which they love.

The cons:

• One does need to experiment a little to discover how their system works regarding watering.

• A specific soil mix is needed. It must be mixed from the raw ingredients, so must be purchased. 

• Pots need to be specifically designed with drainage holes on the bottom. I use 1-3 oz solo cups with holes drilled in the bottom.

• Because the plants are constantly watered from the bottom, salts tend to build up in the pots, particularly if you fertilize every time they are watered. I use 1/4 strength feeding every watering.  The salts are the white or brown crusty deposits on the rims of the pots. Sometimes you can see it on the surface of the soil as well. Minis and semis are particularly prone to this because their pots are so small. Salts can build up quicker. Salts damage the roots and will burn any part of the top growth that comes in contact with it. The pots either need to be flushed from the top with plenty of fresh water or the soil needs to be changed. I was flushing the pots, but when the collection got to more than 100, this was a daunting task. Now, I just change the soil when I notice build up. It actually takes less time as I do it when I find the ones that need it.

• Sometimes, the undrained trays aren't completely water tight and the trays spring leaks and it makes a mess.

All in all, I find it the best method for lots of violets and it would work equally well with just a few. The trick is to monitor the moistness of the matting. After awhile, with consistent temperature and light, such as under lights, you will get a sense of how often they need to be watered. If conditions, change, be on top of it. Dry air or less humidity, more light will dry them out quicker so make sure to monitor them.

. Good luck and contact me if you need anything clarified.