Hidden Valley Hibiscus Forum

Hello Charles, Cindy, and everyone in the forum,

I just read through the most recent HVH email newsletter (Vol 10, No. 9, September 2009) and in one of the photos in the "How to Grow Hibiscus Safely in the House" article it looks like several of the hibiscus plants are growing in those two-piece self-watering ceramic containers that are often sold for growing African violets. Do these types of containers work well for hibiscus? Do they allow the roots to get as much air as they like and still keep the soil moist without being too wet for hibiscus? I'm interested in hearing about anyone's experiences—good and bad—with these.

By the way Charles & Cindy, I enjoy the newsletters a lot!

All the best,

Dave
Richmond, Maine
USA

Hi Dave, thanks for the comments.

The article you mention was Cindy's and if she can find time I'm sure she would like to reply. In case not, I can add that we do use the African Violet self watering pots, but only for African Violets. We tried a larger size of the same design for hibiscus a couple of years ago but the plants did not do well so we stopped using them. We think that they were made to keep the soil as moist as African Violets like and did not allow water to pass through to the potting mix fast enough for hibiscus. I have had good luck with other types of self watering pots for hibiscus but not the African Violet type.

Charlie

Thanks for your response Charlie,

What are the other types of self-watering pots that you have had success with? I'd love to have more hibiscus plants around my home and office, but I've found I have difficultly keeping up with the watering.

Thanks again,

Dave

Hi Dave I started a thread on self watering pot also  :)

http://www.hiddenvalleyhibiscus.com/forum/index.php/topic,198.0.html

I am using lechuza self watering pots. I bought them at target online It comes with everything you need for indoor hibiscus, so far I am loving this pot. My blue ballerina is doing great with it. I am going to repot another cv I have in the other lechuza pot I have.

I like the look of lechuza pots so this is why I picked them :D

Hi Dave,

WalMart also carries, or used to carry, self watering pots that work well, too. They have a water reservoir built into the bottom of the pot that is wicked up into the potting mix. The African Violet pots do the same thing but the water passes through a porous ceramic wall which slows down the uptake of water into the potting mix. The Walmart type have extensions in the bottom of the potting mix portion that extend downward into the water reservoir. These extensions have holes in them so that the potting mix has direct contact with the water. This results in a much wetter potting mix throughout the pot (without driving the air out of the mix) but it works great for hibiscus. I posted a photo of one earlier but forget which thread so will attach another photo of one of the larger sizes of self watering pot of the Walmart type below.

Charlie

I'm so far behind I'm just getting a chance to read this thread. Kerry, those lechuza pots look pretty cool!  Are they really stable? They look like they might tip over easily, and we have big dogs with big waggy tails in our house, so tipping is always a problem. Do you think these would work with big dogs?

Anything that makes watering easier though is always a huge plus!

Cindy

Hi Cindy I think they would work with big dogs. Once it is filled with water it is pretty heavy.  I would not buy the cubico , delta, or clindro in small sizes these will probably tip over. If you get the big ones I think they should be fine.
I have the classico and I think the quadro would work also.  

The blue ballerina is doing great, I pinched it a lot and the bush looks nice and lush. I though it was getting wilt disease but charlie cleared that up for me. The new leaves are getting harder now.  I will take a picture either later today or tomorrow for you. I have one more pot that is not in use so I am deciding which cv I should put in there.

I've been pinching my Blue Ballerina too, and it's branching all over the place, but not budding up of course. Still, I should get a lot of flowers once the branches get a little longer. It sounds like yours is ahead of mine! I'll look forward to seeing your blooms since mine isn't blooming now! :-)

Cindy

Hi Cindy My blue ballerina is not blooming either lol  Since I pinched it it has yet to bloom.