A self-watering pot is a method used to water plants with less water and effort. It involves placing an inner pot with a drainage hole on the bottom, placed inside another pot with a water reservoir at the bottom. A “wick” is placed inside the inner pot, going from close to the orchid roots out of the pot through the drainage hole to the reservoir of water. This technique is widely used with plants such as African Violets but can be used with other plants as well.
Orchids are relatively easy to care for and can provide years of beauty and enjoyment. To prepare your LECA for orchids, rinse your pot thoroughly and follow the same principle. The Wick System is the best method to grow orchids hydroponically at home, nestling the orchid in a growing media sitting above a reservoir containing water with dissolved nutrients. The medium should be water absorbent, such as bark, fern, or spaghman moss.
The wicks should be placed properly in the water reservoir, allowing the orchid to absorb water itself when it is thirsty and dry. Self-watering wick systems are simple to assemble and use less water than other methods. One option is to create a self-watering system using a wick or a watering bulb.
Capillary action is the scientific term that describes the phenomenon of wick watering, which is a way of watering a plant so it is consistently moist. Acrylic is the best material to use for this method. LECA pebbles, man-made clay pebbles, have excellent capillary properties that make them ideal for growing orchids.
📹 Orchid in wick watering setup Update
It has been a week since I started this experiment and it is now time to see if the medium in its entirety stayed moist, like I hoped it …
📹 Orchid Experiment – Wick watering method
The wick watering method is a widely used technique with plants such as African Violets. However, in certain circumstances, can it …
Hey Danny! First I wanted to thank you. Your articles are the most helpful and I watch every single one! Well, after all this time perusal I figured I should just advise you about my orchid. I have a phalaenopsis orchid that I got from a friend in a really bad state. This is what made me interested in orchids in the first place… Well, it was pretty much done: all the roots were rotten, it had two leaves left which were severely dehydrated. I took here in and changed the media, sprayed it with hydrogen peroxide, tried to keep it as hydrated and moist as possible. Well… It worked fine I think, it started to get new more healthy leaves (although tiny) and I saw two or three roots that started to grow. Till today. I came to check in on here and I saw the new leaves were completely separated from the old plant, new roots rotten, and the base of the new plant black. I’ve got some photos here: drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz0V0YYotpsNdzNydG9fMnF1Q00/view?usp=drivesdk drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz0V0YYotpsNdzNydG9fMnF1Q00/view?usp=drivesdk I really don’t know what to do in that state. I’ve grown pretty attached to her at this point so I don’t wanna give up just yet… Hoping for some advise, Thank you again, Noa
Dear Danny, may I suggest a new experiment. Have u ever tried growing micro orchids in terrariums? That might be a very interesting topic. What plants to put in the terrarium besides the orchid and about the soil and so on. Thank you so much. lovely articles and really loving the quality of the article, the colors are great!
I know you’ve had some bad experiences with water and your orchids but should try out the semi water culture where you have the orchid (works best with phals) in water for 2 days then dry for 5. I think it would make a great experiment because so many people say it works great but idk… It would be cool to see how it would work in your environment. Great vid anyway 🙂
Hey Danny! I don’t remember which was the article where tou mentioned this so I’ll just leave this comment here 😀 So if i remember correctly, and I hope I do I think you mentioned in some of your rain mix vids that other fertilizer something like Peter’s Excel which is not available in EU if i remember correctly, so I accinebrally found an online orchid shop in Lithuania, and I found a fertilizer there and the nutrients in this fertilizer are the same amount as the peters excel calmag finisher fertilizer, and they ship to EU countries so yaaay! If i didn’t remember correctly, sorry 😀 I’ll leave a link to this fert in the other comment because it might be spammed.
Nice article Danni, I think this will continue to work well, I recently obtained seramis and I’m sure it’s it’s even smaller than yours, But I’m hoping for good results, I had very good results with the leca beads, So this should be perfect, If i had thought of using a wick i would have, not unpotting them now lol. Maybe I’ll find a big needle and thread it through from the bottom hehehe, I hope you and your bf are settling into your new home now, And everything is going well, Rosemary, Sorry using my sons account to leave posts because google is refusing to allow me a phone number change, they are sooo stupid. lol
Interesting idea! I will be looking forward to updates on this experiment. Have you tried potting an orchid in a plastic pot with the fine grade seramis? It takes ages to dry, but it’s not soggy. Actually, I think the result is the same as you will have with this wick experiment, but looks a little nicer. At least it’s how it has worked for me. I have an oncidium hybrid in a plastic pot with fine seramis. It can go on without watering for a looooong time. 🙂 But it might work different in your environment. But it’s worth a try, except if you don’t want to use plastic pots.
I like the idea, but am wondering about feeding. Aren’t you afraid of the water in the container will eventually get to concentrated with large amounts of fertilizer? I tend to water with a diluted amount of fertilizer on a twice weekly schedule. Would you advise changing the water each time feeding is required? I am new to the orchid hobby and sorry if my questions seem silly.
Hi Danni, this is like semi hydro.. Imo, the wick is unnecessary since the media n the clay pot are very absorbent.. I hv African violets n begonias in clear coke plastic pots with 2″ reservoir n Leca pellets.. My media stays moist for over a week, but I’ll do a flush n top up every week.. The wick is only required if the media is not so absorbent.. Nevertheless, no harm in trying this method either.. Cheers
Hi, Danni, I was wondering if you could lend me a hand. I’m a beginner in growing orchids and I’m curious how one goes about buying orchids online. Are there any other sources other than e-bay? I should mention I’m in Romania and I have a ton of other questions, but mostly I’m interested in buying a Vanda. If you could help, I’d be in your debt. Thanks in advance!
I have plants in my home for their beauty. I try to buy only planters that look nice in my home. I realize that can get a bit expensive as the collection of plants increases but… some of these wick watering set ups are just plain ugly. If I don’t have enough time to water them I should cut down on my collection of plants. I do like the idea of will water t though for the sake of the plant being able to thrive. Even ready made wick watering pots are not very attractive. I guess I will stay with an hour long watering session every week or so.