From the Sperry Gardens: February 2014
So that day in his office, I asked my friend, “Jimmy! How on earth do you grow such glorious African violets? I can’t keep mine going.” To which he replied, “It’s all in the Lechuza self-watering pots. I never could get them to survive, either, and these are the proof.”
I’ve been growing in Lechuzas for nine months now, and I have to tell you that I’m a believer. Four African violets have grown and prospered, and they’re all in full bud and bloom. The plants in the photo are two more I just bought to add to the collection.
This is not my first self-watering rodeo. I’ve been down this road before, and all of the other brands that I’ve tried were pretty much of a come-on. But these things really do work.
They’re oddly shaped, and some of their colors are downright bizarre, but they really do work.
They’re expensive – way too expensive for a hack horticulturist to be buying, but they really do work.
And my non-gardening wife loves the African violets, and that really does work. Happy wife, happy life.
The wick drops down into the water reservoir and pulls water and dilute nutrient solution up into the very porous potting mix that comes with the pot. I wish they would put just a little more mix with each container. It always seems to leave just a little too much space at the tops of the pots, but maybe that’s part of the magic.
There’s a float that looks like some kind of thermometer that tells you when the water levels in the reservoir have dropped enough that they need to be replenished, so it really is difficult to fail.
The aglaonema (Sparkling Sarah) has been in its pot for six months, and an unusual and rather challenging type of devil’s ivy has been growing the same length of time, and both are ultimately happy.
Folks, I have no vested interest in this company (other than being a happy, full-price paying customer). They don’t advertise with me (although we’d love to have them). I just am really impressed, and I wanted to tell you about them. Here’s a link to the website:
http://www.lechuza.us/on/demandware.store/Sites-US-Site/en_US/Home-Show?navid=home
So, “Coming out in support of a self-watering pot” gets crossed off my list of things I’ll probably never do. That leaves “Dancing ballet” next on the list.