African Violet Wicking Pots vs Regular Pots: 7-Month Side-by-Side Comparison

I've been growing African violets for over five years and using self-watering wick pots for the past two.  To see whether wick pots genuinely improve growth, I grew genetically identical African violet plants using two different watering methods for around 7 months and compared their growth, leaf size, flowering, and overall performance. 

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I’ve been testing growing African violets in regular pots, against these small self-watering pots, and the growth difference has been surprising.   

Self-watering wick pot experiment showing increased leaf size and more vigorous growth

Do Wicking Pots Improve African Violet Growth?

Yes.

In my comparison using genetically identical African violet plants grown under the same conditions, the plants in self-watering wick pots produced:

• larger leaves
• thicker petioles
• earlier flowering
• more blooms
• less watering maintenance

The regular-pot plants still grew healthy, but they were smaller, produced fewer flowers, and grew more slowly.

Comparison of African Violets Grown in Wicking Pots vs Regular Pots

The wick pots cost more than standard nursery pots.  However, after using both methods for years, I find the reduced maintenance and improved growth easily justify the extra cost.  I lose fewer plants to drying out, spend less time watering, and achieve more reliable flowering.

This table summarises the key differences observed in the experiment, comparing growth rate, flowering, watering needs, and overall plant performance under identical growing conditions.

Feature	Wicking / Self-Watering Pots	Regular Pots
Watering frequency	Low - reservoir keeps soil consistently moist	High - needs regular manual watering
Growth rate	Faster, more vigorous growth	Slower, steady growth
Leaf size	Larger leaves with thicker petioles	Smaller, more compact leaves
Flowering	Earlier and often more abundant blooms	Later flowering, fewer blooms initially
Maintenance	Low maintenance, ideal for busy or away from home periods	Higher maintenance, risk of drying out in hot weather
Risk of over/under watering	Lower risk when using airy mix (e.g. perlite blend)	Higher risk, especially if inconsistent watering
Overall performance (this experiment)	Best performance: stronger, faster-growing plants	Good performance: healthy but slower growth

Are There Any Downsides to Wick Pots?

While wick pots performed better in my comparison, they are not perfect.

The main disadvantage is the higher upfront cost compared to standard plastic nursery pots. They also work best with a very free-draining potting mix.  I use roughly 50% perlite and 50% potting mix, which helps prevent the soil from staying too wet.

Wick pots can also encourage faster growth, which means plants may need repotting sooner than those grown in regular pots.

For me, the reduced watering and improved flowering easily outweigh these minor drawbacks, but regular pots are still a perfectly viable option for growing healthy African violets.

Recommended Self-Watering Wick Pots for African Violets

Based on this experiment, self-watering wick pots were the clear winner for faster growth, larger leaves, and more consistent flowering.

If you want to try the same setup, I recommend using small wick pots (around 7–10cm wide) with a built-in water reservoir.  These are ideal for African violets and help maintain steady moisture without constant watering.

• Consistent moisture for healthier root development
• Reduce watering frequency
• Less risk of drying out in hot weather
• Encourage faster growth
• Better flowering performance in this trial

See the exact wick pots I use

Watering frequency

Low - reservoir keeps soil consistently moist

High - needs regular manual watering

Growth rate

Faster, more vigorous growth

Slower, steady growth

Leaf size

Larger leaves with thicker petioles

Smaller, more compact leaves

Flowering

Earlier and often more abundant blooms

Later flowering, fewer blooms initially

Maintenance

Low maintenance, ideal for busy or away from home periods

Higher maintenance, risk of drying out in hot weather

Risk of over/under watering

Lower risk when using airy mix (e.g. perlite blend)

Higher risk, especially if inconsistent watering

Overall performance (this experiment)

Best performance: stronger, faster-growing plants

Good performance: healthy but slower growth

More African violets for comparison

I got my first African violet around May 2021, which is over 5 years ago now.  I have grown many African violets from leaf cuttings.  Some I grew in wicking pots like these ones, others I grew using regular watering.  I have a few plants in each type of pot, the photos you see below are all plants I grew.  I still have some of these plants, others I have since sold.

The wicking pots come in different colours, I have some white and some grey and I like them both.  The regular pots I use are about 10cm across, I tend to buy them in bulk like this as I find them perfect for many different plants that I grow.

Regular pot (left) showing slower growth vs self-watering wick pot (right) with larger leaves

The same plants as above - from a different angle

The potting mix I use for African violets

I tend to do things cheap, and I only want to do things that work long term.  You certainly could use specialised African violet potting mix, but it often seems expensive.  Instead I make my own blend of potting mix and perlite, it is inexpensive and clearly effective, as shown by the length of time my African violets have been thriving.  

I buy a cheap potting mix and mix it with perlite.  I mix them together in a 50:50 mix, but sometimes include more perlite than soil.  

It's very easy to make my own mix like this.  I get a pot full of perlite and tip it into an ice cream container, another pot full of potting soil, mix them by hand, and I have two pots worth of African violet mix ready to use.  This works over the long term, I have many African violets growing in this mix and have never had issues with rot or damping off.

My Simple African Violet Soil Mix (Budget-Friendly)

I don’t use expensive specialty African violet mixes.  Instead, I’ve had long-term success using a simple blend of standard potting mix and perlite.

•   50% standard potting mix
•   50% perlite (sometimes slightly more perlite) 

This creates a light, well-draining mix that works especially well with wick pots.

Supplies I use:

• standard potting mix 
• perlite 

My African violet wick growing vs regular pot experiment

I took a leaf cutting of an established African violet.  Once it had some leaf babies, I let them grow until large enough to handle easily, then I divided them.  

Interestingly, I find I can replant the mother leaf several times and get extra baby plants.  This is particularly useful when dealing with rarer varieties or varieties with sentimental value.

African violet leaf babies before division, all grown from the same parent leaf for a controlled comparison

By using leaf babies from the same mother leaf I was using genetically identical plants.  When I divided them they were the same age, and were much the same size.  This helps any differences I noticed to be based on growing conditions rather than genetics or age.

I used exactly the same potting mix, that I mixed on the same day, and transplanted them all the same day.  Some were planted into regular pots, some were planted into wicking self-watering pots, that was the only difference.  I don't have any photos of transplanting these because my hands get all wet and grubby while dividing African violets.

I grew the plants side by side in the same tray (I grow them in a tray so I can move them easily) for around 7 months.  All plants in this experiment were grown side by side under identical light conditions, mostly they were in the tray near a window, some days I moved the tray outside into bright shade.  The difference in vigour and size was noticeable from early on.  

African violets grown in regular pots

The African violets grown in regular pots grew well.  They are all healthy, and grew large.  I have grown plenty of African violets like this, it works well for me.

I tend to buy these pots in bulk as they look good and are perfect for growing many plants including herbs and succulents and ferns.

Growing like this means I have to water often.  If I go away, I tend to put them in a tray with a tiny bit of water, and hope they don't rot and don't dry out while I am away.

Overall this is not a bad way to grow them, and I have some plants that have been in regular pots for years and are still doing well.  

Over the years I have lost a few small plants in regular pots due to drying out.  This mostly happens if I have been unwell and the weather has been hot.  

African violet in regular pot showing healthy growth but smaller overall plant size compared to wick pot plants

Struggling with Drying Out or Inconsistent Watering?

One of the main issues I found with regular pots was inconsistent moisture levels, especially during hot weather or when I was away. 

Switching to self-watering wick pots helped remove that variability and made plant care much more predictable. 

Another African violet - looking good

African violets grown in wicking self-watering pots

The African violets grown in the wick watering pots also grew well.  I have grown many African violets this way, and am always happy with the results. 

Watering these is simple, when the little well is low I top it up.  This provides continuous moisture, even if I go away for a while or am too unwell to water plants.  

As the wick draws up moisture, but not too much moisture, there are no problems with rotting if I use 50% perlite in the soil mix.  Sometimes roots grow out of the drainage hole in the pot and reach down into the water.  This is fine, it doesn't seem to bother the plant.

African violet in self-watering wicking pot

Another African Violet grown in a wicking pot

Comparison between African violets grown in wicking self-watering pots or regular pots

As you can see above, African violets can and do grow well in wicking pots or regular pots.  Wicking pots are certainly simpler, but I was curious to see if there was any difference in growth rate.

The African violets grown in wicking pots grew better for me.  The leaf blade is larger, the petiole (leaf stalk) is longer and thicker, and there appear to be more leaves on the plants grown in wicking pots.  All of this indicates stronger and healthier plants.

Importantly, the African violets grown in wicking pots flowered earlier, and produced more flowers, than the ones in regular pots.  You can't really see this in any of the photos, but all the plants in wicking pots have flower buds, while all the plants in regular pots don't.  I am guessing I won't see flowers on the regular pot grown African violets until spring.  

I now use self-watering wick pots for most of my African violets because they reduced drying issues and improved growth in my comparison.

Side-by-side African violet comparison: self-watering wick pot (left) vs regular pot (right)

Additional comparison plants showing consistent differences in vigour between watering methods

Conclusion: Do Wicking Pots Improve African Violet Growth?

Based on my comparison, African violets grown in self-watering wick pots:

• grew larger leaves
• developed thicker petioles
• flowered earlier
• produced more blooms
• Were easier to care for

The plants grown in regular pots still performed well, but required more frequent watering and were more vulnerable during hot or dry periods.  I suspect the improved growth comes from the plants receiving a more consistent supply of moisture, rather than going between wetter and drier conditions as happens with conventional watering.  

Overall, I prefer wick pots for most of my African violets due to their consistency and reduced maintenance.

African violet leaf comparison, regular on left, wick pot on right

Underside of African violet leaves - slightly more colour in wicking pot

African violet grown in wicking pots produced larger leaves for me

Wicking pots long term African violet growth

So now you have seen how African violets performed better in wicking pots under my growing conditions, the sensible thing to consider is will this continue to work long term.  I don't care how fast and large they grow if they rot and die, I want long term successful growth, and I want many many vibrant flowers.  

I am happy to say that I have been growing African violets in these wicking pots for about 2 years.  The plants are healthy and strong, and they keep pumping out the blooms.  While the photos below are of a different variety than the one used in the comparison, these two have been flowering well in wicking pots for quite a long time.

Long-term African violet growth in self-watering wick pot showing sustained flowering and healthy leaves

Quick Summary

• Same African violet variety (grown from leaf cuttings from my existing plant)
• Same soil mix (50/50 cheap potting mix + perlite)
• Same light, temperature, water
• Only difference: pot type
• Wick pots = faster growth + more robust plants + more flowers
• Regular pots = still healthy but slower and higher maintenance

African violet in self-watering wick pot produce abundant blooms, sometimes with more flowers than visible leaves

Where to buy Wicking Pots for African Violets

I keep several wicking pots on hand because I find them useful for many different plant species, not just African violets.  I am even growing out some staghorn fern pups in them where they are performing beautifully.  

I can find wicking pots locally, but they tend to be over priced and rarely the size I am looking for.  For this reason I tend to buy them online such as through Amazon.  For African violets I generally go for something about 7cm across. 

Start Growing African Violets the Easy Way

If you’re setting up from scratch, the combination that worked best in this experiment was:

• Small self-watering wick pots
• Light potting mix with added perlite
• Bright indirect light near a window

This setup reduces maintenance and helps maintain consistent growth conditions year-round.

Recommended starter supplies:

• African violet wick pot
• standard potting mix 
• perlite 

Wicking pots produced larger African violet leaves

Frequently Asked Questions

Do African violets like self-watering pots?

Yes.  In my experience they grow larger leaves, flower earlier, and require less maintenance.

Can African violets stay wet all the time?

Not exactly.  The key is using a very airy mix with plenty of perlite.

What size wick pot is best for African violets?

I prefer pots around 7–10 cm wide for mature plants.

Do wick pots cause root rot?

Not in my experience when using a 50% perlite mix. 

How often do you refill a wick pot?

I water whenever the reservoir starts to get low, usually every few weeks.

Who should consider wick pots?

• People who forget to water plants
• People who water plants too much or too often
• Anyone growing multiple African violets
• People who travel frequently or go on holiday
• Growers wanting maximum flowering

You probably don't need them if you only have one violet and enjoy regular watering. 

African Violet Leaves and Plants for Sale

African violets performing well in wicking pots (please ignore the mess birds left on the railing)

I sometimes have African violet leaf cuttings available from my own plants, including the exact plants used in this experiment.  These can be used to grow new plants at home, and are taken from my healthy, well-established African violets.

If you would like to try growing your own African violets, I list available leaves and plants through my for sale catalogue page.  I am happy to provide detailed notes on how I grow them.  

Keep an eye on that page as availability is highly seasonal and varies significantly depending on what I am currently propagating. 

Growing Black Forbidden Rice in Pots: Flooded vs Dry Soil Comparison

In this experiment I compared forbidden black rice plants (Oryza sativa) grown:

• in shallow water versus dry soil
• in shallow water with and without azolla
• in full sun versus part shade

Key findings from this rice growing experiment:

• Rice in shallow water initially grew faster than dryland rice
• Rice grown with azolla produced more tillers and flowered earlier
• Full sun performed much better than part shade - no real surprise here
• Flooded rice suffered significantly fewer pest problems - a real win for organic growing
• Small pots likely reduced final grain production

The flooded rice with azolla grew faster, flowered earlier, and suffered fewer pest problems than the dryland rice.

This year I grew some forbidden black rice plants (Oryza sativa).  I don't know what I am doing when growing rice, and I am certainly not in their preferred climate, so it was all a bit of an experiment. 

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Forbidden rice not yet ripe

There is not much advice available for backyard rice growers, so I had to largely work this out myself which is why I am writing this blog post.  

I had a few plants so thought I would do some comparisons, see what works better for me, and share the results.  Hopefully someone finds this useful.  

If nothing else, recording this here is useful for me in future years to remember what worked and what didn't.

Rice growing comparison

Rice plants comparison

Dry land rice compared to flooded rice

I am told that growing this variety of rice in shallow water is done mostly to control pests and weeds, and this variety of rice performs much the same in shallow water as it does in the vegetable garden.  Strangely I also read that shallow water grown rice tends to provide larger crops. 

I divided some of my rice plants, I planted one in a pot of soil in shallow water, the other is in a pot of soil.  Unfortunately this test was not overly great.  The soil used was the same, but the colour of the pot is different, as is the shape, and its volume, all of which may have an impact on growth of plants.  

I also had a few other rice plants in soil, and a few others in shallow water.  Some are in full sun, others part shade.  These two plants are growing side by side, and I figure it is easier to take photos of the same two plants time and again for comparison.

I grew them in ice cream containers.  This worked, but meant I had to use pots that were too small.  Had I used a fun plastic wisky barrel planter like these I could keep the pots sitting in a few centimetres of water during the warmer months and be able to use larger pots (and get larger yields).

I took the first photo on 20 November 2025.  Both plants were reasonably similar in size and health.  

20 November 

While early, the growth after 6 days was noticeable.  These were grown in soil, the soil had a lot of weed seeds, and I was still getting on top of that at this stage.  

I pull out the weeds, and leave them on the soil surface to die and break down releasing nutrients back to the soil.  The one in shallow water did not have issues with grass and weed seeds germinating, the water took care of that for me.  From that perspective, shallow water grown rice was easier.

26 November 

Another week later, and it became pretty clear which plant was performing better in the short term.  

The plant in shallow water with azolla is noticeably taller.  The leaves are darker green, and the stem has more black colouration.  This is black forbidden rice, the black means it is high in anthocyanin.   

At this stage neither started tillering, and they were both far from flowering stage.  There was still a long time left to run with this little experiment but it was interesting to see such a dramatic difference so early.

6 December 

Black rice in shallow water with azolla

Black rice growing in soil

After another week the water grown rice was racing ahead.  It was too early to know if this would have any impact on the vigour of plants later in the season or the grain harvest at the end of the season.  

14 December 2025 

After a few months, in March 2026, I took the next set of comparison photos.  The situation had changed since the initial comparison photos.

The plant grown in shallow water had about 3 large tillers, and the soil grown had about 5 large tillers.  This may have been because the dry soil grown rice had a larger amount of soil, or it may be because this variety of rice performs better under dryland conditions, I don't know.  I only count the larger tillers as they can produce grain, they also had a number of smaller tillers.  

Interestingly, the water grown plant flowered and produced seed over a month earlier than the soil grown plant.  I'm not sure if there is enough heat left in the season for the soil grown plant to produce seed before the first frosts come.

Azolla comparison March 2026

It is noteworthy that I had azolla floating on the water in that first comparison.  If one grew better or worse than the other it may be due to the shallow water, or it may be due to the azolla.  

As I didn't know how much impact azolla would have, I also grew some rice plants side by side in shallow water, with and without azolla.  I only have a small number of plants, and limited space, so was not able to have many replicates of each.   

Growing rice in shallow water with and without azolla 

I divided two similar sized rice plants on 29 November 2025.  The one without azolla was perhaps a little larger, and stronger.  It also was starting to tiller.  These two were as close in size and health as I could find.  While not perfectly identical, they were near enough.

I planted them in identical pots, in the same soil, and placed them in identical containers, and added water.  This comparison was better than the first one as the conditions for this were as identical as I could get them. 

The rice plant on the right is slightly larger - 29 November

I left these pots so the soil could settle for a while, both had roots under water and the leaves were in the air.  

Once they had settled in, I increased the depth of water, and added some azolla to one container.  I added quite a bit of azolla so I wouldn't have to wait long before it covered the water surface.  I didn't need to start with so much azolla, the azolla covered the water surface over the next few days, the growth rate of azolla is remarkable.  

One with azolla seems slightly smaller at the start

Once the plants grew a little I increased the depth of water to the top of the container.  From here I tried to keep the water topped up in both containers.  The water evaporates fast over summer, the one that did not have azolla evaporated much faster.  I did my best to keep both containers topped up.

You will notice the water without azolla also had a few algae blooms.  The water turned green and soupy for a while.  I don't think these blooms are great for plants, and I didn't notice many tiny things swimming among the algae.  When I parted the azolla the water underneath appeared clear and was teeming with tiny life.  While I don't know if this impacts the productivity of the rice plants, aesthetically having azolla and lots of tiny life is nicer.

Rice in shallow water - 06 December

Rice in shallow water with azolla - 06 December

Algae in the water that without azolla

Both plants similar size at this stage

One benefit to rice from azolla is that azolla sequesters nitrogen from the atmosphere, and puts it in a form that can be taken up by other plants.  This type of nitrogen fertiliser would be otherwise expensive to apply, where azolla does this organically and for free.  

I read a study https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12149377/ indicating azolla has more benefit to rice than simple nitrogen fertilisation, apparently it also acts as a 'biostimulant'.  We are only beginning to unravel this interaction, but it sounds like azolla is more promising than simply being an organic and free fertiliser.  

In that study, growing azolla with rice resulted in the accumulation of small peptides, lipids, and carbohydrates in rice roots, as well as flavonoid glycosides and carbohydrates in rice leaves.  Early research suggests that this may make the rice plants more vigorous and higher yielding.  That early research indicates not only does azolla increase the amount of rice grain produced, it may also make the grain more nutritious.  More research needs to be conducted in this field.

I am getting off track here, time to get back to the rice plant growing comparison.  About two weeks later, the algae bloom had cleared from the water, and both plants had grown noticeably.  The rice grown with azolla was taller, more lush, and beginning to develop more tillers.  It was still very early in this comparison.

Rice plants with and without azolla 19 December

This plant is growing well, but not as well as the one with azolla

Clear water, lots of growth, it is going well

Larger and healthier looking plant

The water without azolla eventually cleared, and stayed clear for the remainder of the growing season.  The other plant had azolla that grew into a thick azolla mat, the lower levels breaking down and releasing nutrients while the azolla on the surface continued to grow.

I had some issues with tiny birds getting into the greenhouse and messing with the azolla.  I don't know if they were eating it, or bathing in the water and splashing the azolla out, or searching for feed under it.  I made no attempt to stop them, I think having fairy wrens come into the greenhouse isn't a bad thing as they eat a lot of small insect pests.

In March 2026 I took the following comparison photos.  The azolla grown rice had 6 large tillers, while the non-azolla grown rice had 3 large tillers.  Each of these tillers could have eventually flowered and produced seed.

It is noteworthy that the plants with azolla had more tillers, and flowered several weeks before the ones grown in water without azolla.  

Azolla rice comparison March 2026

Shade grown rice compared to full sun

I had a few pots of rice growing in full sun, and I had some in part shade.  I wondered if in small pots perhaps rice would over heat and might do better under a little shade to keep the roots cooler.    

I didn't persist with this for very long as it became evident that rice growing in full sun was far larger and healthier than rice in part shade.  After a few weeks I moved the shade grown rice into more sun, and they almost caught up to the other plants.

I don't have any photos of the shade grown rice.  They were just small seedlings, they grew well once I moved them to an area with more sun. 

Rice seed heads forming in autumn

Rice Plant Growing Conclusion

While I got some seed from my rice growing experiment, all my rice plants struggled to produce a decent sized crop this year, I think there are a few reasons behind this.  

This summer, apart from a few days of extreme heat, was largely mild and dry.  We had very few tomatoes ripen this year, presumably due to lack of consistent heat.  I have a feeling if we had more consistent heat plus a bit more rain I may have been able to produce a better rice crop.  

The pots I grew the rice in were far too small.  If they had larger pots, they may have been better able to mature.  

I initially worried that the rice plants may not get enough sun in the greenhouse, but this didn't seem to be an issue.  The greenhouse grown plants didn't perform any worse than rice plants grown outside in full sun. 

Rice growing outside in full sun - not part of the comparison

When rice was grown on dryland, it initially performed worse than the submerged rice plants.  As time went on, the dryland rice caught up and grew better than the flooded rice - but dryland rice also had issues with pests. 

I had a large pot of soil with several rice plants that I did not take many photos of as I had no similar water grown comparison, I have a photo below of the end result.  

This rice was all killed by pests

Every rice plant in this pot was damaged by pests, and over time they all died.  It seems in my garden that slaters/wood lice have a taste for rice plants, and like to eat out their base.  I did not lose any of the flooded rice to pests, nor did I notice any pest damage to them at all.  In this sense, the flooded rice was better as it suffered no pest damage in my garden where everything is grown organically.  

Home grown rice performs best in full sun.  Growing in part shade did not do well.  This was not a great surprise.

Home grown rice in shallow water performed better with azolla than it did without azolla.  This was to be expected as it agrees with results from much research into growing rice with azolla.

 

Rice not yet ready

I only had a small number of plants this year, so this may be coincidence, but all of the rice grown in shallow water flowered and produced grain weeks before the dryland grown rice.  I expected the dryland rice to perform better as I had them in in pots with a larger volume of soil, but for unknown reasons they are the last to produce grain.

The rice plants grown in shallow water with azolla were the first to flower, followed several weeks later by the shallow water rice without azolla, while the dryland grown rice only began to flower in late April.  

Forbidden black rice seed heads forming

I am told that this rice is perennial if protected over winter.  I will try to protect some and see if any survives.  I will have some in shallow water (to insulate against temperature swings), and some in damp soil, and see how they go.  

Frosts are on the way, so I have moved all my rice plants into the greenhouse.  My rice plants are all yellowing from the cold.  I'm not sure if they will survive my winter.  Not everything survives winter in the greenhouse as it is still very cold in there over night, but it is worth a try.

  

Rice plants turning yellow in cooler weather

While my preference is for the rice plants to survive winter and to grow as perennials, I will also try to collect and store some seed to replant in Spring.  They produced hundred of seeds, so saving some of this shouldn't be an issue. 

Next year, if I grow black forbidden rice again, I plan to grow it in a few buckets of soil, or in large pots in buckets of water, similar to how I grow Chinese water chestnuts in buckets.  Given a larger amount of soil I think these plants would perform much better.  

Staghorn Fern from Spores: 3 Month Sporeling Progress

Around November/December I divided and transplanted my staghorn sporelings (Platycerium superbum) and wrote a blog post about these staghorn sporelings.  

I didn't really know what I was doing growing these from spore, so tried a few different ways to grow them.  Some are working well for now, others did not work.  

After about three months of growth there are some things to comment on so I thought I would write an update.

Baby staghorn fern

Staghorn fern sporelings grown in a tray

I had some staghorn sporelings growing in a tray, this did not work very well.  

I had too many problems controlling the watering.  We had big rains early on, which got into this and made it far too soggy.  I could not drain out the excess water, so opened the vents and hoped it would evaporate out.  Then it became too dry.  I didn't notice this until many of them had died.

There are still a few baby ferns alive in here, but most died. 

Most of these staghorn sporelings did not survive

Staghorn sporelings grown in 24 cell seedling tray

I also had a tray that I put in a different tray, this time it had a 24 seedling thingy.  

The moisture level in this was far easier to control.  When the rains got in, I could lift out the seedling thingy and tip out the excess water.  When this started to get dry it was simple to water by lifting it up and adding water underneath.

There were some losses, but not as many as trying to grow them just in a tray.  Some of the baby ferns are still tiny and do not appeared to have grown at all, others are getting large and looking pretty good.  There is a good chance some of these will survive the coming winter and be in a good chance to grow large next spring/summer.

There are some spots of mold and fungi, I am thinking of opening the vents to decrease humidity and see if that fixes it.

Some spore grown staghorn ferns are growing well

Baby staghorn sporelings getting large

Staghorn ferns in wicking self-watering pot

I had a few baby staghorn ferns in a self watering wick pot that is inside the house on the kitchen windowsill.  This always had moisture, but was never wet.  It also maintained 100% humidity and received bright indirect light.

All the baby ferns survived in there, and all grew larger.  They are not as large as the ones in the tray above, but they all look healthy.  These have a good chance of surviving the coming winter months.

100% humidity, bright indirect light

Not as large as I was hoping

Winter is just around the corner, so these may not have any more growth until spring.  Hopefully I can keep some alive until spring, and hopefully I can get a few up to size and be able to mount them some day.  

________________________________________

I wrote another update to show their progress, the staghorn ferns are getting larger and starting to look like tiny versions of the mature plants.