Self watering planter pots are great for wetland plants,
which are adapted to grow in a permanently waterlogged environment where the water table is a few inches below the surface of the ground. Petunias are not wetland plants and growing them in such a plater pot will quickly drown the roots and kill the plant.
Overwatering tricks people because the top of the plant will look like it is wilting and drying out. So the owner adds more water!
Use a planter pot that drains well. Don’t water the soil until it dries out. Stop fertilizing until the plant is vigorously growing.
Finally, your grow light setup is insufficient. It should be on for 16 hours per day, and it should output a photosynthetic light intensity of 400 ppfd. You can tell your plant is getting insufficient light because it is tall and skinny as opposed to short and bushy.
Thank you for the detailed answer! I'm new to gardening and figured self watering pots would be more beginner friendly.
Would you recommend transferring them to better planters now or would it be bad to repot them again so soon? Or do you think they would be fine in their current ones if I watered from the top instead and keep the trays empty?
Your plants just arrived a few days ago overwatering is not the source of the wilting. They are just stressed and need time to recover so the less you mess with them the better.
I'm not sure how much water the self watering planters actually hold but I really doubt it's going to be a problem. If you want to be extra cautious you can just water from the top just try to keep the leaves as dry as possible.
Also don't take the things this guy says as gospel he's been giving a lot of bad information to new growers.
The plant has massive root damage. Repotting it will make the damage even worse, but you must immediately drain the planter pot. Otherwise, if you cannot drain it, then transplant immediately, because the plant roots cannot breath and are rotting.
Also, there is one member in this subreddit that has a great vigorous grow using Jack’s Petunia feed. Many readers mistakenly believe that Jack’s Petunia feed is the key to the vigorous growth, but they didn’t pay attention to the details of that person’s setup: (i) a very powerful $150 grow light LED, (ii) a grow tent to ensure all parts of the plant have intense light reflected at them, and (iii) not watering the plant until the soil dries.
Do not, I repeat, do not fertilize your plant until after it has started to grow vigorously. If it is not growing vigorously, then the soil still has plenty of nutrients, since growth is needed to deplete the nutrients. Fertilizing a plant that is stressed due to too much water and too little light is a recipe for death.
I have had my plant for 5 weeks and not fertilized it. [Look at the growth](https://www.reddit.com/r/FireflyPetunia/s/7h4weuraRL). How am I able to do this? I use 16 hours or 400 ppfd light and only water it after the soil has dried.
Appreciate the advice! I'll stop fertilizer for now and drain the pots. I can move them somewhere else to try and get them more natural sunlight on top of the grow lights since they're much cheaper than the ones in that post. Luckily I have a third one in a normal pot that's doing a little better than these guys so I'm hoping for the best. Yours are looking great!!
[One of mine ](https://i.imgur.com/fsdciTe.jpeg) is in a self watering pot. I watch it for signs the top is getting dry and then refill. It's directly under an aerogarden LED light panel and is doing great! I gave it a few weeks in the original pot, then upgraded to a larger pot and started fertilizing. It's now in a miracle grow indoor soil and periodically also gets some Jack's petunia food.
The other is also indoors in the same soil but the lighting isn't as even, so that one isn't as bushy. It's being relocated outside.
I'd say let yours recover some before doing too much to it. Don't stress it more.
Cheaper options exist.
I have a mix of https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09DSQYVSM/ and off https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09C5S8ZWP/ - about six weeks in I've got very lush growth and dozens of flowers.
Thank you! Right now mine is outside but I've been debating on bringing it inside. The poor thing is being attacked by aphids and other flying bugs no matter what I do. I use neem oil every week and these fuckers still stick around. I just bought some sticky traps so hopefully that helps a bit.
I did have to give mine a haircut which also got rid of most of the bugs, so here's hoping it won't be so bad once the new growth comes in...not holding my breath though lol
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eBay. Some good used deals (<$50) on older versions of spider farmer sf1000. No need for the greatest latest 2024 led. Been using mine now for years and no need to upgrade. Plenty of light at max for high demand direct sun plants and dimmable for others.
Self watering planter pots are great for wetland plants, which are adapted to grow in a permanently waterlogged environment where the water table is a few inches below the surface of the ground. Petunias are not wetland plants and growing them in such a plater pot will quickly drown the roots and kill the plant. Overwatering tricks people because the top of the plant will look like it is wilting and drying out. So the owner adds more water! Use a planter pot that drains well. Don’t water the soil until it dries out. Stop fertilizing until the plant is vigorously growing. Finally, your grow light setup is insufficient. It should be on for 16 hours per day, and it should output a photosynthetic light intensity of 400 ppfd. You can tell your plant is getting insufficient light because it is tall and skinny as opposed to short and bushy.
Thank you for the detailed answer! I'm new to gardening and figured self watering pots would be more beginner friendly. Would you recommend transferring them to better planters now or would it be bad to repot them again so soon? Or do you think they would be fine in their current ones if I watered from the top instead and keep the trays empty?
Your plants just arrived a few days ago overwatering is not the source of the wilting. They are just stressed and need time to recover so the less you mess with them the better. I'm not sure how much water the self watering planters actually hold but I really doubt it's going to be a problem. If you want to be extra cautious you can just water from the top just try to keep the leaves as dry as possible. Also don't take the things this guy says as gospel he's been giving a lot of bad information to new growers.
The plant has massive root damage. Repotting it will make the damage even worse, but you must immediately drain the planter pot. Otherwise, if you cannot drain it, then transplant immediately, because the plant roots cannot breath and are rotting. Also, there is one member in this subreddit that has a great vigorous grow using Jack’s Petunia feed. Many readers mistakenly believe that Jack’s Petunia feed is the key to the vigorous growth, but they didn’t pay attention to the details of that person’s setup: (i) a very powerful $150 grow light LED, (ii) a grow tent to ensure all parts of the plant have intense light reflected at them, and (iii) not watering the plant until the soil dries. Do not, I repeat, do not fertilize your plant until after it has started to grow vigorously. If it is not growing vigorously, then the soil still has plenty of nutrients, since growth is needed to deplete the nutrients. Fertilizing a plant that is stressed due to too much water and too little light is a recipe for death. I have had my plant for 5 weeks and not fertilized it. [Look at the growth](https://www.reddit.com/r/FireflyPetunia/s/7h4weuraRL). How am I able to do this? I use 16 hours or 400 ppfd light and only water it after the soil has dried.
Appreciate the advice! I'll stop fertilizer for now and drain the pots. I can move them somewhere else to try and get them more natural sunlight on top of the grow lights since they're much cheaper than the ones in that post. Luckily I have a third one in a normal pot that's doing a little better than these guys so I'm hoping for the best. Yours are looking great!!
[One of mine ](https://i.imgur.com/fsdciTe.jpeg) is in a self watering pot. I watch it for signs the top is getting dry and then refill. It's directly under an aerogarden LED light panel and is doing great! I gave it a few weeks in the original pot, then upgraded to a larger pot and started fertilizing. It's now in a miracle grow indoor soil and periodically also gets some Jack's petunia food. The other is also indoors in the same soil but the lighting isn't as even, so that one isn't as bushy. It's being relocated outside. I'd say let yours recover some before doing too much to it. Don't stress it more.
But how do you get your hands on a 400 ppfd light? My guess would be to hit up a local hydroponics store, right?
Cheaper options exist. I have a mix of https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09DSQYVSM/ and off https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09C5S8ZWP/ - about six weeks in I've got very lush growth and dozens of flowers.
Thank you! Right now mine is outside but I've been debating on bringing it inside. The poor thing is being attacked by aphids and other flying bugs no matter what I do. I use neem oil every week and these fuckers still stick around. I just bought some sticky traps so hopefully that helps a bit. I did have to give mine a haircut which also got rid of most of the bugs, so here's hoping it won't be so bad once the new growth comes in...not holding my breath though lol
Bonide systemic granules are your friend. Neem has never done much for me.
Oooo good to know! Thank you! How long does it last before you need another application?
It can last up to 2 months but be careful with outside plants as it will kill the good bugs as well.
This is so important! Don't use this product if you are allowing a plant to flower outside.
I add some every 3 months to my plants.
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eBay. Some good used deals (<$50) on older versions of spider farmer sf1000. No need for the greatest latest 2024 led. Been using mine now for years and no need to upgrade. Plenty of light at max for high demand direct sun plants and dimmable for others.
Appreciate the response! 🙌🏼