Before answering your question about fertilizing, let's address the limp leaves issue. Either too much water, resulting in root rot, or too little water, resulting in limp leaves. A third possibility is soil mealybugs.

Since you are going to repot, which is the right thing to do, I would recommend that you re-think the self-watering pot. They are really tricky to get the right absorption of liquid to keep the soil damp but not soaking. Adding perlite will help, but absorption rates will vary from pot to pot, based upon the clay used. If you are open to the idea, I would use a simple plastic pot that is 1/3 the diameter of the plant. If your heart is set on using the self-watering pot, try this mix: 1/2 of the potting mix you have, and 1/2 perlite. The perlite will keep air spaces so the roots hopefully don't stay waterlogged.

It's possible that you have root rot already since the plant is limp, or that there wasn't enough water absorbed and it has been too dry. In either case, knock the plant out of the pot and take a good look at the root ball. If it is really dry, gradually moisten the root ball with your bottled water, a little at a time. If the roots are whitish, that is good. The leaves should perk up after a day. While doing this re-moistening, you can keep the plant in the insert part, but dump the water out of the outer pot. At this point it would seem clear that the clay used in this pot isn't going to allow the correct absorption rate and can't be re-used as intended.

If the soil is very moist when it comes out of the pot, closely examine the root ball. If the roots are brown, the plant probably has root rot, which doesn't allow water to get up the stem to the plant. You will need to cut off the root ball, starting at the bottom, and work your way up until all the brown mushy stuff is gone. If you can get to good stem, you can re-root this part. Remove all the limp leaves and all but about the first 2-3 rows of leaves, scrape the stem of any stubs, and place into your soil mix, place in a baggie, and put in a bright (not sun) spot. The crown should grow new roots in a couple of weeks.

It is not necessary to feed the plant at this time, but after it has re-rooted, simply mix up a jug at 1/2 the 'dosage' recommended, and use it every time you water. And please look at the analysis of the ingredients. Nitrogen will be the first shown, listing the sources of nitrogen. If it shows urea, and it probably will, do not use it if it is over 7-8%. You can find AV fertilizer online, or email John Cook at Cape Cod Violetry for non-urea fertilizer. Let us know how it turns out.

Barbara

Barbara, thank you so much for the indepth and informative reply! I only had a few limp leaves so I think I caught it early, it was only a few leaves on the bottom row.

I am seriously re-thinking the self watering pot, I don't think I like it like I thought I would. But I repotted it in the self watering pot last night because that's all I had available at the time. The soil was so soggy and heavy that I had to use a spoon to get the AV out and had to spoon out the soil!! The roots weren't too bad, the bottom part was kinda mushy, so I just gently worked the roots with my hand and the mushy parts fell off on their own. I kept on working the root until what remained looked like healthy root before I repotted it. I didn't put any water in the bottom pot, I just gave the AV about 2 tablespoons of water with just a little fertilizer.

I also don't think it was getting enough light. I don't have an East window, it's been in a South window but we have had cloudy days and rain for the past 2 weeks. So since I repotted it I have put a lamp over it with a low wattage fluorescent bulb, the lamp is pretty short, but the bulb is low wattage so I don't think it will scorch the AV.

I will also analyze the ingredients of the fertilizer for the urea and hunt for some AV fertilizer online since I can't seem to find any around here.

Thank you so much Barbara, I will keep you updated. But I think I will switch pots, I don't think I like the self watering idea! O:)) Do you think it will harm the AV if I repot it again this week sometime?

Linda

HI Linda.
I agree with what Barbara has said. Your mix is more than likely too heavy. Most of us here like to use a mix of 1 part peat (or AV potting mix) 1 part coarse vermiculite and 1 part coarse perlite. I use it all the time and I wick my plants using Acryllic yarn.
I also do not like those clay pots. They tend to build up salts in the pot and eventually will give you more problems to deal with. In addition if I put all my av's in them and placed them on my stand, the stand would most likely collapse from the weight. I buy all my plastic pots from Cape Cod Violetry. John Cook, the owner, is really good at shipping. He also has a non-urea formula fertilizer which I believe is actually Optimara fertilizer. I have been using it for years. There are a couple others on the market also. One is Jack's Specialities which I believe is a formula that was sold under the Peters name. One other that I have used in the past is Duna-Gro. It's available directly from the company online. Google the name. IF you do decide to go with Dyna gro I would suggest you order the smallest container they sell. It is a liquid and eventually dries up and crystalizes to a point where it weaken the remainder in the bottle. However, in spite of this defect, it is a great fertilizer.
In the mean time if you still want to experiment with those clay self watering pots, put a layer of perlite in the bottom of the pot and place the plant on top of it.
Fred in NJ